For preschool kids, one of the biggest open-ended questions they can be asked is “what do you want to be when you grow up?” When asked this question, many preschool kids tend to shoot for the stars. However, this question can be an easy way to introduce a unit on occupations and community helpers, two subjects that can be explored though games, activities, crafts and even guest speakers.

The Helpers in the Community

It’s important to teach preschool kids about the many tasks of community helpers, such as doctors, dentists, nurses, teachers, mail carriers, and police officers. Start by asking the children if they know any adults with these professions to see how much children know about the tasks associated with these various occupations.

When learning about doctors and nurses, try this fun craft called “Fix my Wound”. For this craft, trace the outline of the child’s arm or leg on a piece of paper. The children are to color or paint their limb including a small wound. Once the paint has dried, distribute band-aids to the children for them to place over the wounds on their crafts. Then, have each child present a story to the class as to how they got hurt and who helped them fix it.

Here’s a craft where children make police badges that’s perfect for learning about safety and the police. To begin the craft, cut out a number of badges from cardboard, and cover each badge with aluminum foil. Use stickers to decorate the badges, or try etching patterns into the foil with the stubby end of a paintbrush.

There are also a number of fun games for preschool kids to learn about the objects and tasks associated with various community helpers. First, cut out a number of pictures from magazines that are associated with community helpers, such as letters, stethoscopes, toothbrushes, or fire hydrants. Next, place a picture of each community helper on the wall and have the children match the objects to the corresponding person from the community.

“Special Delivery!”

Here’s another fun matching game that’s perfect for practicing what it might be like to deliver mail. Cut out a large number of different colored shapes, like triangles, circles, stars, and squares. Gather an equal number of mailboxes to the number of shapes, and label each mailbox with a picture of one of the shapes. Give the shapes to the children to place in the corresponding mailboxes. After all the shapes have been delivered, try the exercises again by sorting the deliveries by color instead of by shape.

Finally, here’s a matching game that teaches children good nutritional habits, which can be played in conjunction with learning about oral hygiene and dentists. Place two large teeth on the wall. One tooth should be white and sparkling clean while the other is covered with dirt and plaque.

Next, hold up a series of pictures of foods, both good and bad, and have children decide which food goes with which tooth. This last exercise in this preschool kids series can also be performed with real food, as long as there aren’t too many examples of bad food!

Mary Robinson has been teaching preschool for well over a decade. You can get instant access to her preschool activities, crafts, and lesson plans by visiting her website:

http://www.preschoolwhiz.com

For a limited time, all visitors to Mary’s site will also get a free copy of her special report: “The 7 Biggest Mistakes Preschool Teachers and Parents Make”. Go get your free copy today!

Creativity, flexibility, tolerance and love are natural states of mind and our purpose is to nurture them to full blossom

Ronit baras

Talking about youth often brings a fresh memory of laughter, energy and friendship. Many adults would love to go back in time to their teen years and live them again with the wisdom of the present. It’s like cheating life, if not in reality, then in memory. As if back then, when we were teenagers, going to school every day, having long summer holidays, life was easier, less complicated, with less responsibility and fewer options to choose from. In those years, teens struggle with the greatest questions in life.

Those were really big questions. People take a lifetime to answer only some of them. When I gathered those questions, I realized, to my surprise, that I still had the same questions, long after I had passed my teen years. In fact, life is a long journey of answering them.

You see, being a teenager was not easier, because in our teen years, we first met those questions, but did not have the experience, the support structure or the wisdom to answer them.

Our society has a fairly negative image of teenagers. As they grow up, teenagers fight this image, but at the same time it gradually turns into their own self image, because it is reflected to them by almost everyone around them.

When they grew up a bit, most of their energy is turned to changing that image. Most of them follow the “rules” and try to fulfil the expectations of their parents, their teachers and later on their bosses. On the surface, there are fewer problems, but 20 years later, the questions come back, only this time they looked like this:

Who am I?
Where am I going?
What makes me special?
Who loves me?
Whom do I love?
How much should I compromise my uniqueness in order to feel loved?

This time, there’s a scream coming from inside. They realise they now have more experience but a lot fewer options, bigger support structure but a lot more responsibility, more wisdom, but a lot more frustration.

As educators, We should aim to help teens and their parents answer the questions as early as possible. We need to change the bad image of teens using a holistic approach and answering the questions. Trying to find the reason for the problem is having the wrong focus. For many years, parents, educators and governments have tried to find a solution to the teen problem. Until now, we’ve heard two approaches: “Let’s help the parents and they will help their teens” or “Let’s help the teens and they’ll grow to be supportive parents”. Like the chicken and the egg, isn’t it? And I say, why not help them both?

Every day of their life, teenagers deal with finding the balance between being unique and being loved and accepted. They face problem they have no control of, but if they have an attitude that focuses on solutions we say they are inspiring.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:

To be yourself, in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment

I believe we can change the world and make it more accepting, because what Emerson said is painfully true.

We can establish a new trend of teens taking control over their life. Understanding their talents and power and accepting their uniqueness as a gift. If I offered you this attitude when you were 14, would you reject it? Why wait until you are 40?

At the same time we should empower parents to see the same in themselves and help put a stop to the vicious cycle of conforming. We can give our teens the power to be special, be themselves and trust them to use it wisely.

Teen life can be a lot more than a good memory.

Ronit

To view the original article and/or subscribe to the Be Happy in LIFE newsletter, visit http://www.behappyinlife.com/inspiration.

Ronit Baras is an educator, a journalist and a life coach, specializing in relationships and emotional intelligence. She has 21 years of education experience, working with children, teenagers and parents. She’s the author of the book “Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers”. Ronit has lived and worked in America, Asia and Australia and now lives in Brisbane.

Ronit’s purpose in life is to spread love and acceptance all over the world through article writing, book publishing, public speaking, education and coaching.

Whatever interests your child has, or whatever position they are in, there is a summer youth camp that will perfectly meet their needs. From the familiar traditional summer camps to adventure based camps, there is an amazing variety of camps for your child to choose from. In fact, if you are planning to send your child to a summer camp, you might want to get started early searching out the perfect match.

The ever popular traditional summer camps are all time favorites. These include camps such as 4-H camp, Boy Scout Camp, and Girl Scout Camp. Generally those wishing to attend these camps must first be an active member of the corresponding group. Traditional camps generally offer a wide range of activities such as swimming, hiking, and arts and crafts. These camps are generally affordably priced. In some cases, children are allowed to do projects during the year that can count as credit toward their camp fees.

If your child is not into traditional camps, an adventure camp might be more his or her speed. In these adventure camps, your child can choose from a variety of destinations from local to foreign. For instance, choices include glacier hiking in Alaska, backpacking in Australia or working on a cattle ranch in Texas. These camps are great for a child who likes to try new things. Depending on the destination, however, these camps can be quite pricey.

If your child is more interested in arts that in sports, there are also summer youth camps that specialize in the arts. A search of the Internet will allow you to find camps that focus solely on music, painting, dance, voice, performing arts, or any other art related area that catches your child’s interest. If your child is not already interested in arts, a week or two in a performing arts camp might spark an interest in a new hobby or talent.

While some summer youth camps are just about having fun, there are some that can actually allow your child to try out a possible future career or even earn college credit. Believe it or not, there are actually camps that will help your child improve his scores on college entrance exams. There are also camps that explore the possibilities of careers in finance, robotics, medicine and education.

Even if your child has special needs or is handicapped, there is no reason for them to miss out on the summer youth camp experience. There are a wide variety of camps specially geared toward special needs children. So whether your child is blind, deaf, suffers with asthma, or has any other type of mental or physical handicap, there is more than likely a camp that will fit his needs. These camps generally hire staff specially trained to deal with your child’s handicap. Many have an onsite doctor or nurse who can handle any medical need that might arise.

As you can see, there are a wide variety of summer youth camps available. With a little research, you and your child are sure to find one that fits them perfectly.

Still looking for the perfect summer camp? Try visiting http://www.aboutcamps.com - a website that specializes in providing camp advice, tips and resources including information on summer youth camp.

A report published by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the University of New Hampshire revealed that of a sample of children & teens who use the Internet:

1 in 5 children - Solicited for sex in the past year.

1 in 33 children - Aggressively solicited sexual, meaning that the child was threatened, asked to meet, called on the phone, or received mail or gifts.

1 in 4 children - Exposed to photos of people having sex, even though about 1/3 of households reported using “Internet blocking software.”

1 in 17 children - Threatened or harassed on the Internet, including threats of harm to the child, friends or other family members.

Unfortunately, adults are currently free to distribute non-obscene adult sexual content to children online without legal recourse. This creates the following irony: publishers and distributors of pornographic magazines or videos are legally forbidden from selling, renting, or displaying them to children in a bookstore or video store; but the same publishers and distributors are legally free to sell or display those same magazines and videos to children online.

There are recurring press reports of pedophiles using chat rooms to lure children into physical meetings. According to a recent national newspaper report, chat rooms are the most popular activity for children online, yet most chat rooms are unsupervised. Many are “private,” accessible only by invitation and special passwords (which may be provided to children by e-mail or “instant-type” messages to the screen of a targeted child).

Through use of chat rooms, adult strangers can have direct one-to-one access to our children. The “safe” home setting, combined with our children’s natural trust, may lead them to forget that these people are strangers. This makes it easier for the pedophile to prey on children who would never talk to a stranger in the “real world.”

Police investigators report that when they identify themselves as teenaged girls in chat rooms they are frequently approached by strangers making sexual advances. In addition, pedophiles have created a community online, where they can validate their behavior with other like-minded individuals and share information and “tricks of the trade.”

One of the biggest deterrents pedophiles face is the fear getting caught, and the threat and danger of being arrested.

Parents bear the primary responsibility for teaching their children to be wise and safe Internet users. To do that, parents need to be aware of practical and helpful resources, safety tips and technology.

Ultimately, the parent’s involvement is critical for successful online experiences - just as it is to avoid other pitfalls of life such as alcohol or drug abuse. Parents need to educate their children about online safety, including the possibility of encountering pedophiles, which means that parents themselves must become familiar with the medium.

There is software available online that can stop these predators and secure your children from these sick peoples grasp.

And while this software can’t stop predatory pedophiles from hunting for children on the Internet, it does offer a substantial safeguard for your children by allowing you to monitory their Internet activity.

If a pedophile has an online conversation with your child, the software records that conversation, including any incriminating evidence as well as any personal or contact information they may give to your child.

This software can even capture the pictures of who your kids might be chatting with in MySpace.com

You’ll be able to read BOTH sides of the conversation. Now you can see if your child has been approached or had a conversation with someone they shouldn’t, you’ll be able to act accordingly and report them to local law enforcement AND prevent them from contacting your child again.

Is it wrong to spy on your kids?

No. Of course some people may disagree, but we KNOW that in today’s “sexually charged” environment, it’s only a matter of time until your child is exposed to things, people or situations that they shouldn’t.

When you are monitoring your child’s online activities, you’re not spying, you’re acting as a responsible parent and taking charge of the people and images that assault your child everyday.

To those people who might disagree with me and insist that using software like this is “spying,” then to them we say “If it keeps your child safe, so what?”

If “spying” on what your kids do online, helps keeps them and my family safe, then no harm no foul.

Even if you aren’t concerned about online sex offenders (and you should be) teen peer pressure is extremely intense these days. Monitoring your children will help them keep out of trouble too.

There are many software packages available on the net check which one suits you.The one iam using know for my kids security is called Tattletale which you can get the link for at my blog works very well. Luckily enough i havent had any concerns yet, but for my wife and I it is knowing that the kids are safe, enjoying the internet which for them is a wonderful resource for study and chatting with real friends.

So make sure your kids are safe in their own home, and buy some good software to protect them, it will stop these sick people from ruining your childs life.

But remember parents should not be expected to bear all the responsibility of this job alone. In order for the Internet to be a safe, educational, and entertaining medium for children, responsibility must be shared by the public (which includes parents, teachers and others), the technology industry, and the law enforcement community. Each must bear their share of responsibility and act with due diligence. With this community commitment, the Internet will not only be a rewarding place for children but a safe one as well.

Petalac

http://petalac.blog-city.com/safekids.htm

Since at least 1928, when “My Weekly Reader” debuted in elementary school classrooms, publishers have been attempting to cover current events for children. “My Weekly Reader” was an accepted and unquestioned part of children’s lives for decades. I remember looking forward to each issue, which got passed out once a week and which I got to keep.

Looking back, I remember the weekly newspaper a bit differently. I remember one story that told of children in communist Southeast Asia being encouraged to turn in their parents for alleged subversive activity, and another piece about the wonders of nuclear energy, which was touted as “clean” and the wave of the future.

News or propaganda? The problems in Southeast Asia grew into the seemingly unending Vietnam War, and nuclear energy was later attacked for its potential dangers and its anything but clean waste products. Information that was being fed to fourth- and fifth-graders as settled fact was anything but.

Which brings us to the question-how do we bring current events into the classroom? Do we discuss the social and political events happening in the world today, and how? Current events include the much disputed war in Iraq, the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, possibly for political reasons, and the health care insurance crisis. The issues involve homeland security, the separation of powers, and the basis of the economic structure in this country-big topics for ten-year-olds.

It’s important, when bringing current and often controversial topics into the classroom, for teachers to avoid imposing their own personal views onto the students, to provide a variety of age-appropriate written materials that offer a factual basis for the discussions, and to allow students to discuss the issues and express their own views without criticism. Teachers should also make an effort to include local, as well as national, issues in the discussion.

Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics.

Since the time our children are born, we can’t help but to be proud and dream of the wonderful life that lies ahead for our sons and daughters. I’ve learned that whatever a child thinks they can do, they will. Anything is possible when they have that mindset! So be careful what you say or how you respond to your kids — you may be influencing them more than you can imagine.

Granted, we weren’t trained to be parents and we probably can all agree that our parents seemed even more clueless! We are faced with exposing our children to so much more—we help them with sports, music, academics, and interaction with their friends.

As a mother of two daughters who were totally opposite, it was scary and exciting at the same time to wonder what path they would take when they finally graduated. It’s important to acknowledge that each child has an individual talent, IQ, personality, and disposition and to help direct them with their ambitions accordingly. If you truly want to be involved in your child’s future, here’s the foundation that will build character, trust, and a lifetime of lessons that will last forever and pay off some day.

Tip 1 - Build ‘Em UP! When a child or teen does something right, acknowledge them with truth and sincerity. There’s nothing more annoying than to hear a parent give compliments just for the sake of hyping the child. Children are smart enough to know if you are phony. Always find something good in what or how they’ve something successfully first. Then, give your critique on something they could improve upon.

Tip 2 - Teach your child good values, manners, and morals. It’s sad to say, but these virtues are becoming almost a lost treasure. Parents have eighteen years to train their child; and if you don’t, someone will and you’d be putting your trust in someone else. Children are ever so eager to be taught, guided, loved, and disciplined. When you instill good, solid teachings into a child’s mind, it’s much easier to gain a their respect as they grow older.

Tip 3- Show your child how to act, talk, and perform by serving as a good role model. Don’t act like an army sergeant who makes demands upon others that you yourself don’t even meet. Don’t expect your child to be perfect, but rather see them experiencing a new learning stage. Recognize your faults by admitting your own mistakes and exemplify good work ethics, high standards, and a respectable circle of influence that you’ve developed.

Tip 4 - Trust is a major factor in helping your child be the best he/she can be. Be honest about your child’s capabilities, talents, and skills without causing discouragement. Help them to remove their fears when they have failed, encouraging them to try, try, try again. Plant good seeds into their little heads at an early age and speak about them as though you were their best fan. Nurture them with unconditional love. Always say something positive and honest knowing that they can still attain high achievements, even if they haven’t quite made it yet. Then, work with them on whatever they want to accomplish.

Tip 5 - Listen to your kids, especially your teens. A parent should know who they’re hanging out with, who their parents are, where they are, what they’re doing, and who they’re with at all times. Don’t be afraid to use “tough love” when necessary or you may be faced with some very painful consequences. Not only are your children impressionable when they’re young, the habits they develop will come from their peers which will be very influential in their lives.

Tip 6 - If there’s a problem or challenge, handle it immediately. Every family should attempt to eat dinner together to discuss what’s happening in each family member’s life. This is a time to learn, relate, listen, and share with one another.

Well, you say — How am I brainwashing my child to success? Once the foundation is in place, you can begin to build your child’s self-esteem and belief that your child can do anything in life! Take the time to talk to your children and encourage them. At the same time, confirm that you are convinced they’ll achieve whatever it is they want to do—even if it’s out of reach or sounds ridiculous at the time.

The most important factor to remember is to encourage children from infancy to dream big. Teach them not to be afraid to try and do whatever it takes through hard work. Taking up too many sports, lessons, cheerleading, and other activities can also be detrimental, or even backfire. Academics should always be a priority. Then evaluate the time and commitment other activities will require so you both can choose to create balance. A child’s will is what will determine how much they want to take on. However, it is the parent who should make the final decision as to what their child’s activity schedule should be.

Start talking to your child from an early age about what they want to be. Chances are, they’ll change their minds a dozen times, but that’s okay! What’s not okay is to decide for them what YOU want them to be. You can offer them ideas, but unless they have the passion, you are doing them a disservice by trying to force or expect them to do something they have no desire to do in life. Help them find where there passion lies and the chances of success will inflate drastically.

Tell your child what a great student he/she is when they do well. Celebrate! Let them know what success feels like. Create a picture of how you see them an outstanding musician, nurse, pro-baseball player, doctor, dancer, teacher, etc. Help them believe in themselves by pointing out their strong points and showing them how to build on their weaker points. Remind them how they have already excelled by referring to something they did that they thought they never could at one time. Give them positive feedback of your observances concerning individual aspects of their life. Help them to see themselves as successful without putting undue pressure or stress on them. Every child needs to be allowed to go at their own pace. Let your child compete without having a nervous breakdown. As a parent, know when to back off and when to give them a gentle push.

It is very important to let your child understand that there are steps to success and that disappointments or failures are part of life. Allowing your child to believe they will succeed every time only sets them up for failure. Program them to know they can do it, but when they miss the mark, encourage them to try, try, try again. Turn a failure into a positive by explaining how they’re getting closer to their goal and to never give up. Success takes place in stages that require much work. Reassure your child that the reward will be gratifying and with each success, they will venture to the next level.

Lastly, allow your child to fall -just be there to pick them up and guide them back on the right track. Your satisfaction is knowing you did everything you could to get them give them an opportunity to make the best of their life and to see the smile on their face when they experience any type of success. Believing in oneself starts at a young age and will last throughout a lifetime. Remember the saying, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”.

Doris Piña is a mother of two daughters one being a Performance Major (Trumpet) from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the other a Registered Nurse. Doris is a successful licensed realtor in Las Vegas by profession and publisher and webmaster at http://www.DorisJeanPina.com

She provides various resources to develop entrepreneurial skills in a successful and productive way at http://www.MasteringTheSecretLawOfAttraction.com

Her goal is to help others promote building innovative online businesses with visual instructional methods to promote all her businesses at http://www.TheWorldCanSeeMeNow.com

The teenage years is a very difficult period not only for you as the parent but for you teenager as well. Most parents would ask how to deal with stubborn teenagers since this age is really where independence and individuality is cultivated. But you need not worry about this stage, a lot of parents have gone through their child’s own teenage years and most of them have actually succeeded.

Here are some hints on how to deal with stubborn teenagers:

One way to deal with stubborn teenagers is to listen very carefully - most parents are not aware of it, but stubborn teenagers can actually result from stubborn parents. After puberty, most kids think they are already adults ready to face the world; luckily, parents are wise enough to know that this is not true. However, parents may think too little of their teens to a point that they still treat them as kids whose ideas are just kid stuff.

The truth of the matter is, the teenager is more mature than kids, albeit still not mature enough - this means that your teenager may have something to say about themselves or the way they wish to be treated. Listen to what they say first before saying what you think. Oftentimes, parents just stubbornly and automatically deflect anything their teens have to say, this in turn makes the teenager just act like their stubborn parents and become stubborn teenagers.

When stubborn teenagers give their perspective, acknowledge it even if you do not agree. It is important for stubborn teenagers to know that you have heard their opinion on things. But you do not necessarily have to follow it or agree with it, after all, in most cases, your teen may just be asking for your advice or if you have other ideas in mind. After acknowledging your teen’s idea it is then you can say what you think should be.

To deal with stubborn teenagers, imagine yourself in your teenager’s shoes. You were also a teenager years or decades ago and you should know how difficult such times were. But do not dwell too much on your own experiences because your teen is probably facing different challenges in life. A lot of parents say things like “I know better because I have been there” in hopes of preventing their children from doing something. But that is actually an invitation for the child to be even more curious of such circumstances.

Another way to deal with stubborn teenagers is to avoid making use of labels when talking to your child, especially during arguments. Labels might sound meaningless when you blurt them out, but they can easily get into your teenager’s mind whether the label is positive or negative. It is important to allow your teenager to let him or her self be without labels being attached. Otherwise, stubbornness might stem from your teenager’s effort to veer away from the labels.

Try to avoid debating with your child about matters of opinion. Even if debates occur to convince a party of your opinion, what it actually does is to strengthen the other party’s hold on their opinion as both of you create reasons for believing your stand. In this case it is better to show why your opinion might be better and allow your teenager to see for himself or herself what makes you think you are right.

Stubbornness is somewhat inevitable for teenagers, but it might actually be a necessary trait at this point where they are developing their identities. What matters is that you are there for them at this critical stage with much love and understanding. With an open mind and a sound heart you would be able to know how to deal with stubborn teenagers.

Did you know that there are simple but amazing methods for raising teenage kids? Raising your teen doesn’t have to be an ordeal (for either of you). Learn how you can enjoy a calm, peaceful, and fulfilling relationship with your teen. Discover how to deal with stubborn teenagers visit Teenager Parenting 101 at
All About Home and Family

Gerry Restrivera writes informative articles on various subjects including Raising Your Young Adult: How to Deal with Stubborn Teenagers. You are allowed to publish this article in its entirety provided that author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and included with every reproduction.

I have no memory of the year Phyllis Ray came to the Baptist Home or how long she lived there. My first memory of her began in Monticello, Arkansas in Mrs. Belts, seventh grade class. She sat near the teacher’s desk and I sat behind and to her right. Although there were other times and places or activities when I remember her being around such as the time she asked me to go with her but my infatuation began in that early classroom.

Phyllis was a small girl with a slim figure whose head sit atop a long slim neck. Her facial features were thin with a nose that seemed too large for her face. It was not really that big it’s just that she was a small girl. Also she usually wore a pair of faded blue denim pants that fit her rather tight with a sleeveless blouse hanging on the outside. Those times that she wore shoes they were slipped on over her bare feet. I mention that because it was not uncommon for the boys to go barefooted and most likely the girls did too.

As twelve year kids, she and I shared a common music teacher for a year. However Phyllis studied with Mrs. Dean much longer than I She became so accomplished at the piano she once entered a talent contest and won. She sure did, and the finals were held on TV.

When it was announced that she had won, the audience erupted into whistles and yells of “you showed ‘em girl!” Then during a thunderous applause, they requested an encore. Phyllis was not prepared for an encore and had not prepared a second piece. Such a thing had not entered into her mind. Therefore, Phyllis apologized by explaining that she had time to prepare only the one piece of music then played the same piece again.

Phyllis was a young girl about fifteen at the time. She could have played any one of a hundred songs from memory but none to the level of the one that won for her and she didn’t want to disappoint the audience.

The audience again applauded their approval and requested another encore to which Phyllis played the piece for the third time and stepped down.

Now, the part about her asking me to go with her happened much later when we were about sixteen or seventeen. I remember us standing outside between the concrete slab and the fishpond (filled in by this time) when I came up to her. I think she had requested another person to ask me to meet her there. Anyway, she asked me to go with her. When I turned her down for, she asked me why. I don’t remember the reason, only that it happened.

Phyllis Ray was the first girl I really took a liking to while in the Home. She was twelve or thirteen at the time and I’m sure she didn’t realize that there was this crazy boy watching her every move. If she ever reads this story Phyllis will surely kill me or, at the least be shocked that anyone would write such a tale.

She sat in the front row (seventh grade) by the teacher’s desk while I sat just behind and to her right. I could see everything she did. Young Love’ was a big hit back in those days, and she doodled a lot on her paper while the teacher was talking. In the margins of her notebook paper, she wrote famous artists’ names and the popular songs of the day in the margins of her notebook paper and did it in such a neat way. The writing had such smooth curves, at various angles with different fonts, upside down and all over the blank spaces on her paper.

I don’t know what attracted me to her, other than she was a very pretty girl. But, as each day passed as she doodled and I watched, I became more and more attracted to her.

The sugar and spice routine continued for some time until one day she picked her nose. Just like a boy, she found a `booger’ rolled it around between her thumb and middle finger then brushed it off her finger to ultimately let it down to the floor below.

There I sat, dumbfounded. All my life I had thought girls were different and only boys were snails, nails and puppy dog tails.

I recovered from the shock however, and for some time remained her secret boy friend and to this day I make a capital `P’ with a large sweeping curve just like she did back when we were in Mrs. Belts seventh grade class.

Benjamin J Cox is an author, novelist, poet, speaker, writer and humorist. He has written a book, Insider Dreams, a 911 Novel. He was born on a dirt street in a Waldron, Arkansas, in 1943. He graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is married with three children, five grandchildren. He is the President of Mayes County Writers Club, the Treasurer of Pryor Creek Investment Club and a member of Will Rogers Toastmasters Club. He is retired and lives with his wife in Pryor, Oklahoma. He like to run, enjoys big band dancing, Speaking before groups, and writes every day.

I’ve always thought of myself as a person interested in almost everything and may have been born with that trait. Of course Dad was like that and he may have passed some of that along to me - if not through his genes then certainly on the many projects we tackled together.

When I was really small, maybe three or four, Dad told me he could have one of his old cars up on blocks working on something underneath and I would be right there with him watching his every move. He said he would need a tool and turn around to get it or ask me to get it for him and I would have the exact tool he needed in my outstretched hand as if he had communicated that to me telepathically. He said I just seemed to know what he needed without being told.

Several years later I was in the break room at the north end of the first and second grade school building where there was a red pop machine and several kids my age milling around. The machine was the type that dispensed a six-ounce glass bottle of Coca Cola from the top.

Upon closer inspection the mechanism was simple in that it required a dime to be inserted into a narrow slot on top then rotate a large handle to expose the next bottle at the bottom of a recessed opening. The individual seeking the coke would then insert his hand into the five inch hole and retrieve the cold bottle of soda pop then let the handle return back to its home position.

Once in a while, during a recess or before class, a teacher or one of the kids whose parents had money would purchase a coke and drink it while I watched. They would always catch my stare as if to wonder, “What’s that kid doing staring at me?” Or to wonder if they should offer me a drink or to question if I was staring at them for another reason, especially if the person was a girl. My stare would have been that intense.

I’m not sure why I would have waited for that particular moment and not have tried sooner. Perhaps it was my first day in school or it was the first time I had been in the break room. I just don’t remember. But one day I decided to get closer to the situation and actually climbed up on the machine where I could observe the action then watched closely as a little freckled faced girl came in and stuck a thin silver dime into the slot on top and turned the handle.

From my vantage point I saw the mechanism at the bottom of the hole began to operate and the bottles began to rotate around until one of them was directly below the opening and the little girl reached in to retrieve her bottle of pop.

With the same determination I had displayed helping my dad with one of his old cars, I paid particular attention to the relationship between the lever and the position of the mechanism at the bottom of the hole restraining the next bottle as the little girl removed her soda pop and released the lever.

My interest was bumped to another level when I noticed a small time delay before the opening closed up and also saw another bottle of pop sitting there ready for the taking. But before I could get my hand in there and retrieve the bottle the mechanism closed up, locking the next bottle in place.

Still there was hope. If I could just get my hand in there a second sooner and retrieve the bottle before the lever closed completely then the little girl would not be the only one to have an ice cold six ounce bottle of Coca Cola.

Thinking that I continued to watch curiously as another person, a heavyset kid about my age approached the machine and placed his dime in the slot and pulled the lever. We exchanged glances as he removed his coke and that might have taken up some of the delay time I needed before the mechanism closed on the next bottle. But I didn’t think about it at the time and went in after what I thought would be a free bottle of soda pop.

I felt my fingers wrap around the cold neck of the next bottle and was about to pull it free when I heard the dreaded clunking sound of the mechanism as it released and closed on my wrist. My hand was trapped in the space wrapped around the next bottle of Coca Cola and I was stuck like a rat in a mousetrap and just like the rat, there was no amount of wiggling that could free my hand so I just lay there and waited.

Soon a crowd started to gather along with some of my friends. One of them lived across the street from me. He said, “You dumb shit!” Another one insisted, “I’m going to kick your butt when you get out or here.” Others just glared at me, not believing someone they had been seen playing with would pull such a stunt - to get caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Many of them were just like me. They didn’t have any money but there were other ways to get a soda pop than sticking your hand in a pair of handcuffs and throwing away the key. Perhaps they were smarter than me, I didn’t know. All I knew was they were free and I was not.

By the time the school bell rang, the room was bulging with first and second graders and several teachers. And once the shock wore off, one of the teachers saw my predicament and sensing an immediate danger ran to get the principal.

He showed up in a couple of minutes and squeezed through the pressing crowd packed inside the small room attempting to get a look at the crazy kid with his hand stuck in the coke machine.

When the principal appeared in the open doorway, the first thing he did was to instruct the teachers to get their kids to their classroom. “The bell has already rang,” he said, sternly, “and it’s time to start your classes.”

Meanwhile, as the crowd began to thin somewhat, the principal fished around in his pocket and found a thin silver dime: a coin with Roosevelt’s left facing picture on the front side and on the back was a torch with an olive branch on the left and an oak branch on the right. The edge of the dime was serrated with 118 ridges, a diameter of 17.92 mm, a thickness 1.35 mm and is the smallest, thinnest and lightest of all the US coins but I didn’t care about all that. He held the coin between his thumb and forefinger and switched his gaze between the thin piece of silver and me as if wondering if it was worth the effort or was trying to decide which was worth the most - the coin or me. All I wanted was to get my hand out and watched attentively as the principal inserted the thin sliver of silver into the same slot the two first graders had used previously and the same slot I would have used if I had a dime in my pocket.

In a couple of seconds I heard the sound of the coin rake the edges of the slot then clank its way past the triggering mechanism to the holding bin, followed by the anxious sound of the handle rotating and the heat of blood rushing to my fingers when the ratchet released my hand and I was free.

I exchanged glances with the principal again as I massaged my wrist then jumped down off the machine and ran past him through the door and down the hall to my first grade classroom. He didn’t try to stop me but I heard him yell after me. He said, “you do that again and I’ll leave you in there!”

Benjamin J Cox is an author, novelist, poet, speaker, writer and humorist. He has written a book, Insider Dreams, a 911 Novel. He was born on a dirt street in a Waldron, Arkansas, in 1943. He graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is married with three children, five grandchildren. He is the President of Mayes County Writers Club, the Treasurer of Pryor Creek Investment Club and a member of Will Rogers Toastmasters Club. He is retired and lives with his wife in Pryor, Oklahoma. He like to run, enjoys big band dancing, Speaking before groups, and writes every day.

Maths is an unusual and confused subject in that it is taught, often by non-mathematicians, without reference to its history and meaning.

The result is that mathematics and numeracy are mixed up both in the minds of teachers and pupils. Where something approaching mathematics is taught it is often taught as a technical subject, we teach you a technique, you use it to solve problems. However real maths is not numeracy (numeracy is in fact just a tiny island of the eastern fringes of the mathematical universe!) and real maths is about using your mind creatively, not just churning out answers, especially when you don’t really understand where those answers come from.

Here are two pointers that can seriously help children to grow as mathematical thinkers. Firstly maths has a history. Probably the most important person in that history was Euclid who formed much of the branch of maths called Geometry which is fundamental to mathematical thinking and, not surprisingly, is an extremely unpopular subject when it comes to the school curriculum. Euclid’s work was important in that he worked out how to start with some logical statements (called axioms) and built them up using logic to deduce new things. He can be thought of as a founding father of Mathematical Proof (and guess what - mathematical proof is an increasingly unpopular subject on the curriculum).

If you can apply and train your mind in the kind of thing that Euclid did you can become a great mathematical thinker too. Now not surprisingly there is a massive gap between school/college maths and university maths. It needn’t be that way. As parents you can start to bridge the gap with your children whatever their ages. The way I do that is with very simple mathematical games.

When we sit down for a meal or go on a journey my children ask me, “Please play the questions game!”. Any teacher out there will know just how enthusiastic some pupils can be when it comes to answering questions. So we play a simple game where I ask my children a question in turn and they try to answer and secretly help each other. After a while your kids will want to play this game regularly and will play it with each other in school and in the playground. If you can achieve playground math its pretty cool, because you’re starting to impact positively not only on your own chidren but also on their peers.

Now if you ask just any old question you won’t help much but start to ask questions that build up mathematical thinking and you’ll begin to build mathematicians. On www.mathsmentor.com I’ve placed a large list of questions you can use as a basis for your own questions. Don’t just look at the questions look at WHY I’ve used those questions.

Here are some other pointers for asking questions.

• Ask age appropriate questions.

• Aim to make your child think for a few seconds or even a few minutes.

• Give them time to think.

• Occasionally throw in a stupid question - it breaks up the tension.

• Don’t just use maths questions use general knowledge questions occasionally. Again it breaks up the session nicely and adds to your children’s general knowledge.

• Ask questions that have real world applications to.

• Avoid simple “times” table questions, once your children are confident with tables extend them by throwing in questions from the 13 and 14 times tables, so they have to think about the answer. Try questions like “What is the remainder when 100 is divided by 7?”

• Use questions that require a lot of thinking and imagination, like “How many holes are there on a recorder?”

You can help your children to become the mathematicians of the future. Don’t rely on the school system do to it alone. Teachers swim against the tide in many ways.

Here’s my philosophy:
* Ask good questions.
* Have fun.
* Build great relationships with your children.
* Build great mathematical thinkers.

http://www.mathsmentor.info