Saturday, February 25, 2023

Saturday, February 25, 2023  

 

   I was up before eight but not much before. Elsa ran for the kitchen. Having fed her once before we walked, she now expects it each time. She is too smart for my good. Do something once she prefers, and she remembers forever. 

   Once, Scott pulled a new ball from the basket on the hall table. Now each time he walks near the table, Elsa's there, paws up, asking for another ball. 

   While she learns something quickly, getting her to use the doggie door has taken time. Today was a small breakthrough. While she ran for the kitchen and the promise of food, I walked to the doggie door and called her. She came and went right out the door. I didn't have to do anything else.  

    Before we went for our walk, I turned off my Apple computer. I looked for some old files yesterday and couldn't find them. The iCloud drive was gone, and with it, all my old files. When I got home and turned on the computer, there they were.

   I had Mama K's crew at nine am. Twin E read through a story we had read before but hadn't in a couple of sessions. I had moved on to another one. She aced it- except for two words. She knocked my socks off. She is making more progress than I could have hoped for. 

   The Jerry Johns reading selections for first grade looked easier than anything Twin E had been reading. Is she on a second-grade level? Wow! That would be fantastic. The only problem is Twin E is way behind her. It's hard to have that kind of difference with a classmate, no less an identical twin. 

    Twin E had been happy working on reciting the alphabet in our last session. I asked her if she wanted to do that today. Yes. While teaching her the alphabet and the vowel letters, I also teach chunking.

    When fourth-grade K came on Zoom, he seemed in a bad mood. I asked him how he felt about working with me today. I acknowledge moods. It works better if I accept someone's feelings. He said he wanted to go first. Okay. 

    I asked if he needed help with mixed numbers, which we covered last time. Nope. Great. His teacher had yet to assign a new writing project. I worked on reading comprehension. He did so well that I bumped him up. It was too high. He could have figured it out, but he panicked. That will be our next project, dealing with his fear. He denied he felt fear. When I asked him if his heart was racing, he said yes. That is fear. He's a bright boy. He will ace his studies if I can get him over this hump.

  Judy called. She asked if I had been there for the parish center's blessing. Did I know who was there? Yes. The Clintons. She had the whole story about why they were there. The name of the parish center is The Grace Center. It is named after the disabled daughter of a wealthy couple, devoted Catholics, and frequent visitors to the Big Island. They contributed one million dollars to the project in exchange for naming the center after their daughter, The Grace Center. They have put a lot of money into finding a cure for their daughter's condition. She is twelve now and confined to a wheelchair. Judy brought her disabled grandson to the event. She showed him to the couple. The husband knew of a group researching FoxG1, the boy's disability. 

   Back to the Clintons: The girl's father is a good friend of the Clintons. He worked for Clinton when he was president. He was also friends with Chelsea, who is on the board of directors of the Grace Science Foundation, devoted to finding cures for rare birth diseases. Matt Wilsey, Grace's father and cofounder of the foundation, was also on Clinton's team when he was in office.