Laurel Schmidt - Seven Times Smarter: 50 Activities, Games, and Projects to Develop the Seven Intelligences of Your Child

Acknowledgments

Good books, like good children, are collaborative efforts. This is particularly true in the case of Seven Times Smarter. Three generations contributed their wisdom and liveliness to its creation. First, I want to thank my parents, Robert and Dorothy, for their boundless love and inspiration. My siblings, Sheryl, Bob, Richard, and David, companions in this adventure called life. My dear friends and colleagues, Karen Boiko, Christina Cocek, Danny Miller, Pat Lem, Anne Brown, Bill Himelright, and Marolyn Freed-man, who cheer me by their very existence. My mentors, Paul Heckman and John Shambra. My children, Thalia and Anthony, who are magnificent testimonies to the power of hands-on learning. Thanks to my editor, bright, insightful Sarah Silbert. To all my students who taught me more than I could ever teach them. And finally, to my dear husband, Durnford King, a wonderful writer, who believes in me when I forget to believe in myself.

About the Author

LAUREL SCHMIDT has been an educator for more than thirty years and a parent for more than twenty. In the past, she has worked as a teacher and a principal. She is currently the Student Services Administrator in Santa Monica, California, and an adjunct professor at Antioch University.

LETS START

Have you ever caught a glimpse of your kid as you peeked in his bedroom door and wondered, Whats he doing? He looks so weird! Air-dancing to a commercial jingle, using the bed as a trampoline, or talking to three people who arent in the room.

Did you think:

What the hell?

We need to see a shrink.

This kid is so smart!

All of the above.

The best answer is c. Thats right. Many of the puzzling things that kids do are actually signs of intelligent life.

Smart kids:

Repeat lyrics, poems, jokes, and stories word for word

Whistle, hum, sing jingles, gurgle, gargle, babble

Tap fingers, sticks, or toys rhythmically on a surface

Draw on the bathroom mirror in the steam

Take toys apart

Make collections

Create and entertain imaginary friends

Make up games with special rules

Skid or sock-dance on the kitchen floor

Perform tricks on bikes, skates, or skateboards

Prowl the radio dial, prospecting for diversions

Build with blocks or other objects and knock them down

Ask why and how things work

Mimic the sounds of animals, machines, or unusual voices

Rearrange and redecorate their environment

Want to hear the same story over and over

Make up dances to music on the radio, TV, or CDs

Mix potionssugar water or soapsuds whipped into a froth

Befriend and care for younger children and animals

You probably have dozens of these smart pictures of your kids, but you might be thinking, Who knew? I thought he was being a pain! Researchers are discovering that many of those curious behaviors are clues to the special ways that kids are smart. If you learn to recognize the clues, you can help them get even smarter.

WHAT ARE THE SEVEN INTELLIGENCES?

What comes to mind when you hear the word intelligent? Be honest. Geek? Brain? Nerd? Do you picture a guy with glasses who can split an atom but cant get a date? Or a bookish bore who corners party guests to share the latest on cybermassage? Does intelligence just mean school smart? Absolutely not. Your own experience tells you that theres much more to being smart than talent in the classroom.

For example, you probably know lots of successful adults who never made the deans list. Maybe they were even dropouts, but now theyre great at what they do. Like the mechanic who can diagnose your cars disease before the engines cool. Or the therapist who saves a family from self-destructing. Or the tenor who brings tears to your eyes. These people are brilliant, too, no matter what their report cards said.

And history books are crammed with famous names that never made the honor roll. Isaac Newton, Leo Tolstoy, and Winston Churchill all failed at some point in school. Thomas Edison was dismissed by his teachers as too addled to learn anything. And Albert Einstein didnt read until he was sevenyoud have found him in the low group for sure. All these people went on to make major contributions in science, politics, or literature despite their poor performance in class.

So it shouldnt surprise us that there could be a whole bunch of intelligences that people use to succeed. Thats exactly what Howard Gardner proposed in his theory of multiple intelligences. According to Gardner, intelligence isnt the single IQ number we were raised with, but a mosaic of abilities located in many different parts of your brain. These intelligences are interconnected but they also work independently. Perhaps most important, they arent static or predetermined at birth. Like muscles, they can grow throughout your life if theyre nurtured and strengthened. Meaning that in the right environment, people get smarter.

Gardner says that humans have at least seven distinct intelligences or ways of knowing. They include verbal/linguistic, visual/spatial, musical, kinesthetic, logical/mathematical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence. Simply put, were word smart, picture smart, music smart, body smart, logic smart, people smart, and self smart. (Gardner recently suggested an eighth intelligencenaturalist.) Lets see what these intelligences look like in kids.

VISUAL/SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

People with a high degree of visual and spatial intelligence seem to have eyes on steroids. They have a keen sense of observation and the ability to think in pictures. They can create masterpieces or find solutions to problems in the physical world, often without lifting a finger. The chess champ Boris Spassky, the crossword master Will Short, Walt Disney, the artists Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and Faith Ringgold, and the architect I. M. Pei are all superstars in the visual/spatial world.