Tag Archives: Engineer Father

Educational Toys, Video Games and Enron

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Noel

I was watching CBS 60 Minutes and they had an article on Echo Boomers. A prominent professor and pediatrician was told by a fortune 500 executive that the thing that struck him most about the new generation coming into the workforce, was their lack of long term vision. He said that they treated business like a video game, where if they didn’t see instant results, then it wasn’t of interest. He also commented that today’s young employees cannot proceed in a step wise fashion, cannot accomplish a task in a methodical way. As a retailer of educational toys I immediately drew a connection. The pediatrician noted that the echo boomers had been coddled by their parents, driven to soccer practice, provided with trophies for participating. He had observed that when left to play by themselves without adult organization, they were often lost.

I couldn’t help but think of the Enron scandal, where earnings were fabricated to meet the expectations of the market. I know those involved in Enron are of an earlier generation, but are we teaching similar behaviour through video games.

Educational toys have always been a mainstay of my children’s fun and games. We often use science kits and science toys as fun activities on a rainy day. My children are still impulsive, but they are also prepared to make sacrifices for something that excites them.

Educational toys may not be the solution to all the world’s problems but I think they are a good place to start.

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Passion, Balance and Educational Toys

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Noel

Everyday we read about new claims of certain foods preventing this disease or that. Recently we are reading about foods once thought to be healthy, such as margarine with trans fat to be a very harmful alternative to natural butter. Even strenuous exercise has been found to be less effective in prolonging life than good old walking. In the end, the only safe recommendation any doctor or nutritionist can provide is to eat a balanced diet and exercise in moderation.

As they say, what’s good for the body is good for the mind. While researchers study the learning process and theorize about how the mind works, the only point we can all agree on is that for the mind to reach its full potential, it must be exercised just like your body.
A golfer swings his club from the same side repeatly, strengthening a certain group of muscles on one side of his or her body. That golfer must do exercises to strengthen his core muscles and those on the opposite side to prevent injury and provide balance.

Even though his passion is golf, an elite golfer recognizes that developing this balance allows him to excell at his craft. And so it goes with the development of the mind’s of children. Young children all have a dream of what they want to “be” when they grow up. This is the “passion” that is so important in life, the fuel, the raison d’etre. It could be their career, it could be a sport, a hobby or their family. But keep in mind that just as we go through phases in our lives, we also develop new passions along the way.

Providing a balance in your children’s lives will allow them to develop their passion from a wide spectrum. Take a moment to quantify the time spent on reading, sports, arts, math and science to ensure that they’ll be driving straight into the future.










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