This poem is by a home-educated girl called Katy. She likes art, fashion and writing, and we are delighted to be able to share her work with you.
Is Black Really White?
Science will tell you that black is not a colour, rather it is the absence of colour or the fact that there is no colour there. I expect that makes you think of white, rather than black!
And that’s the interesting thing about the word black: it was nearly white. And in fact in several other languages, the same root did develop to mean white.
Carnivals Around the World
You might have heard of the carnival in Rio, but did you know that there are carnivals around the world – from Germany to Greece, USA to Italy?
Millie Slavidou explains where Carnival comes from on her blog
Long before the advent of Christianity, people held celebrations at this time of year. In Germany, they once looked forward to sending Hel, the goddess of the underworld, back down to her abode so they could herald the coming of the spring. In Greece, it was a time to worship the god Dionysus. With the arrival of Christianity, the celebrations continued, but changed in nature, gradually becoming more and more linked to the new religion. The Carnival is held in the period before the start of Lent, and Lent is the time when good Christians were supposed to fast, to abstain from meat
In UK, we don’t celebrate Carnival, but we do prepare for Lent – that is what Pancake Day is all about, after all. Traditionally, pancakes were made to use up the eggs, fat and butter, that were not to be eaten during Lent!
Take a trip around the world with us, to find out how other countries celebrate Carnival!
Girls Don’t Need No Education
‘WHAT?!’,I hear you cry. ‘Of course we need education!’ And you are absolutely correct.
Sadly in some areas of the world, this is not seen as a basic human right. Children, especially girls, are denied access to schools.
I am sure you have all heard of Malala Yousafzai, the young education campaigner from Pakistan who was shot by people who do not agree with her campaign for girls to be educated.
Malala is carrying on a fight for education that other countries have already fought and won. Tina explains how girls in her home country, United Kingdom, were once forbidden from going to school and when this changed.
What is Procrastination, and Do You Have Time to Read This Right Now?
I’ve been trying to write this article for a while, but, well. I mean, I’ve had the time, but there just seems to be so much else to do. Like rearranging my books or the clothes in my wardrobe into colour order. And yesterday, I just had to plait all the tassels on my blanket and look through all my old photo albums.
Sound familiar? Procrastination is the science, no, the art of doing trivial things whilst putting off something important, like doing your homework or, ahem, writing an article. But putting things off for too long can get you into trouble. It’s much better to get on with tidying your room or revising for an exam than it is to see how many two pence coins you can balance on your nose (I managed 5 yesterday).