Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — We determine how strong people’s intelligences are by looking at both how much interest they have and how much ability they demonstrate. Both are essential for an intelligence to be strong. Interest in music is high in our culture. Just look at the number of iPods in use, the number of people who have downloaded music to their phones, and the number of iTunes accounts accessed regularly. But, not all the people listening to music have music smart as a strength. Are they interested in a variety of musical styles, are they open to discovering new styles and musicians, and do they remember music … [Read more...]
Is Authentic Relationship Simply a Nice Ideal To Talk About?
March 4, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Monday, I’ll post about discovering genuine hope and authentic answers for living a healthy life. — Today, I’m taking the day off and giving this space to an excellent, must-read piece from my friend and colleague, Randy Thomas. This post was on his personal blog last week and I knew I wanted you to read it as soon as I read it. I was going to pull out some of his statements to put here at the beginning to encourage you to read the whole post, but I can’t. There are too many great statements and the choice is too hard. Randy writes about the need for and value of authentic relationships. This goes right along with the belonging need I often blog about here. Many of Randy’s statements also fit our Celebrate Kids … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 2 – Logic Smart
February 27, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Does anyone drive you nuts by asking questions, questions, and more questions? Do you know someone who needs things to make sense? These people are logic smart. Last Wednesday, I blogged details about what it means to be word smart. Today’s blog will be about being logic smart. Dr. Gardner, the “father” of multiple intelligences labels this intelligence “logical-mathematical intelligence.” Just like with the other smarts, everyone has at least some logic smart ability. When using our logic smartness, we think with questions. We usually ask more questions when we get excited. When we’re … [Read more...]
Smart Interactions: An Orlando Example
February 13, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — We walked past many unique stores and restaurants. We noticed one restaurant up ahead with a patio area looking over the water. We headed there. We settled into our table. Blue water was off to my left. The large Fulton’s Crab House, designed as a river boat, was also there. Straight ahead sat my good friend, Christine. Past her, I noticed many red geraniums planted on the walk way. I hadn’t noticed them when walking to the patio. After attending a leadership retreat in Orlando with 70 colleagues, most of us were spending several hours at Downtown Disney. Christine Sneeringer and I began by … [Read more...]
Masks Matter
January 28, 2013 by · 2 Comments
Every Monday, I’ll post about discovering genuine hope and authentic answers for living a healthy life. — Doug, a member of the small group I attend at my church, wears a mask over his mouth and nose for health reasons. He’s had cancer and a transplant so his immune system is weak and he needs to guard his health. He has told us he doesn’t like wearing it. But, he does. Doug’s mask is life-giving. It protects him from something real. He’s not hiding behind it. He’s not choosing to be fake. What about us? It’s so tempting to wear masks so we can hide. Pretend to be perfect. Protect others from ourselves. To be fake. It’s dangerous and damaging, as Jill Savage points out in her must read, No More Perfect … [Read more...]
Have a Right Attitude Toward Personal Weakness
January 14, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Monday, I’ll post about discovering genuine hope and authentic answers for living a healthy life. — Right attitudes toward our weaknesses are essential. Without them, we may struggle to meet our five needs in healthy ways. For instance, as I explained to a group of teenagers last week and as I’ve blogged about before, spelling isn’t my strength. Imagine if it was a bigger deal to me than it needs to be. Imagine if I hadn’t found ways to compensate. I might answer the core questions like this: Security: Who can I trust? I can’t trust myself. I can’t even spell well! Identity: Who am I? I’m stupid. Spelling is hard for me. Belonging: Who Wants me? I have friends, but I better not let them know spelling … [Read more...]
Studying With All 8 Smarts
November 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — As the semester continues, are you hearing more complaints from your students or children? Are they less motivated to complete their homework well than they were when the school year began? Is it harder to get them to focus and persevere? Remember that studying and practicing with all eight smarts helps motivation and comprehension. It can also enhance memory and, therefore, the application of truth. Depending on what’s being learned and studied, all 8 could be used for quick repetition in one study session. It’s also wise to use them over time. Children can use one-two each night when reviewing … [Read more...]
Welcomed. Precious. Smiled upon. Beautiful. Celebrated.
November 5, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Every Monday, I’ll post about discovering genuine hope and authentic answers for living a healthy life. — Welcomed. Precious. Smiled upon. Beautiful. Celebrated. … A week ago, it was my joy to share with the faculty of Train Up A Child Preschool and Kindergarten of Abiding Savior Church in Sioux Falls, SD. Like many other teachers I’m privileged to meet and influence, they were teachable, joyful, and unified. I was assigned three topics on Friday and two more for Saturday, when parents and others from the community joined us. Each topic was important and related to raising and teaching children according to God’s best principles. A highlight for me was the first topic on Friday. We read and discussed passages from … [Read more...]
Thought Provoking Discussion Starters #37: How do you decide who to commit to?
October 12, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Every Friday, I’ll post thought provoking discussion starters. — Commitment. It came up as a subject during a recent panel discussion I participated in. What do you think about it? Important? Easy? Hard? Does it depend on the other person or only you and your choice to commit? How do you decide who to commit to? How do you know when you’re committed to someone? How might they know? If they don’t commit to you, can you stay committed to them? Do you? Does commitment look different for different generations? Is it valued differently and, if so, is that a point of contention? Would discussing it help? … [Read more...]
Our “Smarts” Enrich Relationships
September 19, 2012 by · 2 Comments
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Last week, I wrote about how music can enrich a child’s childhood and also their adult lives. They might still have music ability. Or, they might just have interest. Either or both will serve them well. The same is true for picture smart and body smart and I’ll enjoy addressing those in other posts. One of the ways intelligences enrich lives is through relationships. The way we are smart allows us to connect deeply with others. Friendships can form and can last forever. This is true for me in several areas, but especially with my brother, Dave, his wife, and my cousins. As I wrote last week, my … [Read more...]
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