Join Hawk, our friend from our Adventures in the Sea & Sky program, as you go on a time-traveling adventure as you witness the birth of Christ. You will spend 3-weeks (12 days) learning about Roman and Jewish culture, as well as observing the birth of Christ and learning about all that it meant for us. This study is rich with learning opportunities but also for new family memories. You will experience our “12 Deers of Christmas” activity, watch videos that will take you into the world around the time of Christ, make Jewish food, learn about Roman accomplishments, make your own ornaments and much more! Spend this month learning about the true joy of Christmas and making new memories as a family.
Read a Snipbit from the Study below!
“One of the primary reasons that Rome could expand to the size it was, reaching its peak in 117 A.D., was because of the strength and size of its military. During the reign of the current and first emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar, he had twenty-five legions at his command. What is a legion? A legion was a grouping of ten cohorts of 600 men each. This meant that a legion had 6,000 soldiers total. Legions made up the backbone of the Roman military. Roman soldiers had many parts to their uniform.”
Tunic
“The tunic was worn underneath a soldier’s armor. It looked like a long shirt that reached down to the middle of the thigh. The tunic was made of rough wool and left the soldier’s lower body unrestricted for marching and fighting, or even working on the empire’s roads.”
Caligae
“A soldier’s shoes were called caligae, sandals that allowed soldiers to march for long distances. The sandals were strong and well-made, well-ventilated and good for marching along quickly. The sandals often had metal studs in the sole, which gave the soldiers grip on rough or wet terrain and made the shoes last longer.”
Gladius
“This short sword is made for stabbing an enemy. Its short length made it perfect to use in close quarters in battle.
Click here to check out The First Christmas Digital Study!
3 Things to Get You Ready for the Holiday Spirit!
Looking for things to do to get your family in the holiday spirit? We’ve got you covered!
If you’re like me – I’m already planning for Christmas well before Thanksgiving. Actually, I even start listening to Christmas music as early as September! The snow begins to fall and all around us smells of cinnamon and cedar – or for some roasted chestnuts! I just can’t help but get in the holiday spirit, but not every one is quite as eager to get ready for this years festivities! So if you’re family is like mine with some who love the holidays and others who don’t – we’ve got you covered for both! Activities that will engage both views of the Christmas spirit.
#1 Children Around the World Program – Christmas Section
Spend this holiday season celebrating Christmas with unique traditions from all over the world! You’ll spend 4 weeks discovering celebrations and holiday traditions from countries such as Thailand, Guatemala, Ethiopia and more! Children Around the World is designed to be able to jump in whenever you’d like! You can start on week 13 go through the holiday season then jump back to week one or just continue on through the end then go back to the countries that are in the beginning! Discover more about Children Around the World here!
#2 Classic Christmas Stories
Another great way to get ready for the holiday season is our Classic Christmas Stories! These stories are taken from traditional Christmas stories told in different countries at the holidays, with one fun little addition written by our author!
Here’s a list of included stories, and their countries of origin:
- A Folktale from Russia – Papa Panov’s Special Christmas
- A Tale from Ireland – The Christmas Cuckoo
- A Story from England – The Christmas Carol
- A Quiet Tale from Scandinavia (Denmark) – The Little Match Girl
- A Traditional Story from France – Little Piccola
- An Animal Story from the United States – Christmas at Mole End
- The Nativity Account from Israel – The Christmas Story
- A Cautionary Tale from the United States – Christmas Every Day
- A Story of Mexican Traditions – The Poinsettia That Meowed
This is found in our Children Around the World program, but it can be added to any of our other programs! Click here to go to Classic Christmas Stories!
#3 First Christmas Digital Study
Our First Christmas Study is a 3-week unit study of the background, events, and meaning of the birth of Christ. Join Hawk, our friend from our Adventures in the Sea & Sky program, as you go on a time-traveling adventure as you witness the birth of Christ. You will spend 3-weeks (12 days) learning about Roman and Jewish culture, as well as observing the birth of Christ and learning about all that it meant for us. This study is rich with learning opportunities but also for new family memories. You will experience our “12 Deers of Christmas” activity, watch videos that will take you into the world around the time of Christ, make Jewish food, learn about Roman accomplishments, make your own ornaments and much more! Spend this month learning about the true joy of Christmas and making new memories as a family. Click here to get to our First Christmas Study!
From the WP Team to your family – we hope you have an amazing Holiday Season with your family!
If you have any questions feel free to call or text (231) 245-1417 or email [email protected]!
Get ready to make snowmen!
Here in Michigan we just had our first snow fall of the year. Even though it didn’t cover the ground that doesn’t mean that we aren’t excited! So many fun activity opportunities open up as the snow starts to fall. I’m sure you all know about the fun activities like building snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights, and catching snow flakes on your tongue, but do you know about all the ways you can tie in snow with your daily educational lessons!
Nature Observations!
If you and your family like to observe how nature changes throughout the year start a snow journal! Record how much snow falls in your city each day and how long it lasts. Keep track of when the trees lose all of their leaves and when they start to grow back. Keep track of the coldest days and how many animals are around as well as when birds and other animals that migrate leave and come back! These activities will be great for students studying in the Animals and Their Worlds Themed Program!
Science Expirements!
There are so many cool things you can do with snow! Get out a magnifying glass and look at snowflakes. Draw their patterns down on a piece of paper and see if you can find any that are the same! Snowflakes are so small and there are so many that your chances of finding any two that have the exact same pattern is very little!
Study how snow transforms into water or ice! Place some snow in a glass cup and place your hands around the cup. See how long it takes the snow to melt from just the heat in your hands. Next put more snow in a cup and bring the cup inside. If you have a firplace or a heater, bring the glass near the warm area and see how fast it melts. Remember to make sure you have your parents permission before getting to close to the fireplace or any heat source!
Another science expirement you can try is about finding out how clean snow really is! Try getting a section of snow that hasn’t been stepped on or hasn’t touched the ground so it isn’t so dirty. Either wait for the snow to melt or you can melt the snow yourself in a pot on the stove. Once the snow has turned into water pour it into a clear container and look inside. Make note of any specks you see inside the snow. Because of the water cycle, when water particles up in the sky harden into snow they can sometimes trap other particles in them too. Things like soot, dirt, or anything else that might have traveled up there with them. Any particles that you see might be from the sky or from the ground. Eating snow can be fun, but also sometimes gross! Go ahead and try this out with different patches of snow to see if you find any differences as well!
All of these activities are great for any sutdents studying in any of our Science Programs! Give them a try!
Animal Tracking and Fun!
When the snow is covering the ground you can see all sorts of wildlife tracks! The best time to look at animal tracks in the snow is in the morning. Go out and try and see if you can tell what animal the tracks you have found are from! You will most likely see bird, bunny, deer, and possibly cat tracks out in the fresh snow!
If you are studying in our Animals and Their World Themed Program you know that there is an animal of the week each week! Go outside when there is enough snow and build your very own snow animal! You can even create a family of snow animals from your week in Animals and Their Worlds!
Having fun as a family is important for every family dynamic. Whether or not you are interested in snow activities that will relate to your currect studies, go outside and play in the snow! Have the family get their snow gear on and go sledding in the back yard, create giant snowmen, and fill the yard with snow angels!
Most importantly make sure you drink hot cocoa when you come back inside to keep everyone warm!
Did you know that your kiddo could have different intelligences? There are so many types that no learner is ever the same as another!
Let me explain a little more about multiple intelligences before I tell you the different types! The multiple intelligence theory was developed by Howard Gardner in 1983 to better define the concept of intelligence. His theory questioned whether the methods that were used to “measure” intelligence were scientific and complete. Gardner theorized that the traditional understanding of intelligence was too narrow and only really measured one or two types of intelligence. If two children are taught their multiplication facts in the same teaching style and one of them masters them easily while the other struggles; that does not necessarily mean that the first child is more intelligent than the second. Gardner understood that the second child would most likely learn the same information through a different method of teaching and may understand other topics easier than the first child as well.
Gardner understood that topic and learning style were an important factor in how children learn and how their intelligence should be measured. If you have homeschooled more than one kiddo I am sure that you will agree when we say that no kiddo learns just like another! When we create curriculum we keep in mind Garnders theory of multiple intelligences and make sure we integrate assignments and schedule activities of all kinds to make sure that each kiddos learning style is included!
Below we will explain the nine multiple intelligences and how WinterPromise has included things for each intelligence. While reading through you will most likely find that more than one intelligence sounds like they could relate to your kiddo! Many kiddos actually have more than one intelligence and may prefer learning styles from one or the other. As you read through try to pick out the intelligences that sound most like your kiddo and find the activities they learn best with. Knowing this information you can understand what your kiddos learning style is and be well equipped to pick out the curriculum that fits you and your kiddo each year!
9 Multiple Intelligences:
- Visual-Spatial Intelligence: This intelligence is characterised by the ability to see with the mind’s eye and spatial judgement. Kiddos with this intelligence often learn best from seeing or drawing things on their own. They love drawing activities and probably are pretty artistic and creative! Your own little Picasso!
- These students learn best from creative activities, highly-illustrated books, seeing physical timelines, drawing, and notebooking! (All things that WinterPromise offers in each one of their programs!)
- Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: This intelligence deals with written or spoken words. Kiddos who have this type of intelligence demonstrate good reading and comprehension, story telling, and are also good at writing. If this is your kiddo you probably know that they love reading books or having books read to them, and they are probably pretty good at speaking and narration. These students learn best by reading information, writing down their thoughts, and notetaking.
- WinterPromise includes colorful notebooking pages with prompts for students, living texts for all students to read from, timeline cards to study from, and discussion topics for families to talk about while they are learning for students with this type of intelligence!
- Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: Students with this intelligence are good at activities involving logic, abstractions, reasoning, and numbers. These students have great abstract thinking and prefer to figure things out in their head rather than use their hands or visuals to figure things out. While this intelligence correlates heavily with the “traditional” type of intelligence they may not always learn best from traditional teaching. These students benefit from outlining the main points, and activities that rely on logical thinking.
- WinterPromise includes key fact narration, important information repetition, chapter or lesson information outlines for students to fill in or learn from, as well as logic based activities. These students would excel in the game chess (p.s. if you have a logical-mathematical learner you might want to check out our chess programs!).
- Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: This type of intelligence relates to actually performing activities by moving or involving your body. These students love trying things for themselves as well as can often be labeled as too excited. Rather than thinking of them as too excited to stay seated WinterPromise understands that these students learn best when they can experience it with body movement!
- WinterPromise always includes “Try it yourself!” sections, hands-on activities, and tons of fun experiments for these students to do as often as they would like!
- Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence: This area has to do with music, rhythm, and hearing. These students often like to listen to and make their own music and often may like to listen rather than speak. Creating little tunes to remember things by or simply listening to a lecture may sometimes be the best way for them to learn and understand something!
- WinterPromise includes weblinks to videos, musical games, schedules for books that can be read aloud to them, and options to watch certain DVD’s relating to their program in order to help these kiddos learn best!
- Interpersonal Intelligence: Interpersonal intelligence has to do with learning with others or in a group. Kiddos with this type of intelligence may be extroverted, sensitive to others moods and emotions, and cooperate well when working with others. They may also struggle when left alone to perform certain tasks or may not enjoy doing school alone rather than with friends.
- WinterPromise includes family projects and crafts, leadership tasks, group discussions, and prompts for discussing feelings or emotions about or related to what they are learning!
- Intrapersonal Intelligence: As you can probably guess this intelligence is the opposite of interpersonal intelligence. These students would rather work alone than in a group and often are content playing or entertaining themselves. These kiddos are probably also very adept at understanding their own feelings and have a strong sense of self.
- WinterPromise includes journaling, independent activities, connection opportunities with characters in living texts or books, and tons of other activities that can be done solo rather than in a group for students with this type of intelligence!
- Naturalistic Intelligence: As the title suggests students with this type of intelligence love nature and the outdoors. They most likely have a strong connection with animals and nature. Kiddos who have this intelligence are probably relatively interested in science and understand it easily.
- WinterPromise includes programs focused on nature topics, a scientific resource in many of their programs where students will observe and journal throughout the year, as well as outside activities and observation projects! Be sure to check out the programs Equine Science and Animals and Their Worlds if your student has this type of intelligence!
- Existential Intelligence: This intelligence is a little trickier than the others. It relates to abstract thinking and philosophical questions. While it might be hard to tell if your student possesses this type of intelligence while they are younger, you may still be able to tell! Students with this learning style will often ask questions related to world structures, emotions, and other questions that as a parent might be hard to answer because there isn’t one true answer. These students may also be very connected to their beliefs or interested in the beliefs of others as well. These students learn best from studying questions that they think of as well as asking questions to others.
- WinterPromise includes abstract questions, topic starters for “food for thought” discussions, as well as facts and questions meant to get students to think deeper on certain topics for students with this type of intelligence!
You may have read through these intelligences and picked out each one that your kiddos have, or you may still be questioning a few of them. This is okay! As you homeschool and grow with your kiddos you will better understand their intelligences and maybe even notice that they may start to change as they get older! Knowing what learning methods best suit your student is always a trial and error process but thankfully with these intelligences defined above families can get a better start and what they can be looking for in a curriculum to best suit their kiddo for the year!
If you are unsure about which intelligences your student has, reach out to us and speak with us about your student and we can help you pick out their intelligences as well as find a program that fits you and your kiddo best!
Click here if you’re interested in reading more about Howard Gardner’s books.
As we wrap up our series on outdoor learning, I want to take a step back. We discussed why you should integrate the outdoors into your learning. Then, we went on to discuss the right attitude to ensure you are successful. In the last post we got into the dirt and talked about some specific ways you can utilize the outdoors in your learning.
To wrap up I want to discuss a simple encouragement with you. As parents we often pile on guilt, shame, or burden ourselves that we need to do more. Some parents may not have this struggle and may struggle in other areas. But, for many we see what other people may be doing because of their “Insta” stories or Facebook posts and feel that we do not measure up.
What matters most is not what others may or may not be doing. What matters most is not measuring up to some standard. What matters most is that you have fun and do what makes sense for your family. This is the same in regard to outdoor learning.
Our parting words to you is that you do not make this goal of integrating the outdoors into your homeschooling such a burden that it ruins your joy. We want fun, joyful learning experiences that help grow fun, joyful learners. The outdoors are a great way to encourage that and really good for your family. But do not create a standard or approach that will not work for your family, burn yourself out, and discourage your kids. You want to do everything you can to avoid attaching negative experiences and feelings to the learning experiences you want your children to love. The first way to make that happen is doing something that simply doesn’t work for your kids, yourself, or your schedule.
Have fun with what you can do and make the most of what your family is able to do. Then, rest and enjoy your time together. If you can only do a certain amount or certain aspects of this then enjoy those and make the most of them. We want your family to experience an abundance of joy in their learning adventure!
Go have fun today and #adventuretogether.
We have been talking extensively about integrating the outdoors into your family’s homeschool adventures! Last time we explored the importance of making memories through exploring and discovering outdoors. We also focused on the best way to use the outdoors in your adventure is to do it is what YOU and your family can do and the difference the right approach has on using the outdoors to create memory-making experiences!
Now, we are going to dive into some specifics!
What are some specific ways you can use the outdoors in your homeschooling experiences?
Some of these ideas are extremely simple while others are a bit more involved. Remember, to get started it is less important how complex what you are doing is, rather simply getting started is the key!
Do another schooling activity, outside!
This engages your student’s other senses and helps them be more creative and attentive because their scene changes.
Practice the cornerstone habits of discovery: investigate, observe, record!
Get a notebook and send them outside with a list of things to investigate, observe, and record. The artistic learners will thrive with this. The recorders and note-takers will enjoy it too. The fidgety learners will love the activity. The benefits keep on going!
In a spelling funk? Create a spelling list based on the outdoors!
Have them scavenger hunt for outdoor items that start with a certain letter and practice spelling them. a
Make nature journaling essential to your homeschooling.
Capture the joy of the outdoors, observation, investigation, discovery, and more through the habit of nature journaling. Make it a weekly or daily part of your homeschooling. This can be artistic, scientific, active, or anything else you want it to be. Get a nice journal or sketch pad and get them outside observing. P.S. it also helps them practice being quite in strategic moments because some observation needs some quiet too!
This is only the beginning but almost anyone can do them.
Remember, it is all about just getting outside when you can and in the way that makes sense for your family.
In our last post we focused on why outdoor learning can be so beneficial (Integrating the Outdoors into Your Homeschooling – WinterPromise) In today’s post we will talk about our attitude and posture toward outdoor learning. We want you to know that if you take on the attitude that we talk about today you will be successful in making the outdoors a key part of your homeschooling experience.
Before we jump into the attitude there is an important element to learning that must be emphasized. A key part of the WinterPromise educational philosophy and a truly transformative view of learning is that we learn best when we make a memory. Yes, memories make learning. The best way to reinforce something is to help form a memory around it. How do we do that? By making enjoyment, discovery, and engagement paramount. This means for you the parent, ensuring your student discovers, laughs, and makes meaningful memories when you are learning is the best way to support their learning!
So, how does this connect to outdoor learning and our attitude toward it? Keep reading to find out! The way you view the outdoors will mean success or failure for you in carrying it out. If you place all this pressure on yourself or think that you have to “do” it in a specific way to make it a success then you are probably going to stress more and fail more often in creating meaningful learning experiences outside. The key to using the outdoors in your homeschooling is knowing that you should use them in the way that fits your family culture. What does your day look like? What does your outdoor space look like? How far is it? How old are your kids? How much time do you have to carry it out? All these questions only you can answer and they will help guide you to the right use of the outdoors for your family. So, the right attitude is first and foremost making sure that you actually take advantage of the outdoors by doing what you (and your family) can handle. No extra pressure, just do what you can do, how you can do it.
The second part of the attitude is based around making memories. The goal of integrating outdoor learning and the attitude you should take on is NOT one where a super specific task MUST be completed, or you have failed. No, the goal of outdoor learning is to make memories together while exploring and discovering. This is a very broad range of success and lets the student lead. The key for you is to invest time and energy in simply making a memory with your child. This is the very foundation of learning and will make whatever you do with the outdoors a success.
To review:
- Making memories is the best way to reinforce learning.
- Your attitude will determine your success and an attitude of pressure is not the right one.
- The right attitude is twofold:
- Do not feel compelled to use the outdoors in the ways other people may expect. Do what makes sense and fits YOUR FAMILY. Only you can judge that.
- Finally, every time you do use the outdoors regardless of how specific you are being in your use, your goal is to make memories with your child through laughter, exploration, and meaningful moments.
Spring and summer often bring the hope and excitement for being outside. For families in general we understand intuitively that being outside is good for our kids and for us. Families that homeschool usually seek to bring the outdoors into their education for their children. In this new series we will explore how best to take advantage of the outdoors in our homeschooling and what posture we as parents should have toward this important goal.
In this post I would like to focus on the actual reasons that being outside is beneficial for your kids. Likely, most of us already have an idea as to why it is good but may lack specific reasons. When we examine the reasons for why something is true (or why we believe it to be true) we often have better clarity and motivation on that specific topic. With that in mind, here is a list of some of the major reasons the outdoors will enhance and are an important part of education.
More than just a different context, but never less.
First, it is important to realize that the outdoors provide more than just a different context for your students to learn. At the same time, it will never be less than that. At the very least you can take them into different scenery which will help them be more creative and more engaged.
Active students and students that are outdoors experience a general academic benefit.
Similar to the last one this will encourage you that even if you don’t feel you are doing something creative or unique with your outdoor learning you are still bringing broad benefits to your child. Studies show that students who are active and outdoors experience a better education.
It offers learning experiences with all senses engaged.
The outdoors offer a fantastic opportunity for you to engage all of their senses all the time. Even though it is not all focused on what they are learning they are simply more engaged outside when they are touching, feeling, and smelling the outdoors.
Problem solving and nimble thinking is promoted.
When a child is outdoors, they are constantly problem-solving or investigating, even when they don’t realize it. Children walking down a path discussing the trees and soil are at the same time avoiding pitfalls, finding stumps to jump from, and looking (or running from) bugs. So much is happening, and this is very healthy for their minds and development. Kids love it too!
Nature and outdoor curiosity are the foundation of sciences, scientific investigation, and cultivates curiosity.
British educator Charlotte Mason believed that promoting nature learning and curiosity was essential for every student as nature investigation is the foundation of the sciences. Do you want your child to excel in STEM? Get them outside early and often! It develops curiosity, joy in experience, and connects them to the idea that they need to investigate and explore the world around them.
ADHD/busy/fidgety students excel in this environment.
Many of our children are either ADHD or are simply busy and active. Often these students experience one of two extremes. Either they need constant stimulation to stay engaged or they are overloaded with stimulation and need calm and space. The outdoors unique serve both students. The outdoors offer loads of stimulation and experience for students craving engagement. While at the same time, it also provides a calm and soothing context for students normally over-stimulated inside. The outdoors are incredibly designed by God to speak to us and help us. Amazing!
Next time we will discuss how our attitude and posture toward outdoor learning is key to making it a success.
It was a Wednesday. That worst day of the week — hump day. We’ve all been there.
Sometimes they’re all Wednesdays.
This particular Wednesday was memorable because it was the first day I tried to school
my fourth-born — my “busy” child, better known as my little “terror on legs.” The child that
— as his Sunday school teacher kindly put it — didn’t have a lot of “sit” in him.
Yeah. The woman was a master of understatement.
On this particular Wednesday, it became clear in less than five minutes that what had worked with my older children in the way of schooling and instruction was not going to work for this little blessing from heaven. He’s not a homeschooler, I thought. He’s not even an unschooler.
Then it hit me. He’s a not-schooler. I’m doomed.
You know this child. You probably have one. Or two. Hey, maybe you’ve got a whole pack of not-schoolers at your place. These wonderful children are gifted — we know that. But in moments like these, it seems their only gift is a marvelous ability to make it clear they’re not-lists, not-facts, not-tests, not-sitting-still-in-chairs, and most definitely not-words-on-paper.
My little not-schooler needed something else. But what?
I put the schoolbooks away for that day, a week, more than that. There was no sense in using methods that weren’t going to work, so I did my own homework, and looked for answers. What I found fundamentally changed how I taught my children — all of them — not just my “not-schooler.” In fact, it changed how I related to them, person to person. It was the power of understanding the multiple intelligences. In the years since then, this knowledge has influenced how I talk to my children, how I approach giving them information or encourage them to disclose their thoughts or feelings.
It’s even inspired me to create a curriculum that harnesses the power of multiple intelligences. It’s fundamentally changed how I view the mission of education. It was out of this search that WinterPromise came to be. I wanted other parents to be able to reach their kids in a way that truly connects with their student’s own giftedness.
So What Are the Different Learning Styles, or Multiple Intelligences?
As I dug in, I found that the theory of multiple intelligences was first offered by a man named Howard Gardner in 1983 to more accurately define the concept of human intelligence. It was a new way to conceptualize how people think about intelligence, talk about it, and teach to it. Gardner’s theory helps educators and parents alike to understand the different ways that people take in new material, how they process their world, and even how they interact
with others.
The fundamental point of Gardner’s theory is that there is no such thing as a single intelligence, but rather there are multiple intelligences. Most people are quite gifted in a few areas of intelligence, are capable or average with a few, and are less likely to use or integrate a few others. Gardiner described nine different intelligences.
Each of us is unique in our use of and level of function within each intelligence. So, if we could exactly represent how each person uses and functions in their assortment of intelligences, it would be as if each one of us had an “intelligence handprint.” How many and which fingers were used in the handprint would fairly represent the individual intelligences, and the handprint as a whole — how the fingerprints were laid down, the roll of the hand, the position a person most utilized — would demonstrate how each of us, in our own one-of-a-kind way, functioned in bringing together our favored intelligences to accomplish a task or think about the world around us.
As I looked over Gardner’s list of intelligences, I could see the beginnings of a path to reaching my not-schooler. Gardner’s list of nine intelligences includes these: visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, musical-rhythmic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential.
How Does This Make a Real Difference to Parent-Educators Like You and I?
This! Though I had only the first glimmers of understanding in looking over the list, I could already see this was something that made sense with what I saw in my children. My firstborn was a born student: she loved to read, create through art, and complete worksheets. My second born joined her in an enjoyment of school, for he was social, and simply turned school into a way to connect and enjoy learning together through collaboration. My third-born? Loved to think big thoughts and could sit so long he outlasted me. But my not-schooler? It had been difficult to figure how being able to ride a bike without training wheels at the age of two could serve him well as a student.
But now I had a guide! A way to find his intelligence “handprint” and connect to that! I couldn’t wait to find out more, so I delved in farther. It was obvious my little not-schooler had a bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, with all his daredevil antics atop a bike. So finding active ways to engage him was also an obvious conclusion. Not so obvious was discovering that not only did my not-schooler more willingly participate in active learning, but that bodily exertion itself is thought to open up his pathways of learning. Let me repeat that. The acts of moving, jumping, tracing with a finger, tapping a foot in rhythm — it actually opened up pathways to learning in my not-schooler that simply seeing or hearing did not. He
actually learned by the ACT of doing!
The multiple intelligences, then, do not merely describe a child’s preferred learning environment, but in fact suggest optimal ways for children to process information that enable the child to more rapidly take in information that can be used with greater functionality. As a unique individual, each child has their own learning superhighway, specially designed to transform information input from mere data into learning experiences. The key is for us as parent-educators to find their unique superhighway, and utilize its on-ramps with these optimal learning avenues.
As I began to see my not-schooler’s bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, I also began to see his other intelligences: his visual-spatial intelligence, which was strongly influenced by doing and seeing at the same time, and his intrapersonal intelligence, which enabled him to learn well on his own by trying new things. He actually didn’t mind trying and failing, which my firstborn hated.
To reach all of my children with these newfound insights required me to dive deep into the multiple intelligences, and understand each one’s superhighway with its unique on-ramps. Are you ready for more?
In my next post, you’ll discover each of the nine intelligences Howard Gardner described, so you, too, can discover what learning avenues best connect with each of your kiddos. Find that post here!
Plus, you’ll find out just how WinterPromise’s rich curriculum has been created to reach all of the multiple intelligences in your family!
Kaeryn Brooks, WinterPromise Author
