Wednesday, July 14, 2021

 Wednesday, July 14, 2021

 

            Mama K canceled. Someone in her family was Covid positive. He got it through one of his friends. If she could show that the rest of the family didn't have Covid, only one child would be quarantined for 14 days, not the whole family. If the entire family had to be quarantined, it would mean her husband couldn't work. That would put a financial strain on the family. 

            I planned to vinegar the garden. Today was garbage day; I put the vinegar bottles in the trash as I used them. When I finally came inside, I had a text. Sixth grade D's mother asked if we were still on for the day. Oh, boy. I hadn't checked today's schedule, only yesterday's. I hadn't set my alarm, and now it was after 10:30. When I went to turn my computer on, it was being updated, and I didn't have immediate access. I texted Ds mom to tell her I would contact her when I was ready.

            It was about 10:45 before we finally connected. I didn't remember what I had worked on with D in our last session. Then it came back. I had drawn a picture of the brain from above so we could clearly see the left versus the right hemisphere. He didn't see the words in his head at the front, behind the forehead. When he tried, the image slid toward the back of his head. I checked again if it stopped midway, around the ear, or went all the way to the back,  the primary visual cortex. The mid-way point may be the audio processing center.  

            Today I asked D. to look at the part right behind his forehead- what color was there? He said it was red. I asked if it was a pretty or an ugly red. He said, pretty. Good. I told him to write the word on the red surface. When he did that, he was able to hold the image there. Wow! Great! I had him retrieve words automatically. He did much better but still made mistakes with here versus there, when versus went, her versus here. What is it with these words that makes them so challenging? I know; they look somewhat alike. 

            Sixth grade D worked hard and seemed tired. I offered to model the process for him. I consciously waited until I had the image in mind and then until I 'heard' the word in my head. Wow! That was different. I didn't think it was what I usually did. What does this mean? I know I'm not the fastest reader in my family; I'm probably the slowest. I come from a family of reading maniacs. He said what I was doing helped. I don't think we can understand why yet. Did not expecting him to say the word make the difference? Did my waiting before I said the word give him more time to process the word in a relaxed way? Did he observe what went on in my brain, and did that help?

            At 1 pm, I had adolescent D. We're working on the same thing I was working on with Sixth-grade D.  Both boys are Waldorf school students. I love the Waldorf approach for most kids; it just doesn't help those who get stuck.  

            I watched Marriage Story. Well, I started to watch it. While it was clear the husband was a self-centered piece of work who saw his wife as his subordinate, I saw that he was also a caring and loving person. Hmm, maybe capable of becoming a caring and loving person. I wanted their relationship to work out. I checked the plot on Wiki and decided I couldn't handle it. I don't need sadness in my life. I have enough on tap as it is.