Saturday, April 8, 2023

 Saturday, April 8, 2023

 

   Elsa and I walked up to the second fire hydrant on Kukuna this morning. I last used the uphill route over a week ago. Some body part or another bothered me, and I chose a more conservative path. I completed over three thousand steps on that first morning walk. I had to get home by seven-thirty because I had an eight am session. 

  I reviewed what I had already covered with first-grade Steven, the number of 'bounces' (syllables) in a word and the sound made with each bounce. Last time, I noticed he deleted sounds. I could hear it clearly when he isolated the sound of each syllable. Today, I started on each word's individual sounds (the phonemes), beginning with his name. I made the individual sounds in the first syllable of his name, Ste/ven. He insisted he only heard one sound. He was so frustrated we had to stop the session early. He needs to improve phonemic awareness, the most significant predictor of a successful reader. His is the strongest adverse reaction I've ever seen. His speech problem may be because he doesn't hear the sounds clearly. I know he had a hearing test. There's nothing wrong with his hardware. This problem is with the software. Fortunately, that can be modified with input. Our brains change with everything we learn, with every experience. I am still determining the significance of Steven's deficit. He's very bright, but that has nothing to do with his ability to hear speech sounds. I want to do short daily sessions, at most five minutes. Hopefully, he will be willing to try my approach. 

  At nine, I had a session with Mama K's crew. I signed in on time, but I was waiting for a response. I called Mama K, and there was no response. I was about to give up when I got a call from her. "Sorry, I left my phone downstairs. The kids were going to be on in a minute." 

  I had Twin E first today. While making progress, she was still two years behind Twin A in her reading. I had her read a new pre-primer passage. I will have her reread it on Wednesday and cover comprehension questions.  

   Next, I had fourth-grade K. It was a difficult passage about the aquifer beneath Houston, Baton Rouge, and Birmingham draining, causing the cities to sink. He lacked the background knowledge to answer some of the questions. He had no idea we got water from under the ground. His first guess was the ocean. The next problem was understanding what caused a sinkhole. I suspect it's impossible here in Hawaii because we are solid rock. Good luck if you want to dig into the ground. It's a labor-intensive chore. While we can't have sinkholes here, we have other problems, like molten lava. The level of discussion was of a different caliber. When I started working with him, he was often baffled. Now, he can follow a conversation. His intelligence is shining through.

  Last, I had Twin A. She read a passage at a mid-second-grade level. She had to struggle with some words. I gave her a few outright. When a student gets stuck decoding a word, I write one containing the same sound pattern. One word she got stuck on was bird. The ir, er, and ur all make the same sound in English. I got her to identify the er sound in her. Then, I told her it made the same sound. She had to look at the ir and say the er sound. It was a challenge. It's like reading the word green written in red letters. It's baffling. She did it. It was huge progress.

  After the session, I called Mama K to tell her about the improvements I was seeing. She said she'd seen it, too. Some think her kids are stupid, for lack of a better word. They're not. They're all delayed learners. I wonder if they'd be okay if they didn't get help. They'd be too far behind everyone else and give up.  

  I took my mid-morning nap. I was too tired to read a few pages in my nap-time book, Remember.

  I did some work on the updates, and I washed Elsa. I made an appointment for her to get groomed at Petco. The available appointments started in May. Holy cow! We lost our dog groomer, Dick, to retirement. All his customers now go to either Petco or Doggy Detail. We have little choice. I got an appointment for May 9. On April 17, I'll take Elsa to the vet to have her vaccinations updated. Without them, Petco won't accept her. 

  I finally got around to cleaning the poop stains from the indoor lanai. Sadly, there's no rush. They're in no one's way. The furniture in that section was in disarray. I moved away from the screens when we anticipated a bad storm. Once I cleaned that area, sprayed it with enzymes, and dried it, I'd return the furniture.

  Damon called. He was on his way to tennis. He told me about his trip to the East Coast. He spent a few days with his mom and stepdad. He took them to the Black Bass, a restaurant in Lumberville, PA. Mike and I used to go there. We would stay in a nearby hotel, The 1740 House, and eat at the Black Bass. The last time we were there, Damon joined us with his girlfriend. Those were good days. Most of my days with Mike were good days. 

  I got a notification from 23 and Me that I had new relatives. One was a relative I had contact with, but there was a new one. He is listed as a second cousin. I recognized the last name. When I was a child, my family visited a family with that last name in NJ. They had two sons, both younger than my sister and me. I didn't remember their names. I suspect the listing was from one of their sons. I messaged him, assuming he was related through Esther and Heinz of Teaneck, NJ. I am still waiting for a response. My name rang no bells for him if he hadn't contacted me. My family maintained contact with my paternal grandmother's family, less so with my paternal grandfather's. After my father died, we lost all contact with the latter. If they contact me, I may learn how some of the people we visited as a child were related to me. I know my sister has similar questions.