Employing Howard Gardner's techniques in Preschool Education

By Kelly Mayberry

Research shows early childhood education is critically important to the development of a happy, healthy adult. Preschool programs have been shown to be a great aid in preparing students for school and our government is recognizing this by putting more and more money into head start programs. With private school programs growing the question becomes what is the best method to educate these children.

Montessori education has long been seen as one successful way to prepare students for life not just academically but socially. Students learn at their own pace in a very supportive environment. Howard Gardner has also extensively studied early childhood education and the importance of a child's early formative years. The psychologist from Harvard University has advanced the theory of multiple intelligences. He asserts that each person has a different "cognitive profile" which determines how they learn. In his book, Frames of Mind, Dr. Gardner identifies seven intelligences as "linguistic, logic-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal."

The top childcare facilities today will recognize that children learn in very different ways. And they will offer activities that will attempt to identify which of the intelligences best suits that student. If the student seems to learn best through interpersonal activities, he will be steered into more small group encounters. If the student responds to linguistic stimulation, he will do more reading. And if he seems to display spatial intelligence he will be encouraged to build things.

Each child has their own individual form of learning and this has both been described through the research of Dr. Gardner and Dr. Montessori. Many of the top tier private preschools across the country has re-access their teaching methods and given prominence to the child led learning environment shown by both Dr. Gardner & Dr. Montessori. Brilliance Preschool & Academy has implemented these teaching methods over 12 years and the success has shown in the development of their students in later developmental years. This highly effective learning philosophy is continuously talked about on the Brilliance Blog.

Much of the success from their program has been concluded on the implementation and execution of their education program as well as the daily development of preschoolers. Brilliance Preschool & Academy teachers are trained to follow a unique instructional method know as the 5 C's, which can be find on their website. - 30527

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