How a Child is Smart

by Rae Pica

Especially during the early years, children must have the chance to explore on their own. Whether you’re fostering what biology specifically endowed or awakening new interests, allowing a child to freely dabble in many pursuits -- rather than specialize in one or two --will help her learn where her strengths and weaknesses, her likes and dislikes, and her passions and indifferences lie.

Helping a child utilize his own special strengths and skills may mean looking beyond what the policy makers and society typically consider “smart.” Or as developmental psychologist Howard Gardner has put it, you shouldn’t be trying to determine how smart a child is; rather, you should be trying to determine how a child is smart.

Gardner wrote an influential book called Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In it, he contends that intelligence isn’t a singular entity that can be measured only with paper and pencil. Rather, he says, we each possess many different kinds of intelligence, in various combinations and to varying degrees. To date, he has recognized nine different intelligences, all of which he’s identified through a rigorous scientific process. For our purposes, though, the important point is that Gardner describes an intelligence as the “ability to find and solve problems and create products of value in one’s own culture.”

Although Gardner intended his work for the field of developmental psychology alone, an interesting phenomenon happened: educators pounced on the idea. Why? Because for generations they’ve witnessed multiple intelligences in the children with whom they’ve worked. Although our society most values the linguistic (“word-smart”) and logical-mathematical (“number-smart”/reasoning) intelligences -- the two intelligences measured by IQ and other standardized tests-- teachers could see that many of their students had other gifts, other ways of “learning and knowing.” Below, in no particular order, are brief descriptions of the intelligences Gardner has identified.

Linguistic. As indicated, people who are strong in linguistic intelligence are “word smart.” As children, they may have demonstrated an early love of words, and they often grow up to be the poets, writers, disc jockeys, and public speakers in our society.

Logical/Mathematical. People who are strong in this intelligence are governed by reasoning. They are the scientists, mathematicians, engineers, computer programmers, and bookkeepers among us.

Visual/Spatial. People with a strong spatial intelligence understand how objects orient in space. They are able to visualize and have a strong sense of direction, design, and/or color. Career choices may include architect, artist, navigator, or interior decorator.

Naturalist. According to Gardner, this intelligence is built into the human nervous system and involves categorization and classification. It is the intelligence that determines sensitivity to one’s environment. In natural surroundings, it allows people to recognize and discriminate among flora and fauna. In urban settings, someone with a well-developed naturalist intelligence would be adept at identifying such things as car models and sneaker brands.

Existentialist. People who question why they exist and what their role is in the world have a highly developed existentialist intelligence. The most recent intelligence to be identified by Gardner, it is closely related to the field of philosophy.

Interpersonal. Interpersonal intelligence allows us to understand and relate well to others. Psychologists, counselors, nurses, and child-care providers are examples of people who are strong in interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal. People who are strong in this intelligence know themselves well--both their strengths and their weaknesses. They are usually self-reliant, independent, and goal-directed. Many entrepreneurs fall into this category.

Musical. A fascination with sound and with the patterns created by sound indicate a strong musical intelligence. Gardner believes this is the first intelligence to develop and that, if fostered, it can lead to a lifelong affinity with music.

Bodily/Kinesthetic. People who are strong in this intelligence solve problems or create with their bodies or body parts. Actors, dancers, and athletes possess strength in bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, as do surgeons and craftspeople.

It’s important to remember that each of us possesses all of these intelligences but, as mentioned, to varying degrees and in different combinations. A surgeon, for example, has highly developed logical/mathematical and bodily/kinesthetic intelligences. The former incorporates the scientific aspect and the latter the meticulous use of the hands.

Where do your child’s strengths lie? Does your son love to putter in the garden with you? He may be strong in the naturalist intelligence. Does your daughter create art everywhere, using everything from building blocks to mashed potatoes? Her greatest strength may lie in the visual/spatial intelligence. Is your child constantly dancing, indicating a developing bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, with some musical intelligence thrown into the mix?

When you’re tuned in to a child’s passions, skills, or intelligences -- whatever we may call them --you can support their development and offer the child encouragement. Biology will certainly have played a role in her interests and strengths, but the mainstream culture and the home culture are also influences. And since the mainstream culture -- society and the school system -- focuses on only two intelligences, you can help provide some balance in a child’s life. This will be especially important if her strengths don’t happen to lie within the linguistic or logical/mathematical intelligences.

As Gardner and his followers point out, it’s difficult to identify special skills when we don’t introduce young people to a variety of experiences. When the focus of schooling is on so few subjects, how is a child to discover passions that lie beyond such narrow boundaries? How is a child to unearth a love of landscape design, note a talent for composing, or cook up a desire to be a chef if his experiences have been limited to grammar, numbers, and technology?

One other point of which you should be aware: a child will use different intelligences for different tasks. For example, if she makes up a poem to help her remember historical dates, she’s using her linguistic intelligence. If she makes up a song, she’s using her musical intelligence. If you ask her to find a way to fit all of the toys back on their shelves, she’ll have to call on her visual/spatial intelligence. And if she has to add by counting on her fingers, she’s using her bodily/kinesthetic intelligence to get the job done. That’s why it’s important to give her a chance to further cultivate all of the intelligences. Opportunities to dabble and play can provide that chance.

At the preschool and elementary school ages, follow the child’s lead, but don’t get too invested in any one particular pastime. You certainly don’t want to decide the rest of his life based on what you see in the earliest years. Children -- and their interests and skills -- evolve. And when he eventually discovers skills in many areas, as he’s likely to do, he’ll be able to make his own choices about his passions. That’s why, whether we’re talking about predominant intelligences, school grades, or the results of standardized tests, it’s important to refrain from putting any labels on a little one. Instead, just know that the real standards for “smart” aren’t found in school grades and test scores.

Rae Pica has been a children’s physical activity specialist for 26 years. A former adjunct instructor with the University of New Hampshire, she is the author of 17 books, including the text Experiences in Movement, the Moving & Learning Series, and A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity, and Free Time Create a Successful Child, written for the parents of children birth to eight. Rae is nationally known for her workshop and keynote presentations and has shared her expertise with such groups as the Sesame Street Research Department, the Head Start Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues, Gymboree Play & Learn, and a number of state health departments throughout the country. Rae served on the task force of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) that created Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children Birth to Five Years. E-mail her at raepica@movingandlearning.com, and be sure to read her blog, "The Pica Perspective."