The other day my husband Greg and I – were in the car listening to music while driving along.  Fun you say!  No problem you say!  Well – we have always known we were very different from one another – just never had a name for it before.  So many things are being discovered about the brain and how we learn – that were not available to us before.

Such as:  the way we connect with an event in our lives – and how we react to it.  How we listen to music.  How we interact with people.

My husband is a “visual” learner.  He learns through body language and facial expressions.  He likes “pictures” to help him learn something. He also has “interpersonal intelligence” – he reads people pretty well – is able to access a situation with accuracy – which makes him an excellent pastor/teacher – grief counselor – wedding and funeral celebrant.

I am an “audio” learner and  I have “verbal linguistic intelligence” – meaning I communicate best through the written word – by writing myself and by reading.  But I also have  “kinesthetic intelligence”  as a musician – this means that I can really feel the music -  climb around inside of a song – relate with the feeling and mood of that song – as a music teacher this is very handy and I try to pass that on to my students.

So you can see that we have very different learning styles.  So playing a piece of music in the car is always a treat – now we KNOW why!

So back to my story of being in the car.  Here is a typical “ride” for us.  I will put a CD in the player – usually one specially crafted for our trip – we both like 70′s and 80′s music – he likes “up tempo” and “happy” music – no sad, sappy, introspective love ballads for him.  Mercy no.  But that’s exactly what I like – so to please us both I usually have a little of both.  In a rare occasion I will make a CD or two – (four – when we went to Leavenworth) with ALL loud and fast 70′s music!!  We rocked out the whole way there and back!!  But this last weekend – there was definitely a mixture.

So we’re rolling along and I’m absorbed into the song.  All of a sudden Greg JERKS me back to reality with something he just HAS TO SAY!!!  It’s usually not that earth shaking – something like, “Look at that over there!!!!”  Wow.  Does he have to do that in the middle of a song?  He does this quite often in the middle of a TV show too.  Has he ever heard of commercials???  Anyway – I digress.  So I turn OFF the CD player and explain to him that I simply cannot be interrupted in the middle of those great lyrics!  So he thinks that’s insane, of course – because he doesn’t FEEL the music – like I do.  It’s not that important to him.  What’s going on visually is WAY more important to him – and not only that – but having someone to TELL about it – and share it with him.  Yeah.  That’s a typical ride for us.

Below is something I found that explains the different learning styles.  Where do you fit?  Are you a combination of different styles?  Does it explain a lot to you?  I know it did for me.  Enjoy!  I would love to hear your feedback!

What are the types of Multiple Intelligence?

Visual/Spatial Intelligence

ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.

Their skills include:

puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs, a good sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating visual metaphors and analogies (perhaps through the visual arts), manipulating images, constructing, fixing, designing practical objects, interpreting visual images.

Possible career interests:

navigators, sculptors, visual artists, inventors, architects, interior designers, mechanics, engineers

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence

ability to use words and language. These learners have highly developed auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words rather than pictures.

Their skills include:

listening, speaking, writing, story telling, explaining, teaching, using humor, understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information, convincing someone of their point of view, analyzing language usage.

Possible career interests:

Poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, translator

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence

ability to use reason, logic and numbers. These learners think conceptually in logical and numerical patterns making connections between pieces of information. Always curious about the world around them, these learner ask lots of questions and like to do experiments.

Their skills include:

problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with abstract concepts to figure out the relationship of each to the other, handling long chains of reason to make local progressions, doing controlled experiments, questioning and wondering about natural events, performing complex mathematical calculations, working with geometric shapes

Possible career paths:

Scientists, engineers, computer programmers, researchers, accountants, mathematicians

Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence

ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully. These learners express themselves through movement. They have a good sense of balance and eye-hand co-ordination. (e.g. ball play, balancing beams). Through interacting with the space around them, they are able to remember and process information.

Their skills include:

dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation, using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build, expressing emotions through the body

Possible career paths:

Athletes, physical education teachers, dancers, actors, firefighters, artisans

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence

ability to produce and appreciate music. These musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are extremely sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g. crickets, bells, dripping taps).

Their skills include:

singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, recognizing tonal patterns, composing music, remembering melodies, understanding the structure and rhythm of music

Possible career paths:

musician, disc jockey, singer, composer

Interpersonal Intelligence

ability to relate and understand others. These learners try to see things from other people’s point of view in order to understand how they think and feel. They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and motivations. They are great organizers, although they sometimes resort to manipulation. Generally they try to maintain peace in group settings and encourage co-operation.They use both verbal (e.g. speaking) and non-verbal language (e.g. eye contact, body language)  to open communication channels with others.

Their skills include:

seeing things from other perspectives (dual-perspective), listening, using empathy, understanding other people’s moods and feelings, counseling, co-operating with groups, noticing people’s moods, motivations and intentions, communicating both verbally and non-verbally, building trust, peaceful conflict resolution, establishing positive relations with other people.

Possible Career Paths:

Counselor, salesperson, politician, business person

Intrapersonal Intelligence

ability to self-reflect and be aware of one’s inner state of being. These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses.

Their Skills include:

Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and analyzing themselves, awareness of their inner feelings, desires and dreams, evaluating their thinking patterns, reasoning with themselves, understanding their role in relationship to others

Possible Career Paths:

Researchers, theorists, philosophers