Role of Grandparents in Home Schooling

Grandparents have taken the role of teachers at home. This is also referred to as home schooling. Many parents have various reasons why they opt for home schooling. A parent may decide to home school his or her child due to special needs the child requires. Due to hectic lifestyle adopted by parents, home schooling becomes hard for them. This necessitates the helping hand of the grandparents. Most grandparents have retired and therefore have ample time for schooling their grandchildren.Home schooling needs a lot of caution because a parent must ensure the home offers ideal learning environment for the kid. A parent must also ensure the kid receives necessary discipline from the grandparent during the entire home schooling period. Parents have realized that the discipline of a child deteriorates with parent's absence. Due to this fact, parents request for grandparent's help in instilling discipline in a child. The cost of hiring a teacher to school a kid at home is very high for so some parents. Only wealthy parents can afford to hire private teachers. This leads to parents' need of grandparent's hand in home schooling a kid.Schools are source of bad morals due to aspect of peer pressure as well as bad influence. Kids at a tender age need to learn good morals to acquire a good base early in their life. Children exposed to bad influence at a tender age turn out to be crooks later in life. Rosetta Stone Software To avoid this from happening, many parents opt to home school their kids until the child becomes ready to handle tricky school life. Grandparents teach the kids good morals as they home school them.As one adopts home schooling method, one should cultivate an effective communication with the child. A parent should follow up the learning process to avoid laxity. When a parent is free, he or she should participate in the teaching process. This is very important because it shows concern to both the child and the grandparent. Another paramount factor to consider is learning material used to teach. Many grandparents received different type of education compared to what they teach the child. As a parent, one should ensure what the kids learns is relevant to the modern curriculum.As a grandparent, one should cultivate a sense of discipline in a child. One should prepare a time schedule similar to those used in school. This creates a school environment and helps a child improve on seriousness and attentiveness. When both grandparents are involved in the practice, they should split out responsibilities. For example, a grandmother can decide to coach the child on writing skills while the grandfather may coach the kid on technical subjects such as woodwork, metalwork, art or drawing and design. This helps in creating diversity on material taught as well as style of teaching.Grandparents should learn the importance of examining the kids. The effective way includes issuing of exams offered in schools. This helps in gauging the kid's performance. When taken with seriousness, home schooling has turned the best option in producing diligent and responsible scholars. Grandparents are not good teachers; they are also the best storytellers.

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Understanding The Basics Of Home Schooling

There is no single appropriate method of home schooling. One of the greatest benefits of acquiring education at home is its tremendous flexibility. Every family is free to select subjects and projects that go well with their requirements. They can pick their preferences in programs, techniques, supplies and educational philosophies. There must be an elementary understanding of these and other matters basic to home education. This will empower parents to make a selection that will ensure success.Serious thought should be given to choices in teaching and learning techniques, students improvement stages, potencies and limitations. In addition to all this, the tutor knowledge, practice and assurance should be taken into account. The family supply of time and money as well as the number of children has to be dealt with.In reality there is no single method to home school or a single finest course for everybody. No matter what your personal situation, there are several ways that can make home schooling a good thing for your family.There are cases where at times home schooling is to a large extent more favored than the conventional schools. This happens in circumstances where students are not competent enough to go to conventional classroom surroundings for some reason or the other. General reasons are having troubles with societal inability, psychological aptitude and sentimental Rosetta Stone Spanish Spain behavior. There are numerous things that need to be taken account of prior to placing your child in a home school. Check out the advantages and disadvantages: Prior to adopting home schooling, it is vital that you go through each and every feature of home schooling. You could start by counting the benefits as well as the drawbacks not just for the child but for the entire family as well.Bear in mind that home schooling does not simply have an effect on the child being discussed. It will be chaotic and in particular, the parents get affected, as they have to double up as the educator. The family also has to get geared up for the accountability of trailing along an organized program, amidst routine.Would home schooling be the greatest choice for your child: There are a lot of people who have displayed the efficiency of home schooling by offering education to the youth. However, there are a number of things the children have to give up as well.The approach is not frequently suggested for children who are just beginning to build up their communication and community skills. This is because they might mainly fail to benefit from a lot of budding objectives. However, if it is seriously believed that home schooling is the greatest option, it is fine to highlight the deficiency of the community element. This can be done by way of numerous actions that aptly represent the child to other individuals.Receiving the correct program: It is important to ensure that the adopted home schooling program syllabus is the same as that being taught by the traditional schools around. For this reason it is essential to highlight the subject matter that the child will be learning at home, in addition to the ability he or she is targeted to build up.

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Advantages of Home Schooling

Falling out of favour in recent years, home schooling used to be considered a great way to monitor and enhance your child's intellectual development. Theories about poor social development and emotional exposure led to a downturn in the frequency of home schooling, despite the numerous educational advantages it can bring. By nurturing your child within the home environment, learning and education can seem more of a natural process, whereby your child gains the skills and knowledge required during the course of his daily life. In this article we will consider further some of the advantages of educating your child in your home, and why this form of education may be considered superior to traditional schooling.One of the major advantages that comes with home schooling is the ability to tailor education to the needs and stage of development of the child. In the classroom, there is little in the way of individualised tuition and bonding for most of the children with the authority figure, which can stint and hinder development. Of course the child is exposed to a more social environment, which is certainly beneficial. The problem comes with the lack of direct tailored tuition, which can repress a child's intellectual potential. Secondly, regular schooling cannot move at the same pace, nor can it move at the pace required for the student. A class of pupils can only move as quickly as the Rosetta Stone slowest pupils, which leaves many more developed students bored and lacking intellectual stimulation. With home schooling, on the other hand, the parent or teacher is free to move at the pace of the child, and can devote one hundred percent of his or her attention to the intellectual needs of the child concerned, making for an overall more productive environment for the child.Another advantage of home schooling is that it is more flexible than traditional schooling, catering for the needs of the child concerned rather than the general needs of a class of children. If the child has particular difficulties in any given area, these can be sourced and assisted promptly, without having the burden of thirty other pupils to worry about. By allowing the teacher to focus on teaching the pupil at his own pace, home schooling creates a more flexible environment for intellectual development, which can provide the child with a greater understanding of reason and logic, as well as the basics of elementary arithmetic and literacy.Home schooling seems to be losing popularity in recent years, despite the fact that it still provides much academic and intellectual merit. Children educated in the home environment tend to be more attuned to life-long learning, considering knowledge and information as important assets. Indeed, this form of education allows the child to develop at his own pace where this may otherwise be restricted within the classroom environment. For these reasons, the process of home schooling is particularly worthwhile, and something that should be a consideration of parent everywhere, with the means and ability to educate their own children.

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Home school for your high schooler

Homeschooling at any age can be a challenge, but we have found that home schooling our high school aged children has been the most challenging.? We want to make sure they have everything they need for the real world, but also all the credits they need to get into college.? ?The challenge is not so much with our children, but with finding high school curriculum for home schooling.? Most of the home school curriculum is younger grade based usually below 8th grade.? Yes there are some home school programs out there that have high school aged curriculum, but some of those can be very costly and when you are on a budget it makes it difficult.We prefer to create our own home school curriculum rather than buy something expensive.? Creating your own home school curriculum can be interesting and fun, whether for your younger children or your high schoolers.? With our high schoolers we can include them in creating something they can be interested in and still get the number of credits for graduation.Themed unit studies are one way of creating home school curriculum for your high school children.?? You can determine your children's area of interest whether Rosetta Stone French V3 it be Egypt, Civil War, Automotive, Cooking or any of hundreds of other options.? Themed units should be able to include reading, writing, math, history and science at least.So how do I put a themed unit study together?? Research on the subject is key to creating a home school curriculum yourself.? Let's take Cooking as an example for a high school themed unit study.? The children will need to read recipes and show basic understanding of using it to cook with, they will use math and science when measuring and combining ingredients and of course it is good to learn some history of cooking, techniques and styles.As you can see creating a home school curriculum for your high schooler can be a challenge. Creating your home school curriculum takes some work up front, but in the end when you see how much more interested your children are in learning it is all worth it! ?This of course is just one example of creating your own home school curriculum for your high school children, there are many options out there and don't forget the internet is a very informative place to find great ideas for home schooling your children.

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Venus Willams Mocked By British Press

Click to play video Return to video Video feedback Use this form to: Ask for technichal assistance in playing the multimedia available on this site, or Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Return to video Video feedback Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. Don't play Play now More video Recommended Click to play video Fit for tennis: Get buff or get beaten Click to play video Jelena Dokic maps out year ahead Click to play video Stosur's Wimbledon knock-out Click to play video Serena and Henin in Open finals Replay video Return to video Video settings What type of connection do you have? Return to video Video settings Your video format settings have been saved. Venus swings with 'jumpsuit' After five-months away from the game, Venus Williams wooed the Wimbledon crowd with her tennis moves, and fashion statement. Video feedback Video settings Venus Williams causes a stir with 'jumper' outfit With a cut out back, draped sleeves, zippers and gold hot pants, Venus Williams's Wimbledon outfit was not the traditional British jumper. The tennis champion wore an eye-catching white playsuit, which she called a "jumper", on day one, attracting the disapproval of the UK tabloid press. Advertisement: Story continues below Mocked by the UK tabloids ... Venus Williams. Photo: Reuters The Sun dubbed it "The Venus eye trap", while the Daily Mail accused her of having "terrible fashion sense". "The back of the playsuit featured an on-trend cutaway, albeit one that is much more suited to black tie evening wear than to a sporting event," the report said. "Venus did not get everything wrong though - the cotton material had a pretty leafy design woven into it which could have made a lovely sun dress." Cut out back ... Venus Williams Photo: AP The Mirror marvelled at her ability to play tennis while wearing an array of chunky jewellery, including a necklace with a pendant and a large ring. "We're pretty sure our PE teacher would never have let us do a sports class wearing all of those at Rosetta Stone Software school." The official Wimbledon website had to translate Williams's use of the word "jumper" to describe the outfit. All-in-one romper suit ... Venus Williams. Photo: Getty Images "The language barrier between American English and English English can be huge and when she called her ensemble a "jumper", the locals looked confused. "Across the pond, a "jumper" is an all-in-one garment. "Over here, that would be called a romper suit for grown-ups." Click for more photos Day one at Wimbledon Venus Williams and her fashionable 'jumper' turned heads on day one at Wimbledon. Photo: AFP and AP The jumpsuit was from her own line EleVen, which has this wordy manifesto: "It's the next level. It's about being more and feeling like more. Be yourself. Feel fabulous. Be fearless. Feel confident. Be triumphant. Feel feminine. Be casual. Feel sexy. Be chic. Feel powerful. Be #1. Feel like an EleVen." Williams explained her fashion choice to reporters after her first round victory over Akgul Amanmuradova. "Jumpers are very in now, as is lace. The shoulders have a lot of draping, which is also in at the moment. "It's just kind of like a trendy dress. I'm really into zippers, so it has like a focal point of a zipper in the front. The elder of the Williams sisters - who have dominated women's tennis for the past decade described the backless feature as a cutout or a "peek-a-boo". "I'm always trying to do something different and fun, but lately I'm really trending towards simplicity. "I'm not sure why. It's just how I feel right now. Everything is getting more simple." In the past, Williams's on-court costumes have included a red and black tutu, a lime green dress with nude underwear and a yellow and brown lattice dress, with a multi-coloured skirt.

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Guide to Dongara in Western Australia

Dongara is located 359 km north of Perth on the Brand Highway and428 km via the Midlands Road. It is a genuinely charming fishingvillage (the ubiquitous Batavia Coast rock lobster is the maincatch) and holiday resort characterised by some beautiful historicbuildings and a main street which has some of the finest stands ofMoreton Bay fig trees anywhere in Australia. Interestingly thetrees were planted in 1906 for a total cost of 16 shillings andfour pence. Like most of the coastline of the Central West the mouth of theIrwin River undoubtedly was passed numerous times by the Dutchmerchant ships which sailed across the Indian Ocean on the RoaringForties and then headed north to the trading post at Batavia (nowJakarta). However no ships were wrecked near Dongara and so itwasn't until Lieutenant George Grey's illfated expedition of 1839was forced to walk from Gantheaume Bay (near Kalbarri) to Perththat the area was in any sense explored by Europeans. In early April 1839 Grey crossed a river which he named theIrwin after a friend, Major Frederick Chidley Irwin (17881860)who, at the time, was commandant of the Swan River settlement. Advertisement: Story continues below Grey's journey and his subsequent reports of good land didenough to engender interest and in 1846 the Gregory brothers(Augustus Charles, Francis and Henry Churchman) travelled northfrom Perth and found both good grazing land and the Irwin Rivercoal seam in the Mingenew area to the east of the coast. The areawas explored further in the late 1840s by Lieutenant Helpmann whofollowed the Irwin River to its source. He reached the present daysites of both Dongara and Port Denison. The first settlers arrived near Dongara in 1850 and two yearslater a townsite named Dhungarra (supposedly meaning 'a meetingplace for seals' in Rosetta Stone French the language of the local Aborigines) wassurveyed. By 1865 the wheat harvest in the area was sufficientlysuccessful to warrant the building of a flour mill. The followingyear a jetty was built and a road from Dongara to Mingenew wascompleted. The port, known at the time as Port Irwin and later tobe renamed Port Denison, was sufficiently active at this time thatobelisks were erected (they still stand at the southern end of theport) and lanterns were lit at night to guide ships through thedangerous offshore reefs. But Dongara is more than just a collection of old buildings. Itis, by any measure, a truly beautiful little seaside town. Apartfrom the residences which look out across the ocean there are anumber of lovely old houses which lie beyond the Police Station inHunt's Road. There are also some superb churches and rectories. Allthese buildings bear witness to the affluence of the earlysettlers. The town was also the birthplace of Sir David Brand who, asleader of the Liberal Party, was State Premier from 19591971making him Western Australia's longest serving Premier.Unfortunately his birthplace, Nurse O'Connor's Maternity Hospital,was destroyed by the floods which followed Cyclone Mavis in1971. Things to see: Dongara Heritage TrailThe visitor wishing to inspect the buildings of historic importancein Dongara should obtain a copy of the Dongara Heritage Trail fromthe Old Police Station and Court House Building (now the Dongaraa Denison Tourist Centre) in Waldeck Street. TheHeritage Trail is particularly good covering seventeen points ofinterest in Dongara.

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Today it's a shadow of its former self

It threw up two international flag manufacturing sites before giving sites for musician James Taylor's CD Flag and Flag Motor Inns. It fared better in tracking down Gallipoli information and most of the computer dictionary results were impressive. You can also look for answers in newsgroups, product search service Froogle, and search for images and video. Extras include street maps, weather and language translation. Sensis Rating For a long time Sensis was the name behind the White and Yellow pages. Sensis is a relative newcomer to the local search market, and it was initially a little clunky to use, but the site has recently been revamped, revealing a brighter design and better search facility. Search results appear in two columns, with content on the left more likely to be relevant to Australians, while the right has a more international focus. And, hallelujah, Sensis was able to tell us where we could go to buy flags in Australia, with the first search result being spot on. Our search on Gallipoli returned better results on the international side of the screen. As for Australianspecific computer dictionary sites, most of the lefthand side proved irrelevant, as expected, but results on the right were more detailed. A good compromise and surprisingly thorough results. ninemsn ninemsn.au RatingMany computers in Australia are shipped with Microsoft's Windows operating system and bundled with Internet Explorer. The default ninemsn home page (complete with search facility) is all some people know which is a shame. This local site, a joint venture between USbased Microsoft and Australian media group PublishingBroadcasting Ltd, does a good job of bringing the companies' brands together, including Channel Nine's TV shows and ACP's magazines, but its search facility performed poorly. Nothing in the first eight results had anything connected to buying a flag. Four of the first 10 results on Gallipoli were OK, but the computer dictionary search was the most successful. As well as being able to search the web, news and images, ninemsn can Rosetta Stone do a basic hunt through Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia ideal for school work. Yahoo! RatingLike ninemsn, the Yahoo! search facility is embedded into its home page, where many other services such as news, a local TV guide and ads vie for attention. It offers searches in the categories of web, images, video and news. Its muchtouted Local Search (localsearch.yahoo.au) was launched in August last year, but neither it nor the main Yahoo! Australia and NZ site had much luck with our flag request. Local Search thought we wanted a graphic designer, and the main site guessed eBay was the best place to buy exMelbourne Cup banners and flags not exactly what we were after. Our search on Gallipoli was more successful, with five of the first 10 results deemed relevant. There were no problems locating several computer dictionaries. Mixed results. Rating Before there was Google, AltaVista reigned supreme. Today it's a shadow of its former self. Alta Vista now uses the same search index as Yahoo! and results from the two were similar. Alta Vista appears to be thorough by offering web, image, audio, video and news searches. You can choose whether to search Australia or the whole web, and whether to stick to English language results or all languages. But appearances are deceiving. Like ninemsn, AltaVista couldn't tell us where to buy a flag in Melbourne, but threw up a store in Tucson, Arizona and plenty of sites for AFL footy clubs. We found five good Gallipoli links within the first 10 results, and it found the usual computer dictionary suspects with ease. Disappointingly, sponsored links are not clearly separated from the main results. Verdict Sensis was best for Australian searches, with its results relevant and the site easy to use.

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Australians in top six 'best tourists'

Australian tourists may be generous and polite but their dress and reluctance to eat local food lets them down, according to international hoteliers. That's why Australians are ranked only number six by hoteliers asked who they think are the world's best tourists, and who put the Japanese at number one. More than 4,000 hoteliers were questioned in the inaugural Best Tourist Survey by online travel company Expedia. Advertisement: Story continues below Among the topics probed were tourists' behaviour, manners, generosity, willingness to learn the language and try local cuisine and their propensity to complain. Japanese tourists took out the top overall place, followed by the British and Germans in joint second place, and the Canadians in third position. Australians were ranked in joint sixth place with Swedes, and were singled out for their generosity and politeness, coming in at fourth place in both categories. But they were in the lower ranks for dress standards and effort to eat local cuisine. The French, Indians and Chinese were considered the worst tourists among the 31 nationalities, while Americans were considered the least polite. Expedia.au managing director Rosetta Stone Language Arthur Hoffman said Australians had to dress better and make an effort to try more local cuisine in order to rank better in next year's survey. The key was the outward simplicity. "The key invention is the URL (website address), it's the thing you can write on a napkin," said Groff. The first server outside Europe, at the SLAC particle accelerator in California, was connected at the end of 1991. BernersLee later pursued development in the United States and CERN released the software for free in the public domain in 1993. "Back then there were 26 web servers, now there are 10 to the power 11 pages. That's as many as the neurones in your brain," said the BernersLee, now 53, who heads the World wide Web Consortium (3WC). "The difference is that your neurones are going down and the web is growing." Twenty percent of humanity is connected to the web, according to standardsetting authorities. It is used worldwide for personal communications, entertainment, knowledge, education, commerce, shopping and science, in the office, home and increasingly on the move. Twenty years on six generations in the computer world it incorporates more than 30 software standards, as well as audio and video, and even live transmissions. "The web is not all done. It?s just the tip of the iceberg," said Berners Lee.

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Oracle's takeover came together in just days

That represents a 42 percent premium to Sun's closing stock price of $6.69 on Friday, and is about twice what Sun was trading for in March, before word leaked that IBM and Sun were in negotiations. While Sun wouldn't be Oracle's most expensive acquisition, it will be the largest in terms of the people involved. Sun employs about 33,500 workers, far more than the roughly 12,000 that PeopleSoft had when Oracle bought that company in 2005 for $11.1 billion the biggest outlay during Oracle's expansion. Oracle, which already has roughly 86,000 workers, didn't specify how many people will lose their jobs after it takes control of Sun. The cuts might not be as dramatic as they would have been in an IBM acquisition because Sun and Oracle have fewer overlapping products. The smaller overlap also could keep Oracle from facing the antitrust objections that IBM likely would have prompted with Sun. Indeed, one of the sticking points in the IBMSun negotiations was the level of assurance Sun sought that IBM would see the deal through a regulatory review. Regulators figured to look closely at the way that swallowing Sun would expand IBM's lead over HewlettPackard in certain markets for servers and data storage. Oracle already says the Sun acquisition, which it expects to close this summer, will add at least 15 cents per share to its adjusted earnings in the first year after the deal closes. The company estimated Sun will contribute more than $1.5 billion to Oracle's adjusted profit in the first year and more than $2 billion in the second year. With former investment bankers Charles Phillips and Safra Catz steering things as the company's copresidents, Oracle has been able to hit its financial targets in all its acquisitions during the past four years. That helped enable Oracle to earn $5.5 billion on revenue of $22.4 billion in its Rosetta Stone last fiscal year. Investors have enjoyed some of that prosperity too, with Oracle's stock rising about 35 percent since the PeopleSoft takeover was completed in 2005. Oracle recently decided to pay a dividend for the first time. But Oracle's emphasis on increasing profits will likely raise concerns in its new role as the steward of Sun's opensource software. "This gives Oracle the keys to the crown jewels of the opensource movement," said Wang, the Forrester analyst. Ellison said Oracle intends to invest more heavily in Java than Sun has been able to afford as its fortunes waned. While Sun still has big sales $13.9 billion last year its profitability has been hit and miss. Earnings last year were $403 million, but from 2002 through 2006 Sun lost more than $5 billion. The Sunbacked free Open Office software for word processing and spreadsheets also could be used to weaken Microsoft's franchise an objective that would delight Ellison, who, like Sun cofounder and Chairman Scott McNealy, has long sought to undermine Microsoft's dominance of the computing industry. Microsoft said it didn't have specific comments on the Oracle Sun deal, though Neil Charney, general manager of a software develop ment unit at Microsoft, suggested that customers "ask themselves if this will add more complexity and cost" to Oracle and Sun's products. Oracle's takeover came together in just days. Sun and CEO Jonathan Schwartz needed a deal fast after IBM withdrew its offer this month in a dispute over the terms of a buyout, and on Thursday, Sun reached out to Oracle, according to people familiar with the negotiations. That prompted IBM to put its previous offer of $9.40 per share back on the table, but Oracle swooped in with the higher price, these people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the talks were considered confidential. A person familiar with IBM's position said the company isn't likely to rebid for Sun.

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It as if we are targeting the defenceless

Admission of guilt I rarely use my mobile phone but I have on occasion answered it whilst driving, but also attempting manfully to concentrate on the driving task. In my restricted driving experience, I have yet to see a driver texting. Particular situation about five years ago, driving to the large parking station at Olympic Park on the circumferential road (no directory handy so I cannot give you the street name but the one you take after turning off at Australia Ave). The driver in front was on his mobile phone (Qld number plates!) and driving at about 30 kph. When he got to the two lane section at a left turnoff, he then accelerated in the righthand lane so that there was no chance to pass. As soon as we reverted to one lane again, he dropped back to 30 to continue his conversation. When we reached the two lane section in the Newington vicinity he then straddled both lanes at 30 kph still on the phone for more than half a kilometre. When I finally managed to pass him, I doubt that he managed to hear my request for him to get off the phone. That was at least 3 km of mobile phone angst! Chris WilkinsonTurramurra NSW Drivers behaving badly article. Congratulations on a wonderful article Drivers behaving badly Drive Life 1 Feb 08. The article really summed up the transgressions better than any other motoring media article before it. One sin that might be worthy of a mention in its own right, notwithstanding that it may be contributed to by the sins already covered, is the sin of I want to be where you are, I dont care if you are already there a.k.a. the CutOff. One iteration of this sin is the adjacent lane cut off. Unintentionally this can occur through inattention (mobile phone or otherwise) or carelessness (no head checks) as the transgressor moves in front of you with little to no warning requiring your best evasive action. Intentionally, the adjacent lane cut off results from your vehicular neighbour impatience and their simple need to be where you are more than you do. Of more concern is the second iteration the no giving way cut off. This is Rosetta Stone Language where a car enters a high speed traffic situation from a side road with little regard to the prevailing traffic, usually in front of a car with nothing but clear road behind it. Obviously once they do this it would be imprudent for them to accelerate at a rate to minimise the chance of collision! No the aim of the game here is to test the braking effectiveness and passenger restraint systems of the prevailing car. Headlines are just waiting to go to print should the prevailing car be towing anything, including a tailgater. Great work and have a great (and safe) weekend.Andrew Kiejda Pet Hates on the Road Drivers who enter from a left feeder road on to motorways or multiplelane roads as if they have unarguable right of way, and expect cars in the left lane to move to the right without regard to existing traffic in that lane. Many times I've seen this cause extremely dangerous situations, and occasionally collisions. Trucks and semis are the worst offenders since they have might on their side and assume that most car drivers will simply slow right down or change lanes. Gillian AppletonLeura Pet hates on the road Dear Editor, My pet hate at the moment is this current plague of bashing elderly drivers in the media. We have another burst from Joshua Dowling today who talks about carnage. What carnage? It as if we are targeting the defenceless. What exactly is the problem with them. I live in Pymble and there are probably as many round here as anywhere in Sydney. It seems to me that their biggest difficulty is that they drive too slowly sometimes. Big deal! Dowling quotes some suspicious statistics. He states that National crash figures show that deaths of over 60 have increased by more than the national average.

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First drive: Hyundai ix35

Click for more photos Hyundai ix35 Hyundai ix35 It’s not perfect on the road but Hyundai’s stylish ix35 makes a convincing value case in the compact SUV segment. First for the subjective assessment: this is arguably the bestlooking Hyundai yet. While the popular i30 is undoubtedly a tidily designed hatchback, the new ix35 dramatic creases, aggressivelooking hexagonal grille and strong proportions form a convincingly styled compact SUV that is worth more than a single glance. It a design that is likely to strike fear into rival car makers, because the ix35 debuts the Korean car maker new fluidic sculpture language that looks set to make Hyundais look more desirable than ever. Advertisement: Story continues below The question on our original drive of the replacement for the Tucson, however, is whether the ix35 dynamic looks are reflected in the driving experience. First impressions on the country roads of Mount Macedon, Victoria, are that the ix35 is not about to set a new benchmark for road manners in the ultracompetitive compact softroader segment that includes the likes of the Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, Nissan XTrail and Volkswagen Tiguan. The steering is vague and prone to kicking back over midcorner bumps, and the new Hyundai underpinnings dont reveal a great deal of enthusiasm for corners. Body roll isnt excessive, though, and there isnt a shortage of grip from the 18inch tyres of the rangetopping Highlander model. Even if dynamics arent at the top of a shopper wish list, though, our first drive of the ix35 suggests the ride will be busy on anything but smooth surfaces despite Hyundai making the effort to tune the SUV suspension for local roads. The ix35 felt solidly constructed, though, even when tested over some rough, gravelly terrain. And there plenty to like about the new 135kW 2.0litre turbo diesel a smaller version of the punchy 2.2litre diesel found in the bigger Santa Fe and its Kia Sorento sister car. There not quite as much torque, but 392Nm produced from 18002500rpm ensures there a noticeable Rosetta Stone Japanese shove in the back when you press hard on the $37,990 ix35 Highlander throttle pedal. And the standard (albeit parttime) allwheeldrive system ensures the front wheels wont spin excessively when accelerating hard from a standstill or out of a corner. It certainly more effortless (and more fuel efficient 7.5 v 8.5 litres per 100km) than the 2.0litre fourcylinder petrol that powers the $26,990 entrylevel Active frontwheeldrive model that Hyundai says will account for half of ix35 sales. Plenty of revs are needed, particularly when hills come into play, though at least the engine is relatively quiet when pushed. The new (optional) sixspeed auto does its best to downshift as quickly as possible on inclines, though it could do with dropping two gears rather than one. Drivers can opt for the tipshift function, though calling it manual mode is stretching the truth slightly: the gearbox wouldnt always change down from third to second when requested and the auto also upshifts automatically before the engine reaches its redline. The base model ix35 also drives the front wheels only, so for those looking for the benefits of extra traction on wet or slippery roads the Elite and Highlander models are the pick for their parttime fourwheeldrive systems (which send power to the rear wheels only when necessary but can be locked in 50:50 mode). The shortish launch drive route meant we didnt get an opportunity to try the biggercapacity (2.4litre) version of the 2.0litre that fitted to the midrange Elite ix35. (It priced from $31,990, or $34,990 if you select the 2.0litre turbo diesel.) The ix35 cabin differs subtly between the three trim levels available, with engines, seat material and features the key distinguishing points. Hyundai interior designers have aimed to match the success of their exterior design colleagues, with a smart dash that is mostly black with splashes of silver plastic.

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Powerhouses ready to face off

Argentina's coach Diego Maradona controls the ball near midfielder Juan Veron in a training session in Pretoria on Thursday. Photo: THE last time Argentina and Germany met in a match that meant anything - a World Cup quarter-final four years ago - it all ended in tears, with players fighting after the final whistle and officials waving red cards after Germany eliminated the South Americans on penalties. And with the way the two camps have been beating up the rivalry between them all week - a bit like two boxers slagging each other off - plenty more fireworks can be expected at midnight tonight when the two soccer powerhouses take each other on in the quarter-finals of this World Cup at Cape Town's Greenpoint Stadium. And why wouldn't there be. Germany and Argentina have been two of the most attractive teams at this tournament, are the two highest goalscorers and both would legitimately see themselves as potential champions. They have plenty of history, having met each other twice in World Cup finals. Advertisement: Story continues below In the first, in 1986, a Diego Maradona-inspired Albicelestes raced to a 2-0 lead before the then West Germany got the game back to 2-2, only for Argentina to get a third through Jorge Burruchaga to win the coveted trophy for the second (and so far, final) time. Four years later the same two teams clashed in the final again in Rome, when a by now united Germany won an ill-tempered game 1-0 through Andreas Brehme's penalty five minutes from time. Argentinian Pedro Monzon became the first man sent off in a World Cup final. Germany's star man Bastian Schweinsteiger has stoked the flames of enmity between the nations already this week, accusing the Argentine players and their combustible coach, Maradona, of disrespect for both opponents Rosetta Stone outlet and referees. Schweinsteiger cited the game in Berlin in that last World Cup clash four years ago, when the Germans won a penalty shootout to send the highly fancied South Americans home, and the ill-tempered denouement with punches thrown and plenty of push and shove after the final whistle. Schweinsteiger also pointed to the unseemly episode at half-time in Argentina's 3-1 victory over Mexico in the round-of-16 game earlier this week when players from both sides clashed as the Mexicans protested against Carlos Tevez's clearly offside opening goal. ''You could see their behaviour at half-time of the game against Mexico. When you look at the body language and gesticulation, the way they try to influence the referees, they have no respect. It's their mentality and character, and we'll have to adjust,'' Schweinsteiger said this week as he poured oil on troubled waters. Germany captain Phillip Lahm added to the mix: ''We know the South Americans are very impulsive and temperamental and don't really know how to lose.'' Maradona, the larger than life character who has overshadowed all the players at this World Cup, responded in his own inimitable fashion, suggesting, in a German accent, that Schweinsteiger's comments mean the Germans were running scared. Still, the South Americans only have to look back at that game to seek motivation to win this one. Argentina was left to rue its overconfidence, as then coach Jose Pekerman had withdrawn stars Hernan Crespo and Juan Riquelme before the end when it was leading 1-0, only to see Germany equalise late in the game and take the match through extra-time. Then German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann had done his homework on the Argentinian penalty takers - he was handed a piece of paper by goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke to alert him to which way the Argentine kickers were likely to place their efforts - and that was enough to allow him to make the crucial saves that got Germany through.

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China's wired youth forget how to write

Like every Chinese child, Li Hanwei spent her schooldays memorising tens of thousands of the intricate characters that make up the Chinese writing system. Yet aged just 21 and now a university student in Hong Kong, Li already finds that when she picks up a pen to write, the characters for words as simple as "embarrassed" have slipped from her mind. "I can remember the shape, but I can?t remember the strokes that you need to write it," she says. "It?s a bit of a problem." Advertisement: Story continues below Surveys indicate the phenomenon, dubbed "character amnesia", is widespread across China, causing young Chinese to fear for the future of their ancient writing system. Young Japanese people also report the problem, which is caused by the constant use of computers and mobile phones with alphabet-based input systems. There is even a Chinese word for it: "tibiwangzi", or "take pen, forget character". A poll commissioned by the China Youth Daily in April found that 83 percent of the 2,072 respondents admitted having problems writing characters. As a result, Li says that she has become almost dependent on her phone. "When I can?t remember, I will take out my cellphone and find it (the character) and then copy it down," she says. Zeng Ming, 22, from the southern Guangdong province, says: "I think it's a young people's problem, or at least a computer users' problem." One notoriously forgettable character, Zeng says, is used in the word Tao Tie -- a legendary Chinese monster that was so greedy it ate itself. Still used as a byword for gluttony, the Tao Tie is one of many ancient Chinese concepts embedded in the language. "It?s like you?re forgetting your culture," Zeng says. Character amnesia happens because most Chinese people use electronic input systems based on pinyin, which translates Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. The user enters each word using pinyin, and the device offers a menu of characters that match. So users must recognise the character, but they don't need to be able to write it. In Japan, where three writing systems are combined into one, mobiles and computers use the simpler hiragana and katakana scripts for inputting -- meaning users may forget the kanji, a third strand of Japanese writing similar to Rosetta Stone French Chinese characters. "We rely too much on the conversion function on our phones and PCs," said Ayumi Kawamoto, 23, shopping in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district. "I've mostly forgotten characters I learned in middle and high school and I tend to forget the characters I only occasionally use." Tokyo student Maya Kato, 22, said: "I hardly hand-write anymore, which is the main reason why I have forgotten so many characters. "It is frustrating because I always almost remember the character, and lose it at the last minute. I forget if there was an extra line, or where the dot is supposed to go." Character amnesia matters because memorisation is so crucial to character-based written languages, says Siok Wai Ting, assistant professor of linguistics at Hong Kong University. Forgetting how to write could eventually affect reading ability. "There is no way we can learn the writing systematically because the writing itself is not systematic -- we have to memorise, we have to rote learn," she says. "Through writing, we memorise the characters. Reading and writing are more closely connected in Chinese." Chinese reading even uses a different part of the brain from reading the Roman alphabet, Siok?s research has found -- a part closer to the motor area, which is used for handwriting. Chinese characters are so complex that the country's revolutionary leader Mao Zedong told the US journalist Edgar Snow in 1936: "Sooner or later, we believe, we will have to abandon characters altogether if we are to create a new social culture in which the masses fully participate." Instead, Mao eventually chose to simplify many characters into forms now the standard in mainland China. Victor Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, said character amnesia is part of a "natural process of evolution". "The reasons why characters are innately difficult to enter into computers and mobile phones are innate to the character-based writing systems themselves," he said. "There are no magic bullets that will make it easy to input characters," he added.

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