Different Kinds of "Smarts": Supporting Children's Intelligence

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s your child grows from being a baby to toddler to preschooler you notice what most interests your child, what types of toys your child likes, and what kinds of activities your child enjoys most. As you get to know your child, you are also learning your child's abilities and what your child is good at doing. Most likely these activities and abilities will be good indicators of your child's "intelligence type." The main ways children's intelligence and abilities are judged in our school systems are through their language and math skills. These are very important skills all children should learn. As a parent, it is important that your child does well and succeeds in school. However, it is helpful to know that there are many ways to show intellectual ability. Not everyone is "book smart." Multiple intelligences* are a set of different ways to look at how children (and all people) are smart and skillful. Understanding that children can be intelligent and good at different things allows you to help your child learn and succeed by seeing the world through her eyes. It can help you understand how she best shows what she knows and can do. *Multiple Intelligences is a concept and approach developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner. Gardner says there are at least seven different ways to show intellectual ability. His findings expand the idea of intelligence or the way that people think, problem-solve, and understand beyond the measure of typical intelligence tests (IQ). IQ tests heavily depend on verbal and logical/mathematical ability. Schools typically rely heavily on verbal and mathematical ability as well. His work has helped educators reach children in other ways to help them develop to their full potentials. More than One Way to Be Smart There are several types of intelligence. Howard Gardner has come up with seven to nine types. We will focus on the first seven (the other two are called naturalist and spiritual intelligence). According to the theory, all people have intelligence in all of these areas. Consider the seven types of intelligence depicted in the pie chart to the left and determine the ones in which your child is strongest. Knowing How Your Child is Smart is Helpful So how does knowing the types of intelligence help you with your child? It can help you to provide the types of activities and experiences at home that will help your child to learn and express himself in a way that is most natural to him. Even so, children need to be exposed
to a variety of experiences and be allowed to participate in many kinds of learning and activities. Knowing your child's intelligence type does not mean you ignore other skills and abilities. For example, even though your child may not be very coordinated or able to play soccer well, it does not mean you should not allow your child to participate. Also, if your child's strength does not happen to be in the language or math area, it does not mean your child cannot learn to read or learn to add. All children need to learn to read, use language, and do math computations. It just means that using your children's strengths can help them learn to read and do math easier. Children do not begin to show a strong intelligence type until after age 2. But it doesn't matter what age your child is, you can support his learning by allowing him to participate in a variety of activities and experiences. As your child gets older, his most outstanding skills will become clearer. By being aware of your child's type or preferred way of learning, you can work with his child care providers and teachers to ensure teaching methods that reflect your child's type of abilities. As a parent, the best way to support your child in school is to be prepared and have as much information to share about your child as possible. Every child has their own gifts. Once you know what your child's gifts are you can talk with your child's teachers and say, "this is how my child is smart."
TYPES, ABILITIES, SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES
Type
Skills
Support You Can Give
Visual-Spatial
Doing puzzles, reading, writing, drawing, visual arts, having a good sense of direction, designing objects, fixing things
Give your child plenty of materials to able to draw, write,paint
Start with puzzles with fewer pieces, and as child getsolder, have puzzles with more piecesFor school-age children:
Introduce to graphic arts
Try mazes
Verbal- Linguistic
Speaking, storytelling, writing, listening, using humor, remembering information, using language cleverly
Provide lots of books and reading materials. Read stories together.
Give child materials to write. Have her make a book and read it to you when she is old enough.For school-age children
Get them enrolled in learning another language
Play word, board or card games
Logical-Mathematical
Problem solving, categorizing classifying, working with geometric shapes
Give your child building toys
Play matching games
Have your child look for objects at home and put theminto categories: all red objects, all round shapesFor school-age children
Give them games that involve logic and numbers
Bodily-Kinesthetic
Dancing, sports, acting, anything requiring physical coordination, creating with hands
Make music a daily part of their activities, have free time to dance and move
Act out stories with dance only
Allow your child to try different kinds of sporting activities For school-age children
Enroll child in team sport she likes
Musical-Rhythmic
Singing, playing musical instruments, composing music
Play music around the house
Introduce your young to basic musical sounds and instruments: bells, drummingFor school-age children
Let them learn to play a musical instrument or take formal music or dance lessons
Interpersonal
Able to see other's point of view, listening, able to pick up on cues from others, good at forming good relations with other people, conflict resolution; good leaders
Make sure your child has lots of interactions with other children
For older children, encourage your child to participate in group activities, take a leadership roleFor school-age children
Enroll in groups such as Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, or other team-building groups
Intrapersonal
Figuring out their own strengths and weaknesses, analyzing, understanding themselves and how they relate to others
Allow your child to take time to think before making choices, when possible.
Allow your child to be quiet and reflective
If your child is hesitant or shy, don't force the issueFor school-age children
Have your school-ager keep a journal - activities, thoughts, whatever he would like
Find independent projects your child can work on
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