Free To Express

Communities of Readers and Writers Ask Me  by Antje Damm. From commonplace ("Who is your best friend?") to thought-provoking ("Whom do you miss?") this nifty book of questions invites children to reveal personal information, reflect on their lives, and learn more about each other. Engaging illustrations accompany each question and provide further response opportunities. Designed as a conversation starter between parents and children,  Ask Me  provides a unique resource for writing and discussion topics. BookSpeak!: Poems about Books  by Laura Purdie Salas. This collection offers 21 poems on everything bookish from characters to indexes to falling asleep while reading. At turns humorous and informative,  BookSpeak!  is the perfect text to launch a reading year and reinforce a love of reading. Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems  by Gail Carson Levine. Modeled after William Carlos Williams' "This Is Just to Say," Levine presents ov...

Our children and youth are immersed in technologies that give them opportunities no previous generation has enjoyed. How will schools respond? Some weeks ago, I attended a family reunion where the children ranged from age 10 to 18. As we were all talking, someone asked a question about a specific movie. Immediately, every kid pulled out a smartphone, and within 30 seconds they all had answers. Some went straight to the Internet Movie Database (using a smartphone app, of course); two quickly searched Yahoo! for movie reviews; others went to their favorite sites to sample public opinion. I've seen adults do something similar and gloat about how Internet-savvy they are and how fast their smartphones navigate cyberspace. But each and every kid acted like this practice was commonplace. A few days later, I had another enlightening experience. A colleague's 7-year-old son, Mikey, has his own iPad courtesy of his grandpa. A week ago, he was visiting our lab and wanted to...

Free to express is an inordinate abode to get a regular dose of what's good: good in eco, causes, companies and incredible change makers.  How I decide what to cover Picking which stories to run is often a battle as I am quite passionate about each and every story covered. Bottom line, I chose what I think is inspirational, suitable for the moment or simply catches my fancy. Each day you’ll read something that makes you stop and think, has you looking into something a bit more, or entices you to support a cool cause. Here I’d like to remind you that most of them are those which I am following and I think are very relevant for the society at large. Moreover, to avoid the necessary details regarding finances, donations etc. I pick the causes up from the Facebook. My readers are encouraged to follow the causes from there itself i.e. to log on to www.causes.com Eg: UPDATES FROM  CAUSES ·          Health and Wellness H...

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Summer vacations were one of the best times during our schooling years, redolent with the right mix of story books and games. We did not have to do homework or go to tuition. This ' t ' word was unheard of at that time, wherein it is a dire necessity now a days, we all wonder why; when deep down we are all aware of the brutal truth. But back then, I remember vividly that my elder sister did organize essay and mathematics competitions. During one such impromptu activity I was declared the winner, much to the distress of my cousin who covered her misery with copious tears - a matter of much laughter later. Can you imagine that we have not seen each other for over two decades, she in los angles and me in mumbai.  Anyways we have had enough of unwanted digression. One hot , North Indian summer afternoon, when elders of the family were enjoying the post lunch stupor or some of them relishing their forty winks, we cousins , all of us about eight or nine ye...