Envious... nobody cares about us little bloggers. Sniff.

I've had real chocolate bees though. Lots tastier than handpainted fakey beetles!

The way you raise smart kids is by raising them as smart people, not talking down to them, giving them lots of manipulatives and puzzles and games and educational toys to play with, and throwing everything at them that they can handle and a few things they can't.

Not every kid is going to be a genius, but most people are pretty damn smart given the right opportunities, environment, and encouragement. Hard work is great, and can pay off. But taking tests isn't everything, and not a very good way to measure how people respond to things like calling them smart or praising their hard effort. If kids are raised to value their own ideas and opinions, they learn to not be focused on what others think of them anyway, and do well at activities for the sake of enjoying the activity itself.

Hope it didn't fall.... might smash a minivan....