a healthy drink to quench your thirst

Summer is the month when we crave for some kind of cool beverages.  Imagine yourself walking in the hot sun feeling very thirsty.  The first thing you do if you carry a water bottle with you is to drink it.  If not, you head straight to a shop nearby where you have the various types of aerated drinks lined in colourful bottles in a refrigerator.  You feel that it will quench your thirst.  If you become habitual to this, then you always go for such drinks to quench your thirst.  The best drink to quench your thirst is water.  It cools your system, it prevents dehydration and it has no side effects (so long as it is pure ).  The aerated drinks on the other hand have a lot of side effects.  Instead go for a healthy drink, or what you call, a mock tail.  You can try these two recipes. You will definitely like it.

1.  coconut water lemonade

 Add a dash of lemon to coconut water and a cube of sugar.  Coconut water is a natural isotonic.  It has a lot of benefits.  Lemon has its own merits. Mixing the two gives an exotic taste and is good for health.

2.  Mint, ginger lemonade

Fresh mint with lemon and ginger is very good for health.  Grind the mint and a piece of ginger in a blender and strain it to extract the juice.  Add lemon and sugar.  A very energetic drink which will keep you fresh the whole day with a lingering taste of fresh mint.

What should be a good school for your child

     The other day, my neighbour asked me,  whether my son was studying in ----- school.  I said yes.  She asked me next, how did you manage to get the seat.  I replied just by getting the application form, and after my child was asked some questions, we were asked to wait, and then they gave us the admission intimation and asked us to remit the fee.

     She said that she had also followed the similar procedure, but her daughter did not get the admission.  Only then did I realize that it was a such a “prized seat” which my son had acquired. 

     Suddenly I started thinking, what should be a good school from a parent’s point of view. Today’s parents (mostly both working)  do not find enough time to spend with children, they are preoccupied with their own homework and shifts.  They come home tired and totally exhausted.  They expect the child to study on his own.  The school should be in a position to teach everything to the child from the way he walks, talks and enable him/her get 100% marks.  They are prepared to buy any book/material/gadgets (as their purchasing power has increased)which are required to enable the child to study well.  

     Some parents tend to compare the lessons of other schools with that of their child and try to teach those lessons also to their child to make him/her more competent.  It is natural for any parent to think that their child should not lag behind others.  But in that process, they tend to ignore what the child has already got.  Our child may not have the lesson package, but he/she would have learnt something new which the other school child would not have. 

     The teachers on the other hand feel that as the syllabus is huge and the time allotted is very less, they have to cover the entire syllabus within the time allotted.  Hence they rush up with the lessons, with very little time left for understanding or comprehension.  For a teacher, a good school can be the one which gives them enough time to interact with the children, assess their skills, and test their ability and which do not tax them.

     The child who is a born prodigy grasps and comes out successfully.  The child who is spoonfed by the mother for the entrance test by rigorous sessions everyday before the entrance, is successful in the entrance exam, but finds it difficult to cope later.  The child which is not a born prodigy or not taught the right questions for the exam, miserably fails the entrance test and does not get admission in the “good school”.  For a child a good school may be a place where he can have fun, enjoy, make friends and do not miss his mom.

     The schools want only those students who are smart and sharp.  This they arrive at through their entrance tests or interviews.  Once the child gets through this and comes out with flying colours,  he is given admission as the school can be rest assured that the child will grasp the fast pace,  and still get state ranks. 

     Who is to be blamed for this?  The child? The teacher? The parent? The school? Or the whole education system?  Thanks to the reforms  in the education front.  The child has more time to understand and comprehend.  More activity based learning will enable the child to learn the fun way and at the same time with full understanding of the significance of the concept.

          In a nutshell, I feel that a child should not be forced to learn just to keep pace with the rat race.  Ultimately it is not his marks, ( of course yes for getting admissions in colleges universities) but what he has learnt by himself without anybody spoonfeeding or bookreading which is going to help him in his life.  That is his lifeskills.  A highly academic child may fail when it comes to human relations, since he has always been up in the ladder and alone, he may not have got the opportunity to mingle with a child who has faced a failure or low marks.  An average child with good intention would have interacted with the failed child and would have spoken some kind words or helped him with whatever he knows to enable him to pass in the next exam.  Thus he would have learnt compassion and empathy which a top ranker would not have experienced.

     A parent should spend quality time with the child without constantly nagging and asking the child to read or go to bed.  They can share bedtime stories, talk about their childhood experiences, talk some positive things and lend a listening ear to them as they would have a lot to share.  Some moms I have seen feel that the child does not tell much to her but all about him is known to her mother in law.  It is not necessarily the grandma, it may be any close relative or friend who gives a lending ear to the child who will get most of the information from the child.  So kindly ensure that it is not the money we are minting that is going to give us happiness, it is the smile of our child which will give us more. 

   

     As regards the teachers,  they have to be the second mother to the child.  This will happen if the teacher correctly plays the above role in her family (i.e. being a good parent).  Naturally she will understand what her child feels about his teacher so that she can also understand the expectations of her students.  They should be empathetic as the children of these days are more adjustable to new surroundings and do not complain much.  The best thing in a child is their natural enthusiasm which you will never find in many of the adults.  

      The schools can admit children on the basis of their age and  learning capacity.  Not based purely on the entrance exams.  It can be a guide. Even if the child has got low marks, the school should go by other factors like the eagerness of the child to learn and the level of enthusiasm.  The child may not have fared well due to bad coaching in his/her earlier school.  They have to take it up as a challenge and prove that they are better schools by educating the weakest child to get highest marks. 

    

You cannot take credit in growing a tree by possessing it when it has already started bearing fruit.  You feel the real pride when you plant the seed, wait for the seedling to appear, water the plant, apply manure, secure the plant with fencing, drive away animals from grazing it, see it growing day by day and finally bearing fruit.  And that fruit will be really sweet!

 

summer vacation where to go?

hi bloggers,


Most of the schools have declared summer vacation.  So the next step will be to plan where to go for holidays.  People who belong to a village or a distant home town are lucky as they can spend their vacation there.  Children may love to be with their grandpa or grandma or uncles/aunts.  Those who are in the urban side with no roots to villages have other options like organising a tour to some picnic spots, or a long distance tour and visiting places.  Anyway summer vacation is to enjoy.  I give below pictures of some beautiful places in India which you can plan to visit.  For those who do not plan any visit, you can atleast look at these pictures and enjoy the beauty of the places.

The Taj Mahal

The magnificent marina

Ahtong - sikkim 

Himalayan range

Kulumanali

Vizag

Manali pass

Nainital

hi friend, board exam not easy? take it easy

Dear friend who has written the board exam today,

How did it go?  Hope everything was fine.  No shocks or surprises in the question paper.

There might have been one or two questions which you feel were out of syllabus, or you were absent during that class or you have not paid attention to the particular chapter and hence not prepared.  Never mind,  let bygones be bygones.  We cannot cry over spilled milk.  But we have a world before us.  We have got a lot to do.  Let us get over our disappointment or disillusion and come back to normalcy.

Lets play some good music, have some nice snacks and get set to prepare for the next exam.  The next exam is going to be a cakewalk to us.  We can master the subject in the time available.  We will definitely succeed.  We will come out with flying colours.

Please do not consult  your friends about the answers you are doubtful.  They may be right or they may be wrong.  If you come to know that it is wrong, it may be painful.  Instead try this method.  Think about the answer which you have written confidently and which is correct.  You may feel elated that there are more such correct answers in your answer paper.  This will give you confidence. 

Above all, writing a board exam is not a child’s play.  You have bravely appeared and attempted and succeeded in answering.  Great job done.  Kudos to you. 

So all the best for the remaining examinations.  Do well.  Do not think about the difference it is going to make in your life as you will be imagining something on which you have no control.  Instead, think about the joy of learning and writing the exams.

Do not learn for the board exam to become a doctor, engineer  or IT professional.  Learn for the examination for the joy of it and for getting high scores.  The future will definitely have some good things in store for all of us.

height of courage

Liked to watch this video, though it is risky. uploaded for visitors of my blog

Preserve the world for us

This short film by a nine year old boy from Kerala has impacted so many.  The film runs for just five minutes. 
This was screened at the just concluded short film festival SCRIPT 2011 ( Social and Corporate Responsibility Promotion International Theatre) in the category for films made by students,  it has won the Halo of Honour Award. 

It has generated discussions on the Perandoor Canal that separates two localities in Kochi.  The narration is that the boy goes to his grandma's place which is next to the canal.  He enquires her why she lives next to a drain, when the grandma remnisces about the beautiful canal that it was once with lotus and fish and boats plying on it.  She narrates how it has become a drain due to wastes from surrounding houses.

At the end, the boy's grandma asks him what gift he wants, he gives a beautiful picture of the Perandoor Canal with a message to preserve the world.

A good thought by the future of India.

hi petdog lovers, see this cute dog

Panda dog
Kind attention dog lovers, there is some interesting news for you.
Named after the quirky detective in the hit TV series 'Columbo', this Maltese-Poodle mix is the talk of the town in Tokyo. His owner, Kensuke Hirakawa, adopted him after Columbo's previous owner abandoned him.

Although Columbo was a bit aggressive and barked non-stop at first, Kensuke saw potential in this little droopy-eyed fur ball and took him in and he soon became tame. Poor Columbo had been through a lot and had the marks to prove it - a stiff back leg, tear-stained eyes and all his canine teeth had been removed (to prevent biting). But being a former beautician and pet shop owner, it didn't take long for Kensuke to hatch a crazy little plan for an Extreme Doggie Makeover!
Using completely safe (non-toxic) black hair color for dogs, Kensuke dyed parts of Columbo's dingy white fur in the striking pattern of the panda that most of Asia is so well known for.
And boy did he stand out! Once a mixed breed mongrel tossed aside because of his looks, Columbo is not only the most talked about and adored dog in the neighborhood (and probably all of Asia as well), he's also now the poster dog and mascot in a campaign to save the abandoned and abused dogs of Tokyo. Kensuke only hopes that this will help teach others how to be responsible and love their pets