CHILDREN

Ukraine is a country in the East of Europe. It has an area of 603,628 kmý, making it the largest contiguous country on the European continent. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the East and Northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the West, Romania and Moldova to the Southwest and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and Southeast, respectively.

Ukraine's history began with the Kievan Rus', the precursor to the East Slavs. From the nineth Century the Kievan Rus' became a large and powerful nation but disintegrated in the 12th Century.

Ukraine was the centre of the medieval living area of the East Slavs. After the Great Northern War (1700-1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers. By the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control.

After a chaotic period of incessant warfare and several attempts at independence (1917-21) following World War I and the Russian Civil War, it emerged on December 30, 1922 as one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union.

Ukraine is a unitary state composed of 24 oblasts (provinces), one autonomous republic (Crimea) and two cities with special status: Kiev, its capital and largest city, and Sevastopol, which houses the Russian Black Sea Fleet under a leasing agreement. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive and judicial branches. Since the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine continues to maintain the second largest military in Europe, after that of Russia.

The country is home to 46 million people, 77.8 percent of whom are ethnic Ukrainians, with sizable minorities of Russians (17 percent), Belarusians and Romanians. The Ukrainian language is the official language in Ukraine. Russian is also widely spoken. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which has heavily influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature and music.

Champions keep playing until they get it right - Billie Jean King:

Good luck Sri Lanka!

Dear Children,

The temperature is hot and it keeps rising. Apart from the weather the hottest topic that grips our country today is the Cricket World Cup. Eveybody seems to be talking about cricket these days. I am sure you must be waiting for the World Cup Cricket final with great hope and anticipation.

We will be cheering the Lankan Lions all the way. It makes us very proud to be Sri Lnkan after seeing their fantastic performance. The Sri Lankan cricket team played like World Champions to win the semi final against New Zealand on Tuesday. Cricket crazy Sri Lanka waits with great expectation for the final to be played on Saturday.

Let's wish Kumar Sangakkara and his team all the best. May they keep the Lion flag flying and bring pride and glory to our Motherland. So, children let us one and all say Go Sri Lanka Go!
 

Earth Hour 2011

Children did you know that Earth Hour 2011 took place on March 26 from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm in various countries.

Earth Hour focuses on environmental protection and we all should do our little bit to make our environment safer for living. This will help protect our planet.

Earth Hour is a global event organized by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.

Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008.

Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off.

Have a nice week.
Bye for now.
Aunt Anji

A thirsty crow

Once upon a time
There lived an old crow in a small village
As he was sick he could not find enough food
To eat - so he was often starving
Sometimes he felt unfit to fly in search of water

It was a very hot day
So the sick old crow was very thirsty
He flew here and there to drink some water
But he was unable to find even a little water

Then the wise crow overheard another young male crow
Secretly telling his lover that there was a little water
In a big bottle just close to a hut in the village

Immediately the aged wise crow flew very quickly
To that hut and saw the water bottle
But he could not reach the level of water inside the bottle

The quick-witted crow hit upon a plan of finding out a straw
To put it into the water bottle
Luckily for him the crow picked up a thrown out straw
Behind the hut
And he put it into the bottle
And drank enough water
Thus the crow quenched his thirst
And flew away gladly.

Rimza Farwin Meeadh Vision International School, Kandy

My teacher

1. My teacher’s name is Pavithra Yahampath.
2. She teaches all the subjects.
3. She is very pretty and wears nice sarees to school.
4. She is very kind.
5. There are 30 students in my class and she helps all the students.
6. I love my teacher.

Isuri Amandhi Wijesinghe Grade 2F Musaeus College, Colombo 7

Pen pals

Name: Fathima Shimla Imthiyas
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Hobbies: Collecting stamps, reading adventure
stories, watching TV
School: Holy Family Convent, Kalutara
Pen pals (Girls) preferred from: Pakistan,
Australia, Japan, China, Indonesia, USA
Age group: 14 - 18
Address: No. 51/2, Kaleel Place, Kalutara, Sri Lanka

Art Gallery

Dolphins Tharani Wijesuriya 2H, Musaeus College Colombo 7	Boy and river Saranya Grade 3, Kingston College International Wellawatte
Fishing Mihiri 7A, Learnium International School Colombo	My Montessori Divayuru Ratnayake Kuddles Montessori Narahenpita
Mountain range Wageesha Hansanee 4EB Sujatha pre-school Nugegoda	My family Amisa Akbar PG IIC, Sujatha pre-school Nugegoda

Tree A Nacshatra Grade 3, Kingston College International Wellawatte

Two birds Nadia Azard 3EB, Sujatha Vidyalaya Nugegoda

I love my mother Thisani Nadil Maalagoda Four years Nursery, Gateway College Colombo 4