Self Smart Children

If children are Self Smart, they understand and know themselves. They have a good idea of who they are and what they can do. They are aware of feelings, and may understand themselves better than others understand them. These children can set personal goals, think about and learn from past experiences, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. According to Thomas Armstrong, PhD., if you answer yes to any of the questions below, then your child may just be identified as Self Smart.

Does your child:

1. prefer to work alone rather than with others?
2. like to set and meet his/her own goals?
3. stand up for their beliefs, even if they're not popular?
4. worry less about what others people think of him/her than most kids?
5. spend time thinking deeply about things that matter to him/her?
6. have a strong sense of what he/she at and not so good at?
7. enjoys keeping a diary or writing in a journal?
8. writes about their ideas, memories, feelings, or personal history?
9. have a good sense of who he/she is?
10. thinks about the future and what he/she would like to be someday?

Real Pain Relief

According to an article in the June 2010 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine, "Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on vacation," Dr. Bernstein suggest. "And get enough sleep - seven to eight hours each night." In one University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study of 43 women with daily or near-daily migraines, those who improved their sleep habits, including adopting a strict eight-hour-a-night sleep schedule, got migraines 29 percent less often and found pain intensity dropped 40 percent.

Lose 5 Pounds With Water

According to an article from the June 2010 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine, when it comes to weight loss, water works. In a Virginia Tech study of 48 overweight adults on a diet, those who drank 16 ounces of water half an hour before every meal for 12 weeks lost about four and a half pounds more - 15.5 pounds versus 11 - than those who didn't have the water. If you want to test it for yourself, make sure you drink enough (two cups) and give your pre-dinner "cocktail" adequate time to work (at least 10 minutes) but not too much time (30 minutes max).

People Smart Children Looking to the Future

So what can your child do with his/her People Smart skills when they get older? According to You're Smarter Than You Think, by Thomas Armstrong, PhD., below are some of the careers People Smart enjoy and are can excel in:

1. administrator
2. advertising executive/public relations specialist
3. anthropologist
4. arbitrator/ public speaker
5. business leader
6. business owner
7. coach
8. counselor
9. criminologist
10. home-care provider
11. human resources specialist
12. interviewer/ talk show host
13. lawyer
14. manager
15. mediator
16. nurse
17. office manager/sales person/retail worker
18. personnel worker
19. police officer
20. politician/social activist
21. pollster
22. psychiatrist/psychologist/therapist/social worker/sociologist
23. teacher/school principal
24. waitress/waiter
25. social director

My Child Is People Smart! How Can I Expand His/Her People Smart Skills?

Maybe your child loves people and can't get enough of hanging out with them and helping them. Lucky you! But you can still find new ways to help your child become more "People Smart". Below are ideas that will help understand and develop the other intelligences in school and life according to Thomas Armstrong, PhD.

1. Word Smart: Have your child practice their vocabulary words and spelling words with friends and family members. Talk to your child about the books he/she is reading.

2. Music Smart: Encourage your child to listen to music with friends and family and talk about what he/she hears.

3. Logic Smart: Invite friends and family to play math games and puzzles with your child. Find problems to solve as a group.

4. Picture Smart: Enroll your child in art classes with friends at school or the community center. Help your child get to know people in art class and get together to practice art outside of class.

5. Body Smart: Have your child learn new activities that he/she can do with others. Take a dance or martial arts class or join an intramural volleyball team.

6. Self Smart: Let your child make a list of what he/she thinks is their strongest "People Smart" skills and the areas they think needs to be worked on. Look for opportunities for your child to practice leading or organizing others.

7. Nature Smart: Get your child involved with an environmental cause that really matter to the child. The child can learn a lot about nature by working with others to protect it.

My Child Is Not People Smart! What Can I Do?

According to Thomas Armstrong, PhD., if your child needs to polish his/her "People Smart" skills, there are things you can help with. You may not realize it, but every child as "People Smart" abilities that they use every day at school and at home. Whenever a child works, talks, shares, and learns with others, they are being "People Smart". Maybe your child needs to uncover and polish up those skills so he/she feels more confident. Your child can always use the smarts they are strongest or most comfortable in to become "People Smart":

1. Word Smart: Start sharing your words and ideas with others. Debating and writing speeches for class presentations are a start.

2. Music Smart: Join a choir or band and experience the fun of making music with others.

3. Logic Smart: Join or start a math review or study group. Get books of brainteasers, riddles, or puzzles and solve them with friends.

4. Picture Smart: Look for ways you can make art with others. Group projects like painting a mural, putting together a collage, building a sculpture or mobile.

5. Body Smart: Join a team to play sports

6. Self Smart: Think about what your child loves doing most (reading, singing, drawing, playing sports, etc.), and think about how to start doing this activity wit a group or team.

7. Nature Smart: Bring others to outdoor places you've discovered and enjoy. Get involved in a in growing food for a community garden, food bank, or homeless shelter.

How Can My Child Become More "People Smart"

According to You're Smarter Than You Think, by Thomas Armstrong, PhD., you can help expand your child's "People Smart" skills. Have your child try any activity below that appeals to him/her no matter how People Smart you think your child may be:

1. Start an address book: Keep a list of your friends and their phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. Have your child use this information to stay in touch.

2. Make a social map: Have your child write his/her name in the middle of a piece of paper. Closest to their name, write the names of people they are closest to (family and friends). Then write the names of friends and acquaintances who are not as close. Put as many names of people who you're friendly with as possible. If your child would like more names, practice making friends.

3. Meet new people: Decide to have your child meet a new person each day, each week , or each month. Start today and have your child introduce him/herself to someone you'd like to know.

4. Practice people watching: Go to a public place (playground, grocery store, mall) with your child and a friend or family member. See how well the two or three of you can read the people around you. Talk about what you saw and what you think it meant.

5. Find "like minds": Start a club or group that involves something your child is interested in (examples: coins, books, nature, baseball, cooking, shopping, model-building)

6. Volunteer to help others: Look into helping the Red Cross, the Sierra Club, Future Farmers of America, UNICEF, Amnesty International, and some many other organizations.

7. Learn with others: Have homework sessions with your child's friends, work on group art projects, or perform music with others.

8. Get involved: Have your child run for election in student government.

9. Tutor someone. Your child can offer teach or tutor another student.

10. Spend time with your family: Make it a point to spend "quality" time with your family regularly to stay connected.

11. Get a mentor: A mentor is a person who can help your child learn new skills and grow as a person.

12.Practice making friends: If your child is shy or awkward, practice making friends with someone your already know like a family member or an old friend. Pen pals can also be a fun way to get to know new people.