Yes I know this is a bit off topic, but then, not really. It’s about learning in a creative and encouraging environment, something we hope to achieve for our students here at The Learning Center. So can we take a lesson from this?

Yesterday my kids and I went to the City’s annual Exhibition, you know the rides, the games, the shows, etc. In the kid’s section of the park was a stage for shows done by a company that does science shows for kids. They travel to schools and special events with their ‘magic show’ of science tricks. A great concept and being The Science Mom to a group of kids that my son hangs out with, I’m of course a big supporter of this.

Until I see the show. It’s an audience full of 4-7 year olds mainly and it’s the experiment of a hair dryer air stream holding up a ping pong ball. Here’s what they’re saying: “Based on Bernoulli’s Principle, the mass and dimensions of the object, in this case the ping pong ball in relation to the upward pressure of the fluid or air column of the hair dryer…” blah blah blah. They were actually talking about Bernoulli’s Principle. Seriously. Oh *yawn* and they wonder why their audience was small and got smaller as the act went on?

They had cool tricks - floating bowling balls, why colas sink in water and diet colas don’t, stuff kids could relate to, but then blew it with the blah blah blah. I’ve seen this with other science shows, and with some grade school teachers. Then they wonder why it’s hard to get kids interested in science?

When kids are in grade school is the best time to get them intrigued by the wonders of science. Interest in science leads to interest in math, reading, even physical education if done right. It all ties together but these instructors continually kill it for the kids.

How does this relate to The Learning Centre? Well, hopefully we’ll be able to make it creative and interesting and motivating for you to learn the skills you want. It is an important focus because all learning should be interesting, whether in grade school, adult learning or seniors going back to University. At least as adults we can speak up when things are dull and I encourage you to do so with course feedback.

Bernoulli’s Principle: A rise (fall) in pressure in a flowing fluid must always be accompanied by a decrease (increase) in the speed, and conversely, if an increase (decrease) in , the speed of the fluid results in a decrease (increase) in the pressure. In other words, this is why shower curtains get sucked into the tub and get chummy with you while having a shower.

It’s Tuesday, April 22 and it’s Earth Day. And it’s been snowing here for 5 days straight in a late spring snowstorm. We’ve had close to 30cm of snow (close to 12″) and still expecting another 5cm today. So in celebration of earth day I am not going to drive my car all day. Mostly because it would mean a whole lot of shovelling.

Here’s my poor corner garden & firepit. What you can’t see in the picture of course is the howling winds that are gusting to 40km/hr (almost 25 mi/hr).

In anticipation of spring I had started to put away the winter gear: the snow pants, boots, gloves, toques, scarves. The front hall was looking empty with only spring jackets, but we’re back to full winter gear laying everywhere again. The snow has piled against the front door so I have to shovel to get out. Yep, celebrating Earth Day inside.

Do you have a specific promotion or event planned for today? Is your business green and eco-friendly? Post a comment with your earth friendly tips & events or tell us how your business is green.

My office is home based and online which means my main footprint is in power consumption from the computer & peripherals. I try to reduce the amount of documents I actually print, and I recycle paper by printing on the back of scrapped documents.

What’s your earth day solution?

Okay what’s with the name, Mrs Paula? I’ve had a couple of people ask, so here’s the explanation.

1) It’s what the neighbourhood kids call me - that’s where it started. I’m also known as the science mom at school because I’m always pushing science with the kids. I was also dressed as a mad scientist for hallowe’en when my boy was in kindergarten and I think that’s when the visual stuck as well. But Mrs Paula is easier to say than ‘hey science mom lady’.

2) I like it because in this day & age of casualness, saying ‘hey howzit going Paula’ when I’ve never met you, has always been a bit of a bee under my etiquette bonnet. Yes call me old fashioned, but I still like introductions. I think kids have lost a learning layer of respect by this pervasive casualness as well, but that’s a rant for another day.

3) Mrs Polman is my mother-in-law, a dear lady but definitely not me.

So it’s a bit of a compromise in true Canadian fashion. I get to be a little bit formal but not overly and I get to not be my mother-in-law.

So please, leave a comment and introduce yourself. I’d love to meet you.

My story begins in the mid 80’s where my ex and I built PCs in a spare bedroom for businesses looking to get techno. We built 286’s right down to soldering chips on the bare boards. From there I moved more into the software side of things, teaching, desk top publishing (ooohh it was so cool and new back then), installing & configuring. After we split, I got a ‘real job’ for awhile but continued to dabble on the side.

After the split I moved back to western Canada, to a new city by myself where I knew no one and did not have a job. I remember spending my 30th birthday alone in a motel room where I was living while looking for a cheap place to live. Not as much fun as it may sound *grin*. I struggled making a living there. Tried to continue training & selling computers but really my heart wasn’t in it, so I was barely scraping by. Turned to cleaning the apartment building I was living in to help cover the rent. At one point I was so broke, my phone was disconnected and I was living on cabbage & potatoe soup (not a diet I recommend). And I was so ashamed at being such a failure, I told no one.

Then I met someone who got me into his business of conference & event management. Wow, learned a lot there about running a business - or rather, how NOT to run a business. Ended up getting taken for all my savings and ‘invested’ some of my time -read salary- into the biz. Still broke, I moved on.

Back into the ‘real world’ again selling computers which by now I hated. However my path lead me to my hubby and the first of my kiddos, so a pretty good exchange. That’s when I rolled up my sleeves and said ‘I want to stay at home with my baby. I’m going to build a business properly.’ And I did. Making natural soaps & toiletries, I did trade shows, had a successful website with tons of traffic. Did okay on the income side but it was a lot of work. And I got to stay home with my son which was the most important factor to me.

But then I did what many entrepreneurs do, I tried to grow too big too fast and lost my focus. The result? Everything bottomed out. Now I was struggling again to earn an income. So back to the ‘real world’ for another job. By this time we were in another city and my son was starting school. Another ‘real world’ lesson on how NOT to run a business and I finally realized that working under someone was just not my thing. I resented the restrictions on my time and resented having to work for people who’s ethics did not match mine.

Fast forward to today where we’ve had a second child and again I want to stay home for her. But much wiser, I’ve found my passion and that is teaching. Empowered learning. Over the years of working on the internet I’ve met wonderful people, all with the same dream - to have our own business, to have control over our time and to make a solid living doing what we love. But as entrepreneurs, mompreneurs(r), WAHMs, WAHDs, solopreneurs - whatever your label is, we are often isolated behind our computers. Trying to build and network by ourselves, grow and learn by ourselves. And it’s tough - make no mistake. That isolation is great for awhile but eventually it wears you down.

A constant thread in my life has always been giving back and that has generally been done by teaching, sharing. I’ve monitored boards for WAHMs, I’ve been interviewed & profiled by media over the years in the hope that it would inspire other people. Now, after taking some time off, I’ve finally clarified that purpose and passion. For a long time I was bogged down behind the ‘what do I want to be when I grow up?’ mantra instead of just looking back objectively at what I’ve done for so many years.

This Learning Center service is for all you entrepreneurs who have related to my story. Am I making millions doing this? Well not yet but here’s hoping :-). My goal? To have sufficient income to raise my children while I’m at home for them, to have the luxury of flexibility of time - to control my day. Yes I may actually work longer hours than a 9 to 5′er sometimes, but I can do it at 3am when Baby Girl has woken me and I can’t get back to sleep. I can work without someone spying on me, snooping through my emails or hovering over my shoulder micromanaging my every move.

The Learning Center will help you to do the same thing. Through expanded knowledge and skills you too will gain better control over your time, stabilize and grow your income, give you the flexibility of control over your day and your life.

Are you excited? I sure am.