Today’s Sound Off is about reassessing our methods of teaching students:

Dear Heloise: I’ve been retired from teaching for about three years now, and I can tell you that classrooms need to change. Teachers need more authority, more money, and more cooperation from parents and the school district’s administration. We need to start failing students who don’t make the grade and have them repeat the year or attend summer school to make up for their bad grades.

Lining students up in neat rows and expecting them to learn is boring to them. Why not use a semi-circle of rows like colleges do? And while I’m at it, why should high school end at 3 p.m.? There’s really no reason to end at 3 p.m. We could continue until 4 p.m. with subjects like computer science, writing, or any number of topics that will help them in the real world.

There needs to be stricter discipline in schools as well. Learning that the world does not revolve around them — and that self-discipline keeps them from giving in to every whim without thought — will do more to help them in life than a teacher who allows a student not to do homework or come to class.

If we don’t revamp our educational system, we will fall further and further behind compared to the rest of the world. Let’s prepare our students for the life that they will lead in the future. The more they know, the better off they will be. Maybe we can instill a love of learning in them and a sense of curiosity that will help them in their careers. You just never know who might be the next Einstein. — A Reader, in Indiana

SCRUB-A-DUB

Dear Heloise: My three kids are 5, 7 and 8 years old. They’re young, but they’re still old enough to know that bacteria can get on their hands. To get them to wash properly, I added some pink food coloring into the clear hand soap in the bathroom.

My youngest loves it because she thinks she’s applying makeup to her skin when she washes her face and hands. My older kids think it’s some kind of new and improved soap. — Violet N., Titusville, Pennsylvania

TEAPOT BIRDHOUSE

Dear Heloise: I had a large ceramic teapot that I loved. I bought it in Ireland, and the sight of it brought back some lovely memories. One day, I accidently dropped the lid, and it broke. But I just couldn’t bring myself to toss it out.

So, I tied a thin rope around the handle and hung it on a tree just outside my kitchen window. I have a bird living in there now, and I’m thrilled by my makeshift teapot birdhouse. — Lisa D., Mansfield, Ohio

DONATE TO NURSING HOMES

Dear Heloise: I do volunteer work at a nursing home, and so many of our residents are in need of something to do. If any of your readers would like to donate books that they’ve read, family games with all the parts still intact or even puzzles, most nursing homes would love to have them. — Gloria B., Portland, Oregon

REMEMBERING ENTRY CODES

Dear Heloise: To visit several friends in gated communities or other places, I need to have an entry code. So, I keep the code with the person’s contact information in my cellphone. Additionally, it can be put on my calendar for a meeting. This is especially helpful for regular meetings that require special entry. — Kathy, in San Antonio

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.