Children's Intelligence is Surprising

Parents, and especially grandparents, are pleasantly surprised when they observe the intelligence of their children and grandchildren. Yes, children’s intelligence is so surprising that it shows today’s adults how urgent the need is to find new approaches to education that allow the natural talents of children to be encouraged and developed.

One of the deepest desires that parents have is that their children live a full life, that they develop their talents to their maximum potential, and that they discover their vocation as early in life as possible. This is all possible, in principle, if we value our children’s intelligence.

Types of intelligence

There are 8 different types of intelligence. According to the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, developed by North American psychologist Howard Gardner as a counterweight to the paradigm of one single intelligence, there are 8 different types of intelligence.

“Gardner proposed that human life requires the development of various types of intelligence. Therefore, Gardner does not come to contradict the scientific definition of intelligence which defines it as ‘the ability to solve problems or create valuable products’,” explains educational psychologist Bertrand Regader in one of his articles.

Howard Gardner’s investigation identified and defined up to eight different types of intelligence.

One of the types of intelligence is linguistic, which refers to the capacity for oral communication as well as other forms of communication such as writing, gesturing, etc.

There also exists a logical-mathematical intelligence, which is associated with a child’s ability to reason logically and to solve mathematical problems. These are perhaps the most well-known types of intelligence, but there are more.

Different intelligences, all surprising

Besides the types of intelligence already mentioned above, there is, for example, musical intelligence. This type of intelligence is recognized in certain parts of the brain that are linked to the interpretation and composition of music.

There is an intelligence called body and kinetic intelligence, which is related to the ability to use tools. And there is an intrapersonal intelligence that equips us to understand and control one’s internal environment.

Another type of intelligence is naturalistic intelligence, which is part of a series of more intuitive abilities, like the use of bodily intelligence to express feelings with one’s body.

These, like any other type of intelligence, can be trained and perfected; so imagine what a full life your child could have if you help him to develop all his talents in a positive way. You know he has the potential to do it, since you’ve surely realized already how surprising a child’s intelligence is.

In fact, an American psychologist suggests that human life requires that all human beings develop various types of intelligence. This is perfectly in sync with the scientific definition of intelligence, which defines this attribute as the ability to solve problems and create valuable products.

Intelligence needs to be developed

This scientific expert and his prestigious colleagues from Harvard University warned that academic intelligence (the obtaining of educational titles and merits; the school record) is not a decisive factor in order to evaluate a person’s intelligence.

This has been proven by many people over time, and it suggests that the current education system needs to change and adapt to the needs of children today, who are so prone to leave the adults around them amazed by their surprising intelligence.