REX'S EMAIL about SCHOOL |
In a message dated 12/8/98 06:11:57, you wrote:<<Dear Rex, My name is Richelle, I am 5 years old from New Mexico. I hope you can help me, I am going to be going to school for the first time ever in one week, I will be in Kindergarten. I am so scared that nobody will be my friend. We live really far away from town, so I get to go in a special class for out of town kids, and it will be all day (not half a day), like the big kids. I have never had a friend live close to my house before, so I'm kind of scared. I have my brother and Mom and Dad to play with me. Should I be scared Rex? How can I make friends? Mommy took me to school today to sign up, and my teacher is so nice, he's like Daddy. I'm still really scared though, I think the kids will think I'm not nice. Can you help? Richelle,>>
Hello Richelle,
WOW, you are finally going to school by time you get this note. By now I am sure that you have made loads of friends and your worries about not being able to make frineds have all disappeared.
Remember that if you are nice, people will be nice to you. Just don't get upset when you meet some really bratty kid, and find others who are more like you to play with.
Maybe taking one of your Beanie pals to school with you can help if things get rough. They are always nice to you and you can tell them all your troubles.
REX
In a message dated 22/5/98 05:48:39, you wrote: <<Hi Rex. I am an 11year old boy who lives in Louisiana. I want to ask you why kids are going so crazy lately. I saw the news today about another kid who brought a gun to his school and hurt a lot of other kids, just like the boys in Arkansas a while back. I keep hearing about these things and I am scared to go to school, but my mom works and can't homeschool me. Is it going to keep getting worse with kids shooting everybody at school? Please mail me and tell me. Thank you. Craig, Age 11, Louisiana>>
Hello Craig,
Think of the many thousands of schools there are across the United States and compare that with the VERY FEW cases of students shooting others at school! It is not really that common and you shouldn't be so worried about going to school because of this.
Exactly why they do it is a very difficult question. Part of the answer is that it seems as if there are way too many weapons in too many homes. And each State has its own laws about having guns.
Many parents spend a LOT less time with their kids than they did 10 years ago. So when the child has some problem, there is no one to go to to talk about it. Many parents don't even know what their kids are thinking or doing in or out of school. That is not right somehow. I bet your family is different than that?
REX
In a message dated 25/4/98 15:25:16, you wrote: <<Hi Rex! Here is my question: How can it be proved that the number pi (3.1415926535897932388462338...) is irrational? Thanx --Misspi>>
Hi Misspi,
OK, let's do this by using an example.
IF you have this really big delicious apple pie in front of you and you could eat all that you wanted to, would you devour 2 or even more pieces?? Even if you only took one it might be considered irrational because it is fattening and you do not want to look overweight, whatever that means. And if you only ate one slice, the pie would no longer be integral, meaning one whole pie, right?
Since the number you wrote is also called pie (BUT in Greek, pi or p ), IF it is not an integer, meaning a whole number, it is irrational. See how easy?
And anyway, Steg says that any decimal number that long can't be very "rational" !
REX
In a message dated 10/2/98 23:01:55, you wrote: <<Who invented homework? Life is already full of work as it is. PLEEEEEEEEEEASE thnkx Jenna :o)>>
Hi Jenna,
Guess what? Homework was probably "invented" by the cave men, so it has been around for a very long while already!
Work is what makes Life fun and all. If you didn't have any work of any kind to do you would be bored to death. PLUS, homework is given in school so that you learn what you are studying better and remember it longer. All of my Beanie friends have classes every day, even on holidays and weekends, and they enjoy it and never once complain about too much homework. And they get lots of it! They know that a good education is needed if they want to know about the world they live in and all. Or would you prefer living and not understanding anything around you? That would be really scary!
REX
In a message dated 27/1/98 18:38:43, you wrote: <<Rex, I have a questin for you! My friend and I have to do this geometry project on the GOLDEN RECTANGLE. It sounds expensive, but we don't have a clue about its history or anything. PLEASE HELP!! Thanks! --->ABBY in Georgia >>
Hi Abby,
What a project! I had to ask my Beanie pal Goldie about this one.
Gold has always been thought of as the "perfect" metal, and the alchemists, who were some of the wizards you might see in movies in their towers wearing a cone-shaped hat, gave the circle as the symbol for gold. The circle symbolizes perfection, and is also the symbol for the Sun. Curiously, the symbol for the Earth is a circle with a dot in its center, probably meaning that they thought that the Sun moved around the Earth.
The "golden section", which might be in part a rectangle, was used by sculptors like Leonardo da Vinci to draw the correct proportions of the "universal" man.
Goldie gave me this definition : "that proportion of a plane figure (like a rectangle) in which the smaller dimension is to the larger as the larger is to the sum of the dimensions"!! It is usually a ratio of 3:5.
I hope you can understand it because I don't!
REX
In a message dated 9/1/98 22:07:56, you wrote: <<Dear Rex, What does didiadocokanises mean? From Brittany >>
Hi Brittany,
When a long word like that keeps me guessing what it means, what I do is break it up into smaller parts called ROOTS. Then I check to see what each root means and add all the meanings together to figure it out. Garcia has a lot of reference books so that we all can check out things that we don't know. How many books do you have?
For example, take the science word MICROPALAEONTOLOGY. I always start at the end. "LOGY" means the study of; "ONTO" = being; "PALAEO" is ancient, and "MICRO" means small. Putting it all together we get "the study of beings (plants and animals) from ancient times that are very small" -- which means the study of microscopic fossils, such as diatoms and foraminifera.
Your word was SOooooo easy! It was originally discovered in hieroglyphs carved on the solid gold seal of a very old royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
"ISES" is the plural form of the Egyptian goddess ISIS; "KAN" is an old spelling for can not; "CO" means equal to; "ADO" = golden additions to, and lastly "DI" is Mespotamian/Iranian for Princess. So the word means that "even many Isis can not equal, even with tons of gold, the beauty of only 2 Princess Beanies".
REX
In a message dated 6/1/98 21:28:53, you wrote: << Hi! I have a question. This has to be the eternal question of all kids. Why do teachers give you homework after you have to go through 7 1/2 hrs. of learning and brain stretching? Youd think that they would let you have a break! >>
Dear Stretched Brain,
Human and dinosaur brains can stretch infinitly, expanding in all directions, sort of like the Universe. Since there are usually about 24 hours in a day, only 7 and a half "at" school leaves you another about 16.5 to keep expanding -- did you subtract anything for lunch and gym?
Learning is fun, and the more you practice at it, the more fun it becomes. And you can learn a lot of new stuff while you are doing it! Some day you could even start your own web page, like "Ask Barbie" and you will have to be ready for all kinds of questions
REX!