Natalie Colgate

Happy Vegan Month!

For those interested in what veganism is all about, see The Vegan Society’s website on what veganism is and why people turn to a vegan lifestyle.

Essentially, a vegan does not eat, use, consume or approve of the use of animal products in any way.  This includes, as far as possible, avoiding:

• eating meat, eggs, dairy and honey
• wearing leather, silk or wool
• purchasing consumer items that contain animal products such as lanolin, shellac, propolis and beeswax
• using products or services where animal testing or animal experiments are used, such as some cosmetics and disease research companies
• using services that make use of animal exploitation or animal cruelty,  such as animal racing and circuses with animals
• taking part in sports or activities that involve the killing of animals, such as hunting or culling (See Animal Aid‘s website for more information on animal rights.)

It’s not always possible to avoid all of the above, since it’s not possible to know every process used to make each product or service on the market.  However, the main goal is to promote animal rights by leading a compassionate lifestyle.  Such a lifestyle automatically has a positive knock-on effect on environmental and health problems.

See http://eclecticnoesis.com/beingvegan/ for more information on veganism.

Also see http://eclecticnoesis.com/animalrights/ for more information on animal rights.

(SHORT TRAVEL ARTICLE)

WHO was Saint Patrick and why does he get to have a day of remembrance? Why all the fuss about the clover and what is the reason for it all? My husband, Graham, and I ferried to Dublin in Ireland for Saint Patrick’s Day on the 17th of March to find out more about the origin of this widely celebrated day.

Our hotel was located just outside Dublin, in Sutton Cross. True to its name, The Marine Hotel was on the beachfront with the Irish Sea walking distance across the lawn. I hadn’t seen the sea in five months and smelling the salty air was invigorating indeed.

The ‘lucky four-leaved clover’ had always been my association to Ireland, but all around Dublin were three-leaved clovers, or shamrocks as they’re known there. Irish legend says Saint Patrick (the minister who brought Christianity to Ireland) compared the Holy Trinity with a shamrock, pointing to the three leaflets joined by a common stalk.

The four-leaved clover as a lucky charm stems from the pagan period. They were used as Celtic charms against malevolent spirits, leading to the modern belief in their power to bestow good luck. Apparently there are 10,000 three-leaved clovers for every true four-leaved clover!

On St Patrick’s Day, Dublin City was transformed into a myriad of orange, white and green green green! Leprechaun paraphernalia, balloons, big foam hats and Guinness pints. The parade was delightful! Slowly the procession crossed the river Liffey (which runs through the middle of the city) and advanced past the 120 metre high spire. Fantasy floats, marching bands, flags, drum majorettes and giant-puppet-people on stilts were a joyful reflection of the typical happy nature of the Irish spirit.

Perhaps it was a deep Irish accent too lyrical for my ears to decipher or perhaps it was Gaelic, whatever the reason, not many people made sense to me when they spoke! And although the drizzly and chilly weather didn’t co-operate, the warm atmosphere and the locals’ dry humour neutralised any negative moods. All in all, even with confusing dialogues and damp weather, St Patrick’s Day in Dublin was, for me, jolly good fun.

(FEATURE-LENGTH ARTICLE)

What is home education?

HOME education is a popular, although unconventional schooling method. Worldwide, families increasingly choose to take on the task of educating their children themselves.

The UK has one of the highest ratios of families registered for home education. Statistics are hard to confirm as not all families register their children, however, several central educational associations around the world have provided rough estimates. In 2009, it was estimated that the UK had 80,000 children who were schooled at home. However, the USA was at around 1.5 million in 2007 and Australia had 200,000 families who were said to be registered in 1995. Russia was also in the lead and was once estimated at about 1 million families.

Home education enables parents to teach their children according to their preferred philosophy. Some families will provide schooling at home for all the primary grades and some up to high school level and even all through high school. Others postpone their children’s entry into formal schooling for a year before introducing them to conventional schooling when they are ready.

Reasons why families opt for home education

Reasons vary but home education continues to expand as more parents understand the advantages of teaching at home. One of the main reasons is:

•     The child is not considered old enough to enter school.
•     Religion prohibits it.
•     To develop character and a strong moral foundation.
•     The parent objects to the education philosophy of conventional schools.
•     Family requirements ranging from parent’s career to wanting more time together.
•     Parent could not get child into the desired school.
•     Parent wants child in private school but cannot afford it.
•     The child has special needs, or has a disability, or needs individual attention.
•     Transportation / convenience.
•     Social concerns.

Benefits and disadvantages

Home education is time consuming, requires hard work, dedication and can also be more expensive. However, the benefits of consistent one-on-one attention results in children learning with less effort and greater retention. A hyperactive child could calm down and lose the ‘bad boy’ image while home educated as there is less reason to ‘be tough’ from feeling threatened. Rebellious teenagers could feel respected when home educated and become productive and creative adults.

Becoming a full time personal teacher for their children, even temporarily, can be a difficult decision for parents. In some families both parents have advanced careers which they have worked very hard for and other families cannot afford one parent not working. Some parents feel they are not ‘clever’ enough, or do not have the discipline, to become their children’s teachers, especially in the high school years, but feel the early years at home are essential.

Although widespread, home education is not the norm and home educating families face many obstacles. Those who home educate need to know exactly why they have made that decision and must be able to ‘stand their ground’ when negatively confronted by those who don’t understand the concept.

Schooling from home can provide an unfair advantage over those who lack the time or money. Despite this, academic quality can vary. The child’s education is completely the family’s responsibility. This is not an issue if the child is advancing quickly but if the child is not ‘doing well’ there is no one else to blame.

Protective parents could unintentionally shelter their children by denying them social contact which inhibits social development. Children need exposure to different ethnic and religious backgrounds to thrive as adults. One-sided opinions resulting from isolation can make children unable to think for themselves or adapt to other opinions and views. It can also foster religious or social extremism if not managed correctly.

Challenges such as these make it vital that parents who home school are aware of all the needs of their children. Depending on the study method used parents can work with their child at their child’s individual speed thereby reducing the pressure of “keeping up with the class” or not having to wait for the class to catch up!

Home education methods

Within the various home education methods available, parents have the freedom to structure their teaching based on how their children learn best. Materials and activities can be chosen to suit individual requirements. Some opt for organized, goal-oriented weeks. Others feel their children have special talents that deserve intense, daily focus. There are also those who structure their schooling around special needs of people in their family. Techniques and approaches are varied, some mirror conventional school methods and some are far removed from the concept of desks and textbooks.

Unit studies / Unit-based studies integrate age-appropriate subjects around a theme for a period of time. For example, a unit study of the Anglo-Saxons could cover social studies and history (how different tribes lived then versus how we live today); Anglo-Saxon art; making Anglo-Saxon clothing (also for fancy dress or plays) and the biology and science of medicinal plants used by the Anglo-Saxons.

All-in-one curricula / School in a box are comprehensive packages covering a full year’s subjects and include all required materials (books, pencils, writing paper, tests, exams, etc.). This method recreates a school environment in the home. As the curricula are based on the same subjects as conventional schools, an easy changeover into formal school is possible. Student-paced learning is similar to ‘All-in-one’ curricula, but they progress at their own speed.

Community studies involve utilising educational resources via opportunities at museums; sports clubs; churches; youth organizations; science events; national parks; community centres; community colleges and volunteer work. Groups of home education families meet regularly for group learning in the form of science experiments; spelling games; art projects; drama or performing arts; discussions and debates; etc. This method allows families to spend significant time learning outside the home.

Interest-led learning is where a child is free to explore and learn as their interests lead them, learning from real life experiences. Parents teach by interacting and responding to the child’s own interests and provide resources and encouragement. They tend to not rely heavily on textbooks, although they do use reference books. Being involved in the family finances (or family business) teaches maths and accounting. Botany is learned by tending a kitchen garden and animal husbandry is learned by keeping dairy goats.

Legality

Home education is legal in many countries but is most prevalent the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Some countries highly regulate their home education programs as an extension of the compulsory school system (France). Other countries have outlawed it (state-accredited schooling is compulsory in Germany), and some countries do not consider home education socially acceptable even though their laws have approved it (Finland and Italy). In India parents, who home educate their children, can be fined and jailed for three months.

Key considerations

Realistically consider the financial implications of home education. As with most things, costs can often be misjudged.

Breaks, lunches, school hours all need to be incorporated into the school day. Consider how you will balance your life around tutoring your children. Make sure you are the type of person who can handle the level of structure and attention required every day.

As your children get older, the curriculum will become more advanced, consider how you will keep up to date with your child’s requirements. Consider the alternative options for your children’s further development if at some point you are unable to continue with home education.

Most importantly, be realistic. If it is not for you, then try not to judge others’ decisions to opt for home education.

The best of both worlds

It has been said that the mind of a child could be seen as fires to be lit rather than vessels to be filled. Education can easily happen over weekends in the most informal ways. Your pregnant pet cat and its fleas can become lessons in the cycle of life and even toys are useful tools in explaining physics!

Spending time outdoors in all weather and environments is an easy way for all ages to study nature. It is also a good place for physical or fitness activities such as walks, dancing, singing, and games.

Involve your preschool child in weekly playgroups with songs, rhymes, movement time, crafts and free play. In a one-on-one basis encourage him to spend ten or twenty minutes describing a painting or telling back a short story after read it to him.

Your primary school child can spend time with groups of friends for social reasons. Or larger groups can get together for organized activities like craft markets, entrepreneur days, sports days, galas, etc. In a one-on-one basis you could encourage her to spend half an hour thinking through a challenging maths or logic problem or copying good literature to practise handwriting.

Involve your high school child in youth groups. Girl guides and scouts discourage peer dependency, as do social evenings for movies, barbecues, board games, pizza making, music and study groups as well as sports and activities such as craft days and science fairs. Borrow microscopes, telescopes or costumes from friends and relatives. In a one-on-one basis you could teach them the life skills of cooking, sewing, gardening, general home repair, car repair, budgeting, and bookkeeping.

Children need parents who believe in them and are confident enough to let them find their own destiny. They need resourceful parents who help them find answers to their questions. Home education may not be for everyone, but educating at home should be at the core of every growing family.

(For further reading on Home Education, refer to the Home Education Advisory Service’s website and the website of the Department for Education and type the words ‘home education’ in the search field.)

Information box

COUNTRIES WHERE HOME EDUCATION IS LEGAL:
Argentina , Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland Republic, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, United States.

COUNTRIES WHERE HOME EDUCATION IS ILLEGAL / GENERALLY ILLEGAL / LEGALITIES ARE DEBATED:
Brazil, China, Croatia (not confirmed), Greece (not confirmed), Hong Kong, India (not stated), Japan (complex), Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine (not confirmed).

Between October 2010 and January 2011 three countries changed their status concerning Home Education according to comparisons on Wikipedia:  Brazil (originally legal), Argentina and Germany (both originally illegal).

End of information box

(SHORT HEALTH ARTICLE)

DURING my first pregnancy, I was aware of miscarriages but I did not know much about them. When it happened to me, I began doing my own research, my obvious first question being: “Why?” The answer, to the majority, is: “Not because of anything you did wrong!” and I think it is important for every woman to know this, whether they have experienced a miscarriage or not.

The first thing I discovered is that the biggest cause of miscarriages is ‘chromosomal abnormalities’. This means that somewhere along the growth of the embryo or foetus, something did not develop properly. In the same ways that we develop a cold or flu, despite our precautions, chromosomal abnormalities can commonly occur in the development of baby. If that baby continued to grow, its chance of a normal life could diminish and so could yours.

The second thing I found out is the NHS will only run tests to find the cause of the miscarriage after your third consecutive loss. This may sound horrendous and indeed feels terrible when it happens to you (especially when it is your first pregnancy, as it was for me). The emotional investment is high and the loss is difficult, despite the usually short time you were pregnant. But, the long-term reality is this: most women (about 80%) go on to have a successful pregnancy after the first or second miscarriage.

I was pregnant again four months later but unfortunately had a second miscarriage early in that pregnancy. Despite the horror of a second miscarriage, I feel quite positive because now I’m officially in the 80% category most likely to have a successful next pregnancy!

The third thing I learned is that miscarriages, like common colds, are not fully understood by the medical world. In many cases, there is sometimes no answer as to why it happened but do not let that discourage you. As hard as it seems at the time, everything happens for a reason. For my husband, Graham, and I, it has given us more time to prepare for the expense a new member of the family will bring.

Words can rarely make any loss easier. For me, few people managed to say the right thing. Even the truth was difficult to hear. I hated hearing “you can always try again” and “at least you could get pregnant”.  People were only trying to be helpful and they are both very true statements, but I was too sad to appreciate it. The worst thing someone said to me was “Next time you can be more careful.”

To support someone going through a miscarriage, whether you have or have not been through one yourself, my advice is this: just be there for her, listen to her without judgement and give her a shoulder to lean on. Even if she is a ‘tough girl’, the vulnerability that she is going through is harder than you may realise. Your silent strength is powerful, be strong for her.

My miscarriages happened first at 11 weeks and second at seven weeks and I coped with each of them differently. For me, talking to friends who have also experienced a miscarriage (or two) helped a lot. So did researching all I could on the internet. Another big help was borrowing a library book on miscarriage. It helped tackle how isolated I felt when I read the stories of hundreds of other women and how they coped.  My hormones messed me around for a few months afterwards, so I tried not to be too hard on myself. I did whatever felt right for me, sometimes even a walk or a bar of chocolate did the trick.

Although it is not an event to be forgotten, a miscarriage, like any other tragedy, can be overcome. The happy truth is that most pregnancies do succeed and now that I’ve made it to the 33rd week in my third pregnancy, it does seem that this one is here to stay!

Information box

If you have experienced a miscarriage, you are not alone, there are several organisations set up specifically to help women deal with miscarriage.

For information, support, online forums and advice:

The Miscarriage Association
01924 200799

Babyloss
support@babyloss.com

The Miscarriage Clinic
0208 401 9928

Miscarriage Support (Scotland)
0141 552 5070

And don’t forget your local library!  Look in the health and pregnancy section for books on miscarriage.

End of information box

Hathi Trust have embarked on the grand task of digitising all printed work for the sake of preservation.  This is a massive task and it seems Hathi Trust have a research stumbling block when it comes to ‘finding’ authors of work still in copyright.

Works belonging to authors who are considered untraceable are placed in a public catelog for 90 days.  If the authors have not claimed rights for their work within this timeframe, the content will be deemed ‘orphaned‘.

The Authors Guild have embarked on a search to find some of these orphaned works and have quickly discovered one famous rights owner already.  This places doubt on the process used by Hathi Trust in the ‘extensive review process’ they use to determine what titles go on the orphan list in the first place.  Authors Guild have since found a further two rights owners with similar ease to the first search.

Old satellites, old boosters and other orbital rubbish has been estimated at 22000 pieces large enough to track from the ground. Some debris flies around the earth at speeds of up to 17500 mph / 28164 km. This can lead to serious problems for space travel as even smaller objects can cause serious damage to space vessels.  A secondary problem is that this space junk can collide resulting in more, smaller, objects orbiting our earth.

See BBC‘s article for more on this topic.

Although there seems to currently be no recommendations on how to control our space environment, there have been a few suggested solutions.  One main idea is to move the debris closer to earth where it will burn up in our atmosphere. Personally, I think this is risky.  Just a nudge too hard could send that debris bypasing the atmosphere and crashing to earth instead.

An international research team (UK, Australia, Germany, USA, Italy) have detected a dense carbon planet in the constellation Serpens (part of the Milky Way).  Since it’s at least as dense as platinum, scientists have calculated that it must be crystalline.  See Ben Hirschler’s Reuters article for more on this topic.

The next evil, mad, science fiction villain only needs to travel a mere 4000 light years in his quest for world domination in the form of wealth. There’s a lot of diamond in a planet the size of city, but perhaps he should wait until the ingredients of pulsar PSR J1719-143 are confirmed, or until a closer one is found.

Our fingerprints are one of the things that make us unique, individual, identifiable.  Yet some people, due to a genetic mutation (adermatoglyphia), are born without them.  The condition is so rare that only 4 families worldwide are known to have been affected.  Imagine applying for identification documentation or a settlement visa without fingerprints …

For an article on the social and legal implications of not having fingerprints, see this National Geographic article on the subject.

The African Crested Rat has found a clever way to protect itself from predators.  When predators bite the rat’s fur, they effectively bite into a mouthful of poison.  It was first discovered due to reports of dogs dying after trying to bite these rats, leading to an assumption that the rats were poisonous.

Now it has been discovered that the rat rubs toxin from the poison arrow tree (traditionally used by hunters to kill elephants) onto specially-modified hairs on it’s back.  The toxin works by increasing heart rate and leads to a heart attack.  Animals who survive are unlikely to try again.

It is still unknown why the rat itself appears not to be affected by the poison.  Such is the wonder of nature.

Read more on this by clicking on a BBC article here.

The WISE telescope has spotted an asteroid in earth’s orbit. It’s about 200 to 300 metres (+-1,000 feet) wide and because of its gravitational location, it poses no threat to the earth.

It’s been classified as a trojan asteroid. Defined by National Geographic as “Trojans are objects that exist in gravitationally stable regions in front of or behind another body, so that the two share the same orbit but never collide.”

Trojan asteroids could be considered as an option for space missions. However, this newly discovered one, called 2010 TK7, is a bit too far to be of practical use in that way – for now at least. So the hope is that there may be more, closer to us, that we have yet to discover.

The predictions are that this newly discovered asteroid’s orbit will be stable for at least another ten thousand years. Perhaps in that time we’ll have developed an easier and cheaper method of space travel.

For further reading see this BBC and a National Geographic article on this topic.

Did you know you can lend out your e-books for up to 14 days?
See London Book Fair’s page on lending and borrowing e-books between friends.
Also check out Galleycat’s page on sharing Kindle books.

My eBook, Natalie Colgate’s short short stories, has been published online via Completely Novel and is available to purchase.
Natalie Colgate’s short short stories

Please click ‘Options’ (below) for more details about Natalie Colgate, or to buy the book.

How English became the language of the world:

Originally, Latin was the language of intellectuals and the language of the Christian religion.  However, this was not the language spoken by most in the countries where Latin was used.  People spoke their own languages and the need for consistency became essential if these languages were to thrive.  The more the dialects were used by the speaking public, the more the demand for them to be recorded became evident.  If teachers, priests and politicians weren’t speaking and writing in the language of the people, the people would not respond to them and so the need for a standardised English language was born.

Soldiers and sailors who spoke English settled in countries where other languages were spoken and in this way, English spread around the world.  Despite this, local people continued to speak their own languages and dialects and nations who maintained their independence did not adopt English.  Due to the spread of English world wide however, diplomats, businessmen and the like found English beneficial during international negotiations and the power of English as a universal language began it’s accent.

Nowadays, many music bands sing in English, despite their home language and most internet sites are written in English.  Movies, if not originally in English at often sub-titled in English and so the power of this language has increased.

For a more detailed article on this topic, click here for an in depth BBC News post on which the above synopsis is based.

A two-year old dog and her human companion were reunited after 3 weeks of being apart since the Japanese tsunami.

The hound was rescued by the coast guard when she was found floating on a detached rooftop. An animal rescue centre cared for her along with other dogs and cats until the owners come to collect them, if they are fortunate enough to do so.

For more on this, see the BBC article on this topic.

National Geographic published an article by Catherine Zuckerman in a recent issue that, for me, was a small light of hope in the chasm of mass animal-cruelty that has become common in this world.

Bolivia apparently only has one cetacean, the pink river dolphin.  According to National Geographic magazine, last spring 20 of them got stuck in a shallow section of the Pailas River.  Enzo Aliaga-Rossel and his team spent 12 days capturing, transporting and releasing the trapped mammals three hours away on the Grande.

It has been reported that ALL of the dolphins were saved.  Such uplifting news, small numbers, but it matters to each one of those souls who were saved.  Thank you for the great job and I hope the attitude spreads!

There’s a short news article in The Vegan (Summer 2010 issue) that mentions badger culling being unlikely to halt the spread of tuberculosis in British cattle herds.

It also mentions that culling costs would come to 2-3 times more than it saves the farmers.

The suggestion is that the Welsh Assembly should seriously consider using a badger vaccine (as previously used in England in 2010).  Fortunately, badger culling has been suspended in England since 2008.  However, the Welsh government is still considering doing it again.

I was a vegetarian for nearly 4 years, but I’d switched back to meat-eating because I falsely believed that animals were now ‘humanely killed’.  There is no such thing as humane slaughter – it’s one of the biggest lies we have ever learned.

This (and several others) is the video that changed my outlook on meat-eating, again.  I’ve investigated further and I’m now even more convinced than before.  Eating animals is wrong.  They do not have a choice in being bred just to be killed for us to eat.

The Forestry Commission has approved the culling of deers in Sussex, in an attempt to control deer numbers.  Apparently there’s been an increase in the deer population.  Apparently the deer affect the natural landscape negatively.  So they’ve decided killing them is the best solution …

For a video on this, see the BBC News webpage.

Almost as an afterthought, the video mentions that culling the deer provides a plentiful supply of venison.  Aah, conveniently, meat eaters get lucky once again.

Hey, here’s an idea – anyone thought of MOVING them rather?  Duh, no.  Killing them is ‘easier’ apparently!

Your reader should focus on the point you put across and not on the grammar mistake that changed the meaning of the point.  An error, once read by your intended reader, cannot be undone.  Having your document proofread before releasing, printing, or publication adds undeniable value.

When working on your documents, make sure your words are concise, factual, and correctly presented.  You could be surprised at how obvious errors can come to your attention when you read your work just once before you send it off.  Many simple documents require proofreading:  letters, CVs, websites, presentations, brochures, newsletters, reports, short stories, etc.

I have worked in software programming, quality assurance and project co-ordination and I have experience in people-and-office management as well as director-level personal assistance.   Industries I’ve worked with include adult training (online and facilitator-led), travel visas, manufacturing and retail accounts.  In all cases, proofreading my own (and others’) work has proven to be a worthwhile task.

We’ve all misspelled a word or two now and again.  However, some of us misspell a great deal more than just now and again.  And, an even greater group of us don’t even realise we’ve misspelled some words in the first place.  But, by far the worst offenders are those of us who repeatedly use the wrong words simply because they sound the same as the intended word and, alas, rely on the electronic auto spellchecker!

I’ve stumbled across a website that lists some of the glaringly obvious, regularly misspelled words that are sometimes painful to read:  check out The Oatmeal‘s website for a list of 10 commonly misspelled words in English.