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    KIDS WRITE 4 KIDS WRITING CONTEST

    I am exited about a contest I am going to enter, it is called Kids Write 4 Kids (or KW4K for short) and is about selling books written by children and donating the money to charities all over Canada. The competition is for kids in grades 4-8, they also have to be enrolled in Canadian schools.  Here are some quick facts: These are some classic books with less than 5000 words: Year Title Author Estimated Word Count 1812 Hansel and Gretel The Brothers Grimm ~3,000 1843 The Ugly Duckling Hans Christian Andersen ~3,500 1902 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix…

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    WINNIE THE POOH: The unique writing of author A.A.Milne

    One reason why I really like WINNIE THE POOH is because A.A.Milne writes from a child’s viewpoint, which makes it ten times funnier! I often find myself laughing out loud at a dialogue when my little sister -who is still learning to read- catches me and asks, “What’s so funny? Read to me!!!” So then I read the part to her and she laughs too! One of my favorite characters is an owl, named Wol, he likes explaining complicated things, in a way ones “with very little brain” might not understand. =) This is a part which I like a…

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    The Black Stallion

    I am enjoying reading the book the black stallion by Walter Farley and it was about the relationship between a boy and a beautiful wild stallion. They first met on board a ship called Drake and the horse was very wild. Could Alec get even close enough to build a bond? Alec knew that the stallion would never be truly broken, then there was a storm! Alec found himself and the Black stuck on an island. There, the relationship between the Black and Alec grew until Alec could ride the Black. Imagine Alec’s shock when the shelter Alec had built…

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    Intriguing salmon

    Tina : Salmon can live both in rivers and in the ocean. That is special! That means they adjust themselves for the differences in water quality. But… Why do they return to the river where they were born? Joshua : I don’t know the answer, let’s research it together. Searching… Searching… Searching… Joshua : Scientists don’t know the answer yet either. Which means that your question is at the very forefront of modern science today. Such a good question! Can you keep watchful for the answer to this question consider the  newest research together with scientists? Tina : Yup, I…

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    A Friendship and a Lesson in Evaluating Information

    One story in the book The Sextant by David Barrie, especially captivated me. The qualities of the two principal men in particular deserve mention. Do you notice any additional character traits that you admire? Joshua : Would you like to know about another two friends? Tina : Yes! Who are they? Joshua : They are two Englishmen. One is named Sir Ernest Shackleton and the other is Frank Worsley. Tina : Those are nice names. How did they become friends? Joshua : They liked each other when they met in London, England, in the spring of 1914, but they really…

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    Our Spring Project

    Something for children. This is a spring project that we enjoyed with our children. It is fascinating to see a bean sprout and grow. 1. Soak the seeds overnight (one of our beans sprouted a small root right away). 2. Put the seeds in moist soil, in a clear container, at the edge. 3. Watch the roots grow (you will see the taproot followed by the lateral roots). 4. See the stem grow. 5. See the leaves grow. 6. When the plants get mature enough put them outside. 7. Enjoy the beans in late summer and fall.

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    The Great Stone House

    May you enjoy a short discussion, based on four chapters of Farley Mowat’s Lost in the Barrens: No Man’s Land, The Rapid, Alone n the Wilderness, The Great Stone House. Joshua : Two boys. Jamie was from Toronto. Awasin lives in northern Canada. Tina : How did they become friends? Joshua : Jamie moved to northern Canada. The two became neighbours, then friends. As they played and worked together, Jamie learned a lot from Awasin. When they were on a hunt with a group, they were assigned to stay behind with two other men. Jamie and Awasin became impatient and left. First,…

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    Remainder Operator

    Basic Operators in Swift Addition (+) Subtraction (-) Multiplication (*) Division (/)  Remainder Operator (%)     (similar to the Mod or Modulo operator in some other languages) The Remainder Operator Here is a brief explanation of the remainder operator (%) as it works in the Swift language, quoted from Swift’s website: The remainder operator (a % b) works out how many multiples of b will fit inside a and returns the value that is left over (known as the remainder). Note: The remainder operator (%) is also known as a modulo operator in other languages. However, its behavior in Swift for…