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Big Learning News 6-1-04

Big Learning News
Karen Cole's Guide to Real-World Learning with Kids
Issue 2:21 June 1, 2004

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Table of Contents

Book Review: Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savana
Yo-Yo Info
J.K Rowling's New Official Site

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Book Review
Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton (National Geographic, 2003)
Ages 12 and up, but younger children would enjoy some excerpts.

"I'm going to tell you the lion story," begins Lekuton.  Lekuton was born Maasai, a nomadic cattle-raising culture in Africa. Maasai children are responsible for helping to protect their family's cattle from any predator, including lions, and they know how to do it. Facing the Lion will interest kids because of the sheer immensity of the difference between Maasai and American childhoods. Adults will appreciate Lekuton's journey as he learns to bridge this gulf, growing up in both Maasai and mainstream Kenyan culture before ending up in America.

Kids ages twelve and up will be able to appreciate Lekuton's story, and will be better able to deal with the graphic description of the circumcision ceremony that was Lekuton's entry into manhood. For younger children, excerpts such as the lion story would surely fire their imaginations, and most of Lekuton's stories stand alone just fine without the rest of the book.

Buying information

Yo-Yo Info

If your kids want to learn some yo-yo tricks this summer, they can get great information on the Internet. Here are some sites:

Kens' World on a String
http://kwos.yoyoing.com/

This site has illustrated step by step instructions for tricks for both beginners and advanced yo-yoers.

YoMania
http://www.yomania.com/tricks.htm

On this site, the tricks are shown in video.

HowStuffWorks Yo-Yo Page
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/yo-yo.htm

This page explains the physics behind yo-yo performance.

J.K Rowling's New Official Site
http://www.jkrowling.com

If your kids are eagerly anticipating this week's release of the latest Harry Potter movie this weekend, they'll enjoy this site. Ditto if they're interested in web site design, because this site is different from the common navigation-bar-on-top standard design. It's meant to be a little mysterious. For example, the Links page is a book shelf filled with books. You have to pass your mouse over each book to find out which ones are links.

The site content is all written by Rowling herself, and there are fun tidbits everywhere. I especially liked in the Rumors section, where Rowling responds to rumors she's heard about what's going to happen in books six and seven.

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