Multiple Intelligences, part 2
 
        Howard Gardner, a Harvard professor, researcher, and author, proposes that there are eight main areas in which all people have special skills; he calls them intelligences. Every one of us possesses all the intelligences to various degrees of development, from highly developed to fairly underdeveloped.

        Schools and standardized testing typically teach to and test for only two of the intelligences: linguistic and logical-mathematical. This is a shortcoming of the educational system, as many children with other abilities are overlooked in the process.

        In this series, I give some information about each intelligence, with the hopes that parents will recognize themselves and their children.

  • Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: understanding and using numbers effectively, as well as having good powers to reason well. People who make especially good use of this intelligence are mathematicians, scientists, computer programmers, and accountants.

These questions can determine if an adult has a strength in Logical-Mathematical Intelligence:

  • Have you always done math in your head easily?
  • When you were in school, were math and/or science your best subjects?
  • Do you enjoy playing games that require logical thinking?
  • Do you set up experiments to see "what if" in your course of jobs around the house or at work?
  • Do you look for logical sequences and patterns, with the belief that almost everything has a logical explanation?
  • Do you read science periodicals or keep track of the latest scientific developments?
  • Do you like finding logical flaws in things that people say and do?
  • Do you feel the need to have things measured, categorized, analyzed, or quantified in some way?
  • I think in clear, abstract, wordless, imageless concepts.

        These are some questions to determine if children may be exhibiting a well-developing Logical-Mathematical Intelligence. Does your child:

  • demonstrate curiosity about how things work?
  • have fun with numbers?
  • enjoy math at school?
  • enjoy math and/or computer games?
  • play and enjoy strategy games such as chess and checkers, brain teasers, or logic puzzles?
  • easily put things into categories?
  • like to do experiments, either at school when assigned or on her own?
  • show an interest in visiting natural history or discovery-type museums and exhibits?
  

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