Tara

Tips on How to Meditate:

• Choose a time of day where distractions will be limited.
• Turn off your phone. Better yet, leave it in other room, turned off.
• Find a quiet place where you can sit without being disturbed. Try to always meditate in the same place.
• Close your eyes, it’s easiest to meditate without a lot of external distraction. Sitting in the same spot helps you become committed to your meditation setting.
• During meditation, stick with a natural breath, but remember that it can be helpful from time to time to mindfully soften, deepen, or elongate your breath.
• Start small with five minutes of meditation each day. Just as you would need to build up your endurance to run for long distances, you need to train yourself to meditate. Over time, try working your way up to 20-40 minutes by increase your time in small increments until you reach a length of time that feels right to you and works with your lifestyle.

Using the Theory of Multiple Intelligences to Understand Your Child’s Learning Style

It can be helpful to think about how your child learns when getting organized for school. Howard Gardner, in Frames of Mind. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences describes intelligence not as a single measurable quality, but a more complex array of ways of thinking and processing information. Individuals don’t just have one kind of intelligence, but these categories are a helpful guide for understanding your child’s own learning style and helping you to figure out what you can do at home to facilitate their success in school.

“Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education” (http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education/) is a good place to start if you want to learn more about Gardner’s work. This excerpt from the article in the encyclopedia of informal education (www.infed.org) summaries Gardner’s categories of intelligences:

Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner’s words, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one’s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.

Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.

Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counselors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner’s view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.

In Frames of Mind Howard Gardner treated the personal intelligences ‘as a piece’. Because of their close association in most cultures, they are often linked together. However, he still argues that it makes sense to think of two forms of personal intelligence. Gardner claimed that the seven intelligences rarely operate independently. They are used at the same time and tend to complement each other as people develop skills or solve problems.

For more ideas and resources there are additional links (embed link to further readings here) for helping to make this a great year at school for your child.

Some tools to help you find balance in your family’s commitments:

“Reframing Parent-Child Time Can Reduce Stress” from Psychology Today suggests ways to move from “I have to” to “I get to.”

A short questionnaire you can take to help figure out of your child is overscheduled:

“10 Signs Your Kids are Overscheduled” from Real Simple asks some basic questions to help you look at your family’s routine.

Family games and activities that help sharpen listening skills:

Series of Sound

Using everyday items, you can incorporate hidden sounds into a family game. Challenge family members to listen for, draw, and repeat a series of common sounds. It’s amazing how much everyone tunes out the sounds around them.

Preparation

• Collect everyday objects such as a stapler, book, paper, kitchen tools or toys and place in a plastic bin or cardboard box.
• Be sure to have a variety of items on hand to make noise with. Take turns making organizing a set number of these. For example, a series might include banging a book on the desk, bouncing a small ball, stomping your foot, clapping your hands, stapling papers, whistling, clicking keyboard keys, or shaking a bag of Lego blocks.

Instructions

1. After dinner, have everyone at the table listen for sounds made only by the designated “sound engineer.”
2. Every time a new sound is made, everyone should draw a picture of the item that made the sound.
3. After all the sounds are made, share everyone’s lists, pass around the items drawn and recreate the series of sounds in order. Celebrate everyone’s listening success and laugh about the sounds no one got.

The Last Word

Multi-tasking is an essential element of effective listening. Similar to a common improvisation activity, this game challenges students to listen to classmates while also preparing a relevant statement in their head. Small or large groups can easily play ‘The Last Word.’

1. Choose a topic such as in the jungle, prehistoric life, an episode of a TV show, or a new pop song.
2. Select an order by handing out numbers or base your order on the seating arrangements.
3. The first player must walk to the front of the room and say one sentence that relates to the chosen topic.
4. The next player must immediately walk to the front of the room and say one sentence that starts with the last word said by the player immediately before them.
5. Play continues until all students have had a turn. If a student is unable to come up with an appropriate sentence within ten seconds, he is out of the game.
6. Game play continues in this fashion until there is only one person left and he is the winner.

Story Builder

Instead of playing 20 Questions on your next car trip. start a story where one person starts a story with a single sentence. Each person adds a new sentence, but only after repeating all of the previous sentences.

If you have a preschooler, check out this list of activities that enhance the development of listening skills: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/52641/listening-skills/

Try using these tips to help you get the best out of a conversation with your family and will build bridges to better communication:

1. Set up some one on one time with each on one your children, whether they are helping you make dinner, set the table etc.
2. Focus on them, ask them how their day was, ask open ended questions, make sure they know you are interested on what they have to say.
3. Try not to interrupt if they are telling you a story about some behavior you don’t really agree with, try to ask questions that are not judgmental, for example; “why do you think you reacted that way?” “how did you feel after you had that reaction?” help them sort through the emotions and come up with their own conclusions.
4. Put yourself in their position, try to listen and not over analyze what they are saying, remember they are talking to you, they want to trust you with their stories and feelings.
5. Maybe you can share an experience where something similar has happened to you, and you can offer some comfort.
6. Restate parts of the story, so your child knows you are listening and this also helps you better understand the context of the story.
7. Repeat with each child, sometimes having these conversations as a group may have some family members feel left out and not heard.

Over time, using these techniques will help develop your family’s listening “muscle.” According to Stephen Walton from The Positive Parenting Centre website: “It’s critical to model your capacity to listen and understand. In turn, your child will instinctively develop active listening techniques of their own. They will become less argumentative and defensive, become more democratic and develop emotional maturity.” Be the best listener you can be to help promote good communication and understanding among your family. Active listening is not only about paying attention, it is about engaging in dialogue and one important pay-off is deeper and richer family relationships.