Celebrate Home School In Jakarta Indonesia

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:

	Linguistic intelligence ("word smart"):
	Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
	Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
	Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
	Musical intelligence ("music smart")
	Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
	Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
	Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

Dr. Gardner says that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, Dr. Gardner says that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live. Unfortunately, many children who have these gifts don’t receive much reinforcement for them in school. Many of these kids, in fact, end up being labeled "learning disabled," "ADD (attention deficit disorder," or simply underachievers, when their unique ways of thinking and learning aren’t addressed by a heavily linguistic or logical-mathematical classroom. The theory of multiple intelligences proposes a major transformation in the way our schools are run. It suggests that teachers be trained to present their lessons in a wide variety of ways using music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner reflection, and much more (see Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom). The good news is that the theory of multiple intelligences has grabbed the attention of many educators around the country, and hundreds of schools are currently using its philosophy to redesign the way it educates children. The bad new is that there are thousands of schools still out there that teach in the same old dull way, through dry lectures, and boring worksheets and textbooks. The challenge is to get this information out to many more teachers, school administrators, and others who work with children, so that each child has the opportunity to learn in ways harmonious with their unique minds (see In Their Own Way).

The theory of multiple intelligences also has strong implications for adult learning and development. Many adults find themselves in jobs that do not make optimal use of their most highly developed intelligences (for example, the highly bodily-kinesthetic individual who is stuck in a linguistic or logical desk-job when he or she would be much happier in a job where they could move around, such as a recreational leader, a forest ranger, or physical therapist). The theory of multiple intelligences gives adults a whole new way to look at their lives, examining potentials that they left behind in their childhood (such as a love for art or drama) but now have the opportunity to develop through courses, hobbies, or other programs of self-development (see 7 Kinds of Smart).

How to Teach or Learn Anything 8 Different Ways

One of the most remarkable features of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it provides eight different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning. Whether you are a kindergarten teacher, a graduate school instructor, or an adult learner seeking better ways of pursuing self-study on any subject of interest, the same basic guidelines apply. Whatever you are teaching or learning, see how you might connect it with

	words (linguistic intelligence)
	numbers or logic (logical-mathematical intelligence)
	pictures (spatial intelligence)
	music (musical intelligence)
	self-reflection (intrapersonal intelligence)
	a physical experience (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence)
	a social experience (interpersonal intelligence), and/or
	an experience in the natural world. (naturalist intelligence)

For example, if you’re teaching or learning about the law of supply and demand in economics, you might read about it (linguistic), study mathematical formulas that express it (logical-mathematical), examine a graphic chart that illustrates the principle (spatial), observe the law in the natural world (naturalist) or in the human world of commerce (interpersonal); examine the law in terms of your own body [e.g. when you supply your body with lots of food, the hunger demand goes down; when there's very little supply, your stomach's demand for food goes way up and you get hungry] (bodily-kinesthetic and intrapersonal); and/or write a song (or find an existing song) that demonstrates the law (perhaps Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing?"). 

You don’t have to teach or learn something in all eight ways, just see what the possibilities are, and then decide which particular pathways interest you the most, or seem to be the most effective teaching or learning tools. The theory of multiple intelligences is so intriguing because it expands our horizon of available teaching/learning tools beyond the conventional linguistic and logical methods used in most schools (e.g. lecture, textbooks, writing assignments, formulas, etc.). To get started, put the topic of whatever you’re interested in teaching or learning about in the center of a blank sheet of paper, and draw eight straight lines or "spokes" radiating out from this topic. Label each line with a different intelligence. Then start brainstorming ideas for teaching or learning that topic and write down ideas next to each intelligence (this is a spatial-linguistic approach of brainstorming; you might want to do this in other ways as well, using a tape-recorder, having a group brainstorming session, etc.). Have fun!  

 I don't remember how I learned to tell time.  So, when I was asked by a Wisconsin school district to develop a multiple intelligences way of teaching time to a group of lst graders, I was initially stymied.  My thoughts went back to my own teaching experience as a learning disability specialist.  My students' workbooks on telling time had them drawing in the large and small hands on pictures of clocks.  Bo-ring!  If we wanted to get a little more experiential, the special education office furnished cardboard clock faces.   Students were supposed to get "handson" experience by pushing the little hands around these faux clocks.  Not very inspiring.
        Fortunately, I had a new model of leaming--the theory of multiple intelligences--to help me in my quest.  Developed a little over 10 years ago by Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University, the theory of multiple intelligences consistently amazes me with its ability to serve as a template in constructing strategies for student success. 

The intelligences, briefly described, are: 

Linguistic: the intelligence of words.

Logical-mathematical: the intelligence of numbers and reasoning.

Spatial: the intelligence of pictures and images.

Musical: the intelligence of tone, rhythm, and timbre.

Bodily-Kinesthetic: the intelligence of the whole body and the hands.

Interpersonal:  the intelligence of social interactions

Intrapersonal:  the intelligence of self-knowledge

        At times, I almost think of Gardner as an archeologist who has discovered the Rosetta stone of leaming.  One can use this model to teach virtually anything, from the "schwa" sound to the rain forest and back.  The master code of this leaming style model is simple: for whatever you wish to teach, link your instructional objective to words, numbers or logic, pictures, music, the body, social interaction, and/or personal experience.  If you can create activities that combine these intelligences in unique ways, so much the better!

A Story of Time    

        When I marched into that classroom in Wisconsin to teach "time," I had no worksheets or tiny cardboard clock faces in my briefcase.  Instead, I began by telling them a story about a Land of No Time and how confusing it was for people there (they were always missing appointments).  The King and Queen sent a group of adventurers in quest of time because it was rumored that a Land of Time existed beyond the horizon.  After many exciting adventures, the group finally arrived.  They knew they'd arrived because there were clocks and watches everywhere!  They met with the King and Queen of Time and were told to contact a family who lived up on a hill on the outskirts of Times City; an Irish family named (appropriately enough) the O'Clocks!  They had 12 children.  The youngest was named One, the next in age Two, and so on down the line.  And twice a day, each child would climb up onto the highest point in the land and shout a little rhyme.  This is what One O'Clock's
rhyme sounded like:
   

My name's One O'Clock
I tell time
Listen while I sing
My timely little chime!   

BONG!   

        Well, the adventurers were excited when they heard and saw this.  They convinced the O'Clock family to come to the Land of No Time and set their home up on the highest point in the kingdom.  Now everyone in the land had a reference point, for all they had to do was look up and hear one of the kids sing a timely little chime."

        After hearing this story, students got up one at a time and stood in front of a huge handless plywood clock face five feet high and acted out the role of one of the O'Clocks.  At this point I mentioned that each of the O'Clock children had one huge hand and one tiny hand.  So with my assistance, each child made a different time with his or back to the clock and "hands" pointing to the appropriate numbers while they sang their special rhyme.   After we all gathered around a circle, I told them that the Land of Time (as it was now called) celebrated the O'Clocks' arrival by having special "clock dance" every year. Twelve students sat in an inner circle, each one holding up a number from 1 to 12, while students got inside the circle and created a time of day using their hands and/or feet.  Everyone danced around the clock to the tune of Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock." Then students went to their desks to write stories of the tale illustrated by clock faces showing different times.  After they were finished, they returned to the circle and shared their pictures and words.

        All of this took about an hour and a half.  During this time, students used their whole bodies, their musical voices, their logical (number counting) minds, their artistic selves, their cooperative spirit, and their own linguistic and personal intelligences to create images of telling time.   The possibilities for extending this brief lesson into a more extensive curriculum was positively mindboggling.  Students could put on a play of the story (interpersonal/bodily-kinesthetic), invent their own special time pieces (bodily-kinesthetic/ spatial), make up their own time songs or raps (musical/linguistic), keep a personal journal of special times in their day (intrapersonal/linguistic), and explore other ways of telling time historically or cross culturally.  This kind of approach to the curriculum begins to make worksheets with clock faces sound like educational malpractice!

A Blueprint for the Future   

        Of course, some educators may think that this learning philosophy works fine with younger kids but that when students reach middle or high school age, they need to put these frills aside and get serious about learning.  Unfortunately, this narrow perception of learning helps contribute to the alienation of adolescents.  Children do not leave their multiple intelligences behind once they reach puberty.  If anything, the intelligence become even more intense (especially bodily-kinesthetic and the personal intelligences).

        Consequently, students should be learning their algebra, ancient history, government, chemistry, literature, and more through multiple intelligences.  In algebra, students should be talking about the unknowns (the "x's") in their own lives.  In chemistry, they should be learning Boyle's law by puffing some air into their mouths (gas in a chamber) and then seeing the pressure go up when they put all the air into one side, where it occupies a smaller volume (Boyle's law: volume is inversely proportional to pressure).  They should be role-playing literature.  They should be interviewing, surveying, building, dramatizing, rapping, cooperating, computing, problem solving, sketching, and learning in a thousand other ways.  Why?  Because these are the activities that go on in the real world.  If we could travel the world and look at the many ways in which different cultures show their capabilities, we'd probably observe thousands of different intelligences.  The theory of multiple intelligences makes things a little simpler for us.  By chunking the broad range of human abilities into seven basic intelligences, we now have a map for making sense out of the many ways in which children learn, and a blueprint for ensuring their success in school and in life.
   

When Planning a Lesson, Ask the Right Questions!   

Certain questions help me look at the possibilities for involving as many intelligences as possible:

Linguistic: How can I use the spoken or written word?

Logical-Mathematical: How can I bring in numbers, calculations, logic, classifications, or critical thinking?

Spatial:  How can I use visual aids, visualization, color, art, metaphor, or visual organizers?

Musical: How can I bring in music or environmental sounds, or set key points in a rhythm or melody?

Bodily-Kinesthetic: How can I involve the whole body, or hands-on experiences?

Interpersonal: How can I engage students in peer or cross-age sharing, cooperative learning or large-group simulation?

Intrapersonal:  How can I evoke personal feelings or memories, or give students choices?

You won't always find ways of including every intelligence in your curriculum plans.  But if this model helps you reach into one or two intelligences that you might not otherwise have tapped, then it has served
its purpose very well indeed!
   

 Richard loved to tinker with mechanical devices.  As a 6-year-old, he took apart an alarm clock. At 9, he helped his dad fix the lawn mower.  In high school, he spent hours tearing apart and rebuilding stereo equipment.  Now, as a young adult, he's a sound technician for a professional theater company. Richard's parents encouraged his interests at an early age, which helped him become a successful adult.  However, Richard was never labeled as "gifted." In fact, he had trouble with math in school. The definition of "the gifted child" has traditionally been based on school-related skills and limited to the upper 5 to 10 percent of children who achieve high test scores, write well and excel academically.  These are certainly important, but there may be hundreds of other ways for children to show their gifts.  "Today's intelligence researchers emphasize that nearly all children-not just the celebrated 5 percent-have special talents, "says David G. Myers, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.  Studies at Harvard University bear this out, suggesting that kids can display intelligence in many different ways-through words, numbers, music,pictures, athletic or "hands-on" abilities, and social or emotional development. As an anonymous observer once said: "All children are gifted, some just open their packages later than others.  "You can play a crucial role in awakening latent talents or developing current strengths through experiences you give your child at home.  Here are 50 ways for you to bring out your child's best, regardless of how his gifts are packaged:
   

1.  Let your child discover her own interests.  Pay attention the activities she chooses. This free-time play can say a lot about where her gifts lie.

2.  Expose your child to a broad spectrum of experiences.   They may activate latent talents. Don't assume that he isn't gifted in an area because he hasn't shown an interest.

3.  Give your child permission to make mistakes.  If she has to do things perfectly, she'll never take the risks necessary to discover and develop a gift.  

4.  Ask questions.  Help your child open up to he wonders of the world by asking intriguing questions: Why is the sky blue?  Find the answers together.

5.  Plan special family projects.  Shared creativity can awaken and develop new talents.

6.  Don't pressure your child to learn.  If children are sent to special lessons every day in the hope of developing their gifts, they may become too stressed or exhausted to shine.  Encourage, but don't push.

7.  Have high expectations.  But make them realistic.

8.  Share your work life.  Expose your child to images of success by taking him to work. Let him see you engaged in meaningful activities and allow him to become involved.

9.  Provide a sensory-rich environment.  Have materials around the home that will stimulate the senses: finger paints, percussion instruments, and  puppets.

10. Keep your own passion for learning alive.  Your child will be influenced by your example.   

11. Don't limit your child with labels.  They may saddle her with a reputation that doesn't match her inner gifts. 

12. Play games together as a family.

13. Have a regular family time for reading, listening to music, talking.

14. Have reference materials available to give your child access to the world.

15. Allow your child to participate in community activities that interest her.

16. Use humor, jokes, silly stories to encourage creativity.

17. Don't criticize or judge the things your child does.   He may give up on his talents if he feels evaluated.

18. Play with your child to show your own sense of playfulness.

19. Share your successes as a family.  Talk about good things that happened during the day to enhance self-esteem.

20. Provide your child with access to a home, school or public library computer.

21. Listen to your child.  The things he cares about most may provide clues to his special talents.

22. Give your child a special space at home to be creative.

23. Praise your child's sense of responsibility at home when she completes assigned chores.

24. Visit new places as a family.

25. Give your child open-ended playthings.  Toys like blocks and puppets encourage imaginative play.

26. Give your child unstructured time to simply daydream and wonder.

27. Share inspirational stories of people who succeeded in life.

28. Don't bribe your child with rewards.  Using incentives to get children to perform sends a message that learning is not rewarding in its own right

29. Suggest that your child join peer groups that focus on her gifts.

30. Discuss the news to spark interests.

31. Discourage gender bias.  Expose your child to both feminine and masculine toys and activities.

32. Avoid comparing your child to others.  Help your child compare himself to his own past performance.

33. Be an authoritative parent.

34. Use community events and institutions to activate interests.  Take trips to the library, museums, concerts, plays.

35. Give presents that nourish your child's strengths.

36. Encourage your child to think about her future.   Support her visions without directing her into any specific field.

37. Introduce your child to interesting and capable people.

38. Think of your home as a learning place.  The kitchen is great for teaching math and science through cooking.

39. Share feelings.  A child's gifts can be stifled by repressed emotions. 

40. Encourage your child to read.

41. Honor your child's creation's. 

42. Do things with your child in his areas of interest.

43. Teach your child to trust her intuition and believe in her capabilities.

44. Give your child choices.  It builds willpower and fuels initiative.

45. Show your child how to use books to further an interest.   For example, "how to" books for the "hands-on" learner.

46. Set aside an area of the house for displaying creations and awards.

47. Encourage your child to tackle areas that are difficult for him.  Help him learn to confront any limitations.

48. Be a liaison between your child's special talents and the real world.  Help her find outlets for her talents.

49. Introduce children's literature that honors and develops gifts.  Books like the Little Engine That could encourage a "can do" attitude.

50. Accept your child as he or she is.

When Julia was nine, she created an imaginary world of "weepals." There were one hundred sixty-four of these fantasy creatures, each related to the others in some way, and each with its own name, personality and physical characteristics.  She even designed houses and furniture for them.   Now, at the age of twenty-three, Julia manages a real-life social system.  She coordinates the activities of several departments in a law firm. Childhood creativity was a key ingredient in Julia's grown-up success.  In the same way, the seemingly innocent, aimless activities that your child engages in--making up funny songs, inventing strange contraptions made of household odds and ends, drawing crazy cartoons--may be instrumental in helping to prepare the way for later accomplishments.Childhood is a time of natural creativity and curiosity.  But while many people grow up and lose this precious gift in the "reasonable" world of adulthood, those who maintain a connection with their creative self find a world of satisfaction and richness that can't be measured.  What can you do to foster this vital capacity in your own kids?

1. Nourish your own creativity.  If a child grows up in a household where the adults around him suffer from psychosclerosis (hardening of the mind), then he will likely come down with a bad case of it, too.  Share with your child your own creations--poems, drawings, stories, even ones from your own childhood,if you still have them.  Every day, vow to be a little bit whimsical and spontaneous: Create a funny voice, make up a silly dance, point out something around the house or in the neighborhood that you hadn't noticed before.  Encourage new ways of seeing the world and novel ways of doing conventional things.

2. Avoid judgments, criticisms and comparisons.   Evaluation kills creativity.  If a child feels that his creations will inevitably be subject to judgments ("You forgot to put a door on that house") or comparisons ("Put more color in your drawings, like your brother does"), he will either stop producing altogether or will simply make what other people want him to make.   Uniqueness will be replaced by cliches.

3. Honor your child's individuality.  Accept her creations with an open mind, even if they seem flawed or incomplete.  Remember that the creative process is an uneven one, consisting of dead ends, misconceptions, errors and the occasional brilliant flash of insight.  By allowing the entire process to occur unimpeded by your prejudices, you can honor your child's creativity and make it that much easier for her to find the right way to express herself.

4. Don't force her to do something.  There are those who prefer to package creativity and market it like a new toy.  But creativity can't be pushed and prodded.  In fact, pressure can cause creativity to go into a permanent state of decline.  Your child may go through long periods of seeming stagnation only to burst through with renewed vitality.  Be patient!

5. Provide the resources they need.  You can't be creative in a vacuum: Children must be exposed to materials and experiences that trigger ideas and feelings.  But remember, it doesn't take much to spark a child's creativity--building blocks, a cardboard box, a puppet, paper and crayons are often much better than the latest superhero action figure or electronic doll in encouraging creativity.  Try the following simple-to-do activities at home:

	Invent-a-Machine.  Give your child all boxes of different sizes, glue, scissors, variety of buttons, knobs, pipe cleaners, string and other household items.   Suggest he create his own machine or other construction (older kids may want to add battery operated bulbs and motors).
	Pencil Talk.  Take a large sheet of shelf paper, some pencils, markers or crayons, and have a "conversation" with your child.  The catch: You can't talk; you have to draw what you want to say. This might even turn into an ongoing visual dialogue or a pictorial story lasting several days.  Ask everyone in the family to join in.
	Messing-Around Center.  Set aside a special area of the house (a corner of your child's room is a good place) where can engage in unstructured creative activities.   Stock the area with art supplies, clay, science-kit materials, building blocks, percussion instruments, puppets, dress-up clothes.
	Composer's Corner.  Has your child shown an interest in music?  You might buy or rent an inexpensive piano or even an electronic keyboard.  Set up a corner where she can create her own melodies.  How about recording her songs or giving a concert for the family ?
	Loonie Link-Ups.  Invite your child to cut out pictures from magazines, and then take five or six unrelated pictures and make up a story that links the pictures together in a continuous narrative.  Once you get things started, have your child tell his own stories.
	Big Box Blow-Out.  Get a large cardboard box from an appliance store and let your child decide what he'd like it to be. A spaceship?  A house?  A puppet theater?  Let him paint or draw his own designs on it.
	Record-O-Rama.   Provide your child with a tape recorder, camera or camcorder, and let her create her own "stories" from the sounds and sights she puts together.  Give her the opportunity (if she wishes) to present her production to the family.
	World-Making.  Using figurines, miniature buildings, plants, and other small shapes and materials, your child can create little towns or worlds; these can be set in a sandbox, on a sheet of plywood, or in a quiet corner of a room.
	Silly Squiggles.  Draw a simple abstract shape on a sheet of paper and ask your child to make up different things it could be (e.g., a straight line might be two ants carrying a piece of string, etc.); have your child create his own silly squiggles.
	Kookie Questions.  Ask your child whimsical questions that evoke creative responses: What if everyone had an extra eye in the back of his head?  What if dogs could talk?  Invite her to create her own questions.
	TV Tales.  Turn off a TV show (one that tells a story) ten minutes before it ends, and take turns making up your own endings to the plot (if you wish, you can record the remaining segment and compare your endings with those of the TV screenwriters).
	Smudge Sightings.  Go outside and look at the clouds, and together search for "pictures" in the billowy shapes.  Other places to look for images of things: smudges on walls, scribbles on sheets of paper, the bark of trees.

  Every school day at 11:00 a.m. sharp, Jimmie leaves his regular fifth-grade class and goes to the "gifted and talented" room.  There he designs futuristic model homes, builds complex geometric solids from cardboard, and brainstorms ways of solving the energy crisis.   The reason for the daily switch is that Jimmie was identified several years ago as a gifted child, based on an IQ test he took that ranked him in the top 3 to 5 percent of the student population in the nation.  Jimmie is one of nearly two million schoolchildren in the United States who are in gifted programs that provide enrichment ranging from great-books discussion groups to critical-thinking seminars to courses in creative problem-solving.

        Such activities are offered to a select group of kids, with the intent of providing the intellectual stimulation that's missing from the average American classroom.  However, as important as gifted education may be in developing the talents of our nation's academic elite, there's growing concern among educators and parents that these programs leave out a substantial proportion of schoolchildren who have different talents and abilities that also deserve to be recognized and developed.

         One of the most frequently cited objections to gifted education concerns the use of tests--particularly IQ tests--in determining who gets into special programs.  Such a procedure favors children who possess what Joseph Renzulli, a professor of education at the University of Connecticut, calls "schoolhouse giftedness.” "Schoolhouse giftedness might also be called test-taking or lesson learning giftedness," he says.  "Because it is the kind most easily measured by IQ or other cognitive-ability tests, it is also the type most often used to select students for entrance into gifted programs." This seriously limited definition of giftedness discriminates against kids who may be poor test-takers yet who possess other talents and traits such as creativity, curiosity, leadership, and problem-solving ability.   

Plenty of Ability   

        Fortunately, educational programs do exist that aim to identify talents and abilities in a broader segment of the school population instead of kust in those children who score highest on traditional intelligence tests.  One such program, at the Minter Bridge Elementary School in Hillsboro, Oregon, considers every student in the school eligible for the gifted and talented program.  Using a model developed by Renzufli and his colleagues, teachers offer enrichment activities to all the students.  At the beginning of the school year, the staff polls students about their top ten interests, and their responses are stored in a computer database.  Then, throughout the year, kids are informed when a school activity occurs that corresponds to one of their chosen interests.  Recently, for instance, a graphic artist came to the school to talk about medical illustration, and all the children who had indicated an interest in drawing were invited to attend.   Likewise, kids who'd expressed an interest in pet care were assembled when a veterinarian brought a boa constrictor to school.  Teachers follow up these events with more advanced lessons for those students who show continued interest.

        Although the school does use test scores and teacher recommendations
to help determine eligibility for the program, no student is turned away if she shows that she can do the work.  Stuart Omdal, the enrichment coordinator at Minter Bridge, says, "I don't want to be the one to say 'No, you can't learn about that; you don't have the test scores, you don't have the recommendations.' One boy in a class for the learning disabled lectured other kids about shark habitats; his presentation was at a very advanced level.  And a student we had considered 'average began doing work in astronomy that even I can’t keep up with.”

        Another system for cultivating every child's unique gifts is the multiple-talent approach developed by Calvin Taylor, currently a researcher at the University of Utah College of Health in Salt Lake City and chairman of the World Conference of Gifted and Talented Children.  Taylor says that besides the traditional academic abilities, there are at least eight different talents worth developing in a classroom environment, including creative thinking, planning skills, the ability to implement a plan, decision making, forecasting, communication, human relations, and recognizing opportunities  Taylor claims that if teachers would consider each of these talents in assessing their students, about 90 percent of all kids would be viewed as above average in at least one area.

        Using Taylor's approach, students at the Forbes School in Torrington, Connecticut, start identifying their own talents and those of their peers at the beginning of the school year, and they engage in activities designed to make full use of their abilities.  "It doesn't take long before you see which youngsters are the productive thinkers, or the planners, or the decision makers," says Josephine Radocchio, the principal at Forbes.
   

Developing Their Gifts   

        Parents whose kids haven't been selected for gifted programs (as well as parents of kids who have been) can encourage schoolteachers and administrators to start programs like those based on Renzulli's or Taylor's
approaches.  Parents can also begin working at home to encourage their children's gifts and talents.  Benjamin Bloom, a professor emeritus of education at the University of Chicago, conducted a study of 120 artists, athletes, and scholars in an attempt to determine what factors in childhood had led to their later accomplishments.   "In practically every case," says Bloom, "the parents played the key role, by exposing their children at an early age to music, sports, or learning.  Once their children displayed interest and enthusiasm in a particular area, these parents encouraged them at every step."

        This enthusiasm can be sparked in small ways, through what professionals in the gifted field call "crystallizing experiences”--spontaneous events that can trigger an interest or a talent, such as your child's receiving a new toy that fills him with wonder, or his experiencing a book, movie, or community event that makes a big impression.  But be careful not to overwhelm your youngster with lessons, kits, and tutors when what he really needs is someone to acknowledge his gift and provide him with appropriate tools to help him meet his own goals for success. Above all, don't be discouraged if your child isn't chosen for a gifted program in school.  "Giftedness isn't like an extra golden chromosome that you're born with," says Renzulli.  "It's something that teachers and parents can help to nurture through the opportunities, resources, an encouragement they make available to kids." By focusing on your child's abilities at home and by encouraging his school to provide enriched education for all students, you can help him develop the talents just waiting to be discovered within.   

No Lack of Talent.   

        Giftedness comes in many forms.   Academic talents make up only a small proportion of the sum total of abilities that deserve to be developed.  Look over this list, and think about which strengths and abilities your child displays most strongly.  Then let yourself be guided by your youngster’s own interests, and provide materials or enrichment activities to draw out those talents.    

Acting Ability
Adventuresomeness
Aesthetic perceptiveness
Artistic Talent
Athletic prowess
Common sense
Compassion
Courage
Creativity
Emotional maturity
Excellent memory
Imagination
Inquiring mind
Intuition
Inventiveness
Knowledge of a given subject
Leadership abilities
Literary aptitude
Logical-reasoning ability
Manual dexterity
Mathematical ability
Mechanical know-how
Moral character
Musicality
Passionate interest in a specific topic
Patience
Persistence
Physical coordination
Political astuteness
Problem-solving capacity
Reflectiveness
Resourcefulness
Self-discipline
Sense of humor
Social savvy
Spatial awareness
Spiritual sensibility
Strong will
Verbal ability

Every child is a genius. That doesn’t mean that every child can paint like Picasso, compose like Mozart, or score 150 on an I.Q. test. But every child is a genius according to the original meanings of the word "genius," which are: "to give birth" (related to the word genesis) and "to be zestful or joyous," (related to the word genial). Essentially, the real meaning of genius is to "give birth to the joy" that is within each child. Every child is born with that capacity. Each child comes into life with wonder, curiosity, awe, spontaneity, vitality, flexibility, and many other characteristics of a joyous being. An infant has twice as many brain connections as an adult. The young child masters a complex symbol system (their own native language) without any formal instructions. Young children have vivid imaginations, creative minds, and sensitive personalities. These youthful traits are highly valued from an evolutionary perspective: the more species evolve, the more they carry youthful traits into adulthood (a process called "neotony" or "holding youth"). It is imperative that we, as educators and parents, help preserve these genius characteristics of children as they mature into adulthood, so those capacities can be made available to the broader culture at a time of incredible change.

Unfortunately, there are strong forces working at home, in the schools, and within the broader culture, to stifle these genius qualities in children. Many children grow up in homes which put an active damper on the qualities of genius. Factors in the home like poverty, depression and anxiety, pressure on kids to grow up too soon, and rigid ideologies based on hate and fear, actively subdue the qualities of genius in childhood such as playfulness, creativity, and wonder. Schools also put a damper on childhood genius through testing (creativity can’t thrive in an atmosphere of judgment), labeling of kids as learning disabled or ADD, boring teachers, and regimented curriculum. Finally, the broader culture, especially mass media, represses the genius in our children through its constant onslaught of violence, mediocrity, and repugnant role models.

The good news is that there is much that a teacher or parent can do to help children reawaken their natural genius. First, and most importantly, adults need to reawaken their own natural genius—find within themselves the sourcewaters of their own creativity, vitality, playfulness, and wonder. For when children are surrounded by curious and creative adults, they have their own inner genius sparked into action. Second, adults need to provide simple activities to activate the genius of children. Something as simple as a story, a toy (Einstein said that a simple magnetic compass awakened his love of learning at the age of four), a visit to a special place, or a question, can unlock the gates to a child’s love of learning. Third, create a "genial" atmosphere at home or school, where kids can learn in a climate free from criticism, comparison, and pressure to succeed. Treat each child as a unique gift from God capable of doing wonderful things in the world . Finally, understand that each child will be a genius in a totally different way from another child. Forget the standard I.Q. meaning of genius, and use models like the theory of multiple intelligences to help kids succeed on their own terms. By following these simple guidelines for awakening each child’s natural genius, you will be contributing immeasurably to the welfare of your children and to the world they will inherit someday

Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Use words and language in various forms

• Ability to manipulate language to express oneself rhetorically or

poetically

• Sensitive to meaning, order, function, sound, rhythm of words
• Adept at reading and writing
• May utilize native as well as other languages
• Typically excels at school

• Dominant mode of teaching

Potential careers:

Writer, speaker, orator, lawyer, poet, politician, teacher, professor, editor, journalist, salesperson, actor, administrator, contractor

Tools for Teachers:

Reading, biographies, poetry, storytelling, book sharing, humor/jokes, wordplay, riddles, creative writing, debate, journal writing, explanations, feelings, reports, lists, library research

Tips for Parents:

• Read with your children.
• Listen to their questions, concerns, and experiences.
• Provide books and paper for reading and writing activities.
• Encourage children to share with you what they have read or written.
• Provide opportunities to visit libraries and bookstores.
• Play games like Scrabble, Hangman, Boggle, and Yahtzee.

Musical Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Ability to discern meaning in rhythmically arranged sets of pitches
• Think "in music"
• Recognize nonverbal sounds: pitch, rhythm, and tonal patterns
• Adept at remembering melodies and converting sounds into rhythms
• May be the least developed intelligence
• One of the earliest talents to emerge

Potential careers:

Composer, singer, performer, conductor, music critic, violinist

Tools for Teachers:

Chants, rhythmic patterns, listening, rap, singing, music performance, humming, instrumental sounds, music education, musical chairs, listening centers, descriptive and rhythmic words (to enhance communication).

 

Tips for Parents:

• Allow children to select their own music cassettes/CDs.
• Encourage singing along and clapping to rhythm.
• Involve children in music lessons.
• Attend concerts and musicals.

 

Spatial Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Visualize mental models, manipulate them spatially, and draw them in detail
• Typically thinks in images and pictures
• Ability to orient themselves in a house or outdoors
• Used in both arts and sciences
• Enjoys chess and jig-saw puzzles
• Often daydreamers
• Like multiple colors
• Taught best using photos, pictures or having them draw ideas
• Not limited to visual domain-can also be formed in blind children

Potential careers:

Artist (like painter, sculptor…) architect, navigator, sailor, graphic or industrial designer, inventor, lighting specialist

Tools for Teachers:

Guided imagery, collages, drawing, designs, posters, mapping, charting, puzzles, mazes, fantasy, imagination, labeling, pictures, pretending, use color in activities

 

Tips for Parents:

• Provide opportunities for solving or inventing.
• Let children choose the color for their bedroom, design furniture arrangement.
• Visit art museums; take photographs.
• Provide art mediums—brushes, paints, crayons, markers.
• Play games like Pictionary or cards.

Interpersonal Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Ability to "read people"—discriminate among other individuals especially their moods, intentions, motivations
• Able to understand and empathize with what others are thinking and doing
• Very social and street smart
• Adept at group work, typically assume a leadership role

Potential careers:

Teacher, salesperson, counselor, therapist, social worker, community organizer, clinician, politician

Tools for Teachers:

Feedback, cooperative groups, discussion, group projects, teamwork, role playing, person-to-person communication, empathy practices, interviews, team assessments, peer tutors, skits, plays, debates

Tips for Parents:

• Play a family game.
• Encourage discussion and problem solving.
• Encourage children to participate in activities.

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Ability to detect patterns
• Approach problems logically
• Reason deductively
• Adept at math and science
• Manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations
• Typically precise and methodical
• Prefer ordered and sequential activities
• Currently highly valued by society

Potential careers:

Scientist, engineer, accountant, computer analyst, computer programmer, logician, mathematician, actuary, bank teller

Tools for Teachers:

Analyzing, calculations, classifying, pattern games, time lines, numbers, logic problems, experimentation, critical thinking, sequencing, outlining, compare and contrast, graphic organizers, scientific thinking, Venn diagrams, writing problems, reasoning problem solving, computer instruction

Tips for Parents:

• Let your children experiment.
• Invite them to help make a cake or mix paint colors to make new ones.
• Let them help with family budget, budget their own allowances, or operate a calculator.
• Provide opportunities for setting table, sorting clothes, organizing drawers.
• Play games like Uno, checkers, and chess.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Use one’s mental abilities to coordinate one’s own bodily movements
• Ability to understand things by using one’s body or parts of the body
• Use body to solve a problem, make something, put on a production
• Respond well to nonverbal communication
• Frequently can’t sit still, need to touch things
• Adept at all sorts of athletic and fine motor activities
• Typically chooses to be a participant rather than an observer
• Challenges the popular belief that mental and physical activity are unrelated

• Most controversial of the proposed intelligences

Potential careers:

Dancer, athlete, mime, actor, clown, comedian, craftsperson

Tools for Teachers:

Acting, drama, dancing, exercise, physical gestures, experiment, inventing, movement, role playing, human graph, demonstrations, hands-on thinking

Tips for Parents:

• Involve children in dancing, acting, or sports.
• Provide a variety of manipulatives (clay, fabric, blocks) for experimentation.
• Walk, jog, hike, bowl, play tennis, or bike as a family.
• Enjoy sliding, swinging, and riding toys.
• Provide chores like sweeping, setting table, emptying trash.

Play games like charades, Simon says, and hide-and-seek.

 

Intrapersonal Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Ability to understand oneself, including feelings and motivations
• Includes the ability to delay gratification
• Can discipline themselves to accomplish a wide variety of tasks
• Adept at independent work, typically enjoy solitude
• "March to a different drummer"
• May be daydreamers
• Draw upon feelings to guide behavior

Potential careers:

Psychotherapist, religious leader, poet, artist,

Tools for Teachers:

Reflection, autobiography, concentration, focusing, goal setting, self-identification, thinking strategies, higher order reasoning, metacognition, free choice time, awareness of personal feelings, independent work and projects

Tips for Parents:

• Give children quality time to work or play alone.
• Provide time for reflection.
• Encourage writing in a diary or journal.

Naturalist Intelligence

Defined with characteristics:

• Ability to recognize and classify living things like plants, animals
• Sensitive to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations)
• Recognize patterns in nature
• Prefer to be outdoors
• Most recently "discovered" intelligence
• May extend into consumer realm—discriminate among cars, sneakers, types of makeup…

Potential careers:

Botanist, chef, taxonomist, scientist,

Tools for Teachers:

Create observation notebooks, draw natural scenes, photography, describe changes in environment, binoculars, telescopes, microscopes, magnifiers, classify and categorize things in nature, design Venn diagrams

Tips for Parents:

• Take children on nature walks to observe and journal.
• Encourage "backyard experiments" with bugs, plants…
• Star watch from the backyard or local observatory.
• Share, as a family, observations from notebooks.

Collect leaves, flowers, rocks… and try to identify using a field guide.

Linguistic Intelligence:

I ...

Total _______

 

 Logical-Mathematical Intelligence:

I...

Total _______

 

 Spatial Intelligence:

I ...

Total ______

 

 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence:

I ...

Total ______

 

 Musical Intelligence:

I ...

Total ______

 

 Interpersonal Intelligence:

I ...

Total ______

 

 Intrapersonal Intelligence:

I ...

Total ______

Definition
This theory of the structure and functions of the mind suggests that the two different sides of the brain control two different "modes" of thinking. It also suggests that each of us prefers one mode over the other.

Discussion
Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres, of the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking. The following table illustrates the differences between left-brain and right-brain thinking:

Left Brain		Right Brain
Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts		Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes

Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.

How Right-Brain vs. Left-Brain Thinking Impacts Learning
Curriculum--In order to be more "whole-brained" in their orientation, schools need to give equal weight to the arts, creativity, and the skills of imagination and synthesis.

Instruction--To foster a more whole-brained scholastic experience, teachers should use instruction techniques that connect with both sides of the brain. They can increase their classroom's right-brain learning activities by incorporating more patterning, metaphors, analogies, role playing, visuals, and movement into their reading, calculation, and analytical activities.

Assessment--For a more accurate whole-brained evaluation of student learning, educators must develop new forms of assessment that honor right-brained talents and skills.

Currently, Howard Gardner has identified nine intelligences. Click on each intelligence below to learn more about it and technology tools that support classroom activities.

8 Types of Smart

Intelligence Area:	Is Strong In:	Likes to:	Learns Best Through:	Famous Examples:
Verbal-Linguistic (Word Smart)	reading, writing, telling stories, memorizing dates, thinking words	read, write, tell stories, talk, memorize, work at puzzles	reading, hearing and seeing words, speaking, writing, discussing and debating	T.S. Eliot, Maya Angelou, Virginia Woolf, Abraham Lincoln
Math-Logic (Number Smart)	math, reasoning, logic, problem-solving, patterns	solve problems, question, work with numbers, experiment	working with patterns and relationships, classifying, categorizing, working with the abstract	Albert Einstein, John Dewey, Susanne Langer
Spatial (Picture Smart)	reading, maps, charts, drawing, mazes, puzzles, making images, visualization	design, draw, build, create, daydream, look at pictures	working with pictures and colors, visualizing, using the minds eye, drawing	Pablo Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright, Georgia OKeeffe, Bobby Fischer
Bodily-Kinesthetic (Body Smart)	athletics, dancing, acting, crafts, using tools	move around, touch and talk, use body language	touching, moving, processing knowledge through bodily sensations	Charlie Chaplin, Martina Navratilova, Magic Johnson
Musical (Music Smart)	singing, picking up sounds, remembering melodies, rhythms	sing, hum, play an instrument, listen to music	rhythm, melody, singing, listening to music and melodies	Leonard Bernstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ella Fitzgerald
Interpersonal (People Smart)	understanding people, leading, organizing, communicating, resolving conflicts, selling	have friends, talk to people, join groups	sharing, comparing, relating, interviewing, cooperating	Mahandas Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, Mother Theresa
Intrapersonal (Self Smart)	understanding self, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, setting goals	work alone, reflect, pursue interests	working alone, doing self-paced projects, having space, reflecting	Eleanor Roosevelt, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Merton
Naturalist (Nature Smart)	understanding nature, making distinctions, identifying flora and fauna	be involved with nature, make distinctions	working in nature, exploring living things, learning about plants and natural events	John Muir, Charles Darwin, Luther Burbank

When asked to define intelligence, many people will refer to a person’s ability to solve problems, utilize logic, and think critically. This represents how people comprehend, examine and respond to outside stimuli. Our intelligence can therefor be viewed as our "singular, collective ability to act and react in an ever-changing world." (Carvin)

"The standard view of intelligence is that intelligence is something you are born with; you only have a certain amount of it; you can not do much about how much of that intelligence you have; and tests exist that tell you how smart you are." (Howard Gardner in Checkley)