CHILDREN

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the West, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the Northeast and Bulgaria to the South.

Romania emerged as principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia united under prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1859 and as the Kingdom of Romania under the Hohenzollern monarchy, it gained recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878. Romanian Independence Day is May 9, 1877.

In 1918, at the end of the World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the 1989 Revolution, Romania started a series of political and economic reforms. After a decade of post-revolution economic problems, Romania made economic reforms such as low flat tax rates in 2005 and joined the European Union on January 1, 2007. Romania is now an upper-middle income country with high human development.

Romania has the 9th largest territory and the 7th largest population (with 21.5 million people) among the European Union member states. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest with 1.9 million people.

In 2007 the city of Sibiu was chosen as a European Capital of Culture. Romania also joined NATO on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie, of the OSCE and of the United Nations, as well as an associate member of the CPLP. Romania is a semi-presidential unitary state.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

September literacy month:

Books our best friend

Dear children,

September has been designed as the month of reading. It is Literacy month. This is the month that would make all you booklovers very happy.

I am sure you are waiting for the 12th Colombo International Bookfair which starts at the BMICH from September 18 to 26.

Dear children remember that thousands of people will visit the Colombo International Bookfair. So, please make sure when you visit the Bookfair to go with an elder or a parent.

Children when engrossed to interesting reading can get lost in the big crowd.

It is okay to spend your pocket money to buy books and don’t forget that you get books at bargain prizes specially during this month.

Children must be having lot of events like poetry, essay, drama competitions at school level signifying the value of books.

World Ozone Day

Children, our environment is something that we should care about very much. We should not do things that would be harmful to it, as our actions today can have negative or positive effects on the future generations.

We hear and read so much about the depletion of the ozone layer, melting ice caps and rising sea levels. That makes today a very important day as September 16 is designed as World Ozone Day.

This date has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 49/114, to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

World Environment Day 2010 theme is ‘Biodiversity - Ecosystems Management and the Green Economy’. The commemorations around the world offers an opportunity to focus attention and action at the global, regional and national levels on the protection of the ozone layer.

Bye for now. Have fun. - Aunt Anji

The king of hobbies and the hobby of kings

Philately or Stamp Collecting as it is better known, is the most popular and of the most educative and entertaining collecting – hobbies in the world.

The hobby is one of the best methods of learning to be patient and relax from pressure of office work and school work; it helps to concentrate our work or studies. It is a fascinating hobby that can be continued on to retirement, old age or in leisure time. Stamp collectors must have patience in order to absorb and study all the details and intricacies of the hobby.

 If you are a beginner or wish to be a serious collector, be sure you start with the proper accessories such as Albums, Hinges, pair of scissors, Catalogue, perforation gauge, Stock books, magnifying glass, water mark detector, colour guides etc.

Your collection can be built up by exchange, purchase from reliable stamp dealers or through stamp clubs. If you are not yet a stamp collector, why not be in the select and elite company of Kings, Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, leading public figures and celebrities and become a Philatelist?

Alfred Edwin Grade 8 Science A O.K.I. International School, Wattala

Vision or reality?

By Uncle Sachi and Aunt Ruwi - Part 37

Four children, Pramodaka, Nalaka, Champika and Chinthaka, go on a trip to the woods with their parents for their school holidays. In the middle of the night the children are awakened by a strange noise. On following their dog, Scooby, Chinthaka is snared by the spell of the ‘luring stones’. Pramodaka departs with Ruwi, a pixie, to recall a book of spell to cast off the spell while the others remain behind with Sachi, a gnome. A storm breaks and the kids are scattered.

Meanwhile Sulo, the goblin who is always trying to make trouble for the mythical creatures, comes up with a nasty plan. She rushes off gang up the rest of her pack and reveals an age old secret.

However the group discovers that it is not only Sulo’s secret that is uncovered by the storm. Something dark and deadly had been hidden in the depths of the earth waiting to release itself and return for revenge... (Return of the Kids is the sequel to Kid’s Den)

Pramodaka scratched his head thoughtfully. Something was not quite right, his guts told him. He moved away from the sleeping forms and nearly trod on a sleeping caterpillar. At another time it would have been a funny sight for a close observation showed that the tiny creature was snoring but Pramodaka was not in the mood for a laugh. He tried to recall some of Ruwi’s words. What had she said about some evil witch who had taken over the magical territory. Ah, yes. Zelda was her name but then Ruwi did say that she had been disposed, didn’t Ruwi said that a team lead by the elves had gotten together and tricked Zelda and her followers. They had won over the land and established their leadership once again many years ago. So it couldn’t be possible Zelda. It had to be something else.

Maybe someone’s magic spell had gone wrong. Maybe a clumsy gnome like uncle Sachi had set off a one of the magical devices by mistake and that was why the weather acted in this manner. Maybe he would wake up and discover that this whole episode is a dream. Maybe he stopped short and japed. What was that! A bare-bodied greenish creature seem to appear all of a sudden in view but no sooner did it appear, it seem to disappear the next instance.

Was it a vision or for real he wondered, his heart skipping a beat. He looked around wildly.

Nothing! The woods lay calm and quiet. Only a mole was within sight, its velvet coat glistening in the sunlight as it slept halfway out of its hole in the ground. Whatever it was it did not look pleasant. Pramodaka shuddered. He could almost feel its yellowish eyes boring into his.

He hesitated for a fraction. He had to go on. He needed to go on. It was up to him to save the others and take them back to his parents. Taking a deep breath he took another step.

To be continued

The annual sports festival of Sasiri Woodland, Kalalgoda pre-school was held recently. Here children participating in a game.

A group of students of Sethmaga Singithi Sevena pre-school, Kiribathogda, Kelaniya staging a dance at its annual concert held at Elphinstone Theatre recently organized by its Principal Harshanie Navaratne and the staff. Picture by Edward Weerasinghe: Kelaniya Group Correspondent

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Art Galley
 

Animals Michalak Jan Rawdin Grade 1, Gateway International, Rajagiriya	Old Mc Donald Farm Elizabeth Ganesh Nursery B, Bishop’s College, Colombo 3
Pingo man M Ruzaik Fazal 5A, Sailan International School, Negombo	Vegetable Seller Tharani B Wjesuriya 1H, Musaeus College, Colombo 7