The sad truth is that American children are falling behind the children of the rest of the industrialized world when it comes to science and math and have been doing so since the late 1960s. Many studies that measured the knowledge and skills of U.S. students in reading, writing, mathematics, science, geography, literature, and U.S. history show steady declines from the 1970s to today. One study showed that between 1970 and 1990, there was an overall decline of about 8 percent in reading, mathematics, and science achievement. Only one of the other seven participating countries suffered a worse drop than the United States.

Another study, conducted in the early 1990s, focusing on math abilities, showed that in mathematics, by the fifth grade the best American schools had lower scores than the worst schools from three other industrial nations.

What is the problem here? Bad schools? Bad Teachers? Bad Students? Rather than point fingers, I feel it is more important to do something. That's where educational products come into play.

I define educational products as those products which can be used to teach children and young adults important scientific, mathemathic or literary skills.

I can hear the yawns now.

Learning however does not have to be, and should not be, dull. There are a growing number of products on the market that allow children to learn while playing. These are products that allow kids to discover how the world works; that promote critical and creative thinking, and that energize them to want to learn more.

As a child one of my favorite gifts was a chemistry set. I never did much with it other than make stinkbombs, but I remember it fondly to this day. Children, especially pre-school children, love to learn. Their natural curiosity makes them natural students, hungry to figure out how things work and to discover things they never knew existed. By nurturing this talent when your children are young, you set them up for their later school years and put them on a course for learning for the rest of their lives.

When you purchase education products it is important to consider the age of the child. Obviously you don't want to purchase a chemistry kit or an advanced robotic kit for a pre-schooler, just as you would not want to hand a set of simple building blocks to a teenager. There are many online resources that can help you decide what type of education product is best for which age group.

It is also important to know what your child is interested in. Do they like dinosaurs? Do they like putting things together (or taking things apart)? Do they like to draw and color? Having an understanding of what type of education product fits your child's age group and what their personal interests are, will go a long way toward helping you choose the right education product.

With the emergence and growth of the global economy it is important that our children are taught the importance of learning if they are to lead productive adult lives. Educational products, especially those products that allow children to explore, question and experiment, help children to understand that science is not just formulas and figures, but is an on-going adventure filled with thrills and fun.