Good King Wenceslas

We just learned about the Christmas carol Angels We Have Heard on High.

Another famous Christmas carol is Good King Wenceslas.

This song is was written about an old story of a king and his helper who went out during cold winter snowy weather and help take care of poor people.
Around 930 AD, Wenceslas was the Duke of Bohemia which is now called the Czech Republic, and the story says he did this during the Feast of Stephen, which is on December 26th, and is meant to honor the apostle Stephen from the Bible.

The words for the song wer writen in 1853 by John Mason Neale from England, and the music came from another old song from 1582 in Finland called "Tempus adest floridum" which means "Eastertime has come".

Lyrics:
Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, tho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gath’ring winter fuel.

“Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know’st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither:
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together;
Through the rude wind’s wild lament and the bitter weather.

“Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, good my page. Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.


(from: wikipedia - good king wenceslas)


Good King Wenceslas from "A Castle Christmas" - The best performance of this christmas carol EVER! - koutsakas99


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bonfire of the Vanities

Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise

We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel - Creation of Eve.

Another painting from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo is The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise.

This painting shows the story from the Bible book of Genesis where Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and God gets angry at them and makes them leave the Garden of Eden.



(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bearing Witness - Martin Puryear

Hindi - One, two, three, four, five

We just learned that dog and cat in Hindi is कुत्ता (kutta) and बिल्ली (billee)

Let's count to five in Hindi!

1 एक (ek) - sounds like ay-k 文A

2 दो (do) - sounds like doh 文A

3 तीन (teen) - sounds like tee-n 文A

4 चार (chaar) - sounds like chah-r 文A

5 पांच (paanch) - sounds like pah-nch 文A




(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: moja, mbili, tatu, nne, tano

Russian: раз (raz), два (dva), три (tri), четыре (chetyre), пять (pyat')

Norwegian: en, to, tre, fire, fem

Greek: ένα (éna), δύο (dýo), τρία (tría), τέσσερα (téssera), πέντε (pénte)

ASL: One, two, three, four, five

Italian: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque

German: Ein, zwei, drei, veir, fünf

Spanish: Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco

French: Un, deaux, trois, quatre, cinq

Motherboard

We just learned about the Touchpad.

Another part of a computer is the Motherboard.

This is the part inside the computer that all of the other parts are hooked into.
The monitor, keyboard and mouse that we talked about all have cables that go to the computer.
They are plugged into connectors that are all plugged into the motherboard so they can work with each other.

The motherboard is usually made of something hard called resin that has metal like silver, tin, nickel or gold that the motherboard uses to connect all of the parts together with electricity.


(from: wikipedia - motherboard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Brake Hose

Greater Dwarf Lemur

We just learned about the Philippine Tarsier.

Another type of primate is the Greater Dwarf Lemur, or cheirogaleus major.

Lemurs are part of a whole different group of primates, not like chimpanzees, apes or monkeys.
There are a lot of different types of lemurs, and they all come from the island of Madagascar.

The greater dwarf lemur can grow to about 10 inches long, and weigh about 1 pound.
Their fur is gre or red, with dark circles around their eyes.

They live up in the trees eating mostly fruits, flowers and nectar, and sometimes bugs.
Unlike a lot of other monkeys that leap from tree to tree, these primates are not good leapers and they mostly walk along on all fours.
These primates are also quieter than most others and will just someetimes make quiet calls to other greater dwarf lemurs.


(from: wikipedia - greater dwarf lemur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chantilly-Tiffany

Stapedius Muscle

We just learned about the Oval Window.

Another part of the ear is the Stapedius Muscle.

Remember we learned about the ear bone called the stirrup or stapes.
Just like you might think from the name, the stapedius muscle is what controls the stapes bone, and keeps it from wiggling too much when sound comes in and vibrates the bone.

This is the smallest bone in the body, and is just about 1 millimeter.


(from: wikipedia - stapedius muscle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spleen

Haiti

We just learned about the country of Dominican Republic

Let's learn a little about the country of Haiti!

This country is in the Caribbean Sea in the Pacific Ocean, and shares the other half of an island with the Dominican Republic.
It is about 10,000 square miles, and about 11 million people live there.
The people in this country speak French or Haitian Creole.


(from: wikipedia - haiti)

The flag of Haiti is two sideways stripes of blue and red, with a white rectangle in the middle with the coat of arms of Haiti.
The blue and red are for the different people of the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of haiti)

To eat in this country you might have griot, which is pork cooked with orange or lime juice, and usually eaten with beans and rice.


(from: wikipedia - griot)

Visiting this country you might go see the Citadelle Laferrièrem, which is an old castle built around the year 1820.

(from: wikipedia - citadelle laferrièrem)

There is a castle called Sans-Souci Palace built in 1813 where the King of Haiti lived for a long time until an earthquake came along and destroyed it.

(from: wikipedia - sans-souci palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bosnia and Herzegovina