Learning Style and Sleep
How does your child learn?
Going through school, I was encouraged to find out and explore how I learned best. There are 4 main ways we can categorize:
Visual Learner
Auditory Learner
Reading/Writing Learner
Kinaesthetic Learner
Of course you can be a mix of the 4, but pinpointing how you learn best allows you to tweak the task so that your brain absorbs it in its entirety and in an efficient way. The way you learn can change and flow as you get older, however being aware of these 4 categories is a helpful tool to utilize at any stage in life.
Now what does this all have to do with sleep?!
What we are talking about here is how a child’s learning style impacts how they “learn” a new sleep routine, “learn” to follow directions from their guardians or become more comfortable with sleeping on their own.. Etc
For Example:
Dawson is 3 and having some troubles letting go of mom and dad at bedtime. Dawson is a kinaesthetic learner. Dawson’s mom and dad have looked online and saw that “monster spray” can be effective with separation anxiety and fear in children.
So before bed, Dawson watches mom and dad make this protective spray and sees them spray it in his room to protect him from monsters. To mom and dad’s frustrations, the spray doesn’t work and for a week straight, nothing changes at bedtime.
What could be tweaked to suit Dawson better, so he understands what mom and dad are trying to do and help him feel more confident at bedtime?
Re-read the example and see if we come up with the same ideas! I will highlight in red - the parts that we are going to tweak:
Dawson is 3 and having some troubles letting go of mom and dad at bedtime. Dawson is a kinaesthetic learner. Dawson’s mom and dad have looked online and saw that “monster spray” can be effective with separation anxiety and fear in children so before bed, Dawson watches mom and dad make this protective spray and sees them spray it in his room to protect him from monsters. To mom and dad’s frustrations, the spray doesn’t work and for a week straight, nothing changes at bedtime.
OK!
—> “Dawson watches them make the spray ” if he is a kinaesthetic learner.. he absorbs things better if he uses his hands and it’s an interactive experience. Watching isn’t really his jam. So our tweak would be to involve him in the process of making the spray, let him get hands on with it.
—> “Dawson sees them spray it in his room” The same applies here! Allowing the child to take matters into their own hands and let them spray the protective spray themselves or in conjunction with mom/dad allows for another level of control and independence the child feels!
This is a very simple example but it can be used in any situation. Another example for a visual learner would be to use visual protection in the child’s room (instead of imaginative sprays or essential oils). So that might look like a crafted sign, or tape, toys set up as protection that the child can see.. Etc.
Now it definitely takes some creativity and tweaking to find what your child is receptive to but the key is to not get discouraged and keep trying different things. Using the knowledge of what kind of learner your child is, will help not only in school or listening to your direction as their caregiver.. But also how they interact with- and respond to the world around them. Fear and separation anxiety can all be supported with confidence and encouragement, you just have to find out how your child responds best to that support so they can find their confidence.
If you have any questions or would like to chat more about this please give me a shout and I hope you have a great rest of your day!
Thanks for dropping in :)
Your Sleep Consultant
-Marina
