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How Kids Learn & What Parents Can Do To Help

By Greg Tallion


Most parents give little thought to precisely how their children learn. They just know that their kids go to school to learn what they need so they can graduate. They hope their children have competent teachers and the materials they need to learn. While these things are important, many other factors affect a child’s education. The environment she lives in, the mentoring (or lack of it) she receives, the social influences she is exposed to, and her preferred learning style all affect the quality of her education. When we learn how these factors affect our children, we can make the necessary changes in order to better educate today’s youth.


Nature Versus Nurture - Which is Right?

While we know that not all students will be rocket scientists, parents and teachers expect every child to excel across the board, and some do. But a more realistic goal would be for all students to attain a general proficiency in academics. This too is quite difficult, because all students learn through different methods and at different speeds. Students often excel at one subject and struggle with another. Research shows that children in some cultures excel at academics. Is it due to hereditary or another reason? Is general proficiency even possible for all students?

These questions have been raised by many in the past. John Locke, a leading British philosopher, viewed the child as a tabula rasa (translated from Latin, this means blank slate). According to this idea, children begin with nothing at all. Their environments then shape their characters. This brings up the age-old nature versus nurture debate. The nurture argument states that children can be nurtured into anything based on the environment that surrounds them. By nature, we mean that people have inborn biological and hereditary factors that determine their outcome. The nature argument assumes that there are individual differences for which no amount of hard work or determination will compensate. Academic achievement, however, is the result of nature and hard work.

If a student is average in one subject, he can usually apply himself to achieve better results. Outstanding instructors could nurture the student by offering extra help and encouragement. In some cases, the “nature” position does not apply. For example, some hereditary genetic deficiencies and learning disabilities are common today. On the other side of the coin, there are genetic advantages found in gifted children that may determine the educational potential of a child.

The prevailing philosophy is that any child, regardless of race or country of origin, can succeed in school. With the right education, most children can become successful professionals if given the chance. The most “at risk” children for educational failure are typically from poor households. However, given the right nurturing, they can succeed as well as any other child. More time, better learning opportunities and more effort by students and teachers enhances student learning. Some kids are harder to teach than others. But widespread chronic educational failure can’t be blamed on dysfunctional families and poverty alone. Many inner city schools have been turned into private academies where children are thriving.

One of the classic examples of nurturing educational successes in inner cities is the Frederick Douglas Academy in Harlem. The principal, Lorraine Monroe, closed an out-of-control inner city school. Then she reopened it as the Frederick Douglas Academy for College and Professional Careers. Monroe composed a list of rules, including dress and uniform codes, no physical or verbal abuse, no hats or radios, and no defacing of school property, and devised a college preparatory curriculum. Monroe handpicked enthusiastic new teachers.

The majority of children who attend this school are minorities and are poor, yet these children are achieving academic excellence. Their test scores are way above average. Why? School principals accept no excuses for failure. For example, Frederick Douglas Academy’s headmaster, Gregory Hodge, says, “If you’re not interested in hard work, then Frederick Douglas is not for you.” His school has “12 non-negotiable” rules that go from prohibition of chewing gum and candy to respect for oneself, one’s associates, and everyone’s property. Kids who don’t follow the rules get immediately expelled. This shows that education excellence is possible among any ethnic or racial group of students. Unfortunately, public schools do not have the same option of dismissing non-compliant students as private schools do.


Children Are What They See

Not only is a child’s learning done at school, but they also learn from observing the behaviors of others. When they imitate these behaviors, it is known as social modeling. This is powerful because children model after their parents, neighbors, coaches, and even actors on television. That’s why the power of television should not be overlooked. If they see adults acting in a certain way on TV, children may view it as acceptable behavior. No parent would allow a stranger to come into their home and teach their children for three to five hours a day, but that’s precisely what television is doing. Children act on the behaviors they see.

A classic positive example of this came in the 1970s on an episode of Happy Days. Fonzie took out a library card during one episode. Within two weeks after the show aired, 300,000 children went out and got library cards. A classic negative example of social modeling occurred in the late 1990s when children started fires after seeing MTV’s show, Beavis and Butthead. Many adults find the bizarre reality shows on television today very entertaining, but children often don’t have the background to put it in the proper perspective-entertainment. Instead, they may act out what they see. That’s why it is important to monitor what shows children are watching.


Learning Theories Explained

Realize that it’s not enough just to know that we learn. It’s also important to know how we learn. Learning theories can explain this. Professor Howard Gardner at Harvard Graduate School of Education suggests there are seven forms of intelligence working in the mind as we learn. They are linguistic, mathematical, musical, visual/spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Children today are so influenced by television and computers at early ages that they have become predominantly visual/spatial learners. Most children today have a keen ability to perceive visual information. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to look at pictures, videos, and movies to learn and retain information.

Today’s predominantly violent and non-educational media programming provides poor role models for American children. Children are seeing television shows filled with violence, unrealistically thin actors and actresses, and rude behavior from children, all interspersed with heavy marketing messages from television commercials. Research has proven that this type of programming increases violent and anti-social behavior in children, creates aversions to reading, creates self-body image/attention disorders, and contributes to a nationwide childhood obesity problem.

Most important, our children are less than proficient academically in comparison to other developed nations. American children watch much more television than children of other countries. However, the United States is unique among western nations in that there is very little media education in the schools. Fortunately, that is slowly changing and perhaps someday educational media content will replace some of the non-educational content programming children are watching at home.


Tips for Parents

The best thing parents can do to help their children get the most out of their education is to become involved. Limit the amount of television and Internet exposure your children receive. Don’t permit your children to watch inappropriate programs. Encourage reading for pleasure. Spend 20 minutes a day helping your child with the subjects that they have the most difficulty with. Nurture your child’s curiosity, creativity, and confidence. Be an active participant with the schools. Volunteer in your child’s classroom if your schedule permits. Let your children know that their education is important to you and that with hard work and commitment they can achieve whatever they want to in life.


Greg Taillon is a global media expert, with a background in education, music and engineering. “Remote Control Wars” is his forthcoming book based on research and a new international study that shows the effects of mass media on America’s youth.