Learning About The Educational Curriculum Creation Process

Just as children have very unique personalities, they also have different learning styles. Recognizing the differences in the way kids learn and approaching education in ways that tailor to those differences can make a big difference in their chances of academic success. If you're looking to start your child's academic career in an environment that embraces those differences, you may want to consider child-centered education. Here's a look at what you should know about this kind of learning environment.

What Is Different About Child-Centered Education?

The dynamic between student and teacher is different in a child-centered classroom. Instead of being the primary focus and the source of all of the direct instruction, the teacher serves more of a support role in these classrooms. Your child's teacher will be a facilitator, providing guidance where needed and some brief instruction, but not complete control of the educational path.

Instead, your child will be able to pursue their learning in a way that reinforces information for them. Tactile learners can play with magnetic boards while visual learners can read books. Kinesthetic learners may benefit from creating letters or building models. With many different options and no single project that everyone has to do, kids are free to learn in ways that work best for them.

How Are Children Taught In Child-Centered Education?

Despite the fact that direct instruction is minimized in these classrooms, there is some focus on teacher-led learning. However, unlike traditional classrooms, this instruction time is brief and presented intermittently. The instruction time is used solely to introduce a new concept or to show students a new learning center in the room. Then, kids are allowed to explore that concept or center on their own and in their own way.

The teacher will determine what kinds of materials to present for the kids each day, setting up learning centers accordingly. Changing up the materials on a frequent basis ensures that kids are being exposed to a variety of different learning methods so that there's always something for each learning style.

How Can Child-Centered Education Help?

Not only does child-centered education allow your children to learn in ways that best fit them, it also encourages kids in the classroom to interact and cooperate with each other more. This can lead to exposure to different learning styles as kids attempt to teach each other about how they see a concept or a lesson. This may help your child to understand other learning styles a little bit better than they would if they were in a traditional classroom environment.