What are the Four Steps?

There are four basic steps in each Heart of Wisdom Unit Study lesson. Studies show this four-step method motivates students to comprehend the material better and retain the information longer.

Studies show that 70 percent of children do NOT learn well the way the schools teach- lecture/textbook/test - most students need more. The four step lessons is a way to teach to all four learning styles. It does not isolate one type of learning but, instead, teaches in all ways so that students relate to the subject in the way that is the most comfortable for them and discover how to learn in other ways.

The Four Learning Styles Identified are:

	Type 1: Creative Learners are people people. They need to know how the material relates to their lives in a personal way. These type learners do well with praise and feedback.
	Type 2: Analytic Learners are interested in finding out facts. These type learners do well in school with the lecture/study/ test methods. Most children need more.
	Type 3: Practical Learners are curious about how things work; 95% of engineers tested are type 3 learners. They perceive things concretely and process actively.
	Type 4: Influential Learners are self learners. They need to find ways to use the material in life.

In the last 20 years, neurosurgeons have discovered that each of the two hemispheres of the brain is responsible for different modes of thinking and specializes in certain skills. Studies reveal that the left brain is mostly responsible for logic, sequence, and rational thinking. The right brain is mostly responsible for random, unordered, and intuitive creativity. Other categories relate learning styles of personality types. A student’s age, home environment and background are also factors.

The fact is that people have different preferences in all areas of life. Some of us like broccoli and some of us like spinach. Some of us prefer red and some prefer blue. Some of us prefer discussion and interaction and some prefer to be quiet and alone. And of course, in different stages of life, we change and our preferences change.

The scientific studies that prove we learn in different ways should not be used to categorize or label. They should be used to realize the benefits of teaching new concepts through different modes of learning and to help children having difficulty grasping or retaining information. In fact, we should not teach to a particular style— else the student would only learn in one mode. We need to teach children to recognize their strengths and improve on their weaknesses.

Scientific studies show that people take in or perceive information differently and process information differently. The way we view the world is how we perceive information. Some learners need to “see” things concretely (through our five senses) to understand information. Other learners can understand information abstractly (visually understand what cannot be seen). How we process what we learn is the way we use the information. Some learners process reflectively while other learners process actively. When you combine the way one perceives and processes information, you get four basic learning styles.

For more on learning styles see

Learning Styles: Reaching Everyone God Gave You to Teach by Marlene D. LeFever

4Mat About Teaching; Format in the Classroom by Bernice McCarthy

These four steps in each lesson were utilized to plan a balanced curriculum. Students need all four processes of learning for engaged response and action. These four steps follow one another in a cycle of instruction. The four steps grew out of extensive research in learning styles, brain research and research on creativity. These four steps were designed with the understanding that different people have different learning preferences, or approaches to learning and that these differences (explained previously) can be addressed through a cycle of instruction.

A Word of Caution

Christians should be cautious when studying learning style theories. As with other truths, non-believers take a discovery, as the secular world often does, and distorts the principle to fit their secular world view. New Age and psychology take things like learning differences and brain dominance and will use them for an excuse for sin. The pagans of ancient Greece recognized that principle, labeled different personalities, and then distorted it to fit their pagan beliefs.

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are responsible for most of the psychological teachings of the four personality types. Both men were not only unbelievers: they were anti-Christian. The psychology that is creeping into our churches today is not in line with Biblical principles, is not of God and is ultimately destructive. Anytime psychology or the names Freud and Jung come into play a red flag
should wave.

This does not mean we must discount facts because the non-believers discovered them just as we would not discount discoveries such as the automobile or eyeglasses which we use every day because an atheist discovered it. The Bible describes how different people are given different gifts and talents. Anything you read about learning styles should line up with God’s Word and never be an excuse for sin or shortcomings.