Home Schooling Your Child’s Multiple Intelligences

by Carolyn C. McKeon, M.S. Ed.

One of the first questions many home schoolers ask each other is what curriculum
they use and why? While there are many well designed and highly recommended ones on
the market today, most still follow the same generic outline for all students, a kind of one
size fits all curriculum. Howard Gardner (1993) calls it the “uniform view”. “In the
uniform school, there is a core curriculum, a set of facts that everybody should know, and
very few electives” (Gardner, 1993, p. 6). Along with the uniform school is the uniform
assessment of all students using paper and pencil instruments, which yield percentile
ranks and stanines for all students nation-wide. However, in 1983, Howard Gardner
proposed his Theory of Multiple Intelligences in the now famous book, Frames of Mind.
In his book, Gardner (1983) proposed that there were seven and more recently eight,
distinct intelligences that worked succinctly to create a unique person. This idea has
radically changed the view of many educators, including myself, and permanently altered
the manner in which many children are educated. More recently, this concept of Multiple
Intelligences (MI) has erupted in the current phenomenon of home schooling. Howard
Gardner in 1993 proposed the “concept of an individual-centered school that takes this
multifaceted view of intelligence seriously” (p. 6). Let me propose that home schooling
can be the ultimate individual-centered school, which without a doubt takes the
multifaceted view of intelligences seriously.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
For years, the Western educational elite considered a high IQ score to be the
ultimate indicator of a person’s intellectual abilities. Yet, during those years many defied
the norm. The inventor, Thomas Edison, was known to have had a learning disability, but
no one would challenge his intellectual giftedness (Shearer, 1998). However, one
psychologist named Howard Gardner, became dissatisfied with the concept of a unilateral
intelligence and developed a new theory called the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI).
He believes that society should get away from all kinds of tests and correlations among
tests, and look at the whole person and the skills they use to manage their life (Gardner,
1993).
In 1983, Howard Gardner established new guidelines to ascertain whether a talent
was actually an intelligence, and thus came up with eight categories of intelligence that
can be seen in unique combinations in almost everyone (Campbell, Campbell, &
Dickinson, 2004). His research changed the way educators began to look at intelligence
and eventually education. They include logical/mathematical, verbal/linguistic, spatial,
bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intra-personal, and naturalist intelligences
(Gardner, 1993). Gardner believed that these eight intelligences transcended culture,
ethnicity, and gender, but that each of these influenced how the eight intelligences
manifested itself in a particular person (Gardner, 1993).
Next is a brief description of each of Gardner’s eight intelligences as stated by
Campbell, Campbell, and Dickinson (2004) in their book, Teaching and Learning
through Multiple Intelligences.
Verbal/Linguistic intelligence consists of the ability to think in words
and to use languages to express and appreciate complex meanings.
 Logical-mathematical intelligence makes it possible to calculate,
quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out complex
mathematical operations.
Spatial intelligence instills the capacity to think in three-dimensional
ways as do sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters, and architects. It enables one to
perceive external and internal imagery, to recreate, transform, or modify images,
to navigate oneself through space, and to produce or decode graphic information.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence enables one to manipulate objects and
fine-tune physical skills.
Musical intelligence is evident in individuals who posses a sensitivity to
pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone.
Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand and interact
effectively with others.
Intra-personal intelligence refers to the ability to construct an accurate
perception of oneself and to use such knowledge in planning and directing one’s
life.
Naturalist intelligence consists of observing patterns in nature, in
identifying and classifying objects, and understanding natural and human-made
systems.

Basic Principles of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Gardner envisions the ideal school of the future as having two basic principles at
its core. First, is that people have unique and varied interests and abilities, and should be
allowed to explore them (Gardner, 1993). Secondly, no one person can possible learn all
there is to learn, so people should be given informed choices as part of their educational
experiences (Gardner, 1993). Gardner (1993) states,

An individual-centered school would be rich in assessment of individual abilities

and proclivities. It would seek to match individuals not only to curricular areas,
but also particular ways of teaching those subjects. And after the first few grades,
the school would seek to match individuals with the various kinds of life work
options that are available in their culture.

Remarkably, this sounds very similar to what home schooling parents attempt to do every
day with their children. The parents of home schoolers attempt to discover the strengths
of their students and prepare a curriculum that is helpful in indicating what kinds of
experiences their children might profit from being involved in. Yet, they also tend to
acknowledge their students’ weaknesses, and try to develop substitute ways of educating
or covering an important skill area. In this type of environment, assessment then takes on
a completely new meaning.
Up until this point in the western educational system, the two intelligences that
have received the plethora of assessment attention are the linguistic and logical-
mathematical intelligences. With Gardner’s enlightened view of intelligences it would
only seem reasonable to begin to try to assess the other six intelligences more directly, in
order to reveal the strengths of many over looked students. Gardner proposes the use of
several specialists in order to get this done. He calls for an assessment specialist, a
student-curriculum broker, and a school-community broker (Gardner, 1993).
Furthermore, he suggests that the teachers be left to teach and that there be master
teachers, who keeps all this in balance (Gardner, 1993).
I submit that the home schooling parent is all of these and more. Moreover, many
of them do look to a master home schooling teacher to help them balance out their home
schooling practices. Many parents also higher out, to a more experienced teacher in
certain areas that they believe they lack in expertise. The home schooling phenomenon
has emerged as a legitimate alternative to public and private schools simply because
parents can align their educational goals for their child with those that Gardner indicates
as fundamental in developing the whole child.
The Home Schooling Environment
Many home schooling environments encompass several of the elements that
Gardner considers crucial to the development of a child’s full potential. Statistically,
parents who home school tend to have more than one child (Houston Jr. & Toma, 2003),
and from the very beginning of a child’s induction into a home-schooling family the
environment is richly furnished with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic cues about life. In
most home schools where there are older children learning, the exposure of the younger
child to a wide variety of learning experiences is ultimately unmatched. It is like
returning to the one-room schoolhouse where peer tutoring and cross-age tutoring were
highly favored (Bowman, 1996). According to Dr. Thomas Armstrong, a well known
supporter of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, the child is exposed to a
variety of learning experiences, which is tends to be healthier over the long run, and
eventually finds his or her niche among the intelligences (Bowman, 1996).
However, it does not end there. Home schoolers use the abundant resources of
their communities to enhance their schooling environment. Gardner (1993) explains that
while schools attempt to provide some group activities, it is usually not in situation-
specific contexts, and that schools are often dissociated from real-world contexts. In
contrast, home schoolers tend to have rich situation-specific contexts that involve
collaborative, contextualized, and situation-specific thinking, which Gardner (1993)
contends are more intellectually stimulating and productive. Even John Dewey expressed
concern for the artificial environment of the public school system (Lines, 2000). He
explained that it was so isolated for the ordinary circumstances of life that it is the one
place in society where it is most difficult to get actual life experience (Lines, 2000).
While on the other hand, most home schooling children spend time at libraries, museums,
factories, nursing homes, churches, or classes offered in the community, which increases
their exposure to real-life situations (Lines, 200). More importantly, this kind of
environment utilizes unique combinations of students’ multiple intelligences, as they
would experience in actual life scenarios.
How Can You Develop a Home Schooling Curriculum Based on MI?
While there are many approaches to home schooling, most of these approaches
seem to view education as an interconnected array of subjects related to daily life
(Sheehan, 2002). One method in particular, called creative home schooling, tends to align
its thinking with that of an MI enhancing environment. “Creative home schooling is
based on principles and an understanding of creative learning, divergent thinking,
immersion learning, and self-directed learning” (Rivero, 2002, p. 199). Creative home
schooling offers parents a way to integrate the best of several home schooling approaches
that meet their individual child’s needs. The focus of learning in a creative home school
is to allow the child to fulfill his or her human potential rather than to educate for the next
purely academic milestone (Rivero, 2002). “Creative home schooling offers parents a
chance to create a truly individualized education based on a firm theoretical foundation
unique to their child’s needs” (Rivero, 2002, p. 200). By using the creative home
schooling approach, a parent can then develop a curriculum built on the needs of his or
her child, and involves an integration of an MI program.
Campbell, Campbell, and Dickinson (2004) suggest that there are two methods of
using the Theory of Multiple Intelligences to develop a curriculum. One is to simply
develop lesson plans that use the appropriate MI to cover the content topics. Here the
curriculum is already in place, but the teacher uses multi-modal learning strategies to
deliver the content. The other idea is more complex, but includes equal development of
all the intelligences through a planned MI centered curriculum. Here the curriculum is
driven by the intended MI outcomes.
While I have chosen to use Creative home schooling to develop my MI curricula
for my children, I believe that any method of home schooling can support an MI
approach to teaching and learning. The benefits of such an approach will certainly
enhance your home school, and tap all your child’s potential abilities.

References

Bowman, J. (1996, Nov.-Dec.). An interview with Dr. Thomas Armstrong. Home

Education Magazine. Retrieved on 2/01/2004 at
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/INF/SPCL/spcl_tai.html

Campbell, L., Campbell, B., & Dickinson, D. (2004). Teaching and Learning Through
Multiple Intelligences (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice-A Reader. New York,
NY: BasicBooks.

Guest editor’s comments: innovative programs and home schooling to meet the needs of
gifted and talented students. Roeper Review, 24 (4), 184-185.

Lines, P.M. (2000, Summer). Homeschooling comes of age. Public Interest, 140, 74-85.

Pelullo-Wills, M., & Kindle-Hodson, V. (1999). Discover your child’s learning style. The
LINK Homeschool Newspaper, 4 (3). Retrieved on 1/31/2004 at
http://www.homeschoolnewslink.com/articles/vol4iss3/learnstyle_v4i3.html

Rivero, L. (2002, Summer). Progressive digressions: home schooling for self-

actualization. Roeper Review, 24 (4), 197-202.

Sheehan, M. (2002, Summer). Dancing with Monica: personal perceptions of a home-

school mom. Roeper Review, 24 (4), 191-196.