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How Your Child Learns Best

Judy Willis · 2008

In a sentence

A neurologist and teacher provides parents with practical, brain-friendly strategies to enhance their child's learning, motivation, and school success by aligning educational activities with how the brain actually learns.

Written by a board-certified neurologist who is also a full-time classroom teacher, How Your Child Learns Best is a groundbreaking guide for parents of children ages three to twelve that bridges the latest brain research with the best classroom practices. In a world of high-stakes testing and rote memorization, this book shows you how to reignite your child's natural love of learning by making education a joyful, engaging, and personalized experience. You will discover how to identify your child's unique learning strengths and apply targeted, enjoyable strategies in key academic areas like reading, math, and science. By using the 'neuro-logical' techniques provided, you can help your child increase focus, lower test stress, improve memory and higher-level thinking, and ultimately build a better brain for lifelong success.

The model

This model illustrates how parent-led, brain-friendly learning strategies, aligned with a child's specific learning strengths, create positive psychological and cognitive states. These states, including reduced stress and active processing, act as mediators that lead to improved long-term knowledge retention, academic success, and a joyful attitude towards learning.

Brain-Friendly Learning Strategiesdesign lever

The application of parent-led educational activities and techniques designed to align with the brain's natural learning processes, emphasizing pleasure, novelty, multisensory input, and personal relevance.

Learning Strength Alignmentdesign lever

The degree of match between educational activities and the child's dominant learning style, categorized as either Auditory-Sequential (AS) or Visual-Spatial-Kinesthetic (VSK).

Positive Emotional Statepsychological state

A psychological and neurological state conducive to learning, characterized by low stress and high pleasure, curiosity, and interest, which allows information to pass through the brain's affective filter (amygdala).

Attentional Engagementpsychological state

A state of focused alertness where the brain's Reticular Activating System (RAS) prioritizes relevant learning stimuli, triggered by novelty, surprise, and personal interest.

Active Cognitive Processingbehavioral pattern

The mental manipulation of information using executive functions like patterning, prediction, and organizing to connect new data with prior knowledge and build durable memory.

Long-Term Knowledge Retentionoutcome metric

The successful encoding and storage of information into stable, lasting, and retrievable neural networks, resulting in meaningful understanding rather than transient rote recall.

Academic Successoutcome metric

The achievement of desired educational outcomes, including higher grades, improved test scores, and increased class participation, reflecting comprehension and mastery.

Joyful Learning Mindsetoutcome metric

An intrinsically motivated and positive disposition towards learning, characterized by sustained curiosity, resilience, and a sense of wonder.

How they connect

brain friendly learning strategies → influences positive emotional state
brain friendly learning strategies → influences attentional engagement
brain friendly learning strategies → influences active cognitive processing
learning strength alignment → influences positive emotional state
learning strength alignment → influences active cognitive processing
positive emotional state → mediates long term knowledge retention
attentional engagement → influences active cognitive processing
active cognitive processing → mediates long term knowledge retention
long term knowledge retention → predicts academic success
positive emotional state → predicts joyful learning mindset
academic success → influences joyful learning mindset

The story

The reader Parents of children aged 3-12 who want to see their child become a joyful, confident, and successful learner, reaching their full potential.

External problem

My child is bored, stressed, and struggling in school, losing their natural curiosity due to a rigid, one-size-fits-all curriculum focused on rote memorization and standardized tests.

Internal problem

I feel worried, frustrated, and helpless watching my child's love for learning fade. I'm afraid they are falling behind and that I don't know how to help them effectively.

Philosophical problem

A child's education should nurture their innate sense of wonder and joy, not crush it with uninspiring drills and high-stakes testing.

The plan

Understand the basic science of how your child's brain learns best.
Identify your child’s unique learning strengths (Auditory-Sequential or Visual-Spatial-Kinesthetic).
Apply enjoyable, brain-friendly strategies tailored to your child's strengths across all major school subjects.

Success

Your child rediscovers their joy for learning, becoming more confident, engaged, and successful in school.
You feel empowered and equipped with the tools to be an effective partner in your child's education.
Your home becomes a place of joyful discovery, where homework battles cease and your child develops critical thinking skills and a lifelong love of learning.

At stake

Your child continues to be disengaged and stressed by school, leading to a lifelong aversion to learning and unrealized potential.
You remain worried and frustrated, watching your child struggle in a system that doesn't fit their needs.
Your child's natural curiosity and sense of wonder are extinguished by a rigid, test-driven curriculum.

Questions this book answers

How does a child's brain actually process information and create long-term memories?
What are the key brain systems (RAS, amygdala, dopamine) that control attention, emotion, and memory in learning?
How can I identify my child's specific learning strengths (e.g., Auditory-Sequential or Visual-Spatial-Kinesthetic)?
What are practical, enjoyable, and brain-compatible strategies to help my child succeed in reading, math, science, and social studies?
How can I counteract the negative effects of rote memorization and 'teaching to the test' to foster genuine understanding and creativity?

Glossary

Brain-Friendly Learning Strategies: The set of parent-led educational activities and techniques designed to align with the brain's natural processes of learning, emphasizing pleasure, novelty, personal relevance, and multisensory input to make learning more effective and enjoyable.
Learning Strength Alignment: The degree of match between the mode of information presentation and learning activities with the child's dominant intelligence and preferred learning style, categorized as either Auditory-Sequential (AS) or Visual-Spatial-Kinesthetic (VSK).
Positive Emotional State: A neurological and psychological state conducive to learning, characterized by low stress, anxiety, and boredom, and high levels of pleasure, curiosity, and interest. This state allows information to pass through the brain's affective filter (amygdala) to the thinking cortex and is associated with the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Attentional Engagement: A state of focused mental alertness where the brain's sensory filter, the Reticular Activating System (RAS), prioritizes and allows relevant learning-related sensory information to reach the higher thinking centers of the brain, triggered by novelty, surprise, and personal interest.
Active Cognitive Processing: The mental manipulation of new information using the brain's executive functions to create meaning, build patterns, make predictions, and connect new data with prior knowledge. This process is essential for transforming information from short-term working memory into durable, long-term memory.
Long-Term Knowledge Retention: The successful encoding and storage of new information into stable, lasting, and retrievable neural networks (neuroplasticity), resulting in meaningful understanding rather than transient rote recall.
Academic Success: The achievement of desired educational outcomes, reflecting a child's comprehension and mastery of school subjects.
Joyful Learning Mindset: An intrinsically motivated and positive disposition towards learning, characterized by sustained curiosity, a sense of wonder, and the enjoyment of intellectual challenge and discovery.