Sunday, December 8, 2013

True Success

On average, our children spend over 13,000 hours at school over their lifetimes. Think of all childhood experiences as catalysts for releasing innate potential and you can see that school is one of the biggest opportunities! That's a lot of time and experiences that influence what they learn, how they act, and how they feel about themselves. When children believe they have the right to succeed they embrace and understand their role in learning. They begin to trust their innate ability to internally make sense of memorizing, conceptualizing, reasoning, and problem solving.School is an essential part of helping children discover their unique genius, what their talents are, and how they fit into the world. Unfortunately, negative school experiences often lead to frustration, boredom, and poor self-esteem, a high price to pay when we are shaping the future citizens of our world.You might think that all parents would say they want their kids to have good experiences and succeed in school. But if that were true, the norm would be that parents support and encourage their kids to speak up and make sure their needs are met. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Instead of asking for what he needs to be a success, the child believes that he is the failure for not learning or behaving the way the teacher or program deems he should. All children are born loving to learn. We empower kids to be successful when we support them in keeping their love of learning alive.But what is success? Success is not good grades that compare one child's performance to another. By that definition Albert Einstein would be a failure! Nor is it the ability of a child to successfully master an educational program. Success is a child empowered with an absolute faith and trust that he has the right to develop his passion and potential to their fullest, in whatever form that takes. Often we expect teachers or schools to know what it takes for our children to succeed, but what each child needs is unique and, therefore, the child is truly the expert. While our kids may not give us the studies and reports that experts in some fields do, their feelings, interest, lack of resistance, and self-confidence are the feedback that tells us whether or not they feel successful.What works for one child may not work for another, but that does not mean there is anything wrong with the child, nor that the child is a "failure," or isn't as smart. It simply means that your child's unique needs are not being met. The more you can instill in your child the belief that she is a smart, capable, and successful person who simply learns differently, the better she will feel about herself and the more she will notice and be comfortable with her own talent and genius. Letting our young children feel they are a "failure" or "not as good" in the early years of school results in anxiety, sadness, fear, and anger.One way to help your child recognize and appreciate her unique aptitudes is by moving beyond the emphasis that is placed on word and number smarts. Help your child recognize her own strengths and passions by considering Harvard professor Dr. Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences1, a much more compassionate view of intelligence. Your child may excel in one, some, or all of these intelligences. Take the time to appreciate any of the intelligences you recognize in your child and in yourself.Pay attention to these intelligences and use them to figure out how your child's school might better meet his or her needs. For example, a child who is passionate about music might find math much more relevant when he sees how it is inextricably tied to music pitch, rhythm, and beat. Keep in mind that just because your child got a bad grade in a math class doesn't mean he might not be the next Einstein! It simply means that his needs weren't being met by that class. As you read through these intelligences, remember that we are all deserving of recognition, appreciation, and, most importantly, the high self-esteem that comes from knowing we are on a path of true success.All of these intelligences are important areas of future contribution to society, and yet, in school, the children that don't "fit" in word and number smart areas may be labeled as poor students, not motivated, ADD, etc. Your child deserves to succeed and she needs your support and faith in their ability to do that, no matter what the circumstances at school. You and your child must have the faith to know that when you walk through the doors of a school, your child is loaded with potential. It is the function of a school to support them in learning how to unleash their potential in ways that make sense to the child and their unique mind.Remember, you are the most important source of support in life, as well as at school. If she is struggling in school, help her make appointments with the teachers, principals, or superintendents until her needs get met. Schools can and do make exceptions for children and every child deserves to be treated individually as exceptional. By empowering your child to speak up in positive ways in order to succeed, you are raising a child who will speak up for the rest of her life. The ultimate goal is for our children to live lives that suit their unique needs and allow them to contribute to society in useful and meaningful ways. Encourage your child to nurture his potential, imagination, and curiosity. Believe that he wants to succeed. This year embrace the wonder of your child's true success."First, and most importantly, adults need to reawaken their own natural genius-find within themselves the sourcewaters of their own creativity, vitality, playfulness, and wonder. For when children are surrounded by curious and creative adults, they have their own inner genius sparked into action. Second, adults need to provide simple activities to activate the genius of children. Something as simple as a story, a toy (Einstein said that a simple magnetic compass awakened his love of learning at the age of four), a visit to a special place, or a question, can unlock the gates to a child's love of learning. Third, create a "genial" atmosphere at home or school, where kids can learn in a climate free from criticism, comparison, and pressure to succeed...you will be contributing immeasurably to the welfare of your children and to the world they will inherit someday."Dr. Thomas Armstronghttp://www.ThomasArmstrong.comhttp://www.TheHumanOdyssey.comBodily/Kinesthetic IntelligenceA body-smart child is physically tuned in to their body, athletically inclined, enjoys being in motion, and/or has a strong sense of balance.Traits: Full of energy, likes to keep moving, maneuvers easily, enjoys sports or dance, good hand-eye coordinationActivities:o Encourage sports, dancing, martial arts, yoga, or wall climbingo Offer "energy breaks" where your child can run, dance, hop, or bounce to release any pent-up energyo Challenge them to create and do their own obstacle courseLinguistic IntelligenceA word- or book-smart child loves language, relates to the meaning of words, picks up the rules of grammar, and understands the function of language in writing.Traits: Enjoys reading, writing, talking, computer programs, and/or actingActivities:o Have kids write poetry, letters, or articleso Buy CDs for them to learn a foreign language or sign languageo Have kids make the grocery lists using creative descriptions of items on the list
Intrapersonal IntelligenceA self-smart child has the ability to understand their own inner feelings.Traits: Tends to be more reserved but aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, moods, and motivations, sometimes a perfectionistActivities:o Ask your child to tune into his/her sense of intuition when making decisionso Encourage them to discuss their feelings/thought processes with youo Discover all the various ways they might respond to situationsLogical / Mathematical IntelligenceA number-smart child easily grasps the ability to see relationships between numbers, reasoning, and problem solving.Traits: Easily grasps math, numbers, games of logic, computers, problem solvingActivities:o Encourage them to take things apart and put things togethero Let them make mistakes to show them that mistakes are an important part of solving problemso Give them math story problems as you travel in the caro Teach them how to play checkers, backgammon, and chessInterpersonal IntelligenceThe people-smart child reacts and senses others' moods and feelings, aware of what's behind their actions.Traits: Enjoys being around people and groups, talkative, social, sensitive to both verbal and non-verbal communication, a natural leaderActivities:o Ask them to interpret interactions between others that you observe togethero Encourage them to broaden their vocabulary of "feeling" wordso Encourage them to start/join groups dedicated to their interestsVisual / Spatial IntelligenceA visual and picture smart child has an ability to see object forms and relationships in their mind.Traits: Visually stimulated and can easily transfer mental images into formActivities:o Ask them to design an ad/brochure for a companyo Offer art, pottery, drawing, or painting classeso Ask them to draw maps to/from locations they knowo Let them design clothingo Encourage them to volunteer to work on the scenery for a playExistentialist IntelligenceThis is a newly-identified intelligence to accommodate kids who want answers to the big questions,Traits: They are philosophical about life and always asking deep questions such as: Why are we here? What does life mean? What happens when their pet dies? Do animals understand each other?Activities:o Help them find books or books on tape about spirituality and philosophyo Encourage them to set up appointments to have discussions with people who offer different opinions? Give them a journal in which to record their own thoughts, beliefs, and observations about the worldNaturalistic IntelligenceThe nature-smart child enjoys being outside, has an interest or ability to recognize and appreciate plants, animals, rocks, trees, flowers, and/or clouds.Traits: Recognizes patterns in nature, enjoys collecting/identifying specimens, interested in earth & life sciencesActivities:o Go camping, fishing, gardening with themo Create nature journalso From field guides have your child make up and complete quizzesMusical IntelligenceA music-smart child is wired to hear tones, pitch, rhythms, musical patterns, and harmonies. (Did you know all kids can sing on pitch when using a falsetto voice?)Traits: Connect through rhythm and patterns, singing, instrumentsActivities:o Have a variety of instruments to try out and ask if they like any in particularo Play a variety of different types of music at home, encourage them to join a band or choiro Have them sing a note and see if you can match the pitcho Ask them to write a song on paper, then play it for youo Buy music software to write a song and have the computer play it backhttp://www.nap.edu, How People Learn, by John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking,
Editors; Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, National Research Council

Sue Woodward,and Wendy Garrido are the founders of North Star Family Matters Magazine To Inspire Conscious Parenting and Empowered kidsVisit their website at http://www.northstarfamilymatters.com for more articl

Related Posts :

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)