I was listening to a Radio 4 programme this morning about a great educational charity called Iris who teach children Latin! They do more than that they teach about the ancient worlds and culture and it sounded brilliant. They teach in schools all over England and get great results and enthusiasm from the children involved. All well and good, I applaud and approve. Then I heard one of the people involved say “We want to show that Latin isn’t only for the bright and gifted children” I know what she meant.Does this imply those who don’t get it, find it difficult are not ‘bright and gifted’ Of course not! I think she meant … That they want to show it’s for everyone and needn’t have the stigma of being eclectic and only for the ‘posh’ schools 🙂 Though there was the implication that children who don’t do or learn easily the more academic subjects, the languages or perhaps maths and literature and sciences (all the left brain stuff!) they are the not so bright and gifted, because they prefer or find the other subjects easier, more interesting. Sport, woodwork, domestic sciences, art, crafts all the right brained creative stuff! I believe that all children are bight and gifted, just not all in the same things ….! They all have unique gifts and talents. There are many kinds of ‘learners’ different learning styles. I learnt this when I studied NLP and found out that my youngest son who was really struggling to read and write was a kinesthetic learner. He needed to move and feel and experience to learn, not just see and hear.
Our children and society will benefit when the education system embraces and encompasses all learning styles, offers more of the vital Life Skills to pupils delivered in a wide range of ways. We have to find ways of educating our children in inspiring, creative ways so that there is something for all pupils, those who are going to be our professors and scientists and our next Beckhams and Bloomenthals :o) See video clip of Spelling Strategy