How Are My Kids Learning

If you are lucky all of your children learn fairly the same way.  They are these great kids, that never have academic problems, and you receive glowing comments from the teachers.  Not all kids are created the same.  Therefore they do not all learn the same.  Chances are your kids are very different.  The chart below explains Gardner's Multiple Intelligence's.  I'm not going to bore you with the individual information, however look at the chart and think about where you see your kids.  Ask friends for their input.  Once you know this, you can completely change the way your kids learn.

I have a daughter whose heart is made of poetry, music, and love for all people.  This falls under Musical, Interpersonal, and Linguistic.  Three of my kids are very Logical-Mathematical, in fact two of them will explain something to death to you if you don't run.  A fourth child is very active and loves all things in nature which falls under Bodily-Kinesthetic and Naturalist.  I'm still trying to figure out where my daughter Taelin falls, she's a hard nut to crack.  She is a spatial learner when interested, and linguistic to an extent.  She loves music, but I don't think it talks to her like it does the oldest.  I can tell you that like many people with Autism, she struggles with Interpersonal.

Okay so you have my examples, and you have your ideas.  What does this mean for your kids?  Well it tells you how to help teach your kids.  If you have a naturalist in the family, get outside with him or her.  Learn about things outside.  Practice real life math using your garden, practice biology by learning about animals, make a hammock and lay outside reading.  For musical kids, sing songs or chants to help them learn things (I will never forget the quick song for our address, three kids learned it this way), play music quietly in the background while doing homework.  Bodily-Kinesthetic kids like to be moving, so take brain breaks during homework by stretching.  Throw a ball around while practice spelling or math facts.  Linguistic kids may prefer to learn on their own by reading books or web sites, which is great for them but it means you need to monitor what they are learning (I know right, I thought everything in print was true).  Spatial kids might do better in art class, but they can do just as well with projects.  Logical-mathematical kids are going to challenge you with why.  Be prepared to find the answers, or help them find the answers, but make sure they don't get caught up in finding out why when they are supposed to be doing something else.  Intrapersonal kids are self-smart, these are the kids that you can use their life to teach them things.  Interpersonal kids are the ones that you can use their relationships to teach them.

Remember your kids are likely to fall under several of these categories and that is okay.  They do NOT have to fit under all of them, despite what some tests out there try to force.  If you work with their natural tendencies you will go much farther than if you try to force something.  Just saying....