A kind note from school called your daughter a “visual learner.” It felt like an answer to how she thinks. So you made picture cards and found a video for every lesson. Homework stayed as hard as it was before. You followed caring advice, and none of this is your fault.
Debunking Learning Styles Myth
In the realm of Education, a recent insight debunked the myth of learning styles, revealing that the belief in categorizing learners as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic is unfounded. The transcript specifically highlighted that while it may feel logical to assume some students learn best through pictures, diagrams, and charts (visual learners), others through lectures or group discussions (auditory learners), or through hands-on activities (kinesthetic learners), these distinctions are not supported by evidence. Instead, the focus should shift to evidence-based educational practices that address diverse learning needs. For parents, this means moving away from tailoring their children’s learning strategies based on presumed learning styles and embracing a more holistic approach to education. This shift can lead to more effective and inclusive educational experiences for their children.
FROM THE VIDEO
Key moments from Debunking Learning Styles and Embracing The Science of Learning with Dr. Nidhi Sachdeva, on Made for Math:
Common questions from parents
Is my child a visual learner?
If learning styles are a myth, why did her teacher use them?
What do I do at home instead of teaching to a style?
Should I get my child tested to find out how she learns?
Learning styles failed the test in 2008 and again in 2024. Nearly 9 in 10 educators still believe in them (Newton & Salvi, 2020). Here is what to do instead.
Did learning styles ever hold up?
The idea sounds right. Each child has one best way to take in new things. Teach her that way, and learning gets easier. And people do have preferences, the way they have favorite foods.
But a preference is not a style. In 2008, Pashler and colleagues reviewed the evidence. They found no credible support for matching lessons to a child’s style. A 2024 meta-analysis in Frontiers checked again. It reached the same answer. Teaching to a style did not help children learn more.
So how did the idea reach your kitchen table? It is still taught. A 2020 review by Newton and Salvi looked at educators in 18 countries. Nearly 9 in 10 still believed in learning styles. That review measured belief, not results. Dr. Nidhi Sachdeva studies how people learn at the University of Toronto. She was taught learning styles in her own teacher training, and she believed it. That’s not a science problem. That’s a systems problem. There is no shame in having believed it. Now that we know better, we get to do better.
A preference is real, but it is not a rulebook for how to teach your child.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
What does a label like “visual learner” do to a child?
Dr. Sachdeva names a harm that parents rarely hear about. A child is told she learns one way. Then she starts to believe it. She decides piano or swimming is not for her. She thinks she only learns by watching. A label meant to help turns into a limit she never chose.
She names a second harm, too. Some families pay for lessons and push a child to try new things. Those children get past the label. Other children accept it and stop trying new things. In her view, the myth widens the gap between those two groups of kids.
Skills are learnable. The useful question is not which style your child has. It is which skill she has not built yet, and what to teach first. Her preferences are real. They are not a rulebook for how to teach her.
Key takeaways
- Styles failed the test: Pashler (2008) and a 2024 meta-analysis found no support.
- A label turns into a limit: A style label narrows what a child thinks is open.
- Two habits for every learner: Pair words with pictures, then ask her to recall.
What helps every learner instead?
Dr. Sachdeva points to two ideas that help all learners. The first is dual coding theory, from the psychologist Paivio in 1971. The brain takes in words and pictures on two tracks at once. Say “apple,” and she hears the sound and pictures the fruit. Put a word beside a matching picture, and both tracks do the work. Her point is that pictures help everyone, not one type of child. Mind maps for writing use the same idea.
The second is retrieval practice. That means pulling an answer out of memory instead of reading it again. Work by Roediger and Karpicke points the same way. Recalling something helps it last. Spacing that practice out over days helps too, in work by Cepeda. Our infographic shows how recall gets stronger with practice.
Short lessons fit these habits well. For her doctoral work, Dr. Sachdeva built short midweek lessons. They spaced the practice and kept the load light. Her students came back to them more often. Months later, they still recalled the content on low-stakes quizzes.
She and the host share one test for any activity. What will your child remember months from now? A glitter diorama is fun. If all she recalls is the glue, the lesson did not land. Hands-on work passes this test only as a start. Blocks and counters help her see a math idea. The host and guest agree on the next step. She moves past the blocks to the numbers alone.
Try this tonight:
- Say the new idea out loud and show a picture that matches it.
- Close the book and ask, “What do you remember?”
- Ask again a few days later, with no warning.
- Keep it short and calm, more like a game than a test.
We give you the direction, not a number. How much each habit helps a given child is still an open question.
The useful question is which skill your child has not built yet, not which style she has.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Nobody will ever advocate for your child as hard as you will. You want her to know any skill is hers to learn. A system that still sorts children into types gets in the way. The free analysis asks what you see, and it does not diagnose. Only a professional evaluation opens an IEP or 504 plan. Start with the free Learning Difficulties Analysis.
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A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
