The JumpStart Blog

Theory-etically Normal

Does it drive you out of your mind when your kids give up on something before they even really give it a fair try? When this happens, take a breath, relax, and realize that this is a common phenomenon. Your kids are just helping prove Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence.

According to Gardner, your child who had his multiplication tables down by age 6 is not necessarily more intelligent than your other child who struggled with his multiplication facts beyond the third grade. This child just might be stronger in a different type of intelligence like music, for example. This means when given the multiplication content through a different approach, like a rhythmic song, this child will most likely excel. Or perhaps, this child may even look at the process of multiplication on a whole different higher level that demonstrates true understanding instead of just rote memorization.

Gardner’s theory presumes that each of us possesses, to some degree or another, all eight intelligences. Some of them are simply more developed than others. And this is probably because learning comes easier and is more fun when it involves an area you’re good at. It’s only natural to do the things we enjoy and excel at more frequently than those activities we don’t like and aren’t good at. But, the good part about the brain is that it’s a muscle. And, just like the body, it can be toned and exercised in particular areas. This means we are all able to strengthen and improve our abilities in each of these areas of intelligence.

Tapping Into All Areas of Intelligence

In the November issue of the JumpStart Times, you were given the opportunity to put your kids to the test by asking them a series of questions to reveal their preferred learning style. Accompanying the results was a detailed learning profile. As you read the profile, you probably smiled to yourself and said, “That sure is my kid!” It’s amazing how precisely we can put ourselves and our kids into the categories. However, what about all the other learning groups that didn’t rank as their primary area of intelligence?

Don’t sweat it if your kids only seem to enjoy activities from three or four of the areas. That’s actually the way it should be. Just like anything in life, kids will show dominance in some areas and limitations in others.

More and more teachers are moving their classrooms away from the ‘one size fits all’ approach. Teachers are beginning to see the value of individualized instruction. Kids learn better and learning becomes more fun when it incorporates things you enjoy and are good at. As a teacher at the nation’s second largest middle school, kids in Ms. Hogan’s class were never doing the same project as the student sitting next to them. “Giving kids choices and allowing them to complete projects and approach problems using their preferred intelligence always leads to more learning” says Hogan. It’s also important for kids to have opportunities to experience all ways of thinking. By practicing the areas they’re less strong in, kids will be more prepared for finding success in life.

Your child may not realize what his preferred learning style is until he is exposed to it. So, that means you should be sure your kids get exposure and experiences with each of the learning styles.

Pumping Iron- Bringing Home the Learning

Growing your brain at home is simple. There are certain activities that speak to specific intelligences. By engaging your kids in these activities at home, they can begin to build up areas that need improvement and bulk up areas where they already excel.

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smarts)

• Telling and retelling stories, speaking, debating, presenting, reading aloud, dramatizing, making a book, reading nonfiction, researching, listening, writing, keeping a journal, writing a set of instructions, doing crossword puzzles, participating in memory games, creating and completing trivia quizzes
• Learns Best Through: saying, hearing, seeing, and writing words.

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smarts)

• Planning and attending parties, peer editing and peer teaching, cooperating and working with others, sharing, group work, playing with others, forming clubs, social awareness, conflict mediation, discussion, tutoring others, being part of a study group, brainstorming, understanding others’ feelings, debating
• Learns Best Through: cooperating, working in groups, and sharing.

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Personal Smarts)

• Journal writing and reflecting, independent projects and study, personal goal setting, having a choice, independent reading, meditating, yoga, having their own personal space, recognizing individual strengths and weaknesses, being original
• Learns Best Through: self reflection and working independently

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number Smarts)

• Problem solving, measuring, estimating, coding, sequencing, critical thinking, predicting, playing logic games, collecting and organizing data, experimenting, solving puzzles, classifying objects, learning and using the scientific method, manipulating money, using geometry, analyzing how something works, creating a process, devising a strategy, playing strategy games
• Learns Best Through: analyzing, asking questions, categorizing, and working with patterns

Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smarts)

• Doing hands-on experiments, activities, changing room arrangements, making up creative moves and dances, going on excursions and exploring new places, partaking in physical activities, doing crafts, acting things out/dramatizing, working with cooperative groups, juggling, getting involved in activities that involve coordination, playing charades
• Learns Best Through: moving, touching, and doing

Musical Intelligence (Music Smarts)

• Humming, making up songs/raps, playing background music, playing musical instruments, following and creating patterns, tapping out poetic rhythms, rhyming, singing, learning about musicians and composers, review a musical work, chanting and cheering
• Learns Best Through: use of melodies and songs, rhythm, and rhyme

Naturalist Intelligence (Environment Smarts)

• Being outdoors, cloud watching, identifying and classifying insects, building habitats, identifying plants, going on nature hikes, reading outside, using a microscope, dissecting things in nature, building and maintaining a garden, studying the stars, bird watching, collecting rocks, caring for animals, making bird feeders, going to the zoo
• Learns Best Through: working outside and observing nature

Visual/Spatial Intelligence (Art Smarts)

• Graphing, photography, painting, illustrating, building, visualizing, mapping stories, creating maps, doodling, making 3-D projects, using charts and organizers, sketching, visual puzzles, creating visual patterns, solving mazes,
• Learns Best Through: flashcards, colors, pictures, drawings, using the mind’s eye

By giving your kids opportunities to experience all of these areas when they’re young, you’ll be helping to ‘work out’ their brains. Their brain will enjoy the exercise and your kids will be more confident in their abilities in all areas. Launch the learning at home and let the brain do some hefty lifting. Your kids will thank you in multiple intelligent forms later on!

For more great multiple intelligence activities:

• “Nurture the Genius in Your Pre-Schooler” from EdnoLand
• “Different Ways of Learning” from the Association for Childhood Education International
• “Multiple Intelligences” from The Education Coalition
• “Multiple Intelligence Theory” from Suite101.com

Filed under: Learning Tips Tagged: | advice, learning