A  prominent personality known for his brilliant mind in history, languages, literature and geography once asked me to explain to him in layman’s terms what Physics is. This was one of those subjects that always intrigued and yet confounded him since he was in school. He wanted to appreciate it.

For me, the best way to teach anything is to Relate the subject to Reality. I told him that Physics is all around us. Physics keeps him from being swallowed by the ground, thanks to gravity. Watching the billiard balls go in all direction when it is hit by one ball shows us this law of Physics: Energy is transferred and never destroyed. Tattered clothes attest to the Law of Thermodynamics: Everything will deteriorate eventually (Law of Increasing Entropy). The elderly man smiled at me as if he struck gold. At the ripe age of 72, he fell in love with Physics in everyday life.

A mom asked me to assess his fifth- grade son, who has been doing the popular Math drill tutorial for some time. As a bronze awardee, he garners top scores in tests and yet, he grapples with practical principles at play in real life. I gave the boy a two-question diagnostic. “What is 2 times 2?” “Is that 4? Addition?” The boy sounded like he was asking more than answering. ”What is 3 times 3?” “Is it 6?” It’s amazing how a confused mind can excel in theoretical tests but flunks when they are already applied in reality. I concretized the abstract in 10 minutes, so that the “Huh?” transformed into an “Aha!” moment.

Our traditional school training usually teaches us acceptance of concepts and memorization of facts. Children, however, need time to gel concepts in their grey matter so that the theories will begin to matter. We need to use the language that they can understand, which is what they see happening in real life.

There are many highly-educated people who are not aware of simple scientific concepts that can save their lives and lower their stress levels. Sometimes, mishaps are downright silly. I’ve heard of many PhD holders, who still do not realize that it is not safe to put a hardboiled egg or foil in the microwave. Danger! One "degree-holder" almost caused a fire. And these can actually be learned alongside the theories that they teach us in school. The simple misuse of a ladder can kill or disable a person. Think before you act! We should have a course on "How Not To Do Things."

The original Old English term for "wise" is "to know and to see." The word "wisdom" is made up of “wise” which is "to know and see" plus "dom" which is "to do."  Simply put, wisdom is "doing what you know and see is right." Wisdom is applied knowledge.

Schools are so focused on ratings and results on tests and class schedules to understand that they actually missed out on certain theories: absorption, assimilation and application. A person has to soak into the theories so that s/he can really understand it. Knowledge  is lost if we do not know how to use it effectively. When we do not use it,  it becomes useless. Life is more than just a pop quiz. Life gives real tests and we need to apply what we know to help us survive all the time.

Life is not about grades or rating. Life is about doing your best in everything you do and giving glory to God. Life is not about competing against others. It is about setting up a high standard for yourself, so you can compete against yourself and always try to raise your bar. Life gives, helps and loves. History teaches us to pick the good, learn from the bad or how not to do it wrong. It is not about dates and numbers.

The ideal training that leads to wisdom is to teach people to discover themselves and aim to master their potentials. How can you discover yourself when you are often required to fit into a mold and become just part of the herd?

True wisdom is learning who you are in the light of God. It is gaining God-confidence not self–confidence. To know the God who made you is the best wisdom of all. If a child will forget every academic subject but remember that God made him and loves Him to death so that s/he can have eternal life, one’s lifestyle and life direction will forever be altered for good.

So this March, as your child makes the march, think of the above true wisdom ideals. Get your kids to become God-wise, school-wise, street-wise, worldly-wise, and people-wise.