When work is a pleasure, life is a joy. When work is a duty, life is slavery - Maxim Gorky

The significance of May day

Dear children,

Last Tuesday all working people celebrated May day or International Workers' Day. Your parents and relatives too might have participated in May day celebrations. We all know that May 1st is a holiday and you all could stay at home on that day. Yet, how many of you are aware of the significance of this day?

May day is recognized across the world as International Workers' Day. It is held annually, to commemorate the International Labour Movement- the struggle for rights and better conditions for working people.

It was through commitment and hard labour that the working community achieved their rights. Their path to success was not a rosy one. An eight hour work day, salary increments, maximum wages are significant among the achievements resulting from worldwide Labour Movements.

In Sri Lanka the first May Day was held on May 1, 1927. You should know that the first May Day celebrations were held under the leadership of Alexander Ekanayake Goonesinha, who was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party. May day was officially declared a holiday in Sri Lanka in 1956 by the then Minister of Labour T B Illangaratne during Prime Minister S W R D Bandaranaike's tenure.

Do remember that May 1st is an important day as this day acknowledges the sweat and hard work of the working class.

Bye for now.

Sanju
[email protected]

Sunny stories:

The mysterious visitor

Sandun covered his head with a pillow. He saw another flash of lightning through the window. His room lit up as if someone had suddenly switched on a light and switched it off as quickly as possible. Sandun waited for the roar of thunder. His elder brother, Kishan had explained to him that the scientific explanation behind lightning and thunder was too complicated for Sandun to understand. Kishan told Sandun that for the time being Sandun should stick with the old explanation, that lightning and thunder occurred when clouds crashed into each other. “There is no reason to be afraid.” said Kishan. Why did clouds have to do that? Wondered Sandun.

“Wasn't the sky big enough for them to move about without bumping into each other?

The rain drops started to splash onto the window pane. Sandun wondered what time of the night it might be. Was it past midnight? When will it be daybreak? He raised his head to see if the sky was still dark and realized it would take quite a lot of time for the sun to peep through the clouds. As if reading his thoughts, the clock in the sitting room chimed four times to say the time was four o clock in the morning.

Another flash of lightning. Sandun curled up on his bed with the pillow covering his head. As he waited for the roar of thunder he heard another sound. “Tap.Tap.”

Someone was knocking on his bedroom window. After a few seconds the sound stopped as if whoever was outside was waiting for Sandun to open the window. Then it started again. “Tap.Tap”. Who could it be? Sandun did not want to find out. He jumped out of bed and ran out of the room.

Sandun saw the light of the sitting room was on. He ran into the sitting room and saw his grandfather who woke up before anyone else, seated at the computer reading the daily newspapers. Sandun ran straight into grandpa's lap and buried his head on grandpa's chest.

“What is it son?” asked grandpa.

“Grandpa, someone is knocking at my window,” Sandun said almost in a whisper. When the room lit up with another flash of lightning he covered his ears with his hands and waited for the ever frightening sound of thunder.

“Let me tell you a story, son,” said grandpa. Sandun wondered if grandpa too would tell him about the clouds crashing into each other and ask him not to be scared the way Kishan had done. But grandpa said, “When I was small we lived in a big house in Galle. The house had to be big because there were nine of us children as well as two unmarried aunts and a cousin who stayed with us because his parents lived in a far off village.

He went to a school in the town and during the school term he lived with us. I slept in the room at the very front of our house with my cousin. During the school holidays when he went home I slept alone in the room.

“One night I woke up to hear someone walking outside my window. He was dragging his feet on the ground as if he was hurt and found it hard to walk. We had wooden shutters those days. So unless I opened the window I could not find out who it was. The sound went on and on. I was so scared I thought it was a ghost.” Grandpa paused for breath. Sandun waited for him to continue. “In the morning when I went outside there was no one around.

The sound had stopped. Then it started again. I saw our dog Bindu walking towards me. There was a breadfruit leaf stuck to his front paw. When he walked the leaf made a shuffling sound as if someone wearing slippers was dragging his feet on the ground.”

“So the stranger outside your window was Bindu,” said Sandun.

“That is right,” said grandpa. “I was scared over nothing.”

Grandpa looked at Sandun. “Would you like to find out who is outside your window?”

Sandun took his grandpa's hand and walked into his room. “Tap.Tap” the sound was still there. Grandpa went to the window and opened it. He showed Sandun a branch of the mango tree leaning against the wall near the window.

When the wind blew through the mango tree the branch tapped the window. Grandpa smiled at Sandun. “This is your mysterious visitor,” he said.

“If you had looked at the window before you ran out of the room you need not have been so scared. Do not let fear have power over you”.

Sandun jumped back into bed. “Good night grandpa,” he said and went to sleep with a happy smile on his face.

-Aditha
[email protected]

How to be healthy

Methods :

1.Keeping your environment clean.
2.Maintaining proper personal hygiene.
3.Doing regular exercises.
4.Having a healthy diet.
5.Taking proper immunization according to the age.
6.Taking medical treatment whenever indicated, without delay.
7.Having sufficient sleep and adequate rest.
8.Reducing the intake of salt, sugar and oil.
9.Getting rid of bad habits such as smoking, consuming alcohol etc.

[Causes of diseases]

1.Different causes determine diseases. We can categorize diseases considering the causes.

Communicable diseases – due to infectious organisms.

Eg:-

Virus – Common cold
Bacteria – Pneumonia
Fungi – Fungal skin rash
Parasite/worms – Hook worm disease

2.Non communicable diseases – due to bad lifestyle, genetic

Eg:-

Diabetes
Cancer
High blood pressure
Heart diseases

Name: Jesra Yoonus
Grade: 6B
School: Sailan International School,
Negombo

New Year celebrations of Sipthara Montessori School

Sipthara English Medium Montessori School, Delgoda held its New Year celebrations recently at the Montessori School premises.

The event also included cultural dancing and many entertaining competitions such as bun-eating, song recitals and many more. The students of the Montessori were elected as Avurudu Kumari and Avurudu Kumaraya by the Principal Erandathee Wickremasinghe.

The programme was compered by Nelaka Wickremasinghe, who is a grade four student of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia.
 

A garden M.Abishek grade - 3 Kingston College International Wellawatte	An orange Hirusha Keshan Dias grade - 1B St.John's College Panadura
My village GLS Ehansa de Silva grade - 3B St.John's Girls School Panadura	A boy S.Vithurna grade - 4 Kingston College International Wellawatte
A fish tank P Rommie Fernando grade - 4 Kingston College International Wellawatte	A waterfall Fathima Asra grade - 3 Sailan International School Negombo
	Dear children, Please send your essays, poems, drawings and school news to Daily News-Children, C/O Features Editor, Lake House, Colombo or e-mail to [email protected]
Ships Vinuja grade - 3 Kingston College International Mount Lavinia