Every child is SMART! It is the job of teachers to help children discover their strengths and learn through the intelligence they are strong in.  These are the many ways to be smart:

Number Smart Music Smart Nature Smart Self Smart

Word Smart Picture Smart Body Smart People Smart

Teaching through the intelligences gives children many ways of understanding.  With better understanding, children become more competent in skills.  
An interdisciplinary approach  also allows children to see the relationships of various disciplines in understanding meaningful and functional concepts.  Children achieve competence in the core disciplines of:

Literacy Science Creative Arts

Music and Movement Social Studies Math

Character-building is a cornerstone in the education of children.  Meaningful learning motivates children to be lifelong learners!

Children learn through “hands-on” exploration and interaction with the environment, children, teachers and materials that help a child move from concrete to abstract understanding of concepts.

“...At the M.I. International School Foundation in the Philippines, I saw impressive integration of MI ideas under a rubric of education for understanding.” 
Dr. Howard Gardner

For children to be successful in the 21st century, education should be meaningful and allow children to achieve true understanding instead of rote memorization.  Critical thinking skills and the ability to problem solve will be crucial in giving children tools to apply what they  have  learned in the classroom to real life events.