Would you like to take a test in stamp collecting?

What do kids have to do at a food bank?

Where can you find happy books?

Why did the kids cross the desert without their parents?

What do kids in Mumbai do on a weekend?

Guess who likes coconut water?

Why did the schoolkids try to milk a cow?

Did you buy music for your cat?

Does a teddy bear need a ticket to travel the world?

Want to get better in Math? Then sing and dance!

Better still- get a teacher called Shelley White!

Can kids get rich selling � gak�?

Did you ever know a hero who was six years old?

Share the news... Make the news....

STUDYING STAMP COLLECTING IN CHINESE SCHOOL

Sat Nov 23,10:13 PM ET

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021124/ap_wo_en_po/china_stamp_collecting_1

BEIJING, CHINA - In one southeastern Chinese school, teachers have found a new way for students to get good grades � by collecting stamps.

At the school, stamp collecting will be a weekly course similar to math and English, complete with tests

On Thursday, the Xiamen post office marked the occasion with, appropriately, a first-day cover � a commemorative pre-stamped envelope with a picture of a 10-year-old girl from the school.

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STUDENTS LEARN LESSON ON NEED FROM FOOD BANK

Monday, November 25, 2002 By Shaun Byron The Flint Journal http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news-8/103823943132860.xml

Burton, USA - 10-year-old Anthony Davis of Flint never really thought about what it would be like to go hungry. His fifth-grade class was part of the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan's new initiative to teach school children about hunger.

"I learned some stuff I didn't know - like $1 pays for a box of food," Anthony said. "I thought it would be nice if more people would pay, even if it is a penny."

Food bank employees armed themselves with simple lessons involving candy and a story book for children to teach them the importance of helping those in need. The learning center was the first to host the program.

"They have been extremely receptive to the program," Waelde said

"I didn't know how many hungry people there are where we live," Heather said.

The children are having a food drive and making food baskets for the holidays.

"It feels good to help out with that," Rebecca said.

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ONLINE CHILDREN�S LIBRARY

Leslie Walker, Washington Post Monday, November 25, 2002

�2002 San Francisco Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2002/11/25/BU28043.DTL

There is a free public library that opened on the Internet this week, with nearly 200 digitized books in 18 languages for children ages 3 to 13.

Plans call for the International Children's Digital Library to offer 10,000 books -- 100 titles from 100 cultures -- by 2007, allowing children to read them on desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices.

The eclectic library lets children hunt for books based on what color their covers are, how they make them feel, what kind of characters they depict and under categories that adults might find rather strange. One of its goals is to test novel ways of navigating the pages with graphic rather than textual cues.

Children under the age of 14 helped design the library, working with professors to figure out what kind of new visual aids might help youngsters explore books more easily.

"One of our most interesting findings was how kids wanted to look for books based on how they made them feel," Druin recalled. "They said, 'I want to find all the happy books.' Or 'I want to find books that are scary.' No library in the world has shelf labels that say 'happy books,' so the kids are rating the books on how they make them feel."

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KIDS BRAVE HARSH DESERT TO REACH U.S.

By Julie Watson Monday, November 25, 2002 The Associated Press

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134583311_kidmigrants25.html

NOGALES, Mexico � The giggly 12-year-old boy's feet were giving out. The gallon jugs of water he carried in each hand banged against his tired legs. He fell four times, scraping his knees. Cactus spines poked through his hightops and pricked his feet.

A red-and-black snake slithered by. A tarantula fluttered its long, hairy legs atop a rock.

Luis Alberto Dami�n tried not to think about any of that. Instead, he would recount later, he tried to focus on keeping up with the 19 migrants marching ahead of him into the inky night � and on his mother, who was waiting for him at the end of his journey.

But after 15 hours of walking through North America's harshest desert, his trip would be in vain: Luis Alberto was among nearly 35,000 children arrested this year while illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Most, like Luis Alberto, are headed to see parents living illegally in the United States.

The Foreign Relations Department reports four children under 15 died attempting to cross the border this year, compared with one last year. "We've seen a lot of kids this year under 10 years old, like 2, 4, 6 and 7," said Fernando Guerrero, the Nogales shelter's night supervisor. "Usually the smallest ones are the bravest."

Luis Alberto called his mother, an illegal immigrant in Atlanta, from the Nogales shelter.

Asked what his mom told him, the boy said: "She told me not to worry. She talked to the smuggler, and I can try again."

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SCRABBLE AROUND FOR A FUN WEEKEND

Ujjayini Das Mumbai, November 24:

IF you thought that children today are either busy watching TV or poring over schoolbooks, think again. For, their enthusiasm at the Scrabble Tournament held today told a completely different story.

Children from all ages came to participate in the event organised by the Mumbai Scrabble Club in India.

As the youngest participant Sriya Ganesh Iyer, a spirited bundle of Std II of P G Garodia School, Ghatkopar says, ��I love playing Scrabble��. That just about says it all about the kids playing today.

��It helps me build my vocabulary and also makes me strong in Maths because you have to add fast,�� says Sarayu. ��Besides, I like to win,�� she adds.

��There is enormous potential among them. Maybe we can have a world champion,� says Varisht Hingorani, a founder of the club

The club�s website: www.mumbaiscrabble.com and e-mail Mumbaiscrabbleclub @hotmail.com

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SAVE SOME COCONUT WATER FOR THE ORCHIDS

The Straits Times Singapore NOV 25, 2002

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,156836,00.html?

SINGAPORE: Ten-year old Portia Lim has found out that it is not just people who like to drink coconut water. Orchids like it too.

Apparently, coconut contains many growth hormones and one of them, called cytokinin, enhances the chances of the plant flowering.

Portia and two of her schoolmates at Woodlands Primary, Benson Chong and Gabriel Lim, both also 10, have been feeding the orchids in their school's science garden with coconut water.

They mixed different concentrations of the coconut water with a nutrient solution and tested them on 20 pots of the national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim, for their little life-sciences project.

To their delight, the plants rewarded their efforts by bursting into bright purple blooms.

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KIDS GET FARMING LESSONS

Express News Service November 25 2002

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=36251#

VADODARA, INDIA: The nursery rhyme �Old Macdonald had a farm� came true for these pre-school students on Sunday, when the tiny tots got first-hand experience of being on a farm.

They learnt all about animals and some even tried their hands at pottery and milking cows. It was work coupled with play for the children of Kangaroo Kids as they had a hectic day at the farm with cows, buffaloes and birds around them.

For Kunal Walia, a student of the nursery, it was not just any other school day on Sunday.

As apart from taking a ride on the bullock cart, he could ride around on a horse and identify pigeons and some other birds, which were on display.

��I also got a tattoo made on my hand and tried milking cows,�� said Kunal, who was very excited about the whole experience on Sunday.

Ashini Desai, the principal of the school, said the purpose of organising this was to teach the children about farms after they had an experience of their own to relate the lessons to.

��The idea is to give the children an all round development and not just keep them restricted to classrooms and books,�� said Desai. She said the programme was the first of its kind.

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THE CAT�S PYJAMAS

By Don Oldenburg Tuesday, November 26, 2002;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39364-2002Nov25.html

RICHMOND, USA:

When you walk into the Richmond SPCA's Robins-Starr Humane Center -- an animal shelter -- instead of hearing pained howls and barks, you get soothing strains of Mozart or New Age music. Instead of the stench of hapless animals, the air smells outdoor fresh. Instead of depressed dogs and cats killing time in cramped cages, these potential pets are bright-eyed and ready to go in their "living rooms."

With its stylish interior painted bold yellows, blue-violets and mauves, the new "state-of-the-arf" shelter, which opened last month, looks more like a fancy hotel. And the canine living rooms and cat cotillions are unmistakably homelike.

"Oh, my gosh!" says first-time visitor Katherine Gregory, from South Riding in Loudoun County. In Richmond visiting her mother, Gregory stopped by the center with her sons, Andrew, 10, and Matthew, 7, in search of a kitten. "I'm amazed. I recently went to the Loudoun shelter and the Fairfax shelter, and they aren't anything like this!"

All details are designed to bring out the best in the animals.

Although the creature comforts are as much for visitors, Deisler says Mozart really does soothe the savage beast -- or confused puppy.

The shelter's classical music is digitally altered to put a damper on the ultrahigh and low frequencies. "If they are too stressed out, that reduces their immune system and that leads to them being sick, and if they are sick we can't adopt them," says Deisler.

All animals at the shelter stay there until they are adopted.

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FOUR TEDDY BEARS WHO WENT TO SEE THE WORLD

By NHADA GOODFELLOW 28 Nov 02

http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5572522%255E2682,00.html

Edwardstown , AUSTRALIA:

THEY'VE cheered on Australia at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, hunted with the Masai in Africa and felt the spray of Victoria Falls on their slightly battered fur.

Bullseye, Sunny and Jamie are three well-travelled teddy bears.

In March, Edwardstown Primary School Year 1 students sent four bears off in post bags with travel diaries, disposable cameras and a return address attached.

They were sent to family members initially, with requests to pass them on to anyone heading overseas.

"The purpose was to learn about other cultures and it was a fun experience because children can relate to teddy bears," their teacher, Robyn Parker, said yesterday.

The class also learnt about the reliability (or otherwise) of international post, with the fourth bear � Ash � missing en route to Scotland.

"Ash got lost and we don't know when he will get back," Year 1 student Jessica Kellett wrote of the wayward bear.

"The children were continually getting e-mails and postcards from all over the world while the bears were away," Ms Parker said.

"We would then look at a map of the world and find out where these people lived and where the bears were.

"It was nice for them to realise there's lots of other children out there in the world."

The Year 1 students yesterday sent postcards to people all over the world who recorded events and addresses in the bears' travel diaries.

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SONG AND DANCE BOOST GRADES IN MATH, SCIENCE

By Heather Sokoloff National Post Wednesday, November 27, 2002

http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id={87B77771-E2C6-4D60-838C-C2BB0BA730EB}

CANADA:Dabbling in the arts boosts students' math test scores, concludes Canada's largest long-term study measuring the effects of art, music, drama and dance on student achievement.

The program, created by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, brings artists into the classroom to teach children to sing, paint, sculpt and dance during math and science lessons.

The researchers found the children involved in the study were more alert and engaged in class, likely because the program emphasizes physical activities, such as climbing on top of each other to create geometric shapes, to keep children motivated and attentive.

Student satisfaction was particularly high among Grade 6 girls, who reported being significantly happier to come to school than girls in regular schools.

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TEACHER HONORED FOR CLASSROOM PERFORMANCES

NICOLE SWEENEY Fri, Nov. 29, 2002 Associated Press

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/breaking_news/4631220.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

MARION, S.C. , USA: The 18 second-graders squeeze their eyes shut while the young woman at the front of the classroom quickly throws on hospital scrubs, a surgeon's mask and a stethoscope.

Suddenly, she's no longer teacher Shelley White.

She's "Dr. Detail," making a special appearance for the day's reading lesson, urging students to "cut" open the pages of a story and extract the details needed for an assignment.

"I hope we didn't have any accidents," she says when the students are finished scribbling down their answers. "I hope y'all didn't let anyone bleed to death - I hope you have the page numbers, because the page numbers stop the bleeding."

Later there may be a visit by Raggedy Ann Addition, or Captain Capitalization, or Penny the Probability Princess.

The parade of characters keeps students captivated -- and learning -- in White's classroom at Easterling Primary School in Marion County.

After only four years of teaching, 26-year-old White was recently named the National Rural Teacher of the Year by the National Rural Education Association.

White then strapped on yellow plastic glasses and a purple magician's hat with stars. "How many of y'all have seen Harry Potter?" she asks, as hands shot into the air.

"Well, last week we learned the word 'sorcerer.' Today I'm going to be the Spelling Sorcerer, and when we're finished with our test, we're going to do some spelling magic."

White sets many lessons to music so her students will remember the information. And as with the costumes, she hopes the songs will keep students engaged.

"She realizes that the type of children we have now come from an entirely different type of world, with TV and Nintendo and everything else," said Cook. "She has to be a competitor."

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CHILDREN LAUNCH BUSINESS TO HELP NATURE CENTER ANIMALS

The Associated Press 11/29/02

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g7987_BC_MI--AnimalAdoption&&news&newsflash-michigan

HOWELL, Mich. , USA-- A second-grade class has launched its own business -- to help animals at an area nature center.

Kathy Harris is guiding her class at Northwest Elementary School through the project by having students combine their math skills with what they've learned in social studies about the community and economics.

"The children have been learning about supply and demand, and expenses and profit," Harris told the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. "It's been real interesting to hear their ideas."

The youngsters' Harris Enterprises is part of an effort to raise enough money to adopt an animal at the Howell Nature Center.

Students have been making products that include beaded necklaces and bracelets, decorated pencils, candles, and a putty-like substance called "gak" to sell at the school store's Santa Shop, which opens Monday.

With the help of the Howell High School marketing class, the students already are picking up tidbits on how to run a business.

Students have been spending about three hours a week making products and stocking their inventory.

"Students needed to learn about being part of the community," said Harris.

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GIRL, 6, SAVED YOUNGER SIBLINGS

By Renata D'Aliesio The Edmonton Journal Friday, November 29, 2002

http://www.canada.com/edmonton/news/story.asp?id={34F0C7EB-B4FA-4993-B074-60B2AAE55FE2}

The day started as any other school day. Alysha was almost done Grade 2 then, and almost done being six years old. That was still a week away though, and another birthday celebration came first. After school was cousin Kristen Scobie's seventh birthday party.

Alysha was looking forward to an afternoon of games and sweets. So were her five-year-old brother, Eric, and two-year-old sister, Amy.

The three piled into their mother's red minivan at about 5 p.m. They carried a present with them, a pair of pants and a blouse for Kristen.

The sky was bright that day as Cherie drove south on a Thorsby range road. So bright she didn't see the white pickup truck as she crossed Highway 622.

The truck slammed into the van's passenger side, twisting metal, shattering windows and throwing an unbelted Cherie onto the pavement.

She lay there face down, unconscious, bleeding and four months pregnant. Her children remained in the van. Amy was strapped into a second-row car seat, Eric was in the back in a booster seat, and Alysha was in the middle row, blood trickling from her face.

The pain didn't stop her from acting. Alysha climbed through a broken window, but immediately returned to rescue her brother and sister. The children then stood over their mother, crying out "Mommy, mommy." Strangers in a tan car took them in until help arrived.

A helicopter took Cherie to the University of Alberta HospitalOn Aug. 18, Cherie returned to her Thorsby farm house.

Alysha, a bashful girl, is unable to express to strangers in her home Thursday what that day meant to her. Pictures, though, are worth a thousand words.

"It's a miracle," Alysha's aunt Grace Henderson said Thursday. "It's a miracle that every day this little girl gets to see her mom."

The little girl she speaks of isn't Alysha.

It's Emily, the baby Cherie was pregnant with the day of the accident.

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