Mom Moments

Multiple Intelligences is Howard Gardner’s psychological theory about people and their different types of intelligences (logical, visual, musical, etc.). 

There are eight intelligences that each person has. A person maybe has two or more dominant intelligences.  What are the eight intelligences?

• Verbal/Linguistic
  People who has verbal/linguistic intelligences are naturally good with writing or speaking and memorization.
• Logical/Mathematical
  People with Logical intelligence are driven by logic and reasoning
• Visual/Spatial
  People with Visual intelligence are good at remembering images and aware of surroundings.
• Bodily/Kinesthetic
  People with Kinesthetic intelligence love movement, have good motor skills and are aware of their bodies.
• Musical
  People with musical intelligence are musically gifted and have a “good ear” for rhythm and composition.
• Intrapersonal
  People with intrapersonal intelligence are adept at looking inward.
• Interpersonal
  People with Interpersonal intelligence are good with people and thrive in social interactions.
• Naturalist
  People with Naturalist intelligence have a sensitivity to and appreciation for nature.

What does it matter what type of intelligences are a person’s strongest?  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).

And for children, 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.

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.

Take a quiz to find your strengths here  http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

info gathered from:

 http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm , http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm , http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm