Welcome to the first of the monthly editions. I enjoy creating these weekly, but once a month is a bit easier and gives you more time to have a look at your leisure. The content covers a lot of ground now and can be too much for anyone to take in each week.

It may give you a chance to have a look through the archives and catch up on all the interesting videos. This week still has the recipes exercises and fascinating look at education. What is learning and how is it that we might better teach children how to learn. Clifford Stoll, astronomer, suggests that the best person to ask is not a grey haired man , but a young kindergarten teacher. They are truly at the 'coalface'. Very interesting!

Check out this very cute technological welcome to Spring. There will be a black screen, but see what happens when you click your mouse. Even better click and hold as you sweep the mouse across the page. Spring blooms Thanks for this contribution Lulu!

Add a little dried fruit as a snack during the day. Dried apricots are lower GI than fresh! Not too much, though. Only one handful will suffice.

Use the water to clear the palate for the taste of the next food item. Fluids don't need to be tasty snack - food does.

Mind: You might like to use the break to reflect on what they have been doing or investigate what other issues the study might have inspired on totally different subjects. The importance of education is not just to learn what is in the text book, but also to discover what this might mean for the student.

Soul: The conversation might wander off just the simple thoughts of associated knowledge toward something that is personally relevant for the student. What does this mean for the student's better understanding of themselves or some insight into a difficult problem of the time.

Education - The Opportunity to Grow.

This is not to say that I am soft on the need for education. I am an ardent advocate for the wonder and vitality and absolute necessity for education, but is stuffing someone's head full of information education? Of course it is an essential element of education. I am constantly trying to get my brain to remember all the things in neuroscience. I know which part of the brain does this and it is still a frustrating process! But it is the names of things that fascinate me and help me to express my ideas and develop my imaginings that I remember most.

Sir Ken Robinson speaks about the wonders of education and the perils of the current system in the TED talk below. He is funny and engaging, but also delivering a very necessary message with great clarity.

Sir Ken is also talking about many of the ideas that I have developed in my book. The winner/loser world theory is gaining more relevance and depth as time goes on. We know about so many things. We know what would make things better. We know what we should do, but it just seems to be that we aren't in the right 'space' to do it. That is what the creative world and winner/loser world description explains - what it is that stops us. What stops us is a mindset, a way of thinking, a set of assumptions that are simply not true.

Clifford Stoll is the sort of teacher that send fear into the heart's of parents who want a good solid education for their children, but he is the sort of teacher that children remember into their twilight years and benefit from things he did and said way beyond the baser elements of 'getting the knowledge into the student's head'. Have a look, see what you think. Share your thoughts with me. Let us interact. That is the purpose of this newsletter. email Richard

What are we really trying to achieve with education? This is still an important dicussion. For me, to have returned to academic education is a real eye opener. There's a lot to learn out there!

Share your thoughts and suggestions? richhill@iinet.net.au

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Looking forward to sharing more thoughts, suggestions, news and making a very Healthy Wednesday connection with you!

Take Care, Richard, Susie and The Healthy Wednesday Team