Jingle Bells

We just learned about the Christmas song Frosty the Snowman.

Another famous Christmas song is Jingle Bells, written by James Lord Pierpont in Boston in 1857.

Even though everyone sings this song at Christmas time, there is nothing in the song about Christmas, and some people think it was actually written to be a Thanksgiving song, or even just a fun song for people to sing at parties.

In 1850s when Pierpont wrote it, people used to have a lot of fun riding around on sleighs being pulled by horses, and having races against each other.
When the sleighs would go racing by, the bells would jingle, and sometimes people would sing this song during the races.

In 1965, the astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra went into space and brought a harmonica and sleigh bells, and sang Jingle Bells in space.

Most people only know two of the verses for Jingle Bells, but there are actually 5 verses to the song.

Jingle Bells

Dashing through the snow In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing A sleighing song tonight! Oh!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh. Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago I thought I'd take a ride
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank And then we got upsot.

A day or two ago, The story I must tell
I went out on the snow, And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie, But quickly drove away. Ah!

Now the ground is white Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed bay Two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh And crack! you'll take the lead.


(from: wikipedia - jingle bells)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sola Fide

Isaiah - Sistine Chapel Ceiling - Michelangelo

We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting about Noah's drunkenness.

This was the last of the 9 paintings about things from the old testament that Michelangelo painted.

Another part of the Sisteine Chapel ceiling was 12 paintings of Prophets who talked about Jesus before he came along.

One of the paintings was of the prophet Isaiah.

Michelangelo painted Isaiah to look young, but very thoughtful, and he is holding a book.
Isaiah was one of the most famous prophets from the Bible has many writings that people believe were prophecies about Jesus coming some day.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Clown Tight Rope Walker - Louise Nevelson

Hindi - Green, Blue, Purple, Pink

We just learned that in Hindi, red, orange and yellow are लाल (laal), नारंगी (naarangee), पीला (peela).

Let's learn more colors!

green - हरा (hara) - sounds like ha-dah - 文A


blue - नीला (neela) - sounds like nee-lah - 文A


purple - बैंगनी (bainganee) - sounds like bah-een-gah-nee - 文A


pink - गुलाबी (gulaabee) - sounds like goo-lah-bee - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: kijani, bluu, zambarau, nyekundu

Russian: зеленый (zelenyy), синий (siniy), фиолетовый (fioletovyy), розовый (rozovyy)

Norwegian: grønn, blå, lilla, rosa

Greek: πράσινο, μπλε, μοβ, ροζ

ASL: green, blue, purple, pink

Italian: verde, blu, viola, rosa

German: grün, blau, lila, rosa

Spanish: verde, azul, morado, rosa

French: vert, bleu, violet, rose

Hard Drive

We just learned about the Video Card.

Another part of a computer is the Hard Drive, also called a hard disk drive or HDD.

When you are working on the computer and you draw a picture, or write some words that you want to save in a document or spreadsheet, that information has to get saved somewhere on the computer so that it will be there again the next time you turn on the computer.

The hard drive is where the computer saves whatever you give it, whether it's a video, a song, a picture or a document.

Hard drives are usually made up of little magnetic metal discs that spin around almost like music records or CDs.
The computer gets the information from the discs, and puts new information on the discs.

Other types of ways to store files are called Solid State Drives, or SSDs.
These don't have spinning magnets in them, they are more like a big USB memory stick.


(from: wikipedia - hard disk drive)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leading Wheel

Woolly Lemur

We just learned about the Indri.

Another type of lemur is the Woolly Lemur, also called avahis or woolly indris.

This is another type of primate that only lives on the island of Madagascar.

They grow to about 50 centimeters, and weigh about 1200 grams.
Their short woolly fur is brown, grey or red, and they have a long orange tail.


(from: wikipedia - woolly lemur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ojos Azules

Nasal Root

We just started learning about the Nose.

The top of the nose in between the eyebrows is called the Nasal Root.

That is where the nose starts, and the dip down from the forehead before the top of the nose is called the nasion.
The nasal root and nasion is the spot where a pair of glasses would sit on the nose.

Right above the nasion is called the glabella, which is the spot right between the eyebrows.


(from: wikipedia - glabella)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antigen

Jamaica

We just learned about the country of The Bahamas

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

This country is in the Caribbean, south of the island of Cuba.
It is about 4,000 square miles, and about 2.7 million people live there.
The people in this country speak English or Jamaican Patois.


(from: wikipedia - jamaica)

The flag of Jamaica has a green triangle on top and bottom, black triangles on left and right, and a yellow X in the middle.
Black is for strength of the people, gold is for the wealth and sunshine, and green is for the plants.


(from: wikipedia - flag of jamaica)

To eat in this country you might have Ackee and Saltfish. Ackee is a type of fruit that is almost like a cream cheese, and it is boiled with the fish and then usually eaten with rice or bread.


(from: wikipedia - ackee and saltfish)

Visiting this country you might go to the Doctor's Cave Beach Club.
This is a nice beach that was owned by a doctor who had a hospital there, and believed that the water was so great it was almost like it had healing powers.
He let his friends swim there, and then later gave the land to be free for everyone to use.


(from: wikipedia - doctor's cave beach club)

There is a small beach in a town called Oracabessa where called James Bond Beach, because the person who wrote the James Bond books lived there in Jamaica.
Some parts of the James Bond movies were also filmed at this beach.


(from: wikipedia - orcabessa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Czech Republic