In the wonderful book How Am I Smart?,
Dr. Kathy Koch explains that Howard Gardner, the “father” of the multiple
intelligence theory, "determined that everyone is born
with…eight…intelligences.” In other words, each person has some innate ability
in each of eight different areas: word smart, logic smart, music smart, picture
smart, body smart, nature smart, people smart, and self smart. Drs. Gardner and
Koch demonstrate that though “each intelligence has to be awakened…they’re [all]
there [from the beginning], built into each child at birth.”
Now, to be sure, God is as
creative here as He is in making snowflakes or in using a limited number of
lines and whorls to stamp every person who’s ever lived with a unique
fingerprint. So each individual has a different mix of the “smarts.” For
example, I am very word- and music-smart, and I’m fairly body-, self-, and
picture-smart, too. But I’m not very nature-smart; I do not much notice the
variety of plants and animals around me and, frankly, I don’t really enjoy
being outdoors. But according to the theory, I do have some nature smart, no
matter how limited.
Another important thing to
remember, particularly as we apply the theory with our children in mind, is
that every intelligence must – and can – be awakened and developed. In fact,
the smarts will not sufficiently grow and become useful in a child’s life
unless they are brought to light and then exercised.
One way to do this is to
expose children to a wide variety of different experiences, starting in infancy
and continuing through adolescence. For example, take them to music concerts –
whether free city band shows in the park or symphony performances. Enroll them
in “physical education” classes – dance, soccer, T-ball, gymnastics – and
(within reason) allow them to try different sports at different times (instead
of forcing them to choose one focus too early). Make available some simple but
valuable “learning toys” – Legos, intricate puzzles, Sudoku – to develop logic
smart. Provide opportunities for both time alone (for self-reflection) and
group interaction. Incorporate nature walks and visits to zoos and aquariums
into your curriculum. Encourage drawing and crafting, both as a part of
schoolwork and just for fun. Allow your children the means to write or
otherwise record the stories that fill their heads with words. The possibilities
are only limited by your imagination and ability to research the options!
The constraints inherent in
many traditional school settings – large classes, discipline issues, the
pressure to “make” children test well – present many challenges for public and
private school teachers who want to acknowledge and develop each individual’s
multiple intelligence strengths. Thus, in typical classrooms, the emphasis and
value are often placed on word- and logic-smart – the intelligences that can
most easily be assessed by seatwork and paper-and-pencil tests. As a result,
children who have high levels of one or the other smart do well in those
settings and are labeled (by themselves and others) as “the smart ones.”
But where does that leave
other children, those whose word- and logic-smart might be relatively low but
who excel in other areas? All too often, for example, the body-smart child is
labeled “ADHD” – even without a formal, medical diagnosis – and parents are
pressured to medicate her. Or the picture-smart child is disciplined for
daydreaming, even if the doodles in his notebook are his way of listening to
and appropriating into his memory the botany lecture. And a self-smart child
may be deemed “anti-social” and, thus, become the target of bullies.
Some of that is unavoidable
in traditional schools, even if particular teachers do their best within an
untenable system to incorporate activities that allow expression of all the
intelligences. However, in home education, we have a much easier job in that
regard. In fact, one of the reasons we homeschool is undoubtedly to allow each
of our children the freedom to grow and develop as he’s been designed. And so
in homeschooling, we naturally provide individualized instruction.
In spending most of every
day with your children, you surely know each one quite well; in fact, you may
have been able to loosely categorize the “smarts” of each one from my brief
descriptions here. However, I’ve barely scratched the surface. And as with any
building task, good tools help immensely. Thus, I highly recommend that you get
your hands on a copy of How Am I Smart? this
summer.
In it, Dr. Koch explains in
layman’s terms the theories developed by Dr. Gardner and others. And she has
packed the book with practical examples for identifying and working on each
smart. She writes from a Christian perspective, but parents of all faith backgrounds
have thoroughly enjoyed and benefitted from it. So why not devote some time
this summer to reading about how each of your kids is smart in eight different
ways?
LT
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