At Lilydale Tuition Centre, we spend a lot of time helping children improve their academic skills. Maths matters. English matters. Being able to read, write, think logically and solve problems will certainly help our children at school and can open doors to future study and careers.
And that’s why we’re here, to help students improve academically and become more confident learners.
But academic intelligence is not everything. Psychologist Howard Gardner, from Harvard University, wrote about different types of intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence, which is the ability to understand yourself and your own inner world. I believe learning about yourself is one of the most important ones we can help our children develop today. It will help them make better life choices and become better learners.
There are many adults in their 40s, 50s and beyond who still have no idea what they really like or what they want to do with their lives. We do what we’ve been told to do. We do what society tells us we should do. We go to school, find a job, work, pay the bills. Most of us go through life doing the same things every day, and sometimes we numb our thoughts and feelings with TV, phones and constant distractions.
So how do we cultivate intrapersonal intelligence in our children?
Give them the freedom to choose and the freedom to feel, then help them pause and reflect
Yes, it’s important for children to try all kinds of new foods and new activities for younger kids and try new subjects, various part time work, hang out with new friends. We want to expose them to different experiences. But to help them understand the experiences, it’s equally vital to ask them reflective questions, for examples, ‘Which one do you you like? What you didn’t like? What was the best part and why? Would you do it again? Who would you want to do with?’
Pay attention to the patterns and point them out to our children
There are always patterns in the things our children do. If we have time to observe, we can point these patterns out to them. What do they love to do when they have free time? What do they do when feel discouraged? Who do they like to share feelings and things with? What makes them excited? When is the good time to sit them down and have a chat?
It takes more parents’ time and energy now to cultivate intrapersonal intelligence for our children but it will pay off in the future
The more our children understand themselves, the way they learn, what they enjoy, what motivates them, what they value and where their strengths lie, the better equipped they will be to make choices about learning, relationships, careers and life.