One of the opponents of the traditional measures of intelligence and IQ tests is Dr. Howard Gardner. According to Dr. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI), a person has eight different kinds of intelligences. These are:

1. Linguistic Intelligence is the ability to use language(s) to express oneself and understand others through use of language. Writers, poets, speakers and lawyers have high linguistic intelligence.
2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is the ability to manipulate numbers, recognize patterns, and analyze problems logically and scientifically. Scientists, engineers and computer programmers have high logical-mathematical intelligence.
3. Musical Intelligence is the ability to hear musical patters, recognize them, remember them and perhaps manipulate them. Composers, musicians, and singers have high musical intelligence.
4. Spatial Intelligence is the ability to represent the spatial world in your mind. This includes ability to rotate 3- and 2-dimensional images in mind, represent 3-dimensional objects on paper and recreating images from memory. Both scientists and artists use spatial intelligence.
5. Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence is the ability to use the whole or parts of the body (e.g. hands, fingers, arms etc.) to solve a problem, make something or achieve a specific goal. Athletes, dancers and actors have a high level of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
6. Interpersonal Intelligence is the ability to understand other people. This includes the ability to understand the feelings, beliefs, intentions and moods of other people and to use this understanding to work effectively with them. Political, business and religious leaders, diplomats and negotiators all require high interpersonal intelligence.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence is having an understanding of yourself – what you want, what you can do, how you react to situations etc. Poets, artists, motivational speakers, and spiritual leaders use intrapersonal intelligence.
8. Naturalist Intelligence is the ability to understand the natural world well and to work in it effectively. It involves the ability to distinguish among and use the features of the environment to solve problems and create products. Cooks and farmers use naturalist intelligence.

According to Dr. Gardner, each person has their own unique set of multiple intelligences that they use to solve problems or create products or do work. This is where MI is significantly different from the traditional view of IQ: 1) every person uses several intelligences and not just one, 2) intelligence is expressed in our performance, the products we create and our ideas, and not a test score, and 3) how intelligence is expressed is culturally defined. This implies that intelligence represents the potential that may or may not be realized depending on the values, available opportunities and personal decisions made by a person.

A key aspect of MI is that all intelligences are teachable and children can get smarter. This does not mean that a child will excel in all areas. But, it does mean that we can help children develop an understanding and ability in different areas of intelligence by repeatedly engaging them in different learning environments.

In conclusion, it is important to understand not how intelligent a child is, but what multiple intelligences does he/she possess. Understanding our children allows us to help our children enhance their natural abilities and develop other areas of intelligence so that they can achieve their passion in life.

“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill

This post is based on the materials available at the website for the Multiple Intelligences Institute.

Playing with blocks helps develop spatial skills in two ways:

1. Spatial visualization is the ability to mentally combine different shapes to produce a new design (e.g. tangrams and pattern blocks).  When children play with blocks, they learn how to make whole structures by using smaller parts.
2. Mental Rotation is the ability to look at an object or a picture of an object and imagine what it would look like if it is rotated in either two- or three-dimensions. When children play with building blocks, they rotate the blocks to fill spaces or to build structures a certain way.

Children develop block building skills over time. Small children use blocks to represent single objects e.g., a car. As they grow older, children start stacking blocks or making trains by laying blocks next to each other. Between 2-3 years, children start building 2-D structures like walls and floors, by laying blocks next to each other. Children begin to start building 3-D structures around 3 years of age. Initially, these structures are piles of blocks with no inside space. Between the ages of 4-7 years, children start understanding spatial relationships and start building more complex 3-D structures with inside spaces, like bridges and tunnels.

Researchers have found that activities where children are encouraged to build or copy more complex structures help them develop their skills faster. So while playing with blocks with your children, build with them and have fun as they develop their spatial skills!

This post is based on the following article:

Casey, B. M., Andrews, N., Schindler, H., Kersh, J. E., Samper, A., and Copley, J. (2008). The Development of Spatial Skills Through Interventions Involving Block Building Activities. Cognition and Instruction, 26(3), 269-309.

1. Children are born with a natural inclination towards learning certain areas, such as, science, numbers and languages. These are their “privileged domains”.
2. Outside of these privileged domains, children like all other learners have to use will, ingenuity and effort to learn.
3. As they mature, children develop different methods for learning and understanding. As such, children learn in different ways and there are many ways of being “intelligent”. By understanding this we can help children learn by working with their strengths.
4. While a lot of learning by children is self-motivated and self-directed, we as parents and teachers, play a major role in helping the development of learning in our children. Other tools, such as, books, television and computers also play an important part in the learning process.

By understanding how children learn, we as parents and caregivers can have a huge impact on the lives of our children by providing an environment that supports their learning.

This post is based on the book “How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School”. Visit the PicabooLane store to purchase or read this book for free online at http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=6160.