Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Although it’s helpful to teach and learn about our eight intelligences in isolation, in practice they don’t work alone. For instance, because word smart involves listening, speaking, reading, and/or writing, it’s very rare that we’re not using it. Those of you who are very picture smart probably always have pictures in your mind. They just naturally appear to help you. Our smarts aren’t always automatically engaged. If we choose to use them anyway, even when we don’t need to, we’ll have richer experiences. (Students will have deeper understanding and a longer memory for what … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 8 – Self Smart
April 17, 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. — Howard Gardner’s research that determined we each have eight intelligences has certainly encouraged thousands and thousands of people. I’ve enjoyed writing about each of the eight intelligences in detail these past two months. Today, we finish this series with details about self smart, or intrapersonal intelligence. Although last in our list, it’s not last in importance. The importance of each is determined by our call, passions, and purposes. For some people, this intelligence is key to their success so they’d rate it high in importance. Others wouldn’t. As I explained in their posts, word … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 7 – People Smart
April 10, 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. — I sometimes joke that people-smart children go to school for their friends and teachers get in their way. People laugh. It’s not exactly true. It’s close, though. People smart, or interpersonal intelligence, is the seventh of our eight intelligences I’m presenting in this series of posts. As with the other smarts, everyone has at least some of it. It may be your strength and your child’s strength. Or, it may not be. Those of us with people-smart strengths think with other people. We talk even more when we get excited. You know you’re people smart if your ideas are clarified … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 6 – Nature Smart
April 3, 2013 by · 2 Comments
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — “It sure is ugly outside today.” “What do you mean?” “You know. It’s so cloudy and foggy. It’s dark and the air just looks heavy today.” “It’s just another kind of beauty.” “What?” “It’s just another kind of beauty.” A friend and I had this conversation. I’m the one asking “What?” with disbelief in my voice and a perplexed expression on my face. My friend is so nature smart that she sees beauty in it all. Because of her, I’m more nature smart then I used to, but I’m still not as nature smart as she is. Nature-smart children would rather be outside than inside. … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 5 – Body Smart
March 20, 2013 by · 4 Comments
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Each of our smarts, or intelligences, is born into us, but must be awakened by meaningful encounters with people and/or things. My body smart, or bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, was awakened when my parents enrolled me in ballet and tap dance lessons when I was about six-years-old. Prior to dance class, I was certainly moving, but I was clumsy and unsure of myself. Dancing increased my confidence and coordination. I went from taking lessons to becoming an assistant teacher. When I got older, I especially enjoyed softball and racquetball. I also spent years on drill teams and in marching bands. These … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 4 – Music Smart
March 13, 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. — 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...]
New Series: Explaining Our Smarts Part 1 – Word Smart
February 20, 2013 by · 7 Comments
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — I’ve been blogging about multiple intelligences for a long time because I believe in the value of this Model, but I’ve rarely devoted a post to just one smart to more fully explain it. I believe I’ll start a series of those today. Reading all 8 posts will provide you with a nice understanding of the entire model. Dr. Howard Gardner is responsible for having discovered that we each have eight intelligences. One of those is linguistic intelligence. Dr. Gardner’s former colleague, Dr. Tom Armstrong, uses more accessible terms that I also prefer, partly because I enjoy teaching children about these. … [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...]
Motivating Children is Not a “One Size Fits All” Situation
January 9, 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. — Encouraged. That’s how I feel when pondering the reality that God generously created us with eight different intelligences. After years of studying, writing, and teaching about this topic, I’m still in awe of God’s choice. Our smarts help us and our children in so many ways. We can learn and study with all eight and learn to communicate in a variety of ways. They can also help us when disciplining children and motivating them to be successful. Sometimes children need more than our words and teaching to help them behave in proper ways. Consequences (punishments and rewards) may be necessary. … [Read more...]
Intentional Thankfulness (Part 1 of 2)
November 19, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Figuring out how children are smart benefits them and us in numerous ways. They believe more in their abilities to learn and will often invest more energy in school and learning. Therefore, they’ll be more successful. Children who know how they are smart have a healthier and more complete identity. They’ll believe more in their competence. They’ll often understand more about their purpose, know how to relate to people in better ways, and trust themselves and others through how they are smart. Knowing they are smart can definitely increase their hope. Intelligences can be applied to many areas of life, including gratitude. Imagine - what if we applied our understanding of how children are smart to how we express gratitude? This … [Read more...]
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