Multiple Intelligences

Are you concerned that your child is not intelligent? Let me tell you about Danny. He struggled with schoolwork. His mom tried numerous ways to teach him to read and master basic math skills. He looked at a reading passage in his native tongue and sighed, “Even though I can read the words, it feels like a foreign language. I have no idea what it’s trying to say.”

Is Danny intelligent? Yes. I know this young man. He’s amazing. As a seventh grader, without any training, he took apart the stereo system in the family car, added two speakers and made surround sound. As a young adult he saw a lonely young boy and connected in a way few could. He can snowboard down mountains that make me tremble.

Intelligence can have a broader meaning than “book smarts.” Danny has spatial, interpersonal, and kinesthetic intelligence. Traditional schools equate only linguistic and logical skills with intelligence. Looking at intelligence in different ways helps us appreciate and develop our children’s unique gifts.

Howard Gardner coined the phrase “multiple intelligences” in 1983. He includes eight categories in his definition of intelligence.

Visual-spatial (image smart)
Verbal-linguistic (word smart)
Logical-mathematical (math smart)
Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)
Musical-rhythmic (music & sound smart)
Interpersonal (people smart)
Intrapersonal (self smart)
Naturalist (nature smart)

If your child struggles with academics, I encourage you not to set aside teaching reading, writing, and math, but don’t let that take over your life. Find out where your child shines and develop his strengths.

You can use your child’s natural intelligence to develop the areas that are difficult for him. (i.e. A music-smart child will learn math facts more easily if they are sung. A people-smart student will be more inclined to write well if he talks through with you what he wants to say before he ever begins writing. A body-smart person may memorize vocabulary words more quickly if he can act out them out.) You’ll find lots of great ideas at this site:
http://lth3.k12.il.us/rhampton/mi/MIIDENTIFIED.htm

You can probably figure out your child’s intelligence without this test, but if you want to assess yourself or your child, try this test:

http://www.literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

Do you have 20 minutes? This TED lecture made me eager to encourage creativity in the next generation of children. It gave me hope for children who don’t fit into the traditional mode of intelligence.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4964296663335083307#