1. PARENTING
LOCAL SCENE
Coconutwaterbestforpregnantwomen
Howtomaketherichleave
theircarsathome
Knowifyourtoddlerisreadyforreadinglessons
A
part from other beneficial qualities, it has
been found that coconut water is one of
the best source of nutrients for pregnant
women.TheCoconutDevelopmentBoard(CDB)in
Kochi said that coconut water consumption during
pregnancy helps to maintain the daily required levels
of fluids and electrolytes in the body.
“Coconut water is rich in electrolytes,
chlorides, magnesium, calcium, riboflavin and
vitaminCbesidescontainingmoderateamounts
of sugar, sodium and protein,” said the CDB.
CDB also pointed out that having coconut
water in the first trimester helps to counter
morning sickness, constipation, prevents
dehydration besides improves immunity and
relives fatigue. “A pregnant woman’s body
requires more fluids to replenish the needs of
an unborn baby.
It also helps to increase the volume of the
blood in the body and prevents urinary tract
infections and lowers high blood pressure,” the CDB
added.
P
eople in the higher-income
group leave their cars at
home only when they find
the neighbourhood attractive, not
in the face of constraints such as
neighbourhood density, new research
has found.
On the other hand, people in the
lower- and middle-income group are
more likely to walk or bike when they
find it difficult to drive, the findings
showed.
“What drives these two groups
of people to walk or bike is quite
different,” said senior study author
Cynthia Chen, associate professor of
civil and environmental engineering
at University of Washington.
Dimensions of “attractiveness” that
motivate the higher-income group
include seeing other people when
they walk in their neighbourhoods,
the attractiveness of buildings and
homes and having interesting things
to look at, the study found.
“For the higher-income people,
walking and biking is a largely result
of choice, and our models show that
the density of their neighbourhoods
and most other things in their built
environment, such as the accessibility
of destinations, do not really matter as
much to them,” Chen noted.
“For the lower-income group,
walking and cycling appears to be
the result of constraints, in which
case higher neighbourhood density
and easy access to destinations are
positively associated with more
walking or biking,” Chen said.
The findings are based on a
random survey of 547 King County
households who live in the highest-
and lowest-density neighbourhoods
around State Route 520 across Lake
Washington.
The study will be presented at
Transportation Research Board
annual meeting to be held in
Washington, DC, from January 10-14.
E
ven before they can read, children as young
as three years of age can understand how a
written word is different than a simple
drawing, and the ability to make this
distinction could signal if your
toddler is ready to learn to
read, a new study has
found.
Most children do not begin formal instruction
in reading and writing until they turn five and enter
kindergarten, but these findings suggest that children
as young as three may be tested to see how well
their understanding of basic language concepts is
progressing.
“Our results show that children have some
knowledge about the fundamental properties of
writing from a surprisingly early age,” said study co-
author Rebecca Treiman from Washington University
in St. Louis in the US.
“Based on the results, it may be possible to
determine at an early age, which children are
progressing well in the learning of emergent literacy
skills and which children may need extra attention,”
Treiman added.
The study was based on two
experiments with 114 children ages
three to five years who had not yet received any formal
instruction in reading or writing.
The children were tested to see how well they
understood that a written word, such as dog, has
one specific pronunciation (“dog”) as compared with
a simple drawing of a dog, which could be correctly
labelled as the image of a dog, a puppy or even a pet
named Spot. In the first test, researchers read the
written word “dog” to the children.
Later, when a puppet employed in the experiment
and read the word “dog” as “puppy,” many children
picked up on the mistake.
In a similar task with drawings, children were more
likely to say that the puppet was correct in using the
alternative label.
The different results in
the writing and drawing
conditions indicated that
even young pre-readers
have some understanding
that a written word
stands for one specific
linguistic unit in a way
that a drawing does
not.
The study was
published in the
journal Child
Development.
ISMwinsgrandprizeat
Kathaliteraryworkshop
THE RESULTS SHOWTHAT
CHILDREN HAVE SOME
KNOWLEDGE ABOUTTHE
FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF
WRITING FROM A SURPRISINGLY
EARLYAGE.BASED ON THE
RESULTS,IT MAY BE POSSIBLE
TO DETERMINE ATAN EARLY
AGE,WHICH CHILDREN ARE
PROGRESSING WELL IN THE
LEARNING OF EMERGENT
LITERACY SKILLS AND WHICH
CHILDREN MAY NEED EXTRA
ATTENTION.
F R I DAY
J A N U A R Y 8 l 2 0 1 614 LIFESTYLEomandailyobserver
F
our students of Indian School Muscat, Siddiqa Zaid, Heera Sen, Harleen
Oshan and Eunice Thambiraja won accolades at the national level of the
Regional Writers’ Workshop organised by the nonprofit organisation
Katha. This workshop was held at Sanskriti School, New Delhi last month, in
which more than 500 selected students matched their creative writing skills.
This prestigious literary award was conferred upon a select few students
who had gone through a series of rigorous selection rounds, firstly, through the
regional literary workshops conducted for short-listed school students who had
submitted original entries in various genres to receive a special invitation for the
Regional Writers Workshop. Then they had a thorough mentoring process by
their respective mentors for a specific genre; submitted their final entries and
were then chosen to represent their respective schools for the Grand Finale.
All the four students of Indian School Muscat, who were originally short-
listed to attend the Regional Writer’s workshop held in the month of October
were again selected for the Finale and all of them are the recipients of the Grand
Prize in their chosen genre- Fiction-Prose, Poem & Non-Fiction.
Principal Srinivas K Naidu, Vice Principal Deep Wilson and Asst. Vice
Principal Geeta Chauhan appreciated the participants and wished them success
in all their ventures. They lauded the efforts of the Department of English and
the School Literary Club for the selection and training of the participants.
ENVIRONMENTALSOCIETY
of OmanscoresWGOdonation
RAY PETERSEN
S
usan Flower, President of the Women’s
Guild in Oman, chose the most
appropriate farewell to her office,
during the Crystal Ball at the Shangri-
La Barr Al Jissah Auditorium recently.
Environmental awareness has a growing
profile within Oman, as has the level of environmental
concern, and Flower offered the Crystal Ball attendees,
a video presentation featuring the full spectrum of
Oman’s rich natural environment, from the stark
harshness of the mountains and deserts, to the beauty
of its aquatic wonderland and pristine beaches.
However, as she said, the reality of today’s ‘plastic
bag’ generation, and its intrusion into the natural
environment that means so much to Oman in terms of
tradition and tourism, is omnipresent.
“The WGO recognises”, she continued, “that
community, commercial and societal groups”, such as
those represented at the function, “have the ability to
make a difference,” and accordingly, they had selected
the Environmental Society of Oman to be their 2015
charity beneficiary.
Geoff Murray, General Manager of Sodexo/Socat
LLC, one of the major sponsors of the event indicated
that a key reason his organisation is involved in events
such as this is “to continue to develop links with the
local community in an effective manner.” He also
intimated that, “We have the experience of how we
can improve our quality of life, and environment,
by changing organisational and individual attitudes
to how we treat our environment, and we should be
sharing that knowledge, and those experiences”.
Flower was delighted to announce to the charitable
gathering, a significant financial boost to the ESO with
a cheque for RO 15,000, raised by the event, for the
charity, being presented to the Executive Director of
the ESO, Lamees Abdallah Daar.
Daar commented on the need for all sectors of
society to all contribute effectively to maintaining the
Sultanate’s beautiful environment, and encouraged
her audience, as leaders in the expatriate community,
and possibly therefore more aware of the need for care
in our environment, to be pro-active institutionally,
organisationally, and personally.
She emphasised however, that personal decisions,
rather than governance, are the answer, saying, “It’s
great to have your financial support, but we would
like you all to do just one thing, to care.” It was a
wonderfully simple message, presented with a simple
dignity, to an appreciative and attentive audience,
perfectly in keeping with the tone of the evening.
She applauded the work of the WGO, Flower, and
the contributors and sponsors of the event, saying
that the ESO recognised that the 15,000 Rials was
a significant donation, and she, and the ESO are
extremely grateful for the support.
The Crystal Ball 2015, chose a ‘Café de Paris’ theme
for what has become a ‘must do’ event, given its
charitable and social objectives, and Flower felt that
while each of the previous incarnations had their own
merits, for elegance, beauty, and, as she put it, “the joi
de vive, or joy of life. This one had it all.”
Art Buchwald, the long serving satirist in the
Washington Post, wrote of French cuisine,
“That we should regard food the way the
French always have. Dinner is not what
you do before you go out in the evening, it
is the evening!”
In keeping with those sentiments, the
Head Chef of the resort created an iconic
Parisienne menu to remind the diners that there is
indeed more to Paris than the Eiffel Tower, Mona Lisa
andChampsElysee.—PhotosbyYelenaGlukhovtseva
THEATTENDEESWERESHOWN
AVIDEOFEATURINGTHEFULL
SPECTRUMOF OMAN’SRICH
NATURALENVIRONMENT,
FROMTHESTARKHARSHNESS
OFTHEMOUNTAINSAND
DESERTS,TOTHEBEAUTYOF
ITSAQUATICWONDERLAND
ANDPRISTINEBEACHES
WGO President,
Susan Flower
announces a
15,000 Rial
donation to the
ESO.
Geoff Murray,
MD of Sodexo/
Socat
Executive Director
of the ESO,
Lamees Abdallah
Daar.