Hi Gene,

How are you? I hope you had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!

Thanks for the video on Heavy Freddy. I was curious to meet him and you inspired me once again. I recommend your conference to everyone I talk to about kids.

Question: How long would you wait after you have introduced Heavy Freddy to the kids? Would it take an hour or a day or a week before the kids would actually meet him? I could see my kids never meeting him if I had to wait for everyone to meet each of the ground rules.

Do you have any links to some good educational music? That was one thing I found really valuable in your seminar and I want to introduce to my class but am having a hard time finding some good selections.

Thanks for your help,

Tracy Albiston

Hi Tracy,

Thanks so much for all your support and thoughtful comments. I would have Heavy Freddy stick his ear out, tail out, peek out, kind of like I did in the video I sent you. Keep teasing but keep him a mystery until kids perfect the procedures you want them to follow. Just as a reminder keep focused on procedures that are essential like the ground rules I had you put in your shoe in the seminar.

The younger the children the sooner you need to get him out playing with the class. Then once he comes out only let him stay out for short periods of time. Once in a while he can show up in different kids cubbies. You want to keep the novelty and Heavy Freddy always doing something new to create intrigue at a high level.

If you re interested in some great songs in addition to the many you can find in our monthly newsletters, check out my son Tim Bedley’s web site. (www.timbedley.com) He has a lot of songs he uses in his classroom available on-line.

Let me know what you discover from using an animal for motivating your kids.

My best always,

Gene

January , 2007

Hello Gene!

Thank you for your wonderful seminar! I can t wait to read through the materials! You have given my students hope and rejuvenated my enthusiasm for teaching. I have only taught seven years, but in that time I have seen the focus go from a socialized kindergarten to an extremely academic kindergarten. Thank you for inspiring me and other teachers all around the world!

Jackie Vivacqua

Twinsburg City Schools, Ohio

– Various