Multiple Intelligences Your Child Possesses
There are nine multiple intelligences today. Originally Howard Gardner, who wrote about the M.I. theory (1983), suggested seven, but later added the final two. Given that all children display strengths in specific areas of the brain,so let’s get started discovering what they are.
- Visual/spatial – learn best by seeing and creating images in the mind’s eye.
- Logical/mathematical – display a knack for numbers, abstract and critical thinking
- Linguistic/verbal – learn best by reading, writing, and memorizing.
- Kinesthetic/bodily – learn best by applying physical actions and manipulating objects
- Auditory/musical – learn best by setting information to music (the alphabet song)
- Interpersonal – learn best by communicating and debating subjects
- Intrapersonal – learn best through self-reflection, predicting reactions to stimuli
- Naturalist – learn best by comparing and contrasting topics to natural things
- Existential/spiritual – show skill in pondering life, death, and beyond
Click on the links below to go directly to the intelligence you want to view.
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M.I. |
Understand Your Child Better, Answer the Questionnaire
· Print the checklist. (Have I mentioned yet that you can save ink by making a “fast”copy of most pages? Look on your printer preferences for a word like “quality”and choose “fast”or the lower quality.)
· Date it and write your child’s name on it. (Find a quiet area to work.)
· Answer it. (Depending how young she is, assist her with vocabulary.)
· Score and analyze it.
· File it and review it next year. And in the meantime…
Strengths, Skills, and Careers
Compare the areas that indicate your child’s strengths with her interests in everyday activities. Do they seem accurate to you? What is your child’s favorite subject? In what type of activities does your child demonstrate her greatest happiness? Do you ever hear yourself thinking “She’s a natural” when she’s doing something?
Begin observing her activities and interests in terms of her learning strengths or weaknesses. For example, if she read a chapter in her science book, but you noticed she missed some of the important details, review the material with her according to her strengths. Click on the page links below to learn more about your child's strengths and how to build greater skills in each multiple intelligences.
