Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 

 

  I slept well for the first half of the night. Then the pain set in. I couldn’t’ take ibuprofen and Tylenol because my stomach was empty. Once I had some food in me in the morning, I took the pills when I finally remembered to. It has never been my first impulse to take medication. I need an external prompt, like someone saying, “Take something.” Not even pain is enough.

   I had a session with Mama K’s crew for the first time since June 2, when I had my operation. Twin A was the more advanced. She was reading the second story in the Carpenter series before the break. Today, I started with the first story and then read the second. She was halting. I asked if she figured out each word as she read. Yes. It was time to start her on automatic processing. I began explaining the process to her. I couldn’t hold her attention. I would start the following week again. Given her resistance to unfamiliar information, it may take several sessions before I can get through a presentation on the objective and procedures for learning automatic processing. Twin E had more trouble with the reading before the break. She made it through the first story. Both girls had forgotten the word there. They have very weak memory systems. One has to wonder why.  

   With third grade K, I continued working on comprehension, asking detailed questions on individual sentences at several levels. He knocked my socks off. He was much improved. I also checked his handwriting. I observed his hand movement while writing. He wrote fairly quickly. His letters were easy to read, but he still had problems with the veridical orientation.

   I spoke to Mama K after. Twin A had held on to what she had, but there was no improvement. Twin E had lost a little. Third-grade K made great improvement in his comprehension. Mama K reported a difference in his oral comprehension and verbal expression skills. His handwriting is trivial. I will work on a more advanced passage for comprehension. I may start with a low fourth-grade passage. He will be going into the fourth grade.

  I took a three-and-a-half-hour nap after that session. I still need a lot of sleep. The PT told me this was normal after the operation. That’s good to know.

   My phone rang while I napped. I was too tired to answer. I wound up being B asking if I needed anything from Costco while he was there. I texted him to get frozen broccoli if he was still there. He texted me he would share the package he had just bought. There are four packages within the larger one, two for me and two for him. When I offered to pay, he said I would pay him back when I made my next purchase.

   I had my second session with Adolescent D since school ended. He spent a week traveling from Florida to California with his uncle and eight-year-old cousin. In our last session, I worked on convincing him of the need to use conscious action to learn. D had adopted the attitude that he should never have to make a conscious effort to learn. I have seen many children who do not know how to study. Their idea of studying for a spelling test is to look over the list until they can recognize the words. They have no idea how to do it. Where did I learn? From my parents, who drilled me. With D, it was something else. It was a lack of knowledge combined with the belief that having to make an effort meant he was stupid. Today, he made that effort. When I asked him to rate the session from 1-10, he gave it a 10. Yes, it’s fun to learn if you’re not sitting there like a passive, if not resistant, lump.  

   The other day, I apologized to the participants of my Reading & Writing Office Hours for some crack I made that could have been seen as intimidating. I thought they all stayed in the session because of it. Two of them responded to my email apology. Wow! They both assured me they understood I was joking when I told one of them, “They would be dead to me” if they cut out right when I explained something. They assured me they stayed because they found what I had to say helpful. The young woman who dropped out when she received a phone call explained that the call was from her mother. It would have been rude not to answer—her family’s Cambodian. Respect for the elders in the family is paramount. I find it curious she didn’t consider it rude to cut out on me. Usually, someone dropping out wouldn’t be a problem. However, in this case, I was answering her question.

   About half an hour later, B called. Had I seen Yvette? Yes, briefly this morning. B needed a ride to town to pick up his truck. I volunteered. The only problem was it was pouring. We have had these impressive rain storms every day. If it doesn’t rain during the day, it does at night. I mean, it pours and pours. He came up with an umbrella. I had him unplug my car. Then he escorted me to the car after carrying Elsa there. She loves to go for rides. I took her along since it was just a quick there and back. 

  I discovered there was a Season 8 of Endeavor. Now, that was satisfying.