How is your child smart?

Boost your child's success by understanding his learning style.

I came across this interesting article about learning styles. Parents and teachers have always intuitively known that children learn in different ways and that an activity that grabs one child may not be of interest to another. But many of our traditional ideas about teaching imply that there is a certain way to learn particular skills. As parents, we've all had times when we've become frustrated by our children's apparent inability to accomplish a task the way we were taught to do it. When we have a better understanding of their individual intelligences and learning styles, we can provide experiences that speak to how our children learn best.

There are many ways to learn. One of the benefits of the multiple intelligence theory is that it offers parents many options — if a child isn't responding to a particular activity, there are many other approaches to try. Rick and I have had an ongoing discussion about this truth. He learns in a certain way and I learn in another. I'm not good at memorizing facts and figures and regurgitating them. He is. I'm not good at taking multiple choice tests. He is. I'm good at remembering things if I can hear or see it first and then tell it back. This is why together we make a complete person! We do actually function well as a team because we both have strengths and weaknesses that compliment each other. Halleluiah!

I thought it would be interesting to think about our four kids and how they plug into these intelligences. Of course they have ability in most of the areas, but I think they excel in some more than others. What do you think?

The eight intelligences are:

1. Linguistic - Sensitivity to the meaning and order of words. These children use an expanded vocabulary and usually like to tell jokes, riddles or puns. They also like to read, write, tell stories and play word games. (this is Rick to a T. He is very smart linguistically. Claire and Jord has strong abilities in the learning style as well.)
2. Logical-mathematical - The ability to handle chains of reasoning and to recognize patterns and order. These learners enjoy working with numbers, want to know how things work, ask lots of questions, and collect items and keep track of their collections. (this is Dave to a T. He is AMAZING with numbers and math. Even though I'm not good at math, I do think I do well in logical chains of reasoning.)
3. Bodily-kinesthetic - The ability to use the body skillfully and to handle objects adroitly. Kinesthetic learners enjoy sports and love to be physically active. They tend to use body language, dance, act or engage in mime. (Andy, Dave, Claire and Jordan excel here, especially in mime!)
4. Musical - Sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone. These children love to listen to and play music, sing, hum, move to the rhythm, and create and replicate tunes. (Jord does very well in this area.)
5. Spatial -The ability to perceive the world accurately and to re-create or transform aspects of that world. These learners doodle, paint, draw and build with blocks. They also enjoy looking at maps, doing puzzles and mazes, and taking things apart and putting them back together. (Claire and Dave for sure.)
6. Naturalist - Recognizing and classifying the numerous species, the flora and fauna, of an environment. These kids like to spend time outdoors observing plants, collecting rocks and catching insects, and are attuned to relationships in nature. (outdoor lover Andy.)
7. Interpersonal -Understanding people and relationships. These children have many friends and tend to mediate between them and be excellent team players. (Andy excels in this arena. He has more friends than anyone I know and he relates to many different groups of people. Jord is also very good in this area.)
8. Intrapersonal - The ability to use one's emotional life as a means to understand oneself and others. Children with this type of intelligence control their own feelings and moods and often observe and listen. They do best when working alone. (Dave and Claire have some of these learning tendencies.)

What do you think? Did I get them right?