How Kids' Skills was born

Bam, the Kids' Wizard tells the story

Kids' Skills was born in a small Village called Muksula a long time ago. It is a method to help children overcome all kinds of problems and to learn all kinds of skills. The method is made up of fifteen steps and as soon as you understand them all you can start to use with your own children or the children you work with. Once you try it, you'll be surprised to find out how well it works.

But before you get into learning the fifteen steps of the method, perhaps you'd like to hear the story of how the method was originally invented. We will let Bam the Kids' Wizard tell that story to us.

A long time ago, when there were no cars or televisions, no mobile phones or computers, there was a problem in a Village called Muksula, a problem that was unheard of and that no-one could solve. The children in the Village had started to develop strange problems, one stranger than the other. Some of the children had become so timid that they could not get a word out of their mouth, others had become so furious that they would hit around giving a damn to whoever came their way. Some had become afraid of things there was nothing to be afraid of, and still others had developed weird and persistent manners that they could not get rid of no matter what their parents did to make those manners disappear.

The elders of Muksula gathered together to investigate the problem. “What we need to do first is to find out what is the cause behind of all these problems that our children are having”, said one of the elders. A lively discussion ensued as the elders feverishly tried to solve the riddle of what it was that causing the children's problems.

At first the elders suspected that the problem was caused by some peculiar poison in the well from which the Villagers lifted their drinking water. With great labour water was carried to the village all the way from a neighbouring village. But it didn't seem to make any difference.

Next, the elders suspected that the problem was caused by the fact that the children had been frightened of something when they were small. All the parents were told to protect their children from becoming frightened but this approach didn't work either. In those times life was dangerous and there was no way of protecting children from getting frightened.

Then one day, one of the elders suggested that the problem was caused by the fact that the parents of the children didn't know how to bring them up. The elders started to teach parents how to raise children. This approach turned out to be even less successful. The elders had so differing ideas about how children should be raised that their lectures rather served to confuse the parents than help them become better at it.

As time went by, the village elders came up with still more explanations about why the children had so much problems but none of them was to any avail. Instead, the growing number of explanations begun to make things worse. Many of the explanations put forth by the elders rang in the ears of the parents as accusations. And when the parents felt that the elders were blaming them for the problems of the children, many of them felt helpless and some even became dreary.

The elders had been meditating on the problem of the children of the Village of Muksula no avail for a number of years and the people of the village had become cheerless. One day one of the elders rose and said: "We have all tried hard to solve this mystery of our village and we have not found the answer. The time has come to go to the Oracle and consult him about this extraordinary problem of ours.”

Three of the elders set foot to meet with the Oracle. Having travelled for several days and nights they finally arrived at where the Oracle lived.

”It is many years since the elders of the Muksula Village have consulted with me," said the Oracle with his kind voice. ”What brings you here this time?”

The elders explained the Oracle the problem of the Village and told him about the various explanations that they had come up with over the past few years to understand the problem. When the Oracle had heard their story he fell asleep. When he woke up after some time he uttered the following words which were carefully noted down by the elders:

Since time immemorial,
have children had trouble.
When searching for the cause,
the danger is always there,
that we blame one another,
instead uniting our forces
to solve the problems with dignity.

Therefore we should remember,
the old wisdom that says,
if a problem is to be solved,
there is a skill to be learned.

With the child you need to talk,
to negotiate while you walk,
to find a skill for it to learn,
in order to become strong and stern.

When the three elders returned to the village the first thing that they did was to let the stone mason engrave the words of the Oracle onto the large boulder standing in the centre of the Village. Then the elders got together to think through what the Oracle had meant with his wise words.

The elders contemplated for one whole day and whole one night. Then they summoned the Villagers and made the following announcement:

“The words of the Oracle mean that it is time for us to stop mulling over the question what is causing the problems of our children. Instead we should concentrate our forces to think about what skills our children should learn in order to get over their problems. ”

Once the Villagers heard this they became delighted. They understood that the time of blaming was finally over. No more would they have to engage in quarrelling about what was the cause of their children's problems. Instead, they could concentrate on assisting their children in learning the skills they needed to learn in order to overcome their problems.

The villagers returned to their homes and related the good news to their children: There would be no more talk in the village about the various problems of the children, only about the various skills that the children needed to learn. The children were delighted to hear the news because even they had become weary of listening to the villagers rave about their problems days on end.

The mothers and fathers discussed with their children and made agreements with them about the skills they needed to learn in order to overcome their problems. And soon there was not a single child in the village who did not have a skill to learn that would make his or her problem disappear.

However, the joy was short lived. Parents soon found out that even if their children had initially shown great interest in learning the skills they needed to learn, most of them did not put their heart to it. Some of them just lost their interest for no apparent reason, others gave up at the smallest of setbacks.

The bewildered parents approached the elders. One of them said: “Everything went so well in the beginning. We swiftly succeeded in getting to an agreement with our children about the skills they should learn in order to overcome their problems. All seemed to work wonders. But now we are our wit's end. Our children are not putting any effort to learning the things they need to learn. How shall we get them exited about learning the skills they need to learn? ”

The elders thought about this thorny question for several days and nights. No matter how hard they tried they could not find an answer. They simply could not think of a way in which the parents could get their children to become excited about learning the skills they needed to learn.

Finally the elders decided to consult with the Oracle for one more time.
After travelling for several days again the same three elders came to the Oracle.

“ What brings you to me again?” asked the Oracle with his friendly voice.

The elders answered: “When we visited you last time we learned from you something that has proven very useful for us in the village. We learned to talk with our children not about problems but instead of skills they need to learn in order to overcome their problems. It has helped us all but now we are back here to see you because we are facing a puzzle we are unable to solve. We have been able come to an agreement with our children about what skills they should learn but now we don't know how to get them excited about learning those skills. ”

Having listened carefully to the question of elders the Oracle fell asleep. When he woke up he spoke and told the following verse which was jotted down by the elders word for word:

Let me know your concern
and I'll help you think of a skill to learn.
To solve your problem faster,
there's something you need to master.

You'll choose a band of helpers
to act as your supporters
cause you're not a stone
that always stands alone.

Learning the skill will give you gains
as you stroll along the streets and lanes,
See the benefits of your skill
and owning it will be a thrill.

Nothing has happened quite yet,
but you feel that you' re all set
you plan for a celebration
to be carried out at termination

The skill is worth attaining
time to start your training
but first we need to know
how you want your skill to show

Now comes the time to practice
to learn the skill you need to learn
learning will be lots of fun
and before you know you will be done.

It's a wonderful sight
when you get it right
what a lovely sensation
when you get the admiration

Be your name Glen or Ben.
you'll need to do it again and again.
opportunities you have to pick
if you want the skill to stick

Forgot your skill, don't worry
don't even say you're sorry
No matter how you feel
setbacks are part of the deal

You may sometimes need to be reminded
of a skill that was already founded
you don't want to be slack,
you'll want some help to get back on track

At the end of the operation
it's time to have a celebration
no need for you to be snappy.
everyone will be so happy

When you feel you have it,
it's time to share the credit
take on the right kind of attitude
by showing everyone your gratitude.

For the skill to grow
You need to woe,
Your ability to teach
To all the children in your reach.

And when you're done and ready too.
another skill will wait for you.

The three elders returned from the Oracle to the village and let the stone mason engrave the words of the Oracle onto the same boulder where the previous verse had been engraved.

Then they gathered to think about what the Oracle had wanted to tell them with the verse. Having thought of the words of the Oracle for three days and three nights they summoned the villagers and made the following announcement:

“Having pondered carefully all the words of the Oracle that have been engraved onto the boulder, we have discovered fifteen guidelines that we believe can help us solve the problems of our children for good. These guidelines are to be found within the words on the boulder. Read the verse carefully, understand the guidelines, and then put them to practice together with your children. ”

At that the parents of the children got underway to try the fifteen guidelines with their children. They were amazed to find how well the guidelines worked in practice. All the children of the village, one after the other, overcame their problems. And as soon as any new problems appeared the same fifteen guidelines turned out to be effective in resolving them rapidly.

Soon knowledge about the guidelines of the Muksula Village started to spread within the kingdom. People from close by as well as from far away came to visit the Village. Everyone seemed to be keen on learning more about the fifteen guidelines that were said to be effective in helping children overcome all kinds of problems.

Before long, the number of curious people coming from north and south, from west and east, grew bigger and bigger. In order to accommodate them all, the villagers decided to establish a school where they would teach the fifteen guidelines to the visitors. They needed to give a name to the school and they decided to call it the Kids' Skills School. That is the story of how Kids' Skills was born.

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