English language-and its common (mis)usage

The Queen's language has always been a topic of amusement and obsession with the regional speaking population. With its many contradicting rules in grammar and spelling, it's no wonder that that English is definitely a language that many find difficult to master.

Similarly spelt words are very different in meaning. Yet, very often such words are interchanged. It was quite quiet. Yes, there's a difference between quite and quiet. The former means completely and the latter means silence. Therefore, 'she's quite talkative' and 'she's quiet' are contradictory statements.

http://bit.ly/1rzC6Is

The top is loose but you can also lose your mind over a trivial matter. There's a wide difference between the words 'loose' and 'lose' and when interchanged can make for funny anecdotes to regale our friends with. 

You're is actually two words- 'you' and 'are'- and should not be confused with 'your' which is a pronoun-used to indicate a belonging of a person.

Indiscriminate use of 'ly' to form adverbs can prove dangerous too. For example: a boss wanted to praise an employee and went on to say in a boardroom conference, "Mr. Venkkiah works hardly. He comes fastly to office too." Needless to say, the sentence left Mr. Venkkiah red-faced and the others guffawing.

So, have you honed your English skills lately? If not, it's not a bad idea to sit down with a Wren & Martin to avoid such bloopers.

Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore, focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/

Helping children to be tolerant and community-friendly : Lawrence School

In the urban, developed world that we live in today, nuclear families are the order of the day; the joint family system is passé.  Most are single-child families or at the most have two children.  It is no wonder then that children learn to live by themselves and ‘for’ themselves.  Their perspective is limited to “me, mine and myself”.    In this scenario, how do we help a child to learn to be more tolerant and community-friendly? 

Here are some of the things that we could do -

·         As the saying goes, “charity begins at home”; likewise, as parents we need to set the right example.  We have to practice what we want our child to learn.  Hence, our children should see us as people who care; who offer help to the needy; who take part in community programmes and who follow rules and are law abiding citizens. 

·         We must get our children to share his/ her toys and books with friends and cousins.  Also, if the maid or driver has a young kid, we could get our children to help them with their homework. 

·         We must encourage our children to take part in community services in and around our locality.  This could be in the form of

Ø  Keeping the locality clean -not throw garbage (chocolate paper, banana peel, etc) on the road, not urinate in the open..

Ø  Spread awareness around garbage segregation

·         We must encourage our children to form and express their opinion about social matters – like when they notice someone not following traffic rules, or disobeying the law, they can voice their opinion and talk to an adult about it.  This way, they will also learn to differentiate ‘right’ from ‘wrong’.

·         We should explain the importance of non-renewable and limited natural resources and get our children to save on fuel, electricity and water. 

Thus, it is imperative that we become good role models for our children – more can be learnt from seeing rather than from just preaching.  Our children can then learn to say “we, us and ours” and become empathetic, humble and socially committed citizens.

Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore, focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/ 

Summer Holidays – how to keep children occupied

It is that time of the year that school children (and some parents too!) eagerly look forward to - two whole months of vacation! No waking up early in the mornings and no rigid schedule to be followed; no catching the bus and no classes to attend.   This is the best part of any child’s life - totally carefree and completely liberated!

While this may be so, parents during this two-month break have to learn to manage their children’s time well.   They will have to think of ways of engaging them in a meaningful manner during the holidays.  It is great that children can relax without adhering to strict schedules, at the same time, they should not while away their time watching meaningless television programmes all through the day. 

So as parents, what can we do?  A lot of things actually. 

• -          Get the children to play with their friends – this will help them develop good social behavior. 
• -          Get them to help you around the house.  Small jobs/chores like laying the table before every meal, cleaning their own plates / clothes, putting the garbage out, watering the plants, helping in spring cleaning (cleaning windows, furniture, cupboards, etc), folding their own clothes and arranging neatly in their shelves.  These activities will not only help them learn but will also make them responsible and help them to take care of their belongings.  And it teaches them the value of labour.
• -          Get them to take up a hobby or sport– music, dance, drawing/sketching, pottery, carpentry - anything that interests them.
• -          Get them to cultivate the habit of reading.  Get them books from a lending library or you could also buy from a second-hand book store.  This is one habit that will help them in all phases of life.    
• -          Involve them in your holiday plans.  Encourage them to read up about the places you plan to visit and make them write their experiences after the travel. 

Thus, as parents and care-givers, we need to inculcate certain habits and responsibilities in our children.  The summer vacation is the best time to do this.  Let us spend time with our kids and enjoy the holiday!    

Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore, focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/