EDUCATION

PARENT EDUCATION & MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
To educate our children we must educate ourselves.

Remember the old saying:
"Be the change you want to see in this world"
The world we make, is the one our children will have to grow up in; we better make sure, it is as good as we can make it.

Every child is an individual with specific characteristics.
The ability to see, who the child is, depends on us knowing, what to look for.
Every child has the ability for all intelligences, but some are more apparent at any given time in the child's life than others.
The task is to detect the specific, often very subtle, sign of what is under the surface, to understand it and know, how to nurture it to grow and blossom.
If we have no knowledge, or experience of personal development and "Multiple Intelligences", we will surely miss the sign, and a huge potential has been missed out.

Education starts with you...

A) Concepts and Theories:
1) Social Stratification:
This refers to the way any given society categorises its population according to socioeconomic factors, such as occupation, education, income, wealth, where you live and social support.
2) Social Constructivism:
This indicates an understanding of, how language and concepts form a current norm for perception, depending on time, religion, nation and social stratification norms.
3) De-Construct Social Hierarchies:
This requires us to look behind, what we perceive as "true" and discover the human at the core of the being.
4) Inter/Intra Personal Social Interaction:
Here we look both at the interaction between members of a social group (Inter), but also at what is going on inside the individual members of a group (Intra).

B) Read:
H.C. Andersen: "The Ugly Duckling", 1843
H.C. Andersen: "The Bell", 1845

C) How do the concepts, mentioned under A) relate to, what you have read under B)? Do you have "blind spots" in seeing your child, as she/he is? Do you just accept language, concepts, perceptions at face value, without questioning them? Have a discussion with other adults; maybe even create a reading group to meet and discuss.

D) Who are you, as a parent, as a person?
Do you see aspects of yourself in any parts of the two texts? What are they? How do you feel about that? And try to remember, where you have learned them; positive or negative.

E) What might you want to change from negative to positive?
In case, you have discovered aspects of yourself you would want to change, from reading the texts, and discussing them with other adults, I hope, some of the other contents on this website, as far as "Mind Training" goes might be of help to you in case you decide to embark on a journey of personal development, as a parent and as a person.

F) What effects might changes have for your child?
How would a change in you, as a parent, have a positive effect on the physical and mental environment for your child? How might your growth, as a person, make room for your child to grow, develop and blossom into the fullest?

HOW TO FACILITATE MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
I most strongly encourage you to study, and apply, the methods and suggestions coming up at "Home School".
In these, I will go into detail of actually structuring activities for and with your child to nourish the potential already there.
When you grow, the child grows; when the child grows, you grow, as well.
Enjoy the journey; it really is worth it!

Elisabeth Stage
Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.)
Summa cum Laude