Adam Zargar and Linda Chaccour believe that they’ve found the magic formula. Children ages 7 to 13 can sign up for the day experience with Kids Apprentice, the brainchild of the pair, which means real life “work experience” with tasks to be completed as part of a team. Zargar and Chaccour are present throughout, coaching the children on the spot in a boardroom-like environment and encouraging their creativity and ideas. There are presentations to be made, winners to be chosen and prizes to be won, but ultimately, the day will leave each child with inspired creativity and newly acquired leadership and life skills – all invaluable for the future.
“We just try to make it as fun as possible,” says Zargar, 33, a youth and adult empowerment coach from the UK and the head of empowerment coaching at 2b Limitless.
“We give these kids a real-life experience as much as we can – they will be evaluated, their work judged, they have deadlines to deal with, an end product to produce – but they’re learning the entire time without even realising it because they’re having such a good time.”
The first Dubai Kids Apprentice workshop was held in October. Twenty-one children ranging in age from 8 to 13 were divided into four teams; each team had two long tasks and one short one to complete and present: a design-and-marketing task, a building task and an advertising task. The tasks required brainstorming of ideas, before each team settled on an idea and worked on presenting it.
“It was amazing watching the kids interacting with one another, and seeing the creativity and imagination behind their ideas; their own parents couldn’t believe their kids produced such work,” says Chaccour, 38, a certified youth, parent and family coach from Lebanon and the founder of Emerge Personal and Youth Coaching in Dubai.
“It gives kids a different dimension to their thinking and gets them to interact outside of their comfort zone and try something new, with new people, in a new environment that’s not in school,” she says.
Though schools may be very strong academically, few have programmes that work on leadership skills, bonding, teamwork, critical thinking and creativity. There are prizes for best team, best idea, best individual and so on.
“You see their creativity blossom and how their ideas grow; they all get the same task, but they come up with such different ideas and results and they learn to work together and learn about the dynamics of a team,” said Chaccour.
One challenge that the children were tasked with was to design a hotel. Ideas ranged from a chocolate pool on the hotel’s grounds and slides instead of elevators to access the different floors, to bathrooms that are 100 per cent germfree, virtual fitness centres that allow you to work out simply by wearing a pair of glasses instead of actually sweating and a glow-in-the-dark suite.
The future plan for the coaching duo is to tailor Kids Apprentice as a theme for birthday parties, to create an Arab edition (it’s all currently held in English) and to tailor the concept for schools, so that children’s extra-curricular activities can go beyond the likes of tennis, swimming, basketball and dance.
“For parents, this is a chance to give their kids something valuable,” said Chaccour. “Instead of a self-esteem class or an anti-bullying workshop, teach them teamwork and respect and raise their confidence and give each child a chance.”
The info
• Kids Apprentice is open to kids ages 7 to 13
• The fee is Dh350 to sign up and includes a half-hour children’s yoga class at the end of the day
• Fruit and drinks will be provided, but children are encouraged to bring their own lunch
• The next Dubai Kids Apprentice will be held at the Cascade Learning Centre (cascadelearning.ae) on December 13 from 9.30am to 4pm, then the last Friday of every month, starting from January 31
• The Abu Dhabi Kids Apprentice will begin on February 14, 2014, and will be held on the second Friday of every month. The venue is yet to be decided
• Visit www.kids-apprentice.com to register your child for the next Kids Apprentice day or email info@kidsapprentice.com
artslife@thenational.ae
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Read more about the coronavirus
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Honeymoonish
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Dubai Women's Tour teams
Agolico BMC
Andy Schleck Cycles-Immo Losch
Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano
Cogeas Mettler Look
Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
Hitec Products – Birk Sport
Kazakhstan National Team
Kuwait Cycling Team
Macogep Tornatech Girondins de Bordeaux
Minsk Cycling Club
Pannonia Regional Team (Fehérvár)
Team Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Team Ciclotel
UAE Women’s Team
Under 23 Kazakhstan Team
Wheel Divas Cycling Team
RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
2pm: Al Sahel Contracting Company – Maiden (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: AF Mutakafel, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
2.30pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: El Baareq, Antonio Fresu, Rashed Bouresly
3pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Keeneland – Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Alkaraama, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
4pm: Keeneland – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Lady Snazz, Saif Al Balushi, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Hive – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
5pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – (TB) Handicap Dh64,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
