The way you can measure a society's soul is by the way that it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela

Issue No. 10 - 17th October 2005

Welcome to Kidz Newz especially to all new subscribers.  This is a regular newsletter with information and teaching tips for anyone involved with young children.  Please forward this to anyone you feel it may be of interest to.

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Welcome back.  I trust you all had a great break over the holidays.  I would like to share a couple of memorable experiences I had during the break.

Firstly, I attended a talk by media personality and marketing guru Tom Murrell of 8mmedia.  This was at Swan Business Swap in Perth.  A gifted speaker, Tom was talking about the importance of forming good relationships with business clients.  His talk was especially engaging because of the stories he told, in particular, stories about his young children.  He went to the preschool for 'Fathers' Day' where he was presented with a handkerchief by his little boy Timothy, who had drawn a picture of his Daddy on it. Tom brought the hanky with him to show us.  Every parent in the room could relate and a gentle 'Aaaahh' went over the whole room. He made the point of how special this hanky was because it captured the moment.  Would he ever use the hanky for practical purposes?  Of course not.  He was making the analogy for business people, giving an example of creating a memorable experience, but for me it also showed how special he was because he took time out of his busy schedule to attend something that would be forever special for both of them.  The activities you put on in your class are truly memorable for the parents who are able to attend.  Never stop doing these things because you think they are too much trouble.

The other memorable experience I had was attending the book launch in Brisbane of Robyn Henderson's latest anthology 'What My Favorite Teacher Taught Me' volume 3 in which my article appears.  Robyn asked each of the contributors to say a few words.  Not all the contributors were there, being mid week and mid morning.  Those who were there were mostly teachers or self-employed people like me. I was very impressed with the teachers, all of whom had won the Queensland 'My Favorite Teacher' competition.  Every one of these young women had extraordinary stories to tell and all showed their excellence, not by big-noting themselves but by humbly talking about their mission to empower children.  Since this is my mission as well (actually I am into empowering teachers so they can empower children) I was gratified to hear them speak.  Obviously there are some excellent teachers in the field who can transcend the daily irritations and bureaucratic requirements to grasp the big picture, that children are here today, adult tomorrow and what teachers say and do today does make a difference.  They clearly all loved their job.  To them it was a vocation.  May it inspire you to be the best you can be.  You are making a significant difference.

This piece comes from Wayne Mansfield's Maverick Spirit newsletter 18^th August 2005

http://www.maverickspirit.biz

Did you know that you literally "burn up?" In 1938, Phyllis Newcombe, 22, combusted spontaneously at a dance hall during a waltz. Many people witnessed the unexplained phenomenon, which has parallels with the combustion of a British pensioner, Euphemia Johnson, who died after suddenly bursting into fire during her afternoon tea.

Some coincidences are just too extraordinary. In 1975 in Detroit, a baby fell out of a building 14 storeys up. Fortunately, it landed on a man name Joseph Figlock and so survived. A year later, another baby fell from the same building and survived by falling on' Joseph Figlockh is n

Margy Supramaniam 'Preschool teacher, ISS International School, Singapore.