Decision Points

September 28th, 2011

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Decision PointsDecision Points by George W. Bush is easy to read and to the point. I love the way the book is structured around key decisions during his presidency. I enjoyed it thoroughly and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in finding out how and why George W. Bush made the key decisions during his presidency.

He came across as a patriotic President to me. Also, I learnt the complexity of making decisions that affects the world as the President of America. It’s not black and white as we, the commoners, perceive because there are so many details and facts that only the top administration is aware of. I think it will take at least a decade or more to figure out if his decisions were right or wrong. One thing is for sure and that is: he became President at one of the most unfortunate time in history. If I understand it right, even Abraham Lincoln was a very unpopular President during his term and was often ridiculed. It is only now that we know that he was one of the greatest Presidents. So, let the time judge the presidency of George W. Bush.

Posted in Non Fiction, Recommended Books | No Comments »

Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush

August 13th, 2011

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Spoken from the HeartI enjoyed reading ‘Spoken from the Heart’ by Laura Bush. I have always admired her as the First Lady and so, I was really interested in her book. I found her very elegant, poised, composed and matured. This book confirmed my opinion about Mrs. Bush. It’s just amazing how much America does for the needful all over the world. It might be that other countries are as charitable but I am just impressed with generosity and charitable nature of Americans overall.

I share Mrs. Bush’s love for the books. I am convinced that first and foremost it is prayers and devotion to God and then it is education that enables us to overcome our adverse situations and makes us better-off. So, I commend her efforts towards spreading literacy and improving education wherever possible. I was born and brought up in Calcutta and we had a book fair every January. I used to look forward to that book fair so much. It was my opportunity to look at so many different kinds of books. So, I am so happy to read about Mrs. Bush’s effort to start the tradition of book fair in America. I wish we had a book fair in Tupelo. If any of the Tupeleons reading this article has the stamina, time, contacts and feels inspired to start a book fair, I’ll be honored to help. Annual book fairs are a huge step towards promoting the love for books.

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Penmanship is important!

July 22nd, 2011

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I belong to old school where we think that grammar (even though my grammar is not up to the par and hence I feel more strongly that it’s important) and penmanship is important and should be one of the priorities in early education.

Technology is evolving at a speed of light and it is wonderful. I love it but I do feel that elementary and middle school students should use it for a limited time during the day and it should not be introduced too early in a child’s life! I am of the opinion that creative writing needs to be done with pencil or pen on a paper at elementary level. Also, I fail to appreciate “texting language” when used anywhere other than texting, such as in an email or a posting on facebook. To me, it seems that the writing loses its soul. Writing a letter using a pen/pencil on a paper has its own charm. Moreover, I fear that slowly we will lose the art of writing. Here’s my own example: I am born and brought up in India and studied how to read and write Hindi for about 12 years in school. I moved to US in 1999 and since then I haven’t used Hindi at all. I haven’t written anything in Hindi and I haven’t read anything in Hindi. Today, I’ll be scared to write even one sentence in Hindi. I have lost it. Here’s my husband’s example: When I met him, his handwriting was more beautiful than mine and I could read whatever he wrote very easily. Since a few years, he either dictates or types his notes. Now, his handwriting is not only worst than mine but I can’t decipher a word he writes. I hope you get the point.

So, I make my son, Kabir, practice handwriting. My friend, Sheila, introduced me to the following website (I love this website!) where you can create worksheets for your kid: ESL Writing Wizard

I have created worksheets for my son and used quotes from Shri Mataji (hoping that he will remember these quotes that might come in handy to him in his life). Here are the links to those worksheets. I hope it’s helpful!

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=54892

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=54893

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=54894

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=54895

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=54896

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=54897

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56380

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56381

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56382

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56383

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56384

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56385

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56386

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/wizards/multi_word.php?id=56387

Posted in Children / Kids | 1 Comment »

What to do with Kid’s arts and crafts?

July 9th, 2011

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As kids grow, the stack of art and craft grows too overwhelming. So, what to do with all the arts and crafts created by our little Picasso? I bet there is no parent who hasn’t come across this issue.

Some of my friends suggest that they stack them and then at the end of the year, they pick the best ones and trash the rest. I love this idea! One of my friends suggests taking photos of their art and craft and making a photo book. Brilliant idea!

Now, this is what I do. I take photos of all his decent artwork and add it to my blog. This way, I can go back and look at them whenever I want and enjoy them. I do look at them from time to time and I really do enjoy seeing them as I remember how we worked on them together. I save the ones he makes for me and my husband.

Now, I have a big conditioning against wasting paper. So, this is what I do. I get him to do crafts on cards, bookmarks and anything that can be used to give to our friends and family. I use cards for birthdays and thank-you notes. Especially, we make lots of decorated eggs during Easter and ornaments during Christmas for his friends and family. It gives us a purpose to do lots of arts and crafts during the year. Also, I don’t need to trash too much. Above all, I think it’s nice for friends and family to receive a handmade gift from a child. As per my guru, Shri Mataji, the art has the vibrations of its creator. Little children are so pure that anything created by them must have good vibrations and hopefully, anyone who receives a handmade gift from a child may feel the good vibrations and feel happy. There’s one more thing. Most of the time, kids are self centered. They know what they like, what they want and it’s hard for them to think sometimes what others would like. In fact, it’s sometimes hard for the adults, including me, too. Shri Mataji has said, “Giving has the greatest joy and pleasure.” I am hoping to instill this “joy of giving” and “thinking of others” in my kids by making them give handmade gifts to whoever they want. Hope, it works!

What are your ideas? What do you do with your kids’ arts and crafts?

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Painting with Pudding

June 20th, 2011

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Last week, I bought Jello instant pudding mix. Kabir made the pudding as per the directions (using water as I didn’t want to waste milk). Once ready, I divided the pudding between Kabir and Arjun and gave them a piece of wax paper each. Both of them painted on the wax paper using the pudding. Arjun patted on the pudding so hard that it spattered all over. It was such a joy for him that he kept doing it. After a while they started painting on each other’s wax paper. Then they progressed to painting each other. It was utter chaos and complete mess but they were laughing so hard and having so much fun. It was a perfect photograph opportunity but I couldn’t leave them alone as they were slipping when trying to stand up. It was a mess (we did this in our backyard) but so worth it. They were so dirty that I had to hose them down. The thrill of playing in the water was too precious to them. Then they were taken to play in hot water tub. This activity made their day and it made my day to see them laughing so hard that they had tears in their eyes!

Posted in Children / Kids | No Comments »

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