NewsBites for Kidz
This is what kids all over the world did this week:
Carl Reiner Is Scaring The Kids
Subway to sell Kids Pak meal that focuses on health
'Bal garbas' to light up Navratri spirit
Thousands of Children Study in Open Air
Kids dance in chocolate after road spill
Learning your language when you’re abroad
EDITORIAL Let's feed
children language again
COMPUTER GAMES: Quidditch,
Math and Spelling
SMALLBITES:Politics,Space, Science, Technology
Earlier NewsBites News for Kidz Home
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/25/earlyshow/series/readersclub/main575130.shtm
Carl
Reiner Is Scaring The Kids Though young readers might not know it, Carl Reiner has been making people laugh for almost 60 years.
But on Friday’s The Early Show, he is not going for laughs; he wants screams.
The legendary comedian, writer and director has
written his first children's book and it's called, "Tell Me A Scary
Story...But Not Too Scary!" It's actually quite the nail-biter.
As part of the Early Reader's Club, Reiner
reads to children (ages 4 to 7) on Friday, so get ready to be scared.
Reiner says
the book was inspired by his grandson, who made the request that became the
title of the book. The story he told his grandson was a little different, but
probably just as effective. With James Bennett's illustrations, the tall tale
is designed to be a shared reading experience. Parents and children can read
along together as they listen to spooky sound effects and Grammy Award nominee
Carl Reiner's hilarious reading of “Tell Me a Scary
Story…” on the accompanying bonus CD.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2003/08/31/MN150541.DTL
Cyber school for kids logs in
Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Nathan Dueck of
This year in first grade, he'll explore the great
religions. He'll read music in second grade, study astronomy in third and
manipulate millions in fourth. By fifth grade, he'll be analyzing Shakespeare.
; Thrilled
with their son's education, Nathan's parents also like his teacher -- a desktop
computer.
Nathan, 6, studies at the
"What I liked most was, I didn't have to pay -- and I
didn't have to do lesson planning or grading. The school does it for you and
saves hours of work, " said Debbie Dueck, who homeschools her three older sons through a Christian
program. One son, 12-year-old Stephen, will join Nathan in cyber class this
fall, as grades 6 and 7 have been added.
What makes e-school possible are improved technology and a
new taste among entrepreneurs for tapping into the riches that pay for American
public schools.
Jill Wynns of the
Despite the cyber school's rough start, overall enrollment
is up to 933 from 751 last year, and test scores are higher than the state
average, said Jim Konantz, a former assistant
superintendent in Los Angeles who is now head of school at the California
Virtual Academy.
Of the 426 second- to fifth-grade cyber students tested,
46 percent ranked proficient or above on the language arts section of the
rigorous California Standards Test. In math, 42 percent scored as well.
That was better than the state average of 35 percent
proficient in each subject. Yet virtual school is no panacea: 228 students also
ranked "below basic" or "far below basic."
Parents praise what Bennett calls "character
education," strong doses of patriotism, heroism and old-fashioned
cautionary tales infused into the online curriculum. To Bennett and the cyber
families, the computer is an ideal feeding tube for high-nutrient data.
"Nathan is reading!" said Debbie Dueck, a cosmetics saleswoman who works from home.
"We've been comparing notes with a friend whose daughter goes to
kindergarten in
Although Nathan can sound out letters and recognize some
sentences, at 6, he is not adept at using the computer. So Dueck
positions herself between them.
"Give Nathan the 10 frame and 11 counters," the
computer tells Dueck in a bold, clear font. Dueck reaches into a box and pulls out colored disks and a
board marked with 10 squares. She tells Nathan to count out 11 discs.
"Check to see whether Nathan has placed 10 counters
on the ten-frame and one counter outside the ten-frame," the computer
tells Dueck. He had. But something is wrong.
"Mom, there's one extra!"
"Good!" says Dueck.
"Can you tell how many there are?"
"Twelve."
"Look again!"
"Thirteen?"
"Look again!"
"Eleven."
Whew.
Adam Miles of Clayton has a simpler reason for sending
10-year-old Mikaelyn to cyber class, not regular
school: "boys."
"We just felt that we could do a better job of controlling
her environment, " Miles said.
So he enrolled her in the Lammersville
virtual academy last year, and intended to re-enroll her for fifth grade. Two
weeks ago, he got word that it had closed.
"Maybe I'm missing something here," Miles said,
"but I don't really care."
That's because, unlike a school of brick and mortar, cyber
lessons are transferable. Mikaelyn will simply study
K12's fifth-grade curriculum through another charter this year.
"The school is dynamic," Miles said. "We
haven't looked back."
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http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-09-25-kidsmeals_x.htm
Subway to sell Kids
Pak meal that focuses on health
By Bruce Horovitz,
> <font
size=3>Loss is gain: Jared Fogle, center, to
promote Kids Pak.
By John Martin, AP </font><p>
In its new Kids Pak, the former cookie falls victim to a
fruit roll-up, and the soft drink is deep-sixed for a
100% juice carton. The sandwich remains the same. All the major fast foodies are testing improved kids meals, but none has gone
national yet.
For Subway, the move was critical because of its
better-for-you image. For four years, spokesman Fogle
has bragged in some 23 TV ads about slimming from 495 pounds to 190 pounds on
low-fat Subway items.
"I've wanted to speak to kids about this for
years," Fogle said in an interview. Fogle will be Subway's spokesman on the kids campaign.
"I was such a huge kid growing up. I know how big kids feel."
Subway executives say customers gave them no choice.
"Customers kept saying: 'Do it,' " says Chris Carroll, director of
marketing. The fruit roll-up has 50 calories compared with 160 for the cookie
it replaces, and the Minute Maid juice box has 100 calories vs. 150 in the
12-ounce soft drink.
Here's what other fast foodies
are doing:
• Wendy's. The No. 3 burger chain this week announced
plans to test fruit cups and milk as options in its Kids Meals in 420
restaurants in four markets.
• McDonald's. In several markets, the giant is testing
Apple Dippers — apple slices that can be dipped in caramel — as an alternative
to fries in Happy Meals. It's also testing white meat-only Chicken McNuggets in two markets. Outside the
• Burger King. Executives won't say, but industry
consultants say healthier kids meals are in the works.
Despite all this activity, the question remains: How to
get kids interested in healthier food in kids meals? "Shape it like gummy
bears," suggests Elaine Murphy, a certified nutritionist in
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=202437
'Bal garbas' to light up Navratri
spirit
PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR, TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Vadodara,
Gujarat, India, Sep 26- If Navratri is a festival of
youthful spirit that enlivens the nine nights of fun and frolic, children’s garbas which are growing in popularity over the last few
years, have added more spice to the festivities.
Be it Aarki children’s garba, the oldest group, ‘Alaiya Balaiya’, ‘Adukiyo Dadukiyo’, ‘Shishu Sanskrutik Garba’ or the most
recent ‘Bal Gunjan’, younger ones can now dance at
their own pace without being elbowed out by bullies.
“During Navratri, most children
choose to forego garbas as it starts late in the
night. Even if they manage to stay awake, it is not easy to dance amidst
teenagers who push them around. Moreover, it affects their routine the next
morning. But now, with children’s garba, all these
problems are solved,” says Yogesh Akolkar
of the Way to Unity Trust, pioneers in children’s garba.
The fact is seconded by Shweta Vyas, executive director of Bal Bhavan,
which is organising Bal Gunjan
Children’s Garba, for the first time in the city. But
this garba will be unique.
“We have invited children with disabilities to take part
in the festival. It will give them an opportunity to mingle with normal
children and to enjoy the dance festival at the integrated garba,”
says Vyas.
Putting up a good show is no child’s play. And the tiny
tots begin their professional training at least a month ahead of Navratri.
Most garbas have a group of
30-40 children comprising lead singers, chorus and instrumentalists, who are
trained under professional singers like Falguni Bhesania, Vatsala Patil, Bhagyashree More among
others.
The innovation of garba organisers has paved way for birthday celebrations at the garba venues, where participation prizes and gifts like
balloons are distributed among other attractive prizes for winners in various
categories.
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http://www.wisinfo.com/heraldtimes/news/archive/local_12376454.shtml
Children have reel-y
good day
By Neil Rhines,
About 145 children, divided into two age groups, gathered
on the banks of the
Several types of fish — bullheads, sunfish, a few
northern, bass, perch, and even a couple of very dark salmon — found their way
onto the scale. Most of the fish were released back into the water.
Moriah Giesler, a 7-year-old with red ribbons in her hair, held a
tug-of-war contest with a six-pound carp, the second-largest fish of the day.
“Spit on the hook,” Julie Schroeder said to one of the
children who wasn’t having much luck.
Nicole Kornely, 9, didn’t catch
any fish Saturday, but said she loves to go fishing. Her biggest fish ever was
a bass, which she said was “about this big,” as she held her hands about 10
inches apart.
“I think it was about 20 pounds or something,” Kornely said.
Peng Yang,
12, had a bullhead on the board for a while, but a larger one was eventually
taken.
Jacob Norrell, 7, also had a
winning entry with a .38-pound rock bass, but was later knocked off with a
large perch.
No one caught enough to take home or landed one to go on
the wall, but just teaching children how to fish and getting them active is
equally important, Schroeder said.
“Once you learn how to fish … it’s a great way for
families to get together,” said Schroeder, a physical education instructor at
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http://allafrica.com/stories/200309230539.html
Bie: Thousands of Children Study in Open Air
Kuito,
Angola, Sep 23-At least 3,000 children
at Belo Horizonte commune, in Kunhinga
district, 72 kms North of Kuito
city, Central Bie Province, are attending classes in
open air due to the lack of schools.
According to the local administrator, Mr
Jeremias Manuel, there are only four schools at the
commune, and is under way at the moment the construction of about ten schools,
with ten class-rooms each, being built with material such as grass and
sun-dried bricks.
Mr Manuel
added that at least 5,000 children are enrolled in the current school year in
the secondary and primary teaching.
---------------------------------------------
http://allafrica.com/stories/200309220475.html
Gulu Children Pray for Peace
By Elizabeth Kameo, The Monitor (
The call was made at celebrations to mark the
Speaking on behalf of the children, Michael Onono,12,
appealed to Ugandans to help end the fighting in the north.
"We come from Gulu where we
have never had peace for the last 17 years and people are aware of our
suffering. Children sleep on streets," Onono
said.
The children were joined by their peers from
The ceremony organised by Right To Play, Kampala Kids League and
Oryem
appealed to all Ugandans to protect children. It is everyone's responsibility
to ensure that
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_3132000/3132888.stm
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_822172.html
Kids dance in
chocolate after road spill
Children (and some sweet-toothed adults) enjoyed the
sticky incident, and tucked in to the chocolate which covered three lanes of a
motorway.
Some of the more excited children stripped to their
underwear and rolled about in the road, covering themselves in chocolate, Jornal Nacional reports.
No-one was hurt, but there was a seven mile traffic jam on
the Pinheiros highway in
Best
accident ever!
"It was the best accident ever. Everyone was so happy
to see all that chocolate" said a police spokesman.
Everyone had to wait for the road to be cleaned up before
the cars could carry on their journeys.
But it seems the spill wasn't the biggest problem.
A police spokesperson said: "It was the best accident
ever. Everyone was so happy to see all that chocolate. It was like a movie or a
dream. It was difficult to get the kids out of the road."
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http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/04241118.htm
Learning your
language when you’re abroad
WB: Animated CD to play Bengali teacher to NRI kids
PTI
Kolkata, West
Bengal, India, Sept. 24- For thousands of children of Bengali origin across the
world, learning their mother tongue would no longer depend on visits to
grandma's home back in
Netguru
Containing animated versions of traditional poems like 'Pipilika', 'Khoka gelo Maach Dhorte',
'Tantir Badi-Baenger Basha' and 'Chaand Utheche Phool Phuteche',
the CD has been developed by Netguru's digital media
division.
We selected the theme of 'Barna Parichay' as it is simple and has a global appeal," Netguru's Chief Operating Officer,
The CD, which Netguru plans to
market extensively in the
"Bengali children in Western countries watch and
absorb content that unfortunately belongs to a culture quite alien to that of
our own. They often miss out on the pleasure of learning their mother
tongue," he said.
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http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200309/23/eng20030923_124721.shtml
When Harry turns
Ha-li Bo-te
Can Harry Potter battle the fakes?
(
"Harry Potter and the Order of the
"We want to protect our trademark. We want the best
out first," said Liu Yushan, president of the
People's Literature Publishing House, the Chinese firm that has brought out all
the official versions of "Ha-li Bo-te" tales in
The fantasy series by J.K. Rowling is wildly popular in
None of that mattered yesterday for the throngs of
children and accompanying compliant parents who lined up by the hundreds
beginning at
"You pick up a Harry Potter book, you just can't stop
reading," said Fan Jiaming, 10, waiting behind
more than 400 people for his copy. He said, though, that he hadn't read
"Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon," the Chinese whole-cloth
fake from last summer.
Said his father, Fan Bingzhen: "Today, he won't eat. He
won't drink. He'll just go home and read it."
Pang Guanghua stood in line for
several hours to buy a copy for her daughter, Shang Si, 12, who had to study and couldn't come. "She's
read all of them. I don't quite understand why," Pang said. "But she
loves them."
Added Zhao Nan, 14: "The story's
exciting no matter where you come from."
"Since
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http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/the_news_ed_columnists/article/0,1651,TCP_1133_2291836,00.html
Guest Column: Let's
feed children language again
By Len Weingart
Special to the News
Thou com'st in such a questionable
shape," says Hamlet, who might have been speaking not to the ghost of his
father, but rather to the ghost of an education long departed.
Where I reside, for example, a flyer was circulated which
included such phrases as, "This situation ... (sic) effects every activity
in the clubhouse" and "... at this time the president must be
considering moving, as the home is for sale." I do not mean to embarrass
the writer, but, rather, to offer sympathy: she is too young to have been a schoolgirl
when our American public schools gave each of us a schoolteacher who
contributed to our education, instead of a monitor who tried to prevent
disorder.
When I was a boy, by the time we completed grade 3, each
of us in a given classroom knew the distinction between nominative and genitive
(as well as between 'affects' and 'effects'), knew and understood the
multiplication tables and what to do with numbers, and could name the rulers or
prime ministers of Great Britain, China, France, Italy and so on.
During my short-lived term on the Florida Instructional
Materials Commission, I was bemused that not one science textbook (including
the one still in use in St. Lucie County) for elementary schoolers
explained or even presented E=mc(squared), and I was asked to evaluate a
theater textbook that carried a misspelling in the title.
Here is an example of subliteracy
from the FCAT Reading: Sample Test Book for grade 6. After reading a sketch
about two youngsters who enter a fishing contest, the testees
are asked to read this sentence from the sketch: "When the whistle blew
for the contest to start, we cast our lines into the water." Then they are
asked which of four sentences uses the word cast with "the same meaning as
in the sentence from the passage." The supposedly correct answer is the
sentence, "As the players took a bow, the audience cast flowers upon the
stage." Now I submit that the first usage, that of the fisherman who
directs his lure as exactly as he can into a chosen point, differs from the
toss of a bunch of flowers onto a stage. There possibly may exist similar
meanings in the two usages, but clearly not "the same meaning."
Do I carp, in the above (with no pun intended whereby
fishing and carp are cited)? Indeed! Once upon a world, we were taught that precision
in language is an integral part of what poet Ezra Pound called kulchur. When I was a boy, our schoolteachers applauded
Mark Twain's notation that there "is no such thing as a synonym." Few
youngsters understand that notation today. Instead, our schoolteachers, goaded
by legislators, do not feed language to our children, but test them on language
use. Accordingly, schoolteachers find themselves "teaching to the
test" rather than teaching the subject matter. It is as though a child
were to be tested on rules of the road but never taught to drive.
Aside from poetry, if we might reclaim our schools for
literacy, we would surely reclaim the lucidity, the excitement of the Richard
Nixon-John F. Kennedy presidential debates, or the oratory of Franklin D. Roosevelt
that led Americans along a road away from a ruined economy. Surely we are aware
of how our current president could not mount a pulpit in
The only way to reclaim our schools, the way for teachers
and principals and parents to conjoin in the restoration of literacy, is to
sustain positive programs that may be brought to supersede the FCAT. The
barbarism of the FCAT (and note the etymology of barbarism), is that it works
not as a diagnostic tool as it should be, but instead a goal in itself, a
search for what the child does not know.
I have been privileged to work with one such program, the
remarkably successful Elementary Shakespeare. This program ran its pilot in St.
Lucie County and expanded its reach into
First, the method of the program fuses the memorable
language of Shakespearean comedy with the cognitive psychology of Jean Piaget.
Second, the program focuses on motivation. To pay a child
for reading with ice cream or a ballgame ticket suggests that reading (or
arithmetic or writing) is painful and so deserves outside reward. Such
materialism applied to education is both absurd and counterproductive — each
child must be led to the discovery that reading is its own reward, a platinum
reward.
What Elementary Shakespeare offers is motivation, for it
feeds our children on the language of the most joyful of all writers, so that
these children lose their lean and hungry look.
Copyright 2003, TCPalm. All
Rights Reserved.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_3143000/3143412.stm
26 September-Soon you could be playing Quidditch
with kids all around the world, perhaps even competing in a special World Cup
event.
But you won't actually be climbing on a broomstick to
battle for the quaffle or golden snitch, because it's
all a computer game.
<img align=left src= "0922photos/quidditch1.jpg" alt=quidditch></img>
Electronic Arts have made a new Potter game called Quidditch
World Cup, and they've decided to have a global tournament to make it popular.
<img align=center src= "0922photos/quidditch2.jpg"
alt=quidditch2></img> Oliver Wood is back as
the Gryffindor keeper
Kids from
In the game you'll be able to play in any of the seven
positions, win the Quidditch Cup at Hogwarts and
maybe even play in the Quidditch World Cup.
Details on how to take part aren't available just yet, but
when they are, we'll let you know about them.
_________________-
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/personal_technology/6856853.htm
<img align=left src= " " alt=math></img>
Games make spelling, math drills more fun
By Jinny Gudmundsen
Special to the Mercury News
Learning math facts and spelling words is a part of every
child's education. If you foresee hours of tedious drills and household tension
in your future, check out ``JumpStart Study
Helpers,'' a new series from Vivendi Universal Games,
which can provide the necessary drills of important math facts and weekly
spelling words in a fun arcade game setting.
JumpStart Study Helpers Spelling Bee is designed to help 6-12 year old
children prepare for weekly spelling tests. The software offers children three
fun arcade games that can review their specific spelling words or ones from an
existing list.
With JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster, kids practice
specific math facts by playing three arcade games. For example, if Amanda needs
to review her addition facts involving sums from 0 to 9, she can play a game of
DigiHog Drop in which she arranges cute little DigiHog creatures into equations that solve those sums. She
can also learn those sums by playing a pinball game or a fast-paced
shoot-the-asteroid-type game.
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SMALLBITES Click
on each link for detailed news
POLITICS
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/news/story/0,6260,489680,00.html
A Call for Help
President Bush asks
the United Nations for aid in
One year ago,
President George W. Bush asked the United Nations for help in removing Saddam
Hussein from power in
______________________________________________________________
SPACE
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.journal26sep26,0,5378843.column?coll=bal-nationworld-utility
One giant leap for
Using a cutting-edge ion-powered engine, the
continent's space agency prepares to launch its first mission to the moon.
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/news/story/0,6260,490009,00.html
On Sunday, the
unmanned spacecraft Galileo plunged into Jupiter, the largest planet in the
solar system. The crash was not an accident. Its mission complete, the
spacecraft was programmed to crash into Jupiter's atmosphere. The collision
marked the end of an era for one of NASA's most successful missions.
-----------------
SCIENCE
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20030922/beaverpond.html
Ancient Beaver Pond Fossils Unearthed
Bob Beale, ABC Science Online
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Technology
http://www.sciencenews.org/20030927/fob1.asp
The Daily Flicks: Morphing ink may bring video to
newspapers
New types of electronic-paper pixels may eventually make it possible to view
full-color video clips in your morning newspaper.
-------------------------------------------
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
http://www.sciencenews.org/20030927/food.asp
The Risks in Sweet Solutions to Young Thirsts
The study linked consumption of soft drinks most strongly
to cavities. Among kids whose parents or other caregivers reported that the
child regularly consumed soft drinks, the likelihood of having at least one
cavity by school age was double that of kids reported to drink no soda pop. The
next most cavity-fostering beverages appeared to be those prepared from sweet,
powdered mixes.
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Earlier NewsBites News for Kidz Home
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