Golden Stories

After two quiet years on YouTube, I’m back—with a whole new kind of story.

Here’s 2-year-old Rhea, our fearless little climber, reaching her limit…and then going beyond.

With grandpa giving just the right nudge and grandma cheering from the side, she made it to the top.

Watch the moment here (52 sec): 🎥 [https://youtube.com/shorts/qd8kbv9Rpjk?feature=share]

If this tiny step makes you smile or feel something—share it. Rhea’s just getting started. ❤️

From a Tank Battle to an International Championship: Peter & Angie

Here’s a recent photo from the 2024 Kalahari Classic International Robotics Tournament. Peter, standing in the center, was the captain of the Canadian team that won the championship. Angie, another student of mine, was also part of the same winning team.

Angie started learning with me just last year.
Peter, on the other hand, met me in Grade 4.

Back in 2020, Peter was the winner of our internal project Tank Battle, a coding and animation challenge I designed for 13 of my students. They used Swift on iOS or Java on Windows to create tanks that could move, think, and fight. Peter’s tank used an angled track system and conquered the field — and the hearts of his fellow students:
👉 Peter's Tank Battle (2020)

Before that, he also won a creative challenge by animating over 100 triangles to recreate a photo of my cat. He’s a true cat lover and that project showed his patience, creativity, and attention to detail:
👉 Peter’s Cat Project (2019)

We can’t fast-forward a child’s growth.
But when we start early — with curiosity, challenge, and the right guidance — something steady and strong builds up from within.

And one day, that quiet foundation becomes something the world can see.

From a Tank Battle to an International Championship: Peter & Angie

Here’s a recent photo from the 2024 Kalahari Classic International Robotics Tournament. Peter, standing in the center, was the captain of the Canadian team that won the championship. Angie, another student of mine, was also part of the same winning team.

Angie started learning with me just last year.
Peter, on the other hand, met me in Grade 4.

Back in 2020, Peter was the winner of our internal project Tank Battle, a coding and animation challenge I designed for 13 of my students. They used Swift on iOS or Java on Windows to create tanks that could move, think, and fight. Peter’s tank used an angled track system and conquered the field — and the hearts of his fellow students:
👉 Peter's Tank Battle (2020)
https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/75829/202012/37759.html

Before that, he also created a stunning piece of digital art using over 100 triangles to abstract a black-and-white cat — with a tiny green frog by its side. Under them was a dark red corduroy mat, whose texture Peter rendered convincingly using rows of parallel lines. His love of cats and his artistic eye came through powerfully in this early work:
👉 Peter’s Cat Project (2019)
https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/75829/201912/303.html

We can’t fast-forward a child’s growth.
But when we start early — with curiosity, challenge, and the right guidance — something steady and strong builds up from within.

And one day, that quiet foundation becomes something the world can see.

From a Tank Battle to an International Championship: Peter & Angie

Here’s a recent photo from the 2024 Kalahari Classic International Robotics Tournament. Peter, standing in the center, was the captain of the Canadian team that won the championship. Angie, another student of mine, was also part of the same winning team.

Angie started learning with me just last year.
Peter, on the other hand, met me in Grade 4.

Back in 2020, Peter was the winner of our internal project Tank Battle, a coding and animation challenge I designed for 13 of my students. They used Swift on iOS or Java on Windows to create tanks that could move, think, and fight. Peter’s tank used an angled track system and conquered the field — and the hearts of his fellow students:
👉 Peter's Tank Battle (2020) https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/75829/202012/37759.html

Before that, he also created a stunning piece of digital art using over 100 triangles to abstract a black-and-white cat — with a tiny green frog by its side. Under them was a dark red corduroy mat, whose texture Peter rendered convincingly using rows of parallel lines. His love of cats and his artistic eye came through powerfully in this early work:
👉 Peter’s Cat Project (2019)
https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/75829/201912/303.html

We can’t fast-forward a child’s growth.
But when we start early — with curiosity, challenge, and the right guidance — something steady and strong builds up from within.

And one day, that quiet foundation becomes something the world can see.

Oliver the Fighter — and the Thinker

This boy is Oliver.

He’s a 散打 champion from northeast China.
He dribbles two basketballs like Steph Curry.
But this week, he discovered something new:
3² + 4² = 5² — and the world of right triangles.

In just one hour, he figured out:
📐 3-4-5
📐 6-8-10
📐 9-12-15
And he said, “There must be infinitely many!”

He also picked up a pattern for squaring numbers like 45, 55, 65…
All this while staying as calm and focused as in his training videos.

Here’s a photo of Oliver under the spring sun, enjoying a quiet reward.

📘 Full story (with math drawings & screenshots):
👉 https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myoverview/75829/

The Day I Saw Hidden Vectors Behind 72 and 42
(A little spark for fellow lifelong learners)

Not long ago, while revisiting a math textbook, I followed the classic Euclidean Algorithm to solve a linear Diophantine equation:

72x + 42y = 6

I knew the steps:
72 = 42 + 30
42 = 1×30 + 12
30 = 2×12 + 6

Then I reversed the process — and that’s where the beauty hit me.

Instead of just crunching numbers, I started tracking how each number was built from 72 and 42, step by step:

30 = (1, -1)
12 = (-1, 2)
6 = (3, -5)

These weren’t just coefficients anymore. They felt like 2-D vectors — and even more than that: I was witnessing a transformation of one basis into another. The vectors were shrinking, simplifying — a natural change of perspective. I was no longer carrying 72 and 42 everywhere. I was working with something leaner, smarter.

It was the first time I felt this method as something almost visual — not mechanical.
And that moment made my day.

I now believe moments like this are available at any age. We just need to stay curious, keep learning, and enjoy the process.

6 = 3×72 - 5×42

Yes, I got the answer.
But more importantly — I saw the structure behind it.
And it was beautiful.

Rhea vs. The Little Hill

She had just turned two when she met her unlikely opponent — a small playground hill, just 1.5 meters high, covered in a soft green surface, with tunnels running through.

It doesn’t sound like much.
But Rhea grabbed the metal edge, grunted “ah-ya, ah-ya,” slipped, tried again. And again.

She didn’t give up.
She didn’t ask for help.
She just kept trying.

Then… she made it to the top.

(3 short clips: try → fall → try → fall → try → conquer ❤️)

Have you ever seen a little one push so hard, for something that matters only because she decided it matters?

Pulleys made by kids of grade 4 ~ 8

Pulleys made by kids of grade 4 ~ 8 When you (or your kids) try to make or build something, your brain starts sketching, designing, planning, calculating and reasoning immediately. Down the roa...

Tank made by Peter, grade 7. No image used, pure coding result.

Tank implemented by Peter, grade 7 - YouTube Peter uses the same trick learned from his pulley project to make his tank's wheels spin.

Tank made by Lambert, grade 6. No image used, pure coding result.

Lambert, grade 6, made a "crazy" tank It's not finished yet. Lambert will keep polishing his tank.