Building Smart Kids in Challenging Times

By Dr. Robert Lee

No information available at this time. Author will provide once available.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796058208

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Dr. Robert Lee.

Library of Congress Control Number:               2019913642 ISBN:                  Hardcover                     978-1-7960-5822-2

                            Softcover                       978-1-7960-5821-5

                            eBook                            978-1-7960-5820-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/09/2019

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

797541

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

A Word To Parents And Teachers: The Story That Inspired the Writing of This Book

Introduction : What We Do in Life Echoes in Eternity!

Chapter 1     The Wisdom of King Solomon

Chapter 2     Finding Grandpa’s Gold Watch

Chapter 3     How Do You Weigh an Elephant? Cao Chung—The Child Prodigy

Chapter 4     Selling Combs to the Monks A Modern Chinese Story

Chapter 5     The Biggest Piece of Meat

Chapter 6     The Doughnut Boy

Chapter 7     Making Living Milestones

Chapter 8     Developing a New Industry—Planting Mulberry Trees

Chapter 9     Tze Lu’s Education

Chapter 10   The Saga of the Little White Cloud

Chapter 11   The One-Dollar Bank Loan

Chapter 12   A Wise Old Man

Chapter 13   The Cunning Sun Tzu

Chapter 14   Sun Tzu and the Chariot Race

Chapter 15   Su Su, the Wise Young Bride

Chapter 16   The Architect and the Artist

Chapter 17   The First Lie Detector—the Sacred Bell

Chapter 18   Borrowing Arrows from the Enemy The Famous Strategy of Kong Ming

Chapter 19   The Enlightened Prince

Chapter 20   The Slowest Horse Race

Chapter 21   The Stinky Swamp

Chapter 22   The One-Armed Beggar

Chapter 23   Star Thrower

Chapter 24   An Unusual Investment

Chapter 25   Survival in a Lifeboat

Chapter 26   David and Goliath

Chapter 27   Be a Miracle Worker

References

Reviews

Child prodigies are born, smart kids are built!

Parents and teachers, teach your kids to think—and think outside the box—early!

Prepare them to excel in a difficult world.

27 Stories to Teach Kids to Think Outside the Box

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it!

—Proverbs 22:6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author gratefully acknowledges the help of his daughter, Doreen Ong, and his good friend Hilary Farris for helping in the proofreading and initial editing of this book. A note of thanks is also given to Yang Li, Kenny and Millie Yamada for their contribution to the artwork done on many of his children’s books.

A WORD TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS

The Story That Inspired the Writing of This Book

I once heard a story about a circus fire, in which a 12,000-pound elephant burned to death even though the chain holding it was only fastened to a small stick in the ground. People wondered why this powerful elephant did not free itself, as it could easily have pulled up the small stick and escaped. It turned out that when this elephant was young, it was tied to a similar chain and the other end was tied to a huge tree. The young elephant tugged and tugged, and could not get free. It was soon burned into the elephant’s subconscious mind that escape was impossible! It gave up trying. At that point, even a small stick at the end of the chain became sufficient to hold the mighty animal in place.

Modern child specialists tell us that while the average child is growing up, he or she will often hear twenty to thirty no answers to every one yes from their parents! Could it be that we are unknowingly, following the elephant training strategy, preconditioning them to failure by building a can’t-do instead of a can-do attitude? This can be especially true for working parents who can often be too tired after work to attend to their kids’ demands.

When I was a young boy in China, our servants jokingly called me 43443.png (bi jiā z 43445.png )—one who will ruin the family’s fortune. Why? I loved action toys, and none of them lasted more than a day or two in my hands. I always opened them, trying to discover how they worked. Most of the time, I couldn’t put them back together.

My mother knew I had a curious mind and bought more toys for me to work with. She also told the servants to save the toys I had destroyed, knowing that someday, I would learn to put them back together. She was right! I learned the basic principles of their working parts and later reassembled them. I often wondered what I would have become if my mother had spanked me each time I broke a toy!

Mothers, you are often closest to your children, so discover their talents early, develop them and help build a smart kid!

As responsible parents and teachers, we must learn and teach our children a can-do attitude and teach them early: how to think and to think outside the box. The stories in this book are designed to help.

The important thing is not just telling the story but also engaging your child to think about it. When there is a question in the story, before you provide the answer, challenge them to think first! Do not criticize them for whatever they say; just listen and then give them the rest of the story. Encourage them to think of other solutions, ask questions and form their own opinions!

Wise children bring joy to their father, but foolish children bring grief to their mother.

—Proverbs 10:1

Help build a smart and healthy child.

He or she will help build a better world!

INTRODUCTION

What We Do in Life Echoes in Eternity!

Whether we realize it or not, the things we do have profound consequences in eternity—good or bad! Some people may think that this is a statement of human pride. Some people may think that they are not that important. They are. Here is why.

Everyone knows George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein were important people. What they did, indeed, echoes in eternity.

The question is, where did they get their knowledge and wisdom? Where did they get their character and integrity? Do you think their parents, grandparents, and teachers had something to do with it? The people behind those illustrious men may not be famous, but they must