by Dr. Patricia Porter     There is tremendous excitement in the air about parents supporting children’s learning.  And here is why: it is the best way to ensure that children succeed in school.  However, knowing how to help your child can be an uphill battle. With so much information (and misinformation!)out there how do you know that you are doing the right thing?

Is it OK with you if I save you months of false starts and frustrations?

Good!  I have discovered seven things that every parent must know to insure they provide their child with the help they need to succeed.

1. Children learn in different ways

Every child has a unique learning style, a way they learn best. Research shows that there are 8 different ways that people like to learn and that a child’s  learning style is a combination of some or all of these styles. How does your child like to learn?  Is he a verbal learner who likes to learn in discussion groups, or a visual learner who prefers to learn alone?

Why is this important?  Because if you know how your child likes to learn you can provide support in a way that makes learning easy.

2. Children need to learn how to learn

Remember when you learned to drive?  Before you went on the road you had to learn how the car worked, how to speed up, signal, and use the mirrors.  It is the same with children, they have to develop certain skills (I call them foundational learning skills) that they can use to help them learn.  Dr Reuven Feuerstein and his colleagues have described some of the learning to learn skills children need, I have added some others that I know are important.

Teachers are too busy teaching the curriculum to help students develop these skills. So who do you think has to do this?  Right! You do!  That is why you need to know about them and how to help your child develop them.

3. Use learning strengths to overcome learning weaknesses

This seems like a no brainer, right?  But way too often we try to prop up children’s learning weaknesses rather than helping them use their learning strengths. We continue to expect children to learn in ways that they find difficult rather than letting them use their learning strengths to find other ways to learn.  I still have problems reciting the times tables (something we had to do in my time at school!) but I can work out the answers quickly and easily another way.

When you know your child’s preferred learning style you can use it to help them get round any learning weakness.

4. Your child might not learn the same way you do

Both you and your child have preferred learning styles.  If these match, great.  If not you may find it difficult to help your child learn.  I worked with a mother who was concerned about how her child did homework.  She had a learning style that meant that she liked things organized and in order and was concerned about her daughter’s messy desk. So she tried to get her daughter to keep it tidy.  She didn’t realize that, by doing this, she was actually preventing her daughter (who worked best in messy environment) from learning.

Don’t assume that your child learns in the same way you do.  If you do this chances are that you will both end up frustrated and upset!

5. Stop a learning difficulty becoming a learning problem

All children have learning difficulties at some time or other.  Fortunately, most children find ways to get over them and carry on learning.  However, this doesn’t always happen.  If a child’s learning difficulty is not recognized, and the child does not get the help they need, the learning difficulty can very quickly turn into a learning problem that takes a long time to correct.  In my experience, parents are often the first to know when their child is struggling to learn.  In fact, one of my mantra’s when I am running workshops is ‘Mom’s know’.

If you suspect that your child has a learning difficulty don’t ignore your instincts. Get your child help and prevent a learning difficulty growing into something bigger.

6.  Parents are important

Again, if you are reading this you understand this already.  But I want you to know just how important you are, how much influence you have on your child’s learning. It is difficult to measure just how much influence you have over how well your child learns but I have read research that states that as much as 80% of a child’s success in  school is due to support from parents.  Just think of it, that makes you much more important than your child’s teacher. Deep in your heart didn’t you always know that to be true?

If you influence your child’s learning to such a large extent perhaps you should find out the best way to support your child’s education?

7. You have a special role to play in helping your child learn

Children need support from both a loving parent and a caring teacher if they are to reach their learning potential.  They need teachers to help them learn ‘school stuff’ and you to get them ready to benefit from this teaching, to make sure they get the education they deserve, and to provide extra support when they need it.

If you can do this well, you can be sure that your child will reach his or her learning potential – and what parent can ask for more?

About the author

Dr Patricia Porter is a leading learning expert and provides parents with information and advice on helping children reach their full learning potential. Take the first steps to your child's success absolutely free by downloading the free report 'The Parent's Starter Kit' at http://leading2learning.com