If you haven’t seen this already… It’s worth ten minutes of your time.
Caine is a 9 year old boy who built his own working arcade out of cardboard boxes complete with tickets and prizes. He did it just for the fun of it. He had no customers, but he kept coming to “work” every weekend. He even made his own staff T-Shirt!
Caine was just being a kid — doing what he enjoys, expressing his natural creativity, and having no fear of failure. Kudos to Caine’s father who gave him the freedom to do what he loves and encouraged him to solve his own problems.
We would have never heard of Caine if not for Nirvan, Caine’s first customer. Nirvan felt Caine’s deep passion for his arcade and took an interest in helping Caine find customers. He poured gas on the spark that Caine had started. The result is magical.
What Adults Can Learn
1. As a parent, it is our responsibility to help our children find and explore their interests. It’s up to us to encourage them in the direction they already want to go.
2. Sometimes, parents should just get out of the way and let the child act with no fear and see where it leads.
3. Any adult whether it be a parent, a teacher, or someone else, can have a profound impact on a child like Nirvan had on Caine.
At Math Plus Academy, we envision our role to be the Nirvan for the kids in our programs. For kids that are drawn to math, engineering, robotics, programming, or entrepreneurship we offer programs can provide a pedestal from which those kids can reach for the stars. Our goal is to provide the teachers and coaches to help them ignite their passion and show them what they are capable of.
Side note: Math Plus Academy volunteers to teach Caine what the “check mark button” really does.
Common Core Math Standards – Good or Bad?