Wednesday, August 25, 2010

When there is Peace, Miracles Happen!

Born on 26th August - the day being celebrated as her Birthday when she was baptised (August 27, 1910), Mother Teresa has been an apostle of peace. Mother Teresa is known to the world for her love, compassion and sacrifice. Angel of Mercy and Mother T were just some of the titles used to describe her. She devoted her life for the poor, destitute and the dying. A noble Laureate, who authored a personal saga of love and compassion that touched millions of live around the world. She rendered her services to the poorest of the poor and her love for them was divine. Through their network of services, Mother Teresa and her missionary sisters brought succor to the ill fated humans suffering from diseases. Millions were helped, consoled, given a decent life or helped to die with dignity in God’s love. She was the greatest philanthropist of the Century, a person with boundless energy even in her old age.

On August 26, 2010 to mark her birth centenary, the Railways will introduce a new train "Mother Express" named after Mother Teresa. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "We have decided to launch the new train after Mother Teresa as a tribute to her on occasion of her birth centenary" She further added that the coaches of the train would be painted in blue, the trademark border of the habit worn by the order she founded. The route of the train would be announced later, but it would touch important destinations in the country.

Mother Teresa quoted,

"The fruit of silence is Prayer,
Fruit of Prayer is Faith,
Fruit of faith is Love,
Fruit of Love is Service,
Fruit of service is Peace
– Mother Teresa

And truly, I would say, And, When there is Peace, Miracles Happen!

Visit Mother Teresa Profile on Kidsfreesouls.com

- ilaxi patel
Editor, www.kidsfreesouls.com
Newspaper for Kids
Author of Guardian of Angels

Friday, August 20, 2010

Inspiring soul

Born on 20th August, Rajiv Gandhi - The name is memorable! The soul is immortal! I have always admired the leader and he has been an Inspiration to the Youth. He was known as 'Mr. Clean' and I think the only person different from his whole family. He had no interest in Politics and became a commercial airplane Pilot. However, this was not to happen and he later became the PM of our country.

Destiny - not dreams and he got to be what he did not wish to be! However, it is amazing to see how he brought a shift to reforms in education, power and electricity, population control, youth power and many other social reforms.

You can find Rajiv Gandhi's Profile in Literature pages on Kidsfreesouls.

- ilaxi

Monday, August 16, 2010

Green Office - Green Understanding

Concerns and they're many! India can be called a Can-do Nation but when it comes to concerns, unity of people power can say, 'Can do' to fight the concerns. Children are not left behind in this mission to tackle concerns as they are involved in all sorts of Projects - Save Environment, Say No to Drugs, a lot more. However, when children are guided for better environment and loaded with projects, it often happens that Parents and Teachers do forget in process that they too, require to follow the rules.

Our daily use power, water, electricity and so on, is endless. Our office and home is fully equipped with all comforts. And, here is when we need to focus on 'Green' - Green Homes, Green Office. This is so easy to say but here's a question that draws our attention for a Green Office, a work area and we can follow the tips therein and even help our children with better understanding as they are the future.

Earth Talk Question and Answer in Environment Column on Kidsfreesouls:

What are some simple things I could do to green the office I work in?- James Raskin, Framingham, MA

“The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year. One no-brainer way to green up one's office is to refrain from printing when you can, use both sides of a sheet, and recycle so that the recycling industry will have raw material.”

I always thought cotton was eco-friendly, but I recently heard otherwise. What’s so bad about cotton? And where can I find organic cotton clothing? -- Jamie Hunter, Twin Falls, ID

“The Organic Trade Association (OTA) considers cotton “the world’s dirtiest crop” due to its heavy use of chemical insecticides and fertilizers. Fortunately, there are now thousands of organic cotton retailers, including some of the big box stores. The OTA’s Organic Pages Online lists vendors (and links to their websites) by product type.
- Read more in English and Spanish.

- ilaxi patel
Editor, www.kidsfreesouls.com
Newspaper for kids

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Happy Independence Day - 15th August

India, the Land of Legends (Free), proudly stand independent and as we commemorate the nation on its 64th Anniversary of Independence on 15th August, Kids Free Souls salutes all those immortal souls for their gallant undying contribution for the cause of the freedom.

Visit Kidsfreesouls India Page and download the tune of Jana Gana Mana - the National Anthem of India.

Also Watch Live webcast of The 64th Independence Day Flag Hoisting Ceremony, 15th August- 9:00 Am in Gujarat. The celebrations will be graced by the presence of Her Excellency the Governor of Gujarat Dr Shrimati Kamla & Hon'ble CM of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi.

Click Here to Watch Live Webcast

- ilaxi patel

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Simple tips on how to memorize and recite a poetry - Remembering Tennyson

Charge of the Light Brigade - Cannon to the Right of them, Cannon to the Left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley'd and thunder'd; ....I still remember this poem which we had to memorize in the classroom and as we teach our kids Literature, it is very important to explain about the poet and in which context the poetry was written. Another thing important is teaching children how to recite the poem. We almost find children saying poetry or a story with no expressions and in a hurried style with mugged up learning. It is important to know the meaning of the poem and recite in a way which becomes interesting to the listener. When a child have to recite a poem, it may so happen that he may skip off words or a line and when prompted, he continues reciting. Reciting poetry is much more than memorizing. Reading aloud confusedly mars the experience of the listener but well said poetry can carry a good emotional rapport.

When I teach poetry in the class, it is more than memorizing. Expressions have a way in recitation. So do the child learn the poetry in a manner that prompts with rhyme patterns and meter that make it easy to flash memory.

Here are some simple tips on how to memorize and recite a poetry. You can help the child with slow and gradual progress which even makes them learn and recite poetry from school syllabus. It even becomes an interesting learning and teaching experience as well.

1. Understanding the poetry: When children are taught poetry, first explain the poetry. Talk about the Author and when or why he wrote the poetry. A brief biography of the poet will make interesting poetry session before they memorize the poem.

2. Natural Tone : Maintain the voice tone. Ignore punctuation or breaks and pauses. Recite quite normally in a natural voice with no excitement or pitched up voice throughout recitation. However, to be expressive, vary pitch and volume though in a natural tone instead of being hyper.

3. Focus on Phonetics: A read aloud Poetry can be interesting with focused phonetics. Check those 'vowels and consonants that can be spoken with clarity of voice. Using right language leave impressions and makes the child feel better to hear his own clear, well pronounced voice.

4. Be Expressive : Most of the time, children are not expressive when reciting poetry and they speak aloud the mugged learning. It so happens, they fail to remember and when prompted, they can finish the stanza. It also turn them up being embarrassed when reciting in front of an audience and they forget in-between the lines. Facial expressions and hand movements understanding the poetry lines can help children to present the recital in an interesting and confident manner. Gesture is to be maintained for effect.

5. Write and re-write revision: Children can write and re-write the poetry 2/3 times in their scrap with supportive drawing and coloring. Let them identify the parts they find difficult to remember. Help them visualize the poetry and what it is about. Help them plan where to pause and stop with smooth flow to continue. Avoid sing-song tactics.

6. Easy Recitation : For easy reciting on the stage, slow down. Speaking aloud faster tends to make the child forget as they easily get distracted at times. Slowing down helps them gain confidence and be less nervous. Even the audience will love to enjoy listening.

7. Rote learning : Some children love to learn repetition. Go back to the rote learning nursery rhymes and have fun for a while. Even sing along rote songs like 'In a cottage, In a wood', skipping every one line while they enjoy action. Rote learning and visualizing helps faster learning and memorizing.

8. Posture and Dressing: A well dressed child is always confident. And, the posture comes with confidence. Help the children to possess good posture and dressing while they are ready to perform. A well presented child on stage leaves impressive image to the audience.

9. Eye Contact: The most important part while reciting on stage is eye contact. Some children look down while saying the poetry. Some tend to look here and there and than get lost in imagination or get distracted. This leads to nervousness and forgetful. While recitation is on, the eye contact should be beyond the audience and even turning towards sides towards the audience as if to capture all of the listeners.

10. Never get embarrassed: Children often tend to make mistakes. Never get embarrassed and pass on your vibrations to them. Patience is always a key to success. Never tell the child to say, "I'm sorry' as apologizing messes up and they lose interest in poetry and memorizing becomes a pain for them.

How often we run away from the things we don't like yet have to do? When I learnt Tennyson's poetry, I still remember those lines "Cannon to the Left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley'd and thunder'd; ...." and smooth went on reciting the poetry and having fun too.

Well, 6th August was a day to remember Alfred Lord Tennyson and interestingly, he was known as Lord because of the Peerage titles I guess just like Lord Byron. Follow the Songs section for rote song and find Poetry pages here.

Btw, you can find the August Calendar and Projects here. Share Knowledge, pass on wisdom.

- ilaxi patel

Friday, August 06, 2010

Grammar Fun - Stories with Grammar for kids

Grammar Fun and Printable Worksheet Zone is exclusively 'Free' for prints on Kidsfreesouls. Teachers can circulate copies in classrooms and help kids with Projects and Parents can set up an hour - once a week, take prints and help children to enjoy doing the worksheets. Give them stars and even make a file for records.

Btw, I have added 'Stories with Grammar' - the worksheets are exclusive content I wrote while I conducted 'Stories with Grammar' Swagat class during summer. Seven stories and continuing to add more, these worksheets are for primary children who can build a strong base of Grammar while they have fun doing the stories. All parts of speech - Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Adjectives, Pronouns, prepositions, conjuctions....and more of the basics are being covered up in these simple stories and worksheets.

Supportive to reading, children can follow the Fairyland stories and I am sure, this will be fun for children. Enjoy.

- ilaxi patel
Editor, www.kidsfreesouls.com
Newspaper for Kids