Essential Tools For Home Schooling

Every profession requires some tools and home schooling is no exception. It is possible to homeschool your child with paper and pencil, but a few good books can work wonders. Homeschoolers tend to get little curious when they explore new products.Homeschooling tools need not be fancy, but they should be practical and highly functional. Not all carpenters utilize the same tools; similarly, not every homeschool.All homeschoolers feel that books keep on accumulating and last they find themselves surrounded by books, hence it is necessary to invest in bookshelves. Depending on your child's requirement and personality, you might have to choose tools that are quite different as compared to the tools selected by other moms. Tools come in various forms.. Books- If you wish to encourage reading, you might have to use historical fiction to teach history or even texts. You can also try workbooks that might help reinforce grammar and spelling. Math books are quite interesting and a must in most of the home schools, especially for students who are in the fifth grade and above. . Tools like supplies and manipulatives- Some home schools include CDs Rosetta Stone German that teach computer programming. Kids learn though visualization and CDs make more sense to them as it helps them remembering the study material well. Children love to use manipulative blocks to remember what they have studied.. Internet- The internet is considered as the best learning tool and most people think that this is the best tool for homeschooling. More and more people nowadays are using the Internet to teach their children and give them the best education tips. The Internet has developed more than ever before and has literally made the younger generation gizmo freaks. Homeschooling kids should be allowed to use the right programs that are education friendly as allow them to grasp knowledge on various topics.Parents opt for homeschooling for various reasons like wanting to instill good values to keep their children safe. Some parents believe that home schooling is the best educational system that offers better quality education.Parents generally feel that a well-stocked library will meet the educational needs of their children and provide excellent recreational opportunities at the same time. They love to involve themselves in their children's education, and hence they consider home schooling option. Home schooling has gained tremendous reputation like never before.Parents get boggled with various options and then this makes it difficult for them to narrow down and select a perfect choice.Don't be puzzled; instead ask some seniors who have experienced home schooling. They will be happy to share their experiences and advice you with regards it by providing you with details on their real life experiences. So go ahead and home school your child using the above mentioned tools and watch your child enjoy learning!

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Home Schooling the Dyslexic Child

While home schooling a dyslexic child has no shortage of challenges, your task of teaching your dyslexic child at home can become easier and more rewarding with the right tools.Sure, you'll still have your share of setbacks, but it's so rewarding when you finally see those little breakthroughs suddenly develop into major a progression in your child's comprehension.First of all, just what is Dyslexia? According to , Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by problems in reading, spelling, writing, speaking, or listening. In many cases, dyslexia appears to be inherited.Dyslexic children seem to have trouble learning early reading skills, problems hearing individual sounds in words, analyzing whole words in parts, and blending sounds into words. Letters such as "d" and "b" may be confused.Often, a person with dyslexia has a problem translating language into thought (such as in listening or reading), or translating thought into language (such as in writing or speaking).If you are just starting to teach your dyslexic child, you must remember one thing. Your child is not retarded. His brain is just wired a little differently. Many famous people like Edison, Einstein and Churchill were all dyslexics. It is not a death sentence. People with dyslexia can live rewarding, productive lives.Being dyslexic does mean that your child will have to work harder than his peers to learn basic language skills. You may have noticed problems with his speech at a young age. This is typical.Also many dyslexics often have trouble concentrating, especially when they have no interest in the subject. They tend to learn better with hands-on (kinesthetic) Rosetta Stone methods. Games that teach language skills are quite helpful. Within academic circles there is much discussion about what is the best way to teach a dyslexic. Some say to use phonics while others promote the whole language method. I'm going to tell you to do both. Hit it from all angles. Find out what works best with your child. Every child is different.There are many programs that may be beneficial. These include Sequential Spelling, Spell to Read and Write, or All About Spelling. Sequential Spelling teaches spelling patterns and builds on those patterns.Spell to Write and Read teaches all the phonograms first, then combining phonograms (letters or groups of letters associated with a sound) to build words. All About Spelling also begins with the phonograms and then moves on to syllables then words. All of these programs are reasonably priced.Barten, Wilson and ABC Reading are also good and are all based on the Orten-Gillingham approach. This method is language-based, multisensory, sequential, systematic and has produced good results.The Orten-Gillingham method starts by having the student read and write the basic letter sounds. The student learns short vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Simple words are learned first.Once the easy C-A-T type words are learned, then they move on to long vowels, diphthongs (vowels that make two gliding speech sounds which are usually interpreted as one, ex. Oi,oy), digraphs ( two vowels that make one sound ) and blends. Spelling is learned right along with reading. Review is continuous.After the student has mastered words, then the same type of systematic approach is used for learning vocabulary, sentence structure, reading comprehension, and composition. Again, review is continuous.While all of the above mentioned programs are good, it may be you are looking for a less expensive way of helping your child. It is not that difficult but you must be willing to devote a lot of time to your child.First you get a listing of the basic phonemes of the English language (in Noah Webster's Reading/Spelling Handbook, for example). Phonemes are basic units of sound (ex. B,t,ph,th,s,a,i) that are capable of conveying a distinction in meaning.

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Catholic Home Schooling Curriculum

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ brings happiness in human lives. The Roman Catholic believes that without him, everything would not be possible; we are all nothing in this world. Only through Jesus Christ we can reach our ultimate potentials including our education.What are the schools teaching THISToday there are schools that are exclusive for those who are member of the Roman Catholic, some also are the Baptist church, and so many more.There are so many Christian schools, although they are different, but their goal in teaching is the same, they all teach about the divinity of Jesus Christ.If you choose to study in a Catholic school, part of the curriculum or subject is the Bible study, Christian living, Each student will be assigned in designated area, to preach gospels, retreats, every Friday it is compulsory to attend the Friday mass, this are some of the activities that is part of the curriculum of the school. What is the mission?The Vision, Mission, Rosetta Stone English and Goal of the Catholic Home schooling curriculum is to provide an adequate knowledge about Christianity, the center of the subject is all about Jesus Christ.That every student, while they are young will able to comprehend the purpose of Christ here on Earth, that they will live and practice the good values of Christianity, that they will become an example to their respective community.In Catholic home schooling curriculum, every subject will be incorporating the values and teaching of Jesus Christ, like for example Science Biology.Before discussing the subject about human life, the introductory part of the subject is pertaining life Creation or which is called The Creation of the Lord Jesus Christ, mainly focus is the seventh day creation, which is the crucial part of his creation is the human life.The main objectives of a Catholic home schooling curriculum are to ensure individual understanding knowledge about the purpose of life here on Earth.Each parents must take part to develop their kids' spiritual aspect that someday somehow they will become a strong person, because right in their early stage, they start to build a life with a strong foundation of Jesus Christ.Catholic home schooling curriculum is for the parents to facilitate their child in their studies, whether in matters of academic, religious aspect, they must ensure that they're child is heading in the right way.

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Home School Education - Advantages And Disadvantages

Why Parents Choose a Home School EducationAn increasing number of children today are receiving a home school education. The reasons for making the choice to homeschool their kids varies from family to family but there are three main reasons why parents are removing their children from the public school system and giving them a home school education.The first reason is that the public education system in the United States is struggling to provide a proper education for the nation's children with out of date text books, run down school buildings and inadequate equipment. Provision of a home school education enables the parents to have control over the quality of the educational materials used by their children and the general conditions in which they are educated.The second reason is that parents wish to assume more control over the influences their children will be exposed to. This is often on the basis of religious grounds but, very often, it is simply because a home school education will ensure the child learns the values upheld by the family and is taught from an early age what behavior is appropriate. Unfortunately, many public schools have a poor reputation for instilling good discipline in students. This often results in badly behaved children disrupting lessons and preventing their peers from getting the full benefit of classes. Discipline and the upholding of proper standards of behavior is an important part of a home school education.The third reason many parents choose to give their children a home school education is fear for their safety. Violence is on the increase everywhere and the public school system has not escaped this trend. Violence in the public education system is getting worse and the individual acts of violence are more serious. Since the shocking events at Columbine High School there Rosetta Stone Spanish have been further tragedies involving firearms where teachers and students have been injured or killed. A home school education ensures the safety of children who would otherwise be seriously at risk of harm.The Disadvantages of Opting For HomeschoolingProviding a home school education is not simply a matter of parental choice. In most cases the state education board of the state in which the family resides will have to approve a decision to give a child a home school education. The person taking on the responsibility of homeschooling must be certified to be a home teacher, the curriculum must follow the state curriculum, and the text books and other educational materials to be used must be approved by the state. Although this might seen like undue interference in what is a matter of personal choice, the state has a responsibility to ensure that all children receive an adequate standard of education and checks will be made to ensure that any child being kept away from public school is being properly educated.A home school education might mean that a child is deprived of certain opportunities which would have been available within the public school system. There could be difficulties in providing facilities for athletic children to realize their potential. Musically talented children could be similarly disadvantaged. In some states there is provision for children receiving a home school education to take part in amenities such as being able to attend sports lessons and join after-school clubs. However, the level of assistance provided to homeschooling parents is not uniform and varies a lot from state to state.The final potential disadvantage to affect children receiving a home school education is that they will not develop the social skills which will be important as they grow up.

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Peter Roebuck Suicide After Police Inquiry on Sex Assault

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 Watson wins the Allan Border Medal Click to play video Aussie cricketers drinking during Ashes Click to play video Time to go Ponting? Click to play video MCG warning: Get drunk and you're out 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. Roebuck 'a huge cricket intellect' Veteran sports commentator and one-time ABC colleague, Tim Lane pays tribute to Peter Roebuck. Video feedback Video settings Perception and poetry: a selection of Roebuck writingsTim Lane: a spirited voice of summer falls silentPeter Hanlon: a plucky bat, and hard to shift PETER Roebuck, held by many to be the finest cricket writer of his generation, fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday night after being questioned by police about an alleged sexual assault. Roebuck, who has written on cricket for The Age since 1984, had been covering the tour for the paper. He was also commentating for ABC radio. Advertisement: Story continues below Click for more photos Peter Roebuck - a stroll through the years A thoughtful Peter Roebuck. Roebuck was a familiar face at Test cricket venues around the globe Rosetta Stone Italian . Photo: Daily Mail A detective and a uniformed officer from the sexual crimes unit of the Cape Town police began speaking with Roebuck, 55, in his room in the Southern Sun Hotel, Newlands, about 9pm on Saturday. Roebuck, who was agitated, asked a fellow cricket journalist for help. ''Can you come down to my room quickly? I've got a problem,'' he said. Roebuck asked for help to find a lawyer and for contact to be made with the students he helped house in Pietermaritzburg. A few minutes later Roebuck fell to his death from a balcony. It is believed only the uniformed officer was in the room. Paramedics rushed to the scene, where Roebuck was declared dead. Police from the local Claremont station then established a crime scene and took items from Roebuck's room, including his laptop. Cape Town police captain Frederick van Wyk said the death would be investigated. ''I can confirm that an incident occurred last night at about 9.15pm at a hotel in Claremont where a 55-year-old British citizen, who worked as an Australian commentator, committed suicide,'' he said. Roebuck turned to writing after a long first-class career in which he captained Somerset to great success in the 1980s. In 2001 Roebuck was given a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to three charges of common assault for caning three young South African cricketers he had been coaching. ''Obviously I misjudged the mood and that was my mistake and my responsibility and I accept that,'' Roebuck said at the time. A distraught Jim Maxwell, the veteran ABC cricket caller, said his friendship with Roebuck had been one of his most important relationships. ''I admired him for his humanity, his caring and his striving for justice,'' he said.

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Altogether,that's a powerful combination

Watch the trailer YOU have to love the ways that traditional and modern cultureentwine in Japan. Departures is a film about the rituals ofdeath from a director who started in porn and a writer who workedon Iron Chef, that wacky TV show about competitive cooking.Neither career path is unusual in Japanese cinema. And yet theirfilm is so imbued with traditional attitudes and values that itmakes you wonder how deep the layer of modernity really is. A cherry blossom in such a film is inevitable. It's like code toa Japanese audience. The cherry blossom comes in spring to remindthe Japanese that life is renewed after winter, then it diesquickly. In appreciating that transience, the Japanese seek todefine themselves. It's easy, then, to believe they take theirdeath rituals seriously, although one of the surprises ofDepartures is that it's funny at leastinitially. Advertisement: Story continues below The second half is doggedly sad and sentimental. Altogether,that's a powerful combination. That may be part of why it won the2009 Oscar for best foreignlanguage film, although I'd like tothink it was because of the movie's great humanity. Daigo Kobayashi (the handsome Masahiro Motoki, a former teenidol) loses his job as a cellist in Tokyo after the orchestrafolds. He sells his expensive cello, aware he'll never make the topgrade, and moves back to his home town. His wife, Mika (RyokoHirosue), cheerfully agrees to live in the traditional house leftby his mother, who died two years earlier. Daigo sees a job advert for an Rosetta Stone Software agency working with "departures".The boss, Mr Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki), hires him instantly,without looking at his rsum. Only then does the docileDaigo learn that he's not working for a travel agent but an"encoffinator". The ad should have said "the departed", the bossexplains, not "departures". Daigo's first job is to play the corpse in a DVD made "for thetrade". Sasaki explains the procedures to camera as he washes thebody. He then dresses the increasingly disquieted "corpse" whilekeeping it covered. "Take great care that the relatives do not seethe naked body," Mr Sasaki says to camera, dean, after he plugsthe orifices with wads of cotton. This is actually the second time we have seen the procedureso we know what is happening. The opening scene shows Daigoand his boss attending the rural home of a beautiful young womanwho has committed "suicide by charcoal", meaning that she hasbreathed the fumes in a closed room. The grieving relatives watchas Daigo goes to work solo for the first time. Mr Sasaki kneelsbeside him as he enfolds the woman's hands on top of a quilt. Hebegins to cleanse the body with a sterile cloth, moving gentlyunder the quilt with infinite care and respect. He stops abruptlyas he reaches the lower parts of the body. He withdraws the clothand whispers to the boss. With great delicacy, the boss inquires ofthe parents if the deceased is to be dressed in women's or men'sclothes. The ritual of preparing the body is the movie's central dramaticpiece. We see it many times and each time we understand a littlemore. The process is incredibly intricate and poised, like a teaceremony for the dead. The grieving relatives are expected to watchas the loved one is made ready for the "final journey". The job used to be done by the family in olden times, explainsthe boss's assistant, a former bar girl (Kimiko Yo). "Casketing" isnow a niche market because the funeral directors don't want to doit. There are strong taboos about touching the dead, as we begin tosee when Daigo's wife finds out what his new job entails. Shedemands that he get a respectable job. The problem is that Daigohas begun to see the beauty in what he does. He has learnt how tomake the dead look their best and he has seen how his work helpsthe families to say goodbye. "You were born to do this job," theboss tells him. Departures is made in a commercial, rather than strictlyarthouse, style. It uses voiceover narration when none is reallynecessary.

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Yahoo Stock Dives on News of AT&T Loss

Yahoo Inc.'s recently resurgent stock retreated by more than 5 percent Friday amid fears that a setback in a lucrative partnership with ATT Inc. will undercut the anticipated gains from an overhaul of the Web portal's advertising platform. The selloff was triggered by an unconfirmed report in The Wall Street Journal that ATT wants to stop giving Yahoo a slice of the subscriber fees from a 6yearold cobranding agreement to sell Internet access in most of the country. If ATT gets its way, Yahoo would have to be satisfied with whatever money it could make by selling its own online products, such as digital music or matchmaking services, to subscribers of the joint service. Advertisement: Story continues below San Antoniobased ATT declined to comment on the substance of the Journal's report, but acknowledged in a statement that its Yahoo partnership "is rooted in the open and ongoing dialogue we maintain." A Yahoo statement included that same language and dismissed the Wall Street Journal report as "based on rumor and speculation." It added, however, that the companies were discussing ways to expand their partnership to include ATTowned Cingular Wireless. Investors drew their own negative conclusions. Yahoo shares fell $1.59, or 5.2 percent, to close at $29.12 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Before Friday's downturn, Yahoo's stock had climbed by 20 percent this year, rebounding from a horrible 2006 performance. That reflected Wall Street's widespread belief that Yahoo will prosper from a monthold upgrade to its formula for linking ads to search requests. But a reshuffling of the ATT Rosetta Stone Greek deal would deliver a substantial blow. Under the current terms of the contract, ATT is believed to pay Yahoo $200 to $250 million annually, accounting for more than 25 percent of the $798 million in total fees that the Internet powerhouse collected last year. Most of Yahoo's revenue which totaled $6.4 billion last year comes from advertising. Compounding the pain, Yahoo's profit margins on the ATT partnership are much higher than on many of its other services because the telecommunications carrier handles most of the heavy lifting. Standard Poor's analyst Scott Kessler estimated the reported revisions in the ATT deal would reduce Yahoo's annual profit by $30 million to $70 million, or 2 to 5 cents per share. Analysts expect Yahoo to earn nearly $780 million, or 54 cents per share, this year. The damage to Yahoo could be worse if its other major Internet access partners Verizon Communications Inc., BT Group PLC and Rogers Communications Inc. follow ATT's lead when they renegotiate their contracts. Yahoo hasn't publicly disclosed the length of the contracts with its Internet access partners, but the ATT alliance reportedly expires in April 2008. Friday's news woke up many investors who thought Yahoo had turned the corner after slowing revenue growth and competitive challenges posed by increasingly popular Internet hangouts like contributed to last year's 35 percent decline in Yahoo's stock price. An improved advertising system known as "Panama" unveiled Feb. 5 after a three month delay has become the foundation for Yahoo's turnaround hopes. The upgrade is supposed to begin boosting Yahoo's profit in the second half of this year a prospect that now looks shakier, Kessler said. "A lot of people have gotten scared again and are starting to realize that they have been pinning their hopes on the promise of something that is still uncertain," he said.

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I use a computer two times a week at school

Swimming against the tide is Hugh Mackay, one of Australia'sforemost social researchers. "Everyone puts the boot into gen Y,"says Mackay, who defines them as today's 15 to 30yearolds."They're a wonderful generation with a lot to teach us."Gen Z he's less confident about, saying their overzealoushelicopter parents, obsessed with the "art of parenting", willcreate a burden for their offspring. "These kids are overindulged,with a towering selfesteem as opposed to selfrespect whichwon't be healthy," he warns. "We are facing the most rebellious andobnoxious group of teenagers ever."Lucinda Schmidt BEN DOUNEEN is eight years old and is in year3"I like playing with my friends because some kids in othercountries don't get to play with their friends. At school, I likecomputers because you get to learn new things and art becauseI'm good at drawing.When I get home from school, I like to check emails on the DET[Department of Education and Training] portal, which I type intoGoogle and log in with my username and password. Friends fromschool log in and email, saying hi or something.I also watch kids' channels on TV. My favourite show is called Pimp My Ride on MTV they turn really old cars intoreally cool ones. I just finished Harry Potter And The GobletOf Fire and Guinness World Records, also.My favourite food is nachos.I have an iPod, which I listen to my favourite songs on, [byartists] like Justin Timberlake and the Black Eyed Peas. I need abit of help from my dad putting the songs on he's got an iPod,too.I also have a Game Boy, scooter and skateboard.I get a little bit of pocket money for Rosetta Stone doing jobs around the house.I've just laybied a RipStik, which is a skateboard with twowheels.I use my computer to look for information. My teacher told us wecould do a presentation with cardboard or on computer. I was thefirst one to do a Power Point presentation, so then she let otherpeople do PowerPoint presentations.I've done a project on Power Point about a bee and a shark. I gotsome pictures for the project from Google by clicking on "images",then just typing in "bees". It turned out to be a big success.I use Kids Space, which is a school safety site. You need to typein your password and click on "agree". And with the emails, if youtype in swear words or scary stuff, it will ban you from thewebsite. I use it quite a lot and a little bit at school incomputer lessons, which we have once a week.Every classroom at school has a Smart Board that is connected tothe internet, so we don't have to each go on the internet and lookup things.I watch Animal Planet and I saw Steve Irwin talking aboutglobal warming and how the snow was melting. The news said globalwarming was starting to happen, too.In the future, I think the world will be a disaster, so we shouldstart looking after our planet or global warming's going to happen.We did a play called Save Our Earth and I was the methanegas.I think I will be an inventor and a millionaire when I'm olderbecause I draw things that we don't have in our world."Peter Hawkins ALLEGRA LONARD is seven years old and is in year 2"I want to be a parttime vet, parttime fashion designer andparttime jazz singer because I like designing, puppies andsinging. Sometimes I will rush to my room, turn on my CD player andjump up and down on my bed.I have a Nintendo DS that I love playing and I've got about 50games. It has a game called Imagine Fashion Designer. Ireally want to be a fashion designer. I will be the designer but mybest friend, Lucy, is going to do all the sewing.

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The thing that did strike me was how good the Italian was

Nepalese food is probably most similar to Indian, justless spicy. The flavours come from onions, garlic and ginger.That's the problem with Nepalese food in Sydney, it's seen as apoor man's Indian. Typical Nepalese is often vegetarian, lots ofdried vegetables and bamboo shoots, cooked in a lot of lemon. Ifyou hunt around, a lot of Chinese grocers stock Nepalese food(Auburn Bazaar Nepalese Grocery Store, 154 South Parade). MostNepalese restaurants in Sydney are pretty good. Probably the mostauthentic is Mustang (332 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest) named afterthe place in Nepal, not the car. The Himalayan Char Grill (Shop 18,103111 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest) is also very good. The Yak Yeti (41 Glebe Point Road, Glebe) is probably Sydney's mostfamous.'' TimoVeikko Valve is the principal cellist for theAustralian Chamber Orchestra. Originally from Finland, the27yearold has been in Sydney for two years. ''I was astounded by the variety of food you have here inSydney. In Helsinki it's actually quite expensive to eat out, pluswe have such long winters we'd rather cook at home. The strangest thing I found was the seafood. You have seafood I could only dreamabout, the variety is staggering. One thing I really miss isFinnish rye bread. The closest I've found is at the IKEA store (1Oulton Avenue, Rhodes) and even then it was a Swedish version. I'mnot aware of any Finnish restaurants in Sydney but if someone didwant to try it, Russian is very similar. I do miss the vodka butagain Russian vodka is very similar (Camperdown Cellars, 140Parramatta Road) and a brandy called Jaloviina, which I've not seenhere. If there's one thing I get posted over from Finland it'ssalty liquorice (The Dutch Shop, 85 Market Street, Smithfield). Ialso miss a chocolate called Frazer (buy online at SuomiKauppa.fi).It just makes me feel like home when I have that. We also eat asavoury, salty porridge for breakfast, which you don't have here. Imade it for my Australian girlfriend and she's like, what thehell's this? What's gone wrong? Having said that, she's got meeating Vegemite.'' Sabrina Ioffreda is a model from BuenosAires andhas worked in Sydney for the past two months. The 21yearold's parents are Italian and she is Rosetta Stone Outlet vegetarian. ''Sydney and Argentina are very similar. Foodwise they bothlove meat, the weather's very similar and we both like to have fun.I'm vegetarian. I know, that's very strange to be Argentinian andvegetarian, I think I might be the only one. That's why I loveSydney, it's so easy to find vegetarian food here; it's practicallyim possible in Argentina. I know there are some great South Americanrestaurants in Sydney but I don't really like to eat that food whenI travel. My favourite Sydney restaurant so far has been Bill's(359 Crown Street, Surry Hills), particularly the pancakes. Onething I do miss is Argentinian wine. The reds from Mendoza are myfavourites (Broadway Cellars, 96 Glebe Point Road, Glebe). Thestrangest thing for me when I came to Sydney was that I had to goout before nine I'm used to eating dinner at 11 back home. A lotof things here close at six shops, cafes. I was a bitdisappointed by that, that's when I want to eat.'' Vincent Vuillaume, 34, is marketing manager for luxurybrand Cartier. Originally from Sainte Menehould the birthplace of Dom Perignon in France's Champagne region he, his wife and babydaughter have been posted to Sydney since February. ''The thing I miss most about France is the cheese. The cheesehere is very good, it's just the range is very limited. I haven'teaten a lot of French food since I've been here but Becasse (204 Clarence Street, Sydney) I thought was very, very good not hautecuisine, just good French bistro food. I have tried kangaroo Iwasn't a big fan but the meat here is excellent. I ate at Prime(1 Martin Place, Sydney) and it was worldclass; it's on par withthe best steakhouses in New York. I only drink French champagne.

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And of course sounding the horn really assists the process

Here I acknowledge that that's a difficult one given our general climate. However, as one example only, I was once driving down Pittwater Road towards the harbour in very heavy rain and had maintained a four car gap to the vehicle in front. Twice, no less, my braking space (to also compensate for the tailgater behind me as best I could) was occupied by another vehicle from the kerbside lane. It happened to be a (different) Police car in both instances and in one case the car did not even indicate. There, I feel better now. :) Regards, Christian What boils my radiator. Apart from the ubiquitous "Doof Doof" with paintwork that matches their taste in music (mind you it is fun to pull up along side and blow them away with the Maestoso from SaintSaens Organ symphony or the 1812 Overture with cannons), I find these habits tend to raise my temperature. 1. RoundaboutsWe've had them for years but some drivers still seem to have a total inability to understand how they work. Some drivers seem to think the best way is to treat them like a Stop sign despite the absence of any other approaching traffic. I get the uneasy impression some are waiting for the written invitation to arrive before proceeding. 2. Merging trafficWhy is it so difficult (apart from when driving a Bdouble) for two lanes of traffic to combine into one? Sheep seem to be able to merge into a single file more efficiently than most city drivers. Some think its a "Face" issue, if that car gets in ahead of me I going to be the world's biggest loser. Some think they should stop and wait for sufficient space to become available before merging into a queue. And of course sounding the horn really assists the process. 3. Use of emergency lights (4 way flashers)Why do people assume that if they put on their emergency lights they can park anywhere they like, such as at a bus stop while they return their DVD or the approach side of a pedestrian crossing while they pick up the dry cleaning, double park while the passenger buys the paper, milk and lottery ticket. I still can't find the section in traffic Rosetta Stone Software handbook stating the use of emergency lights immediately grants the driver a waiver from all road rules (and common sense). 4. 4 Wheel drives are a small truck4 wheel drives (I refuse to use the initials Ess Ewe Vee ) are trucks, large, slow to accelerate in most cases, are built and handle like a truck. When will 4WD owners realise the average car will accelerate quicker, maintain speed up hills and go around corners significantly better than the average 4WD, get over it. Just because they're bigger doesn't necessarily mean they are better. 5. "Perhaps" carsDefined as "I bought the largest 4WD I could afford because perhaps one day I might want to go off road or I might run into some mud. It has double the fuel consumption, its dreadful to park and the wife has scrapped it twice getting it into the garage, you can't see behind it when you reverse but it is comfortable." "I bought the V8 model in the belief perhaps I might want to tow a boat or a box trailer full of sand up the expressway. It costs me the equivalent of the GDP of a small African country to insure especially if the kids drive it, it drinks fuel like water, I always have to watch my speed because it really takes off but, its got buckets of power." 6. Why would anyone want to stick pictures of tropical flowers on the windows of their car. They're about as practical as the "Baby on board" signs which, thankfully, seem to have gone the same way as vinyl upholstery, CB radios and Dancing Elvis. 7. Waste gate valves OK, you've got a turbo and you can change gears, do you really need to advertise the fact. Having a car that sounds like a dry cleaner's steam press on steroids is about as impressive as having franga_bloody_panies on the back window. And don't get me started on exhausts that look like left over storm water plumbing and can be heard 3 suburbs away.

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Watch and learn

Forget classrooms you can now be a student online, writes LiaTimson. The 2007 Nobel literature laureate, Doris Lessing, last monthdedicated her prize acceptance speech to books and criticised theinternet for driving people to distraction. People teaching and learning online would beg to differ. For ifit is knowledge you seek from law and computer programming tocooking or a new language you can find it on the internet. And it's not all superficial, either. Much of what is availablenow is indepth, interactive and provided by pedigreeboastingeducational institutions. Better still, a lot of it is free. Advertisement: Story continues below Anne BartlettBragg, a lecturer in elearning at the Faculty ofEducation at University of Technology, Sydney, uses internet toolsto deliver courses both online and in class. "If you look at it closely, there's some very highqualitycontent online," she says. "I doubt you'd want to watch a full lecture. The podcast of alecture is possibly the most boring thing I can think of butstudents like podcasts for main point [summaries], assessmentreports and short interviews with experts." Harvard, New York and Stanford universities in the UnitedStates, the University of Southern Queensland, University ofMelbourne and TAFE colleges are only a few of the big nameinstitutions providing modules or specific subjects online bypodcasts, video tutorials, webinars, virtual campuses, gaming,voice, instant messaging or other electronic tools. Niche courseproviders and private tutors are also using the net to expand theirstudent base. BartlettBragg believes this is because the internet engagesstudents better than other distanceeducation resources. Nowstudents can interact with other course participants and teacher,while working in their own time and location. They can takeextracurricular activities, collaborate on projects Rosetta Stone outlet or delve intoaspects of the curriculum in more detail. Provided they have decentand reliable broadband speed, the experience can be enrichingindeed. She is particularly fond of webinars, which she uses for an houronce a month for leading a mentoring program for businesswomen. "I get students to review the content beforehand, then the nextstep is the web conference," she says. Haiying Yang teaches Chinese silk painting through YouTube. The Sydney teacher has posted more than 270 short clips ofpainting techniques, which she combines with an introduction toChinese language and calligraphy on.She has 251 subscribers from Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spainand Sweden who anticipate the free videos and regularly ask formore. "I tried posting one video and found it wasn't difficult to do.I got 10 or 20 viewers and kept going," Yang says. Today she receives about 30 emails daily, requesting tips orspecific technique demonstrations. The venture is a hobby, althoughsome students end up ordering art supplies from her website. Shealso watches videos from other teachers to improve her ownskills. "There's no commitment to post regularly but I get the emailsand feel motivated. You realise people are interested, so you gethooked," Yang says. She is not alone. Twentysevenyearold Floridaresident IrenaMandichMorris started socialising on the 3D virtual world SecondLife after her husband died last year. A visual artist by training,she found solace in the intellectual stimulation provided by thesocial contact on the site. "I opened up a [virtual] gallery for my own artworks then Ithought it would be good to create an artist community thatregularly got together. So I [created] events and invited otherpeople and a lot of people came," she says. Her avatar, Eshi Otawara, now holds weekly art history lectures,aided by expert moderators. Lectures are alternated with interactive critique sessions onstudents' and known artists' works.

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White knight? Blade work puts reject back on the Test radar

Cameron White ... finished unbeaten on 89. Photo: Reuters GOA: The finer details of the match will be forgotten, as are so many other one-dayers. It will be recalled that India won, perhaps because of Virat Kohli's classic century and despite Michael Clarke's classy ton. Cameron White's innings will likely be shifted to the back of the memory bank, particularly because Australia's winless run in India continued, but it shouldn't be. Clarke described it as one of the best innings he had ever seen - the skipper is never short of enthusiastic language but still, it is the highest praise. White's unbeaten 89 from 49 balls came late on Wednesday, and had a crash-and-bash feel but upon closer inspection there was real genius at play. He dictated terms to the bowlers because he out-thought them and had them bowling to his strengths. The six giant sixes he smashed - nearly all straight down the ground - could not have sounded sweeter. Advertisement: Story continues below ''I was able to do that because the two before me did a bloody good job in tough conditions [Clarke and Michael Hussey put on 144 runs for the third wicket],'' White said. ''It was really set up by those guys.'' White seems to make a bigger statement with each outing for Australia's shorter format teams. Hussey and Ricky Ponting will be vacating spots in the middle order of the Test side in coming years and smart money says White and Callum Ferguson will be among the leading contenders to fill them. White already has a baggy green cap, playing as Australia's first-choice spinner during the 2008 series against India, a move that backfired Rosetta Stone outlet on the team and impacted on White's chances of regaining selection. He has chosen to force his way back in as a specialist batsman. ''Of course I still want to play Test cricket for Australia, the best opportunity I can give myself to do that is play well for Australia in this format and for Victoria,'' White said. ''I think the Test team is playing pretty well at the moment, it's a tough team to get into. I'm not going to get picked [at] No.8 and bowling, there's no secrets I'd be looking for a five or six spot there. ''[Playing Test cricket] is something nobody will ever be able to take away from me, I enjoyed playing four Tests for Australia. It was tough, it was a learning experience, it was everything really. I hope [I'm] not [far off a recall], you'd probably have to ask the selectors how far away I am, I don't know if I'm next in line or 20 or 30 blokes down the track. I know what I need to do, keep scoring runs, and if I can bowl a bit that would help also.'' Australia has one more chance to post a win on this tour, having drawn the practice match, and lost two Tests and the ODI. Hussey and Doug Bollinger flew home yesterday; the batsman to play in the Sheffield Shield for Western Australia and the paceman to assess his abdominal strain. Bollinger was injured in the first Test, ruled out of the second, pulled up sore again after a warm-up session in Visakhapatnam's ACA VDCA Stadium prior to the ODI and is in doubt for the one-day series against Sri Lanka. Hussey wants to fine-tune his preparation for the Ashes. A squad of 12 remains in India for the final one-dayer in Goa on Sunday, among them the two newest internationals, John Hastings and Mitchell Starc. Hastings took two wickets and Starc showed glimpses of a bright future, but in the end India's batsmen were too clever and composed, chasing down Australia's 3-289 with five wickets and seven balls to spare. ''We had two blokes playing their first game, I thought they did a good job,'' White said. ''A bit of experience wouldn't have gone astray, but that will hold us in good stead for the future. Maybe not necessarily the next game but when these blokes get the opportunities down the track. ''In India you can be under pressure not only from what the batsmen are putting you under, but also the crowd and atmosphere, so it was a good experience for the young blokes. You probably can't get under too much more pressure than what they would have been under.''

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Then Congress rejected pleas to regulate derivatives

Two final questions then to those who can make an immediate difference: why, Paul Keating, aren't you and other arts-loving movers and shakers insisting on the inclusion of a major theatre in our best chance for immediate change, the vast Barangaroo space? And Cate and Andrew, when will the Hickson Road restaurant and bar actually open after the show? In the article, your ''work to be done'' came across as good intentions rather than definite action. Peter Farmer Petersham Selfless solution to housing crisis I think I have the solution for Australia's housing crisis (''Mums and dads adding to the great Australian nightmare'', March 27-28). What is the problem? The problem is the market. You can't make a killing on selling the family home and also have affordable housing for your children. So the solution is to create housing outside the market. Governments could do this but won't. Who else is outside the market? Dead people. Many baby boomers are about to die childless. They could leave their houses to a foundation for affordable housing. These could be rented or leased (perhaps in perpetuity?) for the cost of maintenance plus a margin to buy more properties. This would result in a permanent (and perhaps growing) stock of housing outside the market. (Don't expect it will be popular with the developers and their political flunkies.) What would it need to succeed? A foundation - fairly easily established. A major trusted public figure (Dick Smith?) and perhaps a national media outlet to assist with publicity for the campaign (now, what could that be?) Evan Hadkins Kyle Bay Regulate or die The global financial crisis was not brought about by an increase in clever people who learnt to exploit loopholes in regulations, but because of the removal of those regulations (''Nightmare scenario: too big to fail, too quick to forget'', March 27-28). The trouble started with the Reagan deregulation in the 1980s, which resulted in the savings and loans fiasco. The next big step was repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999. Then Congress rejected pleas to regulate derivatives. Finally in 2004 the US Securities and Exchange Commission allowed investment banks to increase leverage to 40 times equity. The crisis was the inevitable result of competition without adequate rules. Canada Goose Anton Kamaralli Cooranbong The incredible shrinking O'Farrell I hope that Barry O'Farrell takes the message ''What NSW politicians must not ignore'' (March 27-28) to heart. You can make yourself so small a target that you become invisible to the voters. While the athletic pursuits of Tony Abbott and the former NSW Liberal Peter Debnam are yet to prove vote-winners, it is time for Mr Farrell and his team to reveal themselves and demonstrate that they are a real alternative government. Labor doesn't deserve another term. Despite its claims to be heading in the right direction at the last election, there is now even more to do and they seem to be running around in circles. However, if there is no genuine alternative NSW voters have shown that they will vote for more of the same. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: to lose one unloseable election, Mr O'Farrell, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. Philip Cooney Wentworth Falls Give the budgie smuggler a break Is it an Australian syndrome that Tony Abbott's lifestyle fitness and resultant superb shape is framed in a particularly negative and lurid narrative? His life-long commitment to health and fitness ought to be recognised as something people of all ages with career and family commitments can aspire to. He wears the practical lycra uniform of his sporting endeavours without fanfare, however uncomfortable that may be to the sedentary-inclined, or those who find the aesthetics of a fit middle-age man abhorrent. Careering between the puritanical with the calls he cover up, and the puerile with the endless budgie-themed variations, the result is one of unease and discomfort with the male body. It is unsurprising men have a package: they're gender specific.

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