8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers: A Guide to Teaching Based on Your Child's Unique Strengths by Tina Hollenbeck Book Review

Kids don’t just learn one way . . . and that matters a lot for homeschool parents.

One of the benefits of a home education is a curriculum designed to fit each student. But that means knowing how your child learns. Not every child receives knowledge the same way. It’s up to the teacher to figure out the best way to reach each one.

Based on the 8 Smarts identified by Kathy Koch—word, logic, picture, music, body, nature, people, and self—8 Great Smarts for Homeschooling Families tailors these ideas to the unique setting of the home classroom. Tina Hollenbeck, a leader in the home education community, applies the 8 Smarts to each division of a complete curriculum:

·         Math

·         Language Arts

·         Science

·         Social Studies

·         Religious Education

·         Fine Arts

·         Electives

Yet when it comes down to it, the real benefit of homeschooling is personal relationships. Hollenbeck concludes by showing that when parents know their kids’ multiple intelligences—and when kids understand their family members in turn—it leads to a healthy homeschool dynamic. So don’t try to teach in the dark. Know your kid’s smarts, then watch them start engaging with their world in fresh ways.

My Thoughts:

Throughout my years of homeschooling my kids, I have learned that my two kids are as different as day and night when it comes to learning. I have always been under the assumption that kids are auditory visual kinesthetic learners with some variance in those categories that can be broken down even more. You might have a child that overlaps in those areas. Then you take it into the approach of homeschool method from Charlotte Mason eclectic Classical tradition unschooling and a few other methods. I have taught my kids with this in mind throughout the years successfully.

After reading Tina's Hollenbeck's book I was intrigued with her 8 great smarts that use each child's unique strengths. This approach was familiar in many ways and yet different enough to fall in a different method or category from what I had been taught. Maybe this is an approach that has been out there for a while.

She comes at it from Word Smart, Logic Smart, Picture Smart, Music Smart, Body Smart, Nature Smart, People Smart, and Self Smart. Some people can overlap with the 8 Smarts.  She explains each area in general and then goes into different subjects from math, language arts, science, social studies, fine arts, electives, and religious and breaks down each of the 8 smarts in each of the subjects. It felt like it was a combination of the learning styles to the teaching methods but not in a full sense. I could easily see the Nature Smart and Unschooling method together and some of the other areas pieces of it. She gives many examples and stories throughout. There is a wealth of advice on homeschooling throughout the pages also.

I agree with several aspects of it but I am not completely on board yet. I had a hard time finding my children in some of the 8 Smarts. My daughter is special needs and I found that I kept going back to auditory, visual, kinesthetic learners with her. I just could not pick out one of the 8 Smarts with her even when trying to overlap them. While my son I could see him somewhat in Self Smart and Logic Smart. I felt like some areas would have gaps that I would feel like I was missing the mark with him.

Now all that being said does not mean I disagree with the approach. Maybe, I am just stuck in my ways and the thought of changing what works for me the last two and half years of my homeschool journey seems fruitless. Why reinvent the wheel if what is working for you works. My daughter just graduated and my son is almost there I cannot see the point.

If you are just starting to homeschool or finding your children struggling I would consider trying the 8 Smarts because I do see the potential for you to have a successful homeschool experience for your child and yourself. If you are like me and what is working in your homeschool do not reinvent the wheel.

 I Disclosure: I received this complimentary product in exchange for my honest thoughts.