I was thinking about learning the other day. I think about it quite a lot, watching my kids explore and figure out the world. I can see Wolfie and Helvi’s “tells”; when they’re fibbing, when they’re going to go into spaghetti/slippery eel mode, when they’re being stubborn only because they don’t want to be “pushed around”.

We had to teach Wolfie a phone number and address to pass into kindergarten. The phone number was the easier of the two; I co-opted Tom Bodett’s Motel 6 jingle and the kiddo picked it up rather quickly. Our address was harder; we have several numbers he knows, but “out of order” for a counting order. But with a lot of practice and roleplay he nailed it after a while.

I’m not sure how I learn. I know I learn by doing. Usually doing it wrong, then figuring out how to do it right. :) Sometimes when I’m shown how to do something, I’ll have to do it over and over, even if it is the harder way. Learning the “new” or easier way can be more difficult. Just ask my poor youngest brother, who kept telling me there were lots of other ways to get from point A to point B, and I really didn’t need to go an extra half mile the other way simply because it was the way I was “used to”.

The hub seems to learn with good visuals and examples. I can describe an idea to him, but it’s better if I show him. A drawing, a mockup, or a short series of clips. But how do you turn what you do into something so visual? I tried for a while with Weight Watchers and cooking in general, but that doesn’t always go well for his visual learning. But give him a copy of “Eat This, Not That” and it rocks his brain. Much better than Calorie King or other big books of charts that suit my learning.

So what works for your kids and yourself? Hands on? Memorization tricks? Experimentation?

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