Math Wizard Prof. Arthur Benjamin

Lots of people wanted more information about math professor and magician, Arthur Benjamin.

His bio reads: 

Arthur Benjamin is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. A professional magician, Benjamin can also multiply large numbers faster than a calculator, figure out the week day of any date in history and has memorized the decimal numbers of pi out to 100 digits.

Let's look at him teaching how to multiply by 11 quickly!








Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks

Parent Frustrated: Math is boring for her son!

Dear Dr. Phil,

My son fights us on homework, especially his math. It has gotten worse this year. My husband and I call it our nightly "4th grade homework hell".

Hair Pulling Mom, Weaverville, CA.

Hi Mom,

I am a true believer in clear behavior expectations for children, such as: No screen time (TV, computer phone) until all homework is done and checked by a parent. I like clear consequences for homework performance. This is not easy, but it is important to teach homework skills early.

An excerpt from Basic Parenting 101:

My children are late with homework, chores, or curfew.

This is simply an issue of your children doing what they want to do versus what they must do. Let me make this point bluntly,

Why doesn’t your teen poop in the living room? 

Why doesn’t your eight year old potty on the couch? 

Why doesn’t your eleven year old make dodo at the dining room table during Sunday dinner?

The answer is: they have internalized the Must Rule about toileting that you taught them during the potty training phase of their younger life. I point this out because, unless your children “believe” that they must do their homework, they will do what they want to do. Unless your child believes that they must be home by curfew, they will do what they want to do. Unless your child believes that they must do their chore at a particular level, they will do what they want to do.

Central to most task completion issues is that the child does not believe her adults. 

You need to honestly question yourself. Is homework a Maybe (a preference) in your family or a Must Rule? (See Chapter 4: Must, Maybe, and Minor Rules) If you are teaching your children that homework is a preference, then your child will play before she does her work. If your child believes that cleaning her room is a parental preference (Maybe Rule), then riding her bike is more likely to be her choice.

Learn more about Basic Parenting 101

Another major problem with homework is it is often tedious and boring; this tends to start with the teacher.

Arthur Benjamin is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. He is a dynamic teacher of young and old alike. His teaching method is inspiring. This 3 minute video will give you an idea of how fun math can be:



You may also want to see:

Stump the Shrink by Dr. Philip Copitch: Is Tutoring Right For My Child?
with Guest Blogger: Geri Copitch, 18 Year Veteran Educator.


Stump the Shrink by Dr. Philip Copitch: Bribing children to do their homework does not work


  Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks


  Basic Parenting 101 The Manual Your Child Should Have Been Born With

What is the best form of exercise?

I was asked the other day, “Dr. Phil, what is the best form of exercise?” my answer… “Anything you will actually do!” 

My second answer is, “All things being equal, walking.”

Walking doesn’t take a lot of equipment and you can do it many places—rain or shine. It is easy on the body and you can set your own pace. When you travel you don’t have to pack lots of stuff. You can walk with a friend, pet, or ipod. And it surely is good for you. 

I’m not going to bore you with the health benefit statistics, I’m sure you’ve heard them already, but I’m confident you will agree that it is important that we all move our tushies!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009 reported that I in 3 adults participated in regular leisure time activity.  With another 1 in 3 doing no, nada, zero leisure time activity. Another way of saying this is 66 percent of adults sit around a lot. 

So, what are we suppose to do to help motivate ourselves to move our ever expanding, cushion crushing, rumps? 

The Journal of Family Practice, a journal written for primary care medical doctors, suggests that if the MD tells their patient to walk, not much happens, but if they suggest, “walk 2000 steps per day”, people seem to like the challenge. With the help of a pedometer, many people seem to get into walking more as they track their progress. 

FYI: “2000 steps is about 1 mile. 10,000 steps is a common daily step goal.”

Read the article: Have Pedometer, will travel.PDF

I checked Amazon to see what others are saying about pedometers. I was surprised by the number of reviews. The #1 ranked pedometer, the Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer, had over 3000 reviews, almost all 5 stars!  Just for fun I checked Kit Kats to see how many people reviewed my sugar of choice. 0. 

The cost range for the top 10 pedometer models was $15 - $20. (Kit Kat 78¢)

Here are links to pedometers that were well rated:

Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer

Go Smart By Omron HJ-720ITFFP Pocket Pedometer with Advanced Omron Health Management Software

Omron Hj-113 Pocket Pedometer, Walking Style, Black

Omron HJ-151 Hip Pedometer for Aerobic Activity

Omron HJ-303 GoSmart Tri-Axis Pocket Pedometer

Kit Kat Candy Bar, Crisp Wafers in Milk Chocolate, 1.5-Ounce Bars (Pack of 36)

Happy walking!

Uncle Sol had Chutzpah

I am regularly asked to tell the story of Uncle Sol. Here is a video of me telling the story for www.ChutzpahMarketing.com

Please feel free to pass this or any of my other blog entries along to friends, coworkers, and family.

Chutzpah Marketing books by Dr. Phil...

Chutzpah Marketing: Simple Low Cost Secrets For Building Your Business Fortune

Chutzpah Marketing for Mental Health Professionals: The missing manual from your graduate school education

Exaggerating Problems

Dear Dr. Phil,

My husband tells me that I am always exaggerating my problems. I know he is right but I can’t stop myself from looking at the negative side of a situation. 

In all honesty, I know I am blessed, but I am constantly nit picking and grumpy.

Negative in Washington, D.C.

Often we all exaggerate a problem

We all are guilty of exaggerating a problem from time to time to prove to ourselves that we care, or that we feel wronged in some way. Unfortunately, this often ends up only hurting ourselves. We make ourselves feel important by our exaggerations. But, we can also make ourselves miserable. Please let me give you an example.

Mary came into my office and growled, “I’m having a terrible day. People are sick at work and I’m picking up all the pieces. On top of all this, my back is killing me, I keep thinking I probably have liver cancer or something.”

When I talked with Mary about the specifics of her “terrible day” it turned out that in reality she had three-five minute problems that she really believed were “terrible” over the course of her day. She had 15 minutes of “terrible” in her 480 minute workday.

When Mary evaluated the day honestly she said, “Four hundred and eighty minutes? Huh… I guess 15 minutes of crap wasn’t so bad.”

With her new honest evaluation of her day, Mary’s shoulders lifted along with her spirits.

Hyperbole

When we use hyperbole, exaggeration to prove a point, we can accidentally beat ourselves up from the inside. By always focusing on the negative, we teach ourselves to only see the negative. By honestly evaluating our day, we have a greater chance to see the normal ups and downs of life.


Visit Dr.Copitch's website: www.copitchinc.com

Dealing with Fears

Dear Dr. Phil,

I am a little embarrassed to tell you this, but I need your advice. I find that I am constantly fearful. It seems that I worry incessantly about my kids, my parents, and about getting injured myself. I know it sounds crazy, but I think about accidents round the clock. I wonder all the time if I am getting sick or if I am about to have a heart attack. I have seen my doctor lots of times and it always turns out that I am healthy.

I talked to my doctor about it, and he said that it is normal to be cautious. I don’t think that he took me seriously.

Fearful in Walnut Creek, CA

Dear Fearful,

I am glad you sent me this email. This gives me a chance to talk about the very common issue of anxiety. About 10% of Americans suffer from anxiety problems. These problems range from inconvenient fears to total debilitation of a person’s life.

If your fear gets to the point of interfering with your daily activities, you may need to consult a therapist. Anxiety disorders are very treatable. I am sorry that your medical doctor didn’t take your concerns seriously. Thankfully, most MDs are good listeners and will help their patients talk about embarrassing or uncomfortable problems. If yours is not, it may be best to find another general practitioner.

Most people can get themselves easily into worry mode. If life stress is higher than normal, or there is a loss of sleep, even calm people can become worriers. I advise patients to question their own thoughts by asking themselves the following three questions. The questions are easy, it will be your answers that are hard. You will have to be totally honest with yourself.


Getting control over our own minds

1. What is the worst case scenario?
2. What is the best case scenario?
3. What is the most likely scenario?

By honestly answering these 3 questions you give yourself solid footing to define your fear.

If, after honest reflection, you come to the conclusion that worst case scenario is also the most likely scenario you have a call to action. And I do mean action. You will need to do something about your problem.


Action cures fear

Sally was concerned that the apartment complexes’ pool gate latch was not working correctly. She found herself worrying about the little children that tended to be left unsupervised in her apartment complexes’ play area. When she answered the three questions, she realized that the worst case scenario and the most likely scenario were very scary.

1. What is the worst case scenario?

“A child could drown.”

2. What is the best case scenario?

“The children are safe.”

3. What is the most likely scenario?

“The children are excited by the water, a child could drown.”

Sally told me about the problem.

“I talked to the apartment manager last week and he said that he was aware of the problem. He was waiting on a replacement key lock that should be coming any day now. I’m worrying myself sick. I’m constantly looking out my window hoping to God that the little kids are being supervised correctly,” Sally explained.

“I don’t want to sound harsh, but your worrying isn’t protecting the little kids. Action cures fear, what can you do to protect the little kids?”

“I talked to the manager.”

“I know you did, but you are still worrying. Worrying about a real problem from what you have told me,” I said. “Is there someone more powerful than yourself that the manager will listen to?”

“You’re right, I’m going to the fire department. The manager will listen to the fire department!”

Sally drove right over to the fire department and they dispatched a large firetruck. The gate was fixed within the hour.

Worry solves nothing. Action cures fear.


When is help needed?

If anxiety issues are taking over your life, seek help. The common symptoms of anxiety disorders are:

Ongoing and excessive worry
Feeling nervous most of the time
Feeling irritable frequently
Headaches
Unexplained sweating
Unexplained upset stomach
Trouble falling and/or staying asleep
Trembling in your arms and legs
Muscle tension (often worsens at night)
Finding yourself easily startled
Trouble concentrating
Others often tell you that you have an “unrealistic view of your problems.”

Talk with your doctor about treatment options. Therapists that specialize in anxiety disorders are available in most communities. Research has shown that cognitive -behavior therapy and/or medication treatment are helpful in treating anxiety disorders.

Common medications:

Common benzodiazepines include Xanax, Librium, Valium and Ativan.

Common Antidepressants, such as Paxil, Effexor, Prozac, Lexapro, and Zoloft.

Visit Dr. Copitch's website: www.CopitchInc.com