Teachers can take comfort in the idea that naughty children have a way of getting their just deserts - some of them grow up to be preschool edu-tainers.

One such former naughty child, Shawn Brown, of Georgia, will be the keynote speaker during the Week of the Young Child which runs this week until Saturday.

Mr. Brown performs the "Super Fun Show", a curriculum enhancement programme that features music, puppetry, drama, story telling, and comedy.

The Super Fun Show exposes children to an exhilarating environment where they are encouraged to explore the world around them.

"I started off as a bad child. I had no attention span and was very mischievous. When I ended up getting involved in child care I started preparing my material like I wish I'd had when I was a child."

He said his parents tried to deal with his mischievousness by directing it in positive ways.

"They put me in piano lessons and drama and tried to get me creatively stimulated," he said. "It worked somewhat. Unfortunately, once I started singing and dancing, I used that to cut up in a more professional way in the classroom.

"The teachers would say I was bright but I wouldn't apply myself, because I was more concerned with entertaining people."

Today, he considers working with pre-schoolers to be more of a blessing than a punishment.

"It is a gift from God to be able to hold the attention of this group, otherwise I'd be out there struggling, tossed like a ship in the wind hoping to find my place in the world," said Mr. Brown.

He said in order to entertain little kids you have to understand that they have short attention spans.

"If you design a programme that fits their attention span, you can captivate them," he said. "I have performed in front of 800 to 1,000 three and four-year-olds.

"I can have their attention for 45 minutes to an hour. The trick is that every three minutes something needs to change.

"They are on their knees, they are jumping; something needs to happen every two to three minutes. If you use that formula then you will be alright. You also have to be a kid at heart."

He said some kids in the audience will have longer attention spans, but if you don't take care of the more antsy ones, they will ruin the whole show.

"It is just the make-up of a child," he said. "They need to be intellectually stimulated. They get bored. They want to hit somebody. That is what kids are like." This is Mr. Brown's first trip to Bermuda and he said he is looking forward to it. He was invited to take part in the Week of the Young Child after meeting a delegation from the Bermuda Association for the Education of Young Children at two conferences.

Mr. Brown not only does children's concerts, he also does parent and teacher training, showing them how to interact with small children using music, puppetry and story-telling.

"I started off working with pre-schoolers, and now some of my music expands to school-agers six, seven and eight-year-olds, but the majority of it is designed for pre-schoolers," he said.

He said originally, he was doing drama programmes for school age kids, until he was asked by a teacher to come up with something for pre-schoolers.

"I was like: 'I can't do that!' The lady said she would pay me out of the pocket.

"So I said I would give it a try, because I am a business man. That is how I came up with the Shawn Brown Show. I use early childhood themes, like dinosaurs, four seasons, repetitious music, stories and puppet shows with it to reinforce it."

The show caught on in Atlanta, Georgia. Then it started spreading across the country, and Mr. Brown started training teachers. He also does stand-up comedy for adults.

"This will be my first time doing the act outside of the United States," said Mr. Brown. "I am going to find out if there are any regional differences in preschool humour. I doubt it.

"I think children are universal. For three and four-year-olds you don't have to get very deep. You stay surface and use shock exchange humour. You slip a word in that is not expected. You use timing."

On Monday, Mr. Brown helped to kick off the Week of the Young Child during the official opening on the steps of City Hall in Hamilton.

Yesterday, he gave a special performance at Prospect Primary. He will also be available at the Happy Moments Nursery and Pre-school at 10 am on Friday. The public are invited to attend.

Today, as part of the Week of the Young Child Festivities, there will be a family and community day where members of the community and family will be invited to attend various schools and talk with the children.

Tomorrow, there will be a supper story fun hour evening in Victoria Park from 6.30 to 7.30 pm. Parents and children are urged to pack a supper and join the Bermuda Association for the Education of Young Children for music and special storytelling by Mr. Brown.

Mr. Brown will also speak at the annual Week of the Young Child Conference at Prospect Primary on Saturday. Registration is at 8:30 am and the conference is from 9 a.m. to 12.30 pm . For more information about this call 232-1875 or 799-1072 .

For more information about Mr. Brown, go to his website at www.superfunshow.com .