Child Development - Pedagogue

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Parental Involvement June 24, 2022

Print Awareness: Everything You Need to Know

It refers to the knowledge of the mechanism of action of print and how it should be interacted with. Kids with print awareness understand that print serves different functions based on the context in which it appears. For instance, they can understand that a book tells a story and a menu lists food choices. However, this understanding doesn’t happen overnight. Starting at about two years old, children start to become more and more familiar with the objective of books and the functionalities of books and other reading materials. They may initially think of spoken words and print as two separate entities as they’re introduced to different stories and books at home and at school. However, the concept develops and becomes more sophisticated with more exposure. In addition to building the connection between spoken words and printed words, print awareness also helps kids understand the following things:

· How to hold books, turn their pages, read from left to right and from its front to its back

· Print is a source of enjoyment and information

Parents can make some observations while reading at home with the kids to identify if they’ve developed print awareness. These include:

· They’re able to show parents the title of a book

· They help parents turn the pages

· They show an interest in writing their names

Parents can use several strategies to help their kids develop print awareness. Some common ones include:

Reading books regularly: Reading to kids is the single most valuable method parents can follow to help them become enthusiastic readers. Reading aloud helps kids develop language and listening skills. It also stimulates their imaginations and helps to expand their comprehension of the world around them.

Teaching the alphabet: Teaching the alphabet doesn’t need to be reserved for the school. Parents can help their children learn the alphabet anytime. Some effective ways to make learning the alphabet exciting include singing the alphabet song, reading alphabet books, and using playdough to create letter shapes.

Parents can also help emerging readers build print awareness while going about their everyday lives. For instance, while at a restaurant, they can read the menu to the child. Similarly, parents can show the kids the stop sign while walking or driving and describe what it means. Kids grasp many concepts quickly. Their absorbent minds observe and take in everything that’s happening around them. Therefore, print awareness isn’t a really difficult skill to teach, but it’s one that parents can help develop in their kids as they experience everyday life.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Parental Involvement, Parenting June 10, 2021

Teaching Children to Use Context Cues While Reading

When kids encounter an unfamiliar word in reading, they may utilize context cues, that is, info from pictures or sentences surrounding the unknown word. One of the most misunderstood topics in reading instruction involves how kids should be encouraged to rely on context cues in reading. This confusion stems from the popularity of theoretical reading models that do not reflect scientific evidence about how kids learn to read. An additional source of confusion is the failure to distinguish context cues in word identification.

Using context in word identification

When kids utilize context to aid word identification, they employ pictures or sentence context to read or decode an unknown word. For example, contemplate the following sentence from the Arthur series:

“D.W. put baby powder on her face to look pale.” (An image of D.W. accompanies the text with white powder on her face.)

Suppose a kid cannot read the last word of the sentence; they can look at the picture or ponder the meaning of the sentence, perhaps in connection with the first letter or 2 of the word (p- or pa-), to come up with the correct word, pale. Reliance on context to assist in word identification is common among poor readers, both normally-achieving beginners and older struggling readers. It is undesirable because the kid is guessing rather than attending to each of the word’s letters. Of course, educators certainly want kids to monitor meaning frequently as they are reading. Specific behaviors may demonstrate monitoring during the reading of passages.

Children who do not monitor their comprehension while reading should be encouraged to do so. However, any teaching strategy that discourages attention to the complete sequence of letters in a word will not be successful for an alphabetic language like English. Every letter counts, and learning new words is greatly facilitated by close attention to individual letters. The words pale, pole, and pile each differ in only one letter, but their meanings are entirely distinct!

Scientific evidence demonstrates that the development of skilled reading involves increasingly accurate and automatic word identification skills, not the utilization of “multiple cueing systems” to read words. Good readers do not need to rely on pictures or sentence context in word identification because they can read many words automatically, and they have the phonics skills to decode some unknown words quickly.

It is the poor readers who tend to be dependent on context to make up for low word recognition. Many struggling readers guess at words rather than to look carefully at them, a tendency that may be reinforced by encouragement to utilize context. Some teachers of struggling readers have seen the typical pattern in which a kid who is attempting to read a word (say, the word brown) gives the word only a passing glance and then offers a series of guesses based on the initial letter: “Black? Book? Box?” (The guesses are often accompanied by attention to the expression on the teacher’s face rather than to the print, as the kid waits for this expression to change to indicate a correct guess.)

Even when kids can utilize context to arrive at the correct word, reliance on context to compensate for inaccurate word reading creates a strain on comprehension. This type of compensation becomes increasingly problematic as kids are expected to read challenging texts with sophisticated vocabularies and grammatically complex sentences.

Teaching context along with comprehension

The use of context in reading comprehension indicates something quite distinct from the utilization of context in word identification. The use of context to assist comprehension should be consistently encouraged by educators, although some contexts are more helpful than others for this purpose. Use of context to decide word meanings also must be accompanied by a program of direct vocabulary instruction, as utilizing context will be insufficient for many kids to acquire the word meanings they need and is incredibly inefficient for the kids who need it most.

More considerations

Because youngsters with reading disabilities usually have poor phonological skills, they generally benefit from teaching approaches that provide explicit, systematic teaching of phonemic awareness and phonics. Nevertheless, suppose kids are taught systematic phonics in one part of the reading program but are encouraged to utilize context to predict when reading passages. In that case, they may not apply their phonics skills consistently. The phonics part of the reading program may be compromised.

Also, kids must be placed in reading instruction with books that match their word identification accuracy and phonics skills. If they are placed in reading content that is too difficult for their skill levels, they may be left with one or two options other than guessing at words.

Like normally-achieving readers, kids with reading disabilities benefit from encouragement to utilize context as an aid to comprehension. This type of context use can happen when kids are listening to text as well as when they are reading. Because youngsters with reading disabilities typically have listening comprehension that far outweighs their reading skills, oral comprehension activities are often good ways to challenge and develop their comprehension capabilities.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Parental Involvement June 3, 2021

A Brief Overview of Constructive Play

Constructive play, otherwise known as construction play, is about structuring, shaping, and altering things to formulate something different. It is one of the most important and exquisite learning opportunities for youngsters of all ages.

What then is constructive play in the early years?

Constructive play describes when children use material to develop or build something to achieve a goal. Jean Piaget, child development and learning expert, formalized the idea. Piaget believed that children learn by exploring the interaction between their ideas and the real world; thus, trying out those ideas is essential to the learning process.

Why is constructive play so significant?

Constructive play is essential because of its vast learning opportunities. For example, children can explore counting, symmetry, sizes, cause and effect, gravity, explore materials with interest and inquiry, and other exciting adventures.

Children will choose constructive play more than half the time if given various free play choices. So, why discourage it? Here are some tips on how to foster constructive play.

1. Getting the right resources

Provide your children with a wide range of resources that encourage open-mindedness and creativity. Yes, Legos and train tracks are good choices, but you should include other fun items like sand and tools, wooden building blocks, sticks and stones, cogs, wheels, etc.

2. Valuable by itself

Historically, people viewed constructive play as a bridge towards fantasy play, but that’s not correct. It is valuable on its own, irrespective of the child’s age or developmental stage. It comes very naturally to children since it lets children just be children.

3. Get down and play

Are you striving to get your children interested in constructive play? You should never force children into something they’re not ready to do. Indulge their interest and attention by modeling constructive play yourself. Let them watch you play, and watch them join in the fun.

4. Try it, everyplace!

Constructive play is fundamental to a child’s improvement, so it shouldn’t be constrained to your home. Children need to explore the connection between their ideas and the real world in all kinds of environments.

5. Assist with language

Constructive play is an excellent tool for language development in the early years. This occurs through the meaningful interactions you can have with your children. Ask open-ended questions to support their language development.

6. Mix it up

You must mix up your constructive play area often. As children build worlds and expand their horizons, they might bring in things from other spaces. Find out what else you can put in!

7. Try risky constructive play methods

Risky play helps children to learn about risks while encountering some essential emotions. It is a good idea to begin to introduce risk to children in constructive play.

What did we miss?

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Modern Parenting, Parental Involvement, Parenting April 7, 2021

A Parent’s Guide to an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)

An IFSP is a document that organizes a plan for young kids who need early intervention services. It is customized for each kid, as well as including a plan for the family. For instance, when kids receive early intervention services, parents may also need the training to support their kids’ needs. Because an IFSP is customized for the individual, every IFSP will be distinct.

You’ve just found out your kid is eligible for early intervention. What’s next? An IFSP. An IFSP is a process you go through and a document that you and a team of specialists construct to assist you and your kid. In this article, we will discuss what you need to know about an IFSP.

Difference Between an IEP and IFSP

An IFSP is a blueprint that guides your efforts to boost your kid’s development up to age 3. An Individualized Education Program (IEP), on the other hand, is a plan for and for kids ages 3 to 21.

IFSP: A Plan for the Family

Think of the IFSP as the foundation—and a road map—for your family’s involvement with services. It lays out what services your kid should receive and what results you and the team hope to achieve for your kid.

A key tenet of early intervention is that services happen in an organic setting—where you and your kid feel most comfortable. This is your home, but it could also be a place like a community center.

The IFSP takes into account your kid’s present level of functioning. It focuses on what your family needs to best support your kid. What are your priorities for your kid and your family? The IFSP builds on the personal strengths of each family member. Together, this helps individualize the plan for your family.

You must give your consent in writing before the plan is formally enacted. You know your kid best. If you feel a service isn’t right for your kid, you can decline it at any time. This won’t hurt your kid’s chances of receiving other services.

IFSP Team

Who puts together the IFSP? The IFSP team must consist of:

You
Additional family members
An outside advocate
A service coordinator who administers the IFSP
Professionals charged with the assessment of your kid’s needs
Early intervention service providers for your kid or family

Updating the IFSP

The team reviews the IFSP every six months and must update it at least once a year. You and the team review your kid’s progress and your family’s situation together. This can help decide whether you need to make any changes in goals or other aspects of the IFSP.

You’re a major part of the IFSP process. Explore tips on what to include in an IFSP. The more info you know, the better prepared you’ll be to advocate for what your kid needs.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Modern Parenting, Parental Involvement March 22, 2021

A Parent’s Guide to Developmental Milestones

A developmental milestone is a capacity that most kids achieve by a typical age. For instance, some kids may start walking as early as 9 or 10 months while others don’t start to walk until 14 to 15 months. By looking at the various developmental milestones, parents, doctors, and educators can understand how kids usually develop to monitor any potential developmental issues.

For example, between 9 to 12 months, kids begin to achieve physical milestones such as standing up or even walking. While the exact age at which a kid achieves a particular milestone can vary, you may become concerned if your kid hasn’t achieved a skill that most of their same-age peers can perform.

Developmental Milestones by Ages and Stages

Physical Milestones. These milestones include both large motor skills and fine motor skills.

Cognitive Milestones. Milestones are centered on a kid’s ability to think, learn, and solve problems.

Socio-emotional Milestones. Centered on kids gaining a better understanding of their emotions and others’ emotions, social and emotional milestones include learning how to get along with other people.

Communication Milestones. Milestones that involve both language and nonverbal communication. A one year-old learning how to say his first words and a 5 year-old learning some of the basic rules of grammar are examples of essential communication milestones.

Kids Develop at Their Own Rate

While most of these milestones usually occur during a certain window of time, there is one essential caveat.

Parents and caregivers must remember that each kid is unique. Not all kids are going to hit these milestones at the same time.

Some kids might reach certain milestones early, like learning how to walk or talk much earlier than their same-age peers. Other kids might reach the same milestones much later. This doesn’t necessarily mean that one kid is gifted or that another is delayed; it represents developmental differences.

These developmental capabilities also tend to build on one another. More advanced skills, like walking, usually happen after simpler capabilities such as crawling and sitting up to have already been achieved. Just because one kid began to walk by nine months of age does not mean that another kid is behind if they still aren’t walking at 12 months.

A few things you should know

Kids begin to walk between the ages of 9 and 15 months, so anytime between those ages is considered normal. If your kid hasn’t learned to walk by 18 months and you’re concerned, check with your kid’s doctor.

Personality influences your kid’s development as well, which can be especially obvious with twins. One kid may be physically active and work hard at learning to walk, going back and forth from object to object; another kid may be laid back, content for the time being to observe others from their seat on the floor.

Concluding thoughts

By understanding developmental milestones and what age range is common for kids to meet them, you and your pediatrician can keep a watchful eye on your kid’s growth and development.

If your kid does have developmental delays, getting early intervention can help lead to successful outcomes. There are several programs available to help kids with delays from birth through high school.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Modern Parenting, Parental Involvement March 21, 2021

The Edvocate’s Guide to Cooperative Play

Cooperative play is defined as being an organized form of activity that involves the equal distribution of efforts and responsibilities among the kids to reach a common objective. Understanding the cooperative play definition, many people see these activities as being essential in development through childhood.

It’s good for kids to spend time working with others, so they develop essential social skills as they matriculate through nursery and school.

An example of cooperative play games can involve building dens and putting on performances using a stage with props. Learning experiences like these encourage kids to share ideas, collaborate and come up with stories. They can integrate independent learning, which is another vital part of early childhood development.

Playing is a good tool for helping kids learn at such a young age. That’s because playing combines fun and education, which young kids need to pay attention and leave learning something new. Playing develops their physical, mental, social, and emotional skills which are vital at this point.

During this kind of play, roles like leader and follower are clearer to see among the class. Cooperative play enables those who suit a specific role to build upon it, while giving them a chance to experience the other role and comprehend what it involves. It is a vital part of kid development during nursery and school.

Games can involve as few as two kids up to bigger groups of five or more. Cooperative play is all about encouraging kids to have fun together and improve their cooperation skills.

Cooperative Play Examples

Below you will find a few cooperative play examples you can encourage kids to try at your school:

Treasure Hunt
Puzzles
Building Dens
Relay Races
Team Games
Creating a Dance
Board Games

The preceding activities encourage kids to play together and collaborate on a specific task. Kids should start to learn how to interact with others, follow instructions and prepare themselves for the next stages of schooling.

Pros of Cooperative Play

Cooperative play offers several benefits to those who engage with the activities that are presented to them. These benefits include:

Expansion of physical, social, mental, and emotional skills
Speaking and listening skills are built upon
Teambuilding
Leadership
Making use of various skills
Distribution of ideas and responsibilities
Critical thinking
Collaborating to reach a common objective
The idea of everyone being “winners”

The key thing to remember when it comes to these types of cooperative play is how everyone is a “winner.” Cooperative play doesn’t have a way for kids to “win” the challenge set for them. Kids should like the facet of competition and may try and turn it into one. During this, many kids who fail the task set for them may think of themselves as “losers.”

The task requires collaboration teamwork, and instead of trying to win something, kids are trying to solve a problem and must collaborate. The key difference being you can’t lose at the task, so try and dissuade the mentality that some of the kids may have while completing this activity. Kids learn that it’s not always about winning and losing but working as a team.

Playing Cooperatively in Early Years

Cooperative skills are essential in the later years, but I would argue that it’s equally essential during early childhood. Early childhood is a time the brain is developing at its most efficient rate, and so teaching kids the importance of collaboration through play is a good method to allow the learning to be absorbed into their minds.

Simple activities can be integrated into the mindset of the students with no problem. Cooperative play teaches essential ideas like sharing, abiding by rules, and patience. Teaching these concepts through a game at such a young age should also benefit the children in the future.

Communication Skills on the Playground

Cooperation requires a sense of communication for it to be effectively carried out. During early childhood, this can be hard for young kids as communication is a skill that is built upon via previous experiences. By performing cooperative tasks, communicating becomes easier.

Strong comprehension of how to talk to people in challenging situations or how to settle conflict can be taught through simple activities. Kids need to encounter these kinds of issues during play to develop. They help build knowledge of effective communication and improve their fundamental comprehension.

Other activities may offer the benefit of developing communication skills, but cooperative activities put the kids in situations that apply to everyday life.

How Do You Promote Cooperative Play?

Below we have listed several ideas you can use to promote cooperative play with your own kids or with school and nursery pupils.

Promote taking turns – Kids should learn to share toys and games with others, ensuring everyone gets a fair turn using a piece of equipment.
Complete chores and tasks at home – Get kids involved in easy jobs with parents or siblings like cleaning up or setting the table for dinner.
Model compassion – Kids learn from the behavior of adults. If you practice kindness and empathy in their presence, they are more likely to take on these characteristics.
Encourage free play – Having the freedom to engage in unstructured play is a good way for kids to interact with others.

Cooperative Play Learning Experiences

At first, constructing activities can be a bit of a challenge for someone who doesn’t know what to do. Here are a few cooperative play activities for toddlers and kids that we recommend you try and integrate into your teaching somehow.

A good place to start with cooperative games is building blocks. Ask groups of children to construct a building from blocks. Here is the catch. One-half of the group are the suppliers of the blocks, and the other half are the actual builders. You are encouraging kids to take turns and cooperate with each other to finish the job with no problems.

A good activity to get kids involved with is running a pretend shop. This is a role-play based activity, so kids can also work on their imaginative thinking, along with social and logical thinking. Provide each kid with a different role in the game and leave them working together to run the shop for a while. Each role in these collaborative games should connect with one another, causing social interactions to happen. Also, there are plenty of outdoor play activities for kids that you can integrate into P.E. time at your school.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Modern Parenting, Parental Involvement March 20, 2021

The Edvocate’s Guide to Associative Play

Associative play is the act of engaging in recreational activities in comparable ways to parallel play but with increased interaction between the participants, including taking turns, sharing and having a general interest in the activities of the others.

It is different from parallel play as while they are playing away from one another, they are also engaged with what the others are doing.

Kids in the associative stage play with other kids; however, while they participate in play with others, they are not yet at the stage to take part in groups. They should play together in the same game/activity but not necessarily collaborate.

Kids should start to interact through talking, borrowing, and taking turns with toys, but each kid acts alone.

While engaging in associate play, the more mature kid soon emerges as the leader or organizer.

Children engaged in the play are within a comparable activity. In this kind of play there is no division of labor, so there is no organization of the activity around contents, objective, or product.

Pros of associative play

Supports collaboration.
Enhances socialization skills through working/playing with others.
Promotes problem-solving. They should ask questions like the How, What, Why.
Enables the further development of language.

Kids are developing friendships and preferences for playing with some. It is at this stage that the kids start to make friendships and begin to work cooperatively together.

It is during this stage that pretend play is at its height.

Associative play is followed by Cooperative play – play in a group of one or more collaborating– at around 4+ years of age.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Modern Parenting, Parental Involvement March 19, 2021

The Edvocate’s Guide to Parallel Play

Parallel play is one of many essential stages of play that introduce kids to social interaction. With parallel play, kids aren’t really playing with each other but rather next to each other. Kids may play with comparable toys but work independently and are not communicating with one another. This form of play is common between 2-3 year olds, but it can happen at any age.

Why is parallel play essential?

Your kid is too young for deep friendships and is trying to figure out the world we live in. Parallel play is a good start! While they aren’t directly interacting, kids are still learning social and observational skills. Kids are taking mental notes of what their friends are doing and can mimic their behavior. Moreover, kids can learn social conventions like taking turns and sharing. The parallel play stage is like a bridge that helps them grow their awareness, which should lead to additional complex activities and social maturity.

How can you promote parallel play?

Making a parallel play date is easier than you believe! Here are some pointers to make sure you get the most out of every play session:

Don’t force it

When you start, it’s essential to let your kid embrace their independence. When kids aren’t interested in play or have something else in mind, don’t force it! With parallel play, you want your kid to step out of their comfort zone but feel comfortable coming back if they wish.

Bring out all the goods

Make sure you have lots of toys and materials on hand for a parallel play session. Toys that encourage creative thinking are perfect for parallel play. It’s essential that every kid has access to the toys so no one feels left out. I recommend placing the toys in the middle of the room and place each kid near the pile and let them pick which toy strikes their interest.

It’s okay if they don’t interact!

While you watch kids parallel play, it’s easy to wonder why they aren’t playing together or even acknowledging the other kids. This is completely normal. Interactions should come with time as their social skills develop gradually.

Less is more than enough

When you’re introducing your kid to parallel play for the first time, it may bring them light stress. Viewing a wide range of toys with other kids may be a new sight for them. If you want to get the most out of this play, keep the number of adults and distractions to a minimum. Keep the duration of this play so kids will feel encouraged to try again the next day. This is a skill-building stage, and you must allow your kid to move at their own pace.

Take it to the next level, at the right time

If your kid has been parallel playing for a while, it’s appropriate to start encouraging direct interaction. Ask your kid to exchange a toy with another friend. You can start to explore additional cooperative forms of play if all goes as planned. If it does not, keep the parallel play strong – they’ll get there in their own time!

Play outdoors

Play does not have to take place inside all the time. The spring and summer months are a great time to take parallel play outside.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Early Childhood, Modern Parenting, Parental Involvement March 18, 2021

The Edvocate’s Guide to Solitary Play

Solitary play is one of the initial play stages. Playing independently is a natural step in the development of a kid’s play behavior for a 0-2 year old.

Kids learn through play, and in this stage they have not learned enough from relationships to being able to play with others.

Playing independently gives kids the time they need to believe, explore, and create. As a kid plays alone, they learn to concentrate, believe for themselves, come up with creative ideas, and regulate feelings. These things are essential for a kid to learn. Playing alone is essential and normal.

Babies and toddlers are in this stage. The age group is busy exploring their new world. Each new object or situation that is introduced is a new learning experience.

Positives of Solitary Play

Kids are given a chance and freedom to use their imagination.
Kids learn and practice physical and mental skills.
Kidscan explore, create, and learn how things work.
Solitary play allows kids to make their own rules for play.
Solitary play means a kid does not need to meet anyone else’s expectations.
It should not be used to identify unsociable kids.

Social play develops at around the age of 3 or 4, but it is essential to note that solitary play does not disappear.

Types of Solitary Play

Solitary active play: Involves playing make-believe while playing alone or with an imaginary friend. Solitary active play is a bridge between solitary play and true social play. Involves repeated activities with or without toys or objects, for instance, banging two blocks together.
Solitary imaginative play: Can strengthen healthy development. For example, a kid alone in their room using an action in an imaginary story exhibits abstract thinking, language, and creativity.

Solitary play is followed by onlooker play: watching and observing others play, at around two years of age.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Critical Thinking and Creativity, Early Childhood, K-12, Parental Involvement, March 18, 2021

How to Teach Kids with Interpersonal Intelligence

When we talk about “intelligence” most of the time, we think about kids and adults who spend a lot of time in lecture halls and libraries quietly studying. Over the years, the concept of intelligence has evolved.

Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner came up with the concept of multiple intelligences, which challenges the traditional notion of intelligence (IQ) as a singular ability. One of the eight intelligences that Gardner presented is “interpersonal intelligence” – the ability to communicate and interact effectively with others. People who have high interpersonal intelligence are known to be excellent communicators. His theory was explained in his book “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.”

The Gift and Skill of Relating to Others

Having interpersonal intelligence is both a gift and a skill. Some have this natural talent for communicating, but those who do not have a natural talent can learn it. Those who have this gift can pick up on other people’s moods, temperaments, and motivations without the other person saying it.

Gardner presented Anne Sullivan as a good example of a person with high interpersonal intelligence. Anne Sullivan, who had little formal training in special education and was partially blind, taught a young Helen Keller. Helen Keller was a disabled child who lost her sense of sight and hearing at just nine months old. Anne Sullivan gave Helen Keller the tools she needed to overcome her disabilities so she could succeed later on in life. Helen Keller became a lecturer and disability rights activist as an adult.

In this example, you can see how Anne Sullivan was able to use her strengths to help Helen Keller. Despite her limitations, she was able to build a strong lifelong relationship with Helen Keller. In the end, they helped each other realize their full potential and overcome disability.

People with Interpersonal Intelligence

Other well-known people who have high interpersonal intelligence include Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Oprah Winfrey. They are known to have the ability to communicate and connect with people—one can say that they are quite influential.

Those who have high interpersonal intelligence might have potential in the field of teaching, counseling, sales, and public speaking. Their common characteristics include being adaptive and having the ability to think out of the box. They can come up with solutions that are creative and innovative.

It’s a common misconception that all interpersonally intelligent people are outgoing, gregarious social butterflies. However, shy, introverted people can have this ability; after all, it’s all about communicating effectively and forming connections with people.

Building on the Gift of Interpersonal Intelligence in the Classroom

Interpersonal skills can be taught in the classroom by giving peer-to-peer work, group tasks, and requiring students to deliver presentations. Tasks like these encourage students to work in teams—share ideas, delegate tasks, negotiate which parts of working on.

To help students develop interpersonal intelligence, they can be encouraged to head class meetings, organize small and big group activities, and even become student leaders. Pair a student with high interpersonal intelligence with shy and introverted classmates.

Those who are perceived to be high in interpersonal intelligence can benefit from being allowed to participate in as many activities as their current workload. They can model these skills to their classmates so that others will be encouraged to engage with others.

Summary It would be great if parents and teachers could identify the type of intelligence that their child possesses. Knowing that will help the adult identify the strengths and areas for improvement of each student. Interpersonal intelligence is a natural ability, but it can also be learned. Incorporate some of the strategies suggested in the previous section to strengthen this ability.