The commitment to “leave no child behind” can only work if the individual learning needs of the child are met. Build confidence and hope this summer by focusing more on what your child can do, and creating lots of opportunities to show it.

At the age of 1, my granddaughter’s favorite way to learn is to watch, touch, taste and explore everything that comes into view. Luckily for her, she lives in a setting that pretty much allows her to do that. Loving adults child-proof and constantly watch to make sure her world is perfectly suited to her current learning style.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case for kids at school. Schools traditionally have focused on verbal or logical intelligence; teachers usually have to work harder to tap into other ways children learn and show what they know.

That’s just one of the reasons summer is such a great time for kids. Outside of school, they can find time to stimulate and express all kinds of “smarts” as they move, climb, fish and reflect. Other kids bloom as they make music, friends or mischief.

Many Ways To Be Smart
In his ground-breaking 1983 book, “Frames of Mind,” Harvard professor of education Howard Gardner theorized that people can be smart in a number of ways. He wrote that environment, culture, and genetic makeup determine how all of our intelligences work together, and which ones become more developed. Gardner eventually came up with a list of eight recognized intelligences (see sidebar).

Over time, other researchers described the learning differences in children in other ways. Dr. Mel Levine, for example, has built an entire institute around his theories that children come with “All Kinds of Minds.”

Levine writes on his website: “The human brain is like a complex orchestra with many different instruments playing many roles. These roles, or neurological functions, desperately need to be coordinated, integrated, and synchronized.”

Play Up Strengths To Minimize Weaknesses
According to Levine, millions of children struggle in school daily because of differences in learning. His approach to helping them sounds simple, but takes time, commitment and a talented team of professionals to carry out. It involves:

• Appreciating differences – Finding precisely where a breakdown in learning is occurring and creating a neurodevelopmental profile of the child’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Celebrating differences – Including a child’s special interests in an individualized learning plan.
• Managing differences – Schools and families working together to understand how a child learns, what makes learning harder, how to make it easier, and where to go for help.

Individualized Instruction
In school, teachers use individualized or “differentiated” instruction to manage learning differences. Teachers meet each student where he is and move forward from there, matching different kinds of learning experiences to readiness, interests, and learning style.

Individualized instruction is required for special education plans; but often, general education programs come in one-size-fits-all lessons. Partly, that’s because individualized instruction takes time and resources—two things teachers sorely lack in today’s economic climate.

What Can Families Do?
If you believe your child isn’t learning as much in school as you feel he or she is capable of learning, why not use the summer months to regroup and refresh?

Learn more about learning styles and multiple intelligences. Use bookstore or online tools to identify the ways your child prefers to learn and express intelligence (see resources below).

Spend summer days practicing doing what your child does best. Find games and activities that tap into the intelligences that build confidence and joy in learning.

Learn to advocate for your child and his unique learning needs. You know your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests better than anyone. Share that knowledge with next year’s teachers so they can play up your child’s strengths while minimizing his weaknesses.

The commitment to “leave no child behind” can only work if the individual learning needs of the child are met. Build confidence and hope this summer by focusing more on what your child can do, and creating lots of opportunities to show it.

Many Paths to Learning
There are many different ways to learn and be “smart.” In fact, there are at least eight different “intelligences” used to learn.

“Most children learn easier when their main learning path is targeted,” says Lisa Wroble, an author and educator working with underserved and at-risk youth. “As children grow, they open to different ‘intelligences.’ Most people learn through a blend of several intelligences. But we tend to use them all at least some of the time.”

These activities appeal to each type:

• Verbal or linguistic: books, poems, rhymes, tongue twisters, educational TV.
• Visual/spatial: drawing, painting, jigsaw puzzles, mazes, colors and shapes.
• Logical/mathematical: number games, step-by-step projects, brain teasers, puzzles, games like checkers and chess.
• Kinesthetic: sports, anything with motion, jigsaw puzzles, building blocks, models, crafts.
• Musical: singing, dancing, rhythmic movement, making noise, playing instruments.
• Interpersonal/social: group games, team sports.
• Intrapersonal/reflective: quiet activities, solitary games, fishing.
• Naturalistic: drawn to pets and wildlife, understand how body works.

Wroble says games and activities that blend types of learning allow children the confidence of learning through their strengths while building other learning skills.

REDSOURCES

• All Kinds of Minds provides a free online resource to help parents and caregivers support students’ success in learning.

• Schwab Learning offers summer activities for struggling students.

• FamilyEducation.com offers eight checklists parents can complete to discover their child’s natural talents. Search for “multiple intelligences” from the site’s home page.