How Children Learn Best

By Lisa Wilkin

Research has shown us how to optimize learning for children. It is what we should strive for to benefit all students, within the limits of funding and district structure.

• Children learn best in small groups, small classrooms, small schools.

• Children learn best when they are involved in active, in-depth learning. Hands-on experiences are better.

• Children learn best when they are allowed to make choices.

• Children learn best to make good decisions by making decisions not by following directions.

• Children learn best when they are successful both in the classroom and on the playground.

• Children learn best when the subject is interesting and meaningful to them personally. We want to create learning experiences that sustain a child's curiosity and are deeply engaging.

• Children learn best when they have a relationship with a consistent, caring adult over a long period of time.

• Children learn best in long blocks of ininterrupted time.

• Children learn best when their teachers are less concerned about if they got the right answer and more concerned with how they got to the answer.