Feels-good Law of Attraction

Too bad I can't locate the source, the book I took this photograph from.



This suggests strong that we had better learn to love what we are doing or even thinking about.

Say, you are a student and you want to ace your Physics tests. But if you feel bad every time you think about Physics, you are repelling rather than attracting mastery in that subject. Ask yourself why you can't like it. What exactly is stopping you from liking it whole-heartedly? Is it calculations? It is some concepts? Drill down to the real source of dislike and worry. Divide and conquer them in detail.

Refusing to learn

Refusing to learn is a very clear sign of a good learner.

This is also a form of air tunnelling.

Why? If there is a better workaround, a better substitute, why should we learn the sub-optimal techniques and methods.

Isn't it how humanity made its progress?

If knowledge has truly become a commodity, if information has truly become a commodity, if skills has truly become a commodity, .. what else remains for us to master and to exploit?

Cheer up. You are either talented or inventive!

We all should cheer up because we are either talented or inventive.

If talented, then you can copy and clone the past and present successes and prosper.

If you lack that talent, then whatever you make will be a bit different, a bit unique. In other words, you are original and inventive!

You can be both, but you cannot be neither. Isn't it a bit cheerful thought?

Successful Kids, Successful Students

According to a recent New Scientist magazine issue, successful kids or students share the following four characteristics.

They have a growth mindset, believing they can always improve themselves, acquire new skills, learn new capabilities and so on.

They have strong self-control muscles.

They have strong grit muscles. e.g. James Watson (a co-discoverer of DNA) once said, "When I was young, I knew I didn't have a good IQ, and still I wanted to do important things." He himself admitted that it was a matter of grit.

They have dreams.

How can we raise or teach kids so that they learn all these things?

Carlos Castaneda for English3Day

One of Carlos Castaneda 's books, The Wheel of Time is full of nice ideas. Here I relate some of them that apply to our students. If some of them sound a bit too mystic, well, just ignore them.

 A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, ...

page - 13
 

Absolute assurance? How?

A warrior-hunter, on the other hand, knows he will lure game into his traps over and over again, so he doesn't worry.

page - 82
 

Or is it more like this?

A warrior acts as if he knows what he is doing, when in effect he knows noting.

page - 97
 

Enjoy more of such experiences at English3Day.

Kumon Method -- Examples and "Cheating"

Many weeks ago, I was reading books on Kumon Method. One thing that struck me particularly was the founder's willingness to allow the students to 'cheat.'

In one book, it is said the founder (Mr. Toru Kumon) made a sensation among the students for allowing them to use "cheat books," books with answer keys and worked out solutions.

In another written by one of his sons, Hiroshi Kumon, the author said that his father let him use his older brother's books to see how some problems were solved.

Well, well, well ... "Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach." - Albert Einstein

See that philosophy in action at our web site English3day.

Kumon Method -- How Many Worksheets?

A few weeks ago, I was reading books on Kumon Method. At the back of a book, they showed a sample curriculum for Math and English for North American continent.

In particular, I checked to see how many worksheets they used per year and per subject. And I noticed that moving in English from very simple sentences to rather elaborate sentences took about 400 sheets times 5 years plus 200 sheets times 1 year. It totalled to 2200 worksheets.

I couldn't help recalling how I had journeyed across that distance with nothing more than 6 or 7 A-4-size grammar notes of my own, based on a few grammar books I read in those days.

Do we need 2200 or do we need 20 worksheets?

Kumon Method -- Extension 1 : Shorter

Some Kumon official books suggest that their content is designed "top down," with the end in mind. The end is towards to High School materials. I wonder why they don't also consider life that happens before the high school.

In a previous post, I've hinted that the Kumon Method cannot prepare you for life after the high school etc.

Since they cannot extend their scope far enough, can they shorten or narrow their scope too? What about the important exams the student will face this year, this month or this week?

Pragmatic teachers will appreciate the need to create immediate short-term results and wise teachers will be well aware of life that doesn't end once you get your PhD's.

Kumon Method -- Extension 1 : Longer

Some Kumon official books suggest that their content is slimmed down, streamlined and minimalist. It 's designed "top down," with the end in mind.

The end is towards to High School materials.

I wonder why they don't extend it to life after university.

eg. You dropped out like Steve Jobs, or Zuckerberg, or Larry Ellison, or Bill Gates.

e.g. You didn't even get to the uni like David Karp ( founder of Tumblr), or Matusshita or Andrew Carnegie.

e.g. after your PhD's like Feynman or Kerry Mullis or Robert B. Laughlin.

True Education, According to Matsushita

"In educating people, the most important thing you can teach is not facts, not knowledge, but human dignity. This will awaken them."

I am quoting direct from Velvet Glove, Iron Fist and 101 Other Dimensions of Leadership.

A comparable quote may be Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

Quand tu veux construire un bateau, ne commence pas par rassembler du bois, couper des planches et distribuer du travail, mais reveille au sein des hommes le desir de la mer grande et large"

When we convince a kid s/he is a worthy, unique, enough, ready human being,

When we inspire a kid about the richness of life,....
...
I don't think I need to say more.

Education Software, Meaning and Cry Babies

Yesterday, a kid's mother asked me to help his son with Math.

My son solved them all, I solved them all, both in many different ways. ... Then we wonder, "Will the kid get it?"

1. Millions of people can solve such problems, faster and better than our father and son team.
2. And thousands of websites.

None of these people, none of these websites ... become really helpful to this kid. If they are, I'll tell his mother about such sites. Maybe they did not know Gandhi's Lucky Charm.

In one of his last letters, he told Indian politicians to visualize the most pitiful face in India, and to ask themselves how what they are going to do will help that face.

My website, if I do one, will be world best, not because I am clever. Because I am kind and honestly want to help.

Birds never find food in riverbeds. Crocs never find food in mountain tops. It's not about brains, it's about desires.

I desire to help. So I find helpful solutions. I have stumbled upon hundreds of such solutions.

Thus, I cannot and will not relax. I must stay the course; to drive away misery of such nice kids, like Levine, which is his name.

Let Your Children Play Real Games

Conclusion

1. You want your child to excel at something. Then you need him/her to practice a lot.
2. But then, you want him/her to train on their own, not with you training them minute by minute, face to face, as in an animal training program designed by Skinner or Pavlov, or their modern-day proponents.
3. Then you need to design the activities as a game.
4. The 2 key appeals of games are
   
   
   1. There are a lot of accessible gains, prizes, rewards, providing "instant gratification"
   2. There are pains too but these pains are tolerable or very limited or easily terminable. That is, you can restart a pingpong/tennis/football/video game at minimal costs.

An Ancient Warning

"Do not force ..."
"Do not rush ..."
"Forceful progress is wrong."

versus

"Persevere"
"Persist"
"Perseverance"

Why have I Ching original texts and commentaries included such phrases?

A Writer's Ratio

When a writer read 3 million words and wrote down only 3 words, the input ratios is 1 million. When the writer thought 600 minutes and spent 60 minutes to write down her/his piece, the thinking ratio becomes 10.

The reader's comprehension/digestion/rumination ratio should be proportionate.

Thank you, and good luck.

Role of Good Habits in Learning English, Maths and Software Business

Can I learn software business the way my son has learned his English and the way I did my Maths?

Why not?

The Way My Son Learned English

In his first year in Singapore, he was very lonely. I was at home in his sight all the time but busy and absorbed in my programming tasks. No friends, no siblings, not even another Myanmar near us.

We relieved his loneliness with books.

One book is about 10 pages, 1 page is about 1 picture and 1 or 2 words. The story makes sense even without words. Like Bee Smart, "Bee Happy" etc. After a few weeks, he got to Nate the Great, Cam Jensen etc.

There were no grammar, no vocab, no phonetics teaching. No idiom, no teaching, no discussion, no Q and A, either.

Maybe he showed us what he liked, he retold some stories to us.

After 1 or 2 years, he got to "The Red Badge of Courage," "The Burmese Harp," Roald Dahl etc.

After 1 or 2 years, he got to Sun Tzu at Gettysburg,  Judo Strategy, "Psycho-Cybernetics," Paul Krugman, David Brooks, The Ethics of Belief,  "Calculus Demystified," "Python for Beginners," "jQuery Animation Techniques," and a few other technical books.

He can read whatever he needs to read.

Now we don't bother what he's reading, except that I quote the first English quote I learned by heart, "At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet -- Plato," and tell him he'll like Shakespeare's sonnets and Keats's odes. He's going to be a poet very soon like every teen boy! (I wish him luck.)

The Way I Did Maths

I read Maths like we usually read newspapers.

1. If I understand something, fine. If I don't, forget it.
2. If a chapter looks very complicated, forget it.
3. If an explanation, or an example looks very complicated, forget it.
4. If an exercise looks tough, read the key.
5. If the key looks tough, forget it.

It's a lot like shopping every day with a small amount of cash. If I can buy, buy. If it's out of my range, forget it. When the price comes down, buy.

Silly?Childish? Irresponsible?

1. Tell that to Aristotle, who extols the virtues of daily actions and good habits.
2. Tell that to Warren Buffet.
3. Tell that to InGenius 's author. What I was doing was what she calls "Expedition." I was touring and shopping the Maths land.

In most life-changing exams in my days, my Math score averaged around 99 . No homework, no tuition, no extra class, a lot of football, a lot of hormone-driven touring, a lot of fooling around, and so on.

This shopping expedition method may not work for every situation ... Horses for courses ...

But if you are over-working, working less may be the cure. If you lack routine and daily exposure, structure may be the answer.

And good habits are foundations of every good maths, good English, good software, good business.

Change Management and Resilience for Kids

Just 3 perspectives should be enough.

Investment

A maxim in this field is, there is nothing new but history we do not know.

Military

All successful battle field commanders cannot do without a firm spiritual faith.

Entrepreneurship

80/20 Rule: If you are sure about 80% of your business or If you are sure about your business 80% of the time, you are okay. Or else, you need to do something about it, such as building a system to run your business, delegating more, or even breaking it up into smaller, more manageable pieces, etc.

Shall we teach kids change and volatility, or stability, history and the First Principles?

Good luck!

How to Criticize Education

I used to be a university teacher. At that level( and maybe in our country), the main pressure came from the management and the government. I think that that is true in most countries. How lucky to be a uni teacher?

Except in US and UK. In US, a few Nobel laureates, esp, the economists, would keep complaining that uni degrees and diplomas are tickets to jobs that don't exist anymore, so-called "degrees of deception", or that education has become just a transaction where customers (previously known as students) are kept satisfied while being prepared for job markets.

In UK, the government is unleashing market forces into the nooks and crannies of the academia, (ah, these UK politicians are Tom Peters fans after all.)

Common people don't go to unis, don't know what uni teachers do, and thus usually leave uni teachers to their own devices.

The situation becomes tougher for teachers as you go down, the toughest being in the Primary school levels. There every parent becomes an expert. Almost all of them have primary education and so they presume (or assume, not to show my bias ;-> ) that they know to how to teach, test, do syllabus. do curriculum and more.

The more educated the parents, the more likely to complain to, interfere with, and supervise the actual teachers, unless ...

They have a longer format for their mental video.

What Happens When the Mental Video Plays for Only A Few Hours

The most daring, the most can-do of such parents will offer to demo, to do a prototype, to run a pilot, to run a trial etc for their kid's classes.

For the demo class, they will read up in depth, compile important insights, exploit excellent methodologies, perform tirelessly etc.

The school, the admin, the teachers themselves should encourage such enthusiasm. Let these parents do their demos.

How long is a demo class? 2 hours?

Ask them to repeat it one more time for the day.
Ask them to repeat the day for a few more times for the week.

Ask them to repeat the week for a few more times for the month.
Ask them to repeat the month for a few more times for the year.
(Do I need to go on?)

How long will they last?
When will their smiles become forced and weary?
When will they start losing their temper?
When will their explanations and answers become curt and vague?

When will they start to feel like Tom Cruise acting out Top Gun on stage? He has to fall in love, defend his family honor, mourn his buddy's death every night for a dozen of days in a row? Will he, will you stay fresh?

The next time you want to criticize (or advise, to hide my bias) a teacher/school, play the classroom scene with you as the principal teacher for at least 200 times.

If your method is still fine in the 201st show/run, please let us hear your method. Or else, please keep it to your self as a souvenir.

A Website : Foundation for Written English

on December 20, 2009

We have tightened our focus on helping students learning English as a foreign language, and young students struggling with their English homework.

We specialize in WRITING. We guarantee you a solid foundation in Grammar, Style, Sentence Structure, Word Choice and Common Essay Topics.

You can start writing by using our Type/Templates. They provide you with step-by-step guidelines and examples WHILE you are writing! Not after you have done writing, nor before you have started.

Your Written Works will be saved for you. You can view and/or edit them later at your leisure! You can print out any written works on this site, your own as well as those written by others.

If you cannot find a Type/Template you want in our list, you can ask us to do it for you . Just tell us what you want ( purpose, type of examination or test, how long you will have to write, difficulty level, and so on.) We will create a new type for you the way you want it, in 24 hours.

Our types and templates are varied and rich. If you wish, we can cover from Primary school, to GCE, TOEFL/TWE, to SAT, GMAT, GRE, to whatever !

However, as we have said, we need focus to help our users more effectively.

Stay Cool with Calculus - Part 3

Some time in August 2012, or earlier.

We were doing Calculus just to test how cool my Primary 5 son can be in the face of some supposedly "scary" problems.

And we were looking for a kid-friendly introductory book

 We did check out books at our Popular stores. In Singapore, Calculus is taught in A Maths in Secondary 4. The textbooks, the workbooks, the supplementary books there did not foresee customers like us.

We did find Business Calculus Demystified, a wonderful book, a great one. But it didn't meet our requirement of " just 1 or 2 hours."

We kept looking till we found "Calculus Made Easy."

Strangely, a book published in 1910 is the most suitable for the 21st century:

It also captures the spirit of the calculus reform movement:

The photos were taken form "Calculus Made Easy" the 1998 Edition's introduction by Martin Gardner.

By this time, we, both father and son, were very cool.

1. We know more relevant branches of Maths, other than Calculus.
2.  Tough big books are not our problems, but the problem for the authors and the publishers.
3. We can bypass them with cooler nicer books.

We read

1. a few chapters of Calculus Made Easy
2. a few sections of a workbook from Popular store
3. a few chapters of Business Calculus Demystified

He tested his understanding of the concepts by working out some exercises in Business Calculus Demystified.

I believe that this experience will help him with other areas of studies too.

Stability, Adaptability, and Truth

"The world is changing. The times are changing. New technologies are emerging at a breakneck pace. New markets, new economies. new careers are emerging at a breakneck pace."

"A new graduate has to keep 6 or more careers before s/he retires."

"Changes are coming more frequently than in the past. And their impact and ramifications are far deeper and more wide-ranging than in the past."

"Our age is a complex system and we live in a chaotic world full of black swans and tsunamis."

Given such information, we as parents have 2 choices:

1. We can refuse to believe them.
2. Or we can accept them.

We Refuse to Believe in Chaos

Here are some examples of this line of believing

1. A proverb --- "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
2. Taoism --- The centre is so stable that it is not moving at all.
3. Drucker --- Invention of Internet is comparable to the invention of printing press.
4. Hidden Champions --- Timeless maxims, not business management fads.
5. "Breaking the Windows" --- It seperates boys from men to see which is a trend and which is a fad, a hype.
6. Steve Jobs --- New technology happens very slowly.

That 's what I mean by Truth. That the world is stable doesn't mean that it is a bed or roses. It can be stable and stably tough.

Or Believe the World is Getting More Chaotic

Then, we believe that past is more stable than the present.

Do you think times in 500 BC, 400 BC, 300 BC were more stable than out times?

Do we find the people of those times viewed their jobs as stable and static?

Did they view their worlds as stable and static?

Did they see their worlds as utterly predictable and sort of boring and plain sailing?

What do we find instead?

That 's what I mean by Truth. The world never was, is and shall be stable.

Read literature set in rural backwaters. Do those characters find their lives stable?

In that sense, the world is stable. Teach that to your children.

Stay Cool with Calculus - Part 2

Some time in August 2012, or earlier.

We were doing Calculus just to test how cool my Primary 5 son can be in the face of some supposedly "scary" problems.

And we were looking for a kid-friendly introductory book.

We ran into lots of tough, heavy books and I lost my cool.

A subject that is beautiful, still useful in many disciplines(described better here in "Calculus Made Easy" the 1998 Edition's introduction by Martin Gardner)















A subject that has been taught for decades ...

But a subject which has been sort of superseded by other branches of maths, in particular by discrete maths ...

Still here we find calculus books getting thicker, heavier and more inaccessible to outsiders. Again the explanation comes in Martin Gardner's introduction:

Are we going to find the kind of book that suit our needs:  just 2 or 3 inspiring real-life problems, 2 or 3 simple formulas or procedures, just 1 or 2 hours?

Stay Cool with Calculus - Part 1

Some time in August 2012, or earlier.

I wanted to teach my Primary 5 son some Calculus. He's not a nerd and I didn't know Calculus myself. We were doing it just to test how cool he can be in the face of  some supposedly "scary" problems.

My purpose was clear: just 2 or 3 inspiring real-life problems, 2 or 3 simple formulas or procedures, just 1 or 2 hours.

I had read about how Calculus can be used to calculate optimum prices etc. I had also read about Einstein's gratitude to his childhood textbooks: simple, easy, general, introductory, user-friendly, kid-friendly, (in his hand-written translated diary, to be accurate.)

Many outsiders realize it can be beautiful and desire to see its beauty with their own eyes:








That is taken from "Calculus Made Easy" The 1998 Edition's introduction by Martin Gardner

Can you find such a book easily in our modern days? Excluding the Khan Academy or any online stuffs.