Chilldren

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge

- Albert Einstein

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World Teachers’ Day

Dear Children,

Last week was a very momentous week. We celebrated two very important days. They were International Children's Day and International Elders' Day.

This week we celebrated another important day. That is World Teachers' Day which fell on October 5.

Children, teachers play a very vital role in moulding your lives. They are second to parents. We should respect and be very thankful to them for their dedicated service in educating, guiding and giving new meaning to our lives.

World Teachers' Day commemorates teachers' organizations worldwide and is aimed at gaining the support to help them serve the students in a more productive manner.

Children, we should raise our hats in honour and appreciation of our teachers for the vital contribution they make to education and educational development.

We are eternally grateful to you, dear teachers for not only imparting valuable knowledge on us but for making us responsible and respectful citizens.

Bye for now. Have fun!
Aunt Anji

READ A BOOK WITH ME...:

A treat of poems for you

Hello everybody,

It’s October, the month of birthdays! Does your birthday fall in October? Mine does, and many people I know are born in October too, and many people I know have told me that many of their friends and family members are born in October. So surely this should be a great month, and for this reason I thought of giving all of you who celebrate your birthdays and your friends’ birthdays in October a special treat; some interesting poetry!

Now, don’t be disappointed if you don’t like poetry. I’m not a great fan of poetry either. However, there are poems I like and also poems I dislike. Poems I enjoy reading and poems I find utterly boring. However, I think many of you would find Little Ann and Other Poems, a special poetry book written for children by Jane and Ann Taylor quite interesting.

Now remember, I said ‘interesting’. This does not necessarily mean that you’re going to like the poems for what they are. You could like them for what they are and what they are not as well. For example, take the following stanza from the poem ‘The Good Natured Girls’:

Whatever occurs, in their work or their play,
They are willing to yield, and give up their own way:
Then now let us try their example to mind,
And always, like them, be obliging and kind

This poem is about two ‘good natured’ girls. When you read this stanza you can have an idea as to what the poet means by being good-natured. I don’t like the content of this stanza or the poem. I don’t agree with the poet because I don’t think that children should always be obliging and willing to yield. Children should have their own opinions about things, discuss things with adults and be free to do things they like too. So, I’m not happy with this poem, but I find it interesting because it gives me an opportunity to argue against what it says like I just did. So I like it because it gives me a chance for discussion, to talk about it. So it’s like liking the poem for not liking it! Are you confused?

There are many poems in this collection and most of them give advice to children about how they should behave and what qualities they should build up. The book is very religious too. It tells the children to have faith in God and believe in him. You can read the poems and see whether you can agree with me or not.

You know, people can be so fond of being bossy and controlling you, telling you how to eat, how to dress how to sit and so on. Would you mind thinking twice before you do everything they say?

Take care!
- Gayathri

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

My family

Thee are five members in our family. My father’s name is Mohammed Ismath. My mother’s name is Farzana. I have two brothers they are Mohammed Sajid and Mohammed Afi. My parents are very kind to us. My parents have three children; one daughter and two sons.

My father is 43 years. My mother is 32 years. My brother Sajid is four years old and my brother Afi is two years old. My parents’ favourite food is prawns and my brother’s favourite food is ice cream. My mother is fat and fair. My father is dark and smart. My brothers are very sweet. My mother has studied

Tamil. My father has studied Sinhala. I love my family.

F Sajida Ismath
Grade 4 A, Learnium International School
Colombo

My small brother

I have a small brother. His name is Muazzam Jarir. He is two years. I love him a lot. He loves to play with me. He loves birds, geckos and water. He helps grandma in the garden.

Mariyam Imtiaz
2B, Bishops’ College
Colombo 3

My parrot	Flower vase	Duck
Shwetha Lakmindi Herath Royal International School Kurunegala	Kavindi Grade 2, Kingston College International Matale	D Kavinesh Grade 3, Kingston College International Wellawatte

Under the sea	The sea	Fish tank
Keshan 2E, Highland College, Nugegoda	Mishan Kottearachchi 5A, Royal College, Colombo 7	Danushiya Sarathbaby Grade 1, Kingston College International Wellawatte

Mango	Our home	Twitty
R Thanushan 3A, Kingston College International Mutwal Colombo 15	Usara Anuthni Vidanapathirana Four years, Matata	Senilka Senarathna Grade 2, Lodestar International School Battaramulla

My garden	The lake
V Miruthy Grade 4, Kingston College International Wellawatte	A Nacshatra Grade 3, Kingston College International Wellawatte