When guests arrive, your gift may not be in a prominent place, but don't ever doubt that if placed in a drawer, a few heartstrings are there also. If placed on a shelf, mind holds a very special place for gifts made with care and concern. We are human, and we are all made same - with, of course, different features and accessories. But, base, very core - no matter how hard we try to hide it, disguise it, or pretend it went away, is there - and there when you need it most - when it really counts - if your gift.

So, don't ever say "I'm sorry" to anything you make. Don't ever feel that others do better, or chain store items have more glitter and pizzazz. Glitter is cold and pizzazz fades. Your gift is there giving twenty-four/seven to person you thought enough of to give it to. This Holiday Season be Giver with Best Gift that only love can afford to give - ENJOY! ©Arleen M. Kaptur 2003 October

Many kids feel overwhelmed when they see a list of math questions, and it's at this point they may decide that math is "boring" or "hard".

Show them magic of taking one question at a time, and breaking it into tiny steps that make it easy.

4. Encourage creativity.

Kids may become mentally "stuck" on a topic because they're only looking at it in one way.Perhaps they need to step outside box and see it from a different angle.

Show them beauty of alternative viewpoints. Help them to see situations from other people's perspective.

Get them into habit of exploring different ways of solving a problem. Even something simple like tidying up a room can have several possible "solutions" or ways of approaching it.

Crosswords and lateral thinking puzzles are good for this kind of flexible thinking.

5. Be positive.

Eliminate negative statements like "math is hard" (even if you thought of yourself as a math dunce at school!).

Explain how everyone has a natural ability to do math and that solving math problems isn't so different from solving other kinds of problems in life.

Above all, inspire confidence in your kids. Teach them persistence and how there's always a solution to every problem.

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We all perform better when we enjoy what we do, and getting kids interested in math is real key to success.

They may not turn into mathematical geniuses, but they'll thank you in later life when they enter world of work and start counting their salaries.

Now who said your kids couldn't do math?

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