Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)

[SandySu]

Tutoring report.

I started with the girl. They never look at the words I leave for them as homework, so I've decided to just not write them out anymore. We go over the words they didn't know at the next lesson so they can do their worksheets. But first, we got out the infamous purple folder and read her 2 short books. One was a little harder, since they mentioned animals she didn't know, like a beaver and a buffalo and a gerbil. And they called a lollipop a sucker. Who calls it that? Maybe it's a regional thing. I remember I was 11 or 12 before I heard a seesaw called a teeter-totter. She read a selection I provided, too. And I gave her mazes to do when it was her brother's turn. He even wanted to do one.

He did one of the 2 worksheets I had for him, then read about April Fool's Day and answered some questions about what he had read. It was easy for him, but still, we found some words he didn't know. They'll be for next time.

Then he did a maze, too. I left 3 more for his sister so she could do them sometime when I'm not there, if she wants.

I guess word searches are out now, and mazes are in. What other word game might she like, where I could use her vocab words? I really have to think of something. It also seems Mad Libs are a thing of the past, though I still have a few in case anyone gets in the mood again. And we didn't do a page in the alphabet book this time. I know! Both kids seemed into the little exercise to see how many words they could make out of "April Fool's Day." I was impressed that the first word the girl came up with was "floor"!

 

[SandySu]

Great pics as always. You have so many cool photographic spots so close to you. Mostly what I have is water, not that I'm complaining. I love water. I'm almost surrounded by it.

Note that all 3 of my latest photos have water in them. One of them is exclusively water. You can do a lot with water. I bet you can come up with some beauties, judging by what I've recently seen.

 

[3mg Meniere]

How many words can you make out of "----------" is very good! I am wondering if you could take a break from reading, and switch to auditory comprehension-- listening skills. Read a story to her, and ask comprehension questions, then ask her to tell the story back to you. Work with them separately on this, because of the competitive nature of the relationship. An alternative would be to read them a story about a brother and sister, and have them play-act the story back to you. Amelia Bedelia stories often include sibling scenarios, and would be useful here.

Give me some time, and I will think of some more activities. Remember, they are also learning English-- not just learning academic skills.

We had suckers and teeter-totters, not lollipops and see-saws. but regional? Chinese is not regional, it is international. Who knows??? <throws hands up in air>

 

[tmcase]

Note that all 3 of my latest photos have water in them. One of them is exclusively water. You can do a lot with water. I bet you can come up with some beauties, judging by what I've recently seen.

Yes, I have a lot of water pics but I only have a bay, Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan De Fuca near me. No rivers or lakes. I could probably dig up some old pics of rivers and lakes but they might have been on my hard drive that crashed. I'll look around.

 

[3mg Meniere]

You could also tape-record yourself reading stories to them. They could then follow along in the book. Parents with minimal knowledge of English could facilitate this, or he could facilitate it with her.

 

[tmcase]

Ok, I found my favorite lake pretty fast. This is Blue Lake up in the North Cascade's, a 2 mile hike in and not many flat spots to pitch a tent. These were take a long time ago with a 35mm camera.

I usually went backpacking with my brothers or a girlfriend but one time I went by myself and my German Shepherd and stayed for a week just living on the trout in the lake. My brothers joined me the following weekend and brought hamburgers and beer. Hamburgers never tasted so good after eating trout for 5 days.

I should add that I had the whole lake to myself until my brothers showed up.

 

[3mg Meniere]

If mazes grab their attention right now, you could use some mazes as a reward for a good tutoring session.

Tandem reading or reading out loud together, can help when independent reading feels too challenging. Remember that when reading challenging material they can get so overwhelmed with the difficulty of sounding out words and the other tasks of reading, that comprehension is lost. I really think you might have been choosing materials that are too difficult for them.

Talking to the teacher about the Accelerated Reader program, and finding the kids' levels may be critical at this point.

 

[SandySu]

How many words can you make out of "----------" is very good! I am wondering if you could take a break from reading, and switch to auditory comprehension-- listening skills. Read a story to her, and ask comprehension questions, then ask her to tell the story back to you. Work with them separately on this, because of the competitive nature of the relationship. An alternative would be to read them a story about a brother and sister, and have them play-act the story back to you. Amelia Bedelia stories often include sibling scenarios, and would be useful here.

Give me some time, and I will think of some more activities. Remember, they are also learning English-- not just learning academic skills.

We had suckers and teeter-totters, not lollipops and see-saws. but regional? Chinese is not regional, it is international. Who knows??? <throws hands up in air>

Thanks for the suggestions. The sucker was in a book from school that the little girl had to read. It wasn't Chinese, and the girl didn't know the word. I told her it was another name for lollipop, and then she understood. The teeter-totter was a word I learned when I was a kid. I had always called it a seesaw. I think these kids use seesaw, too. Maybe they learned these words from me, or maybe they're just East Coast words. But the teeter-totter was used by someone near Rochester, NY, and I came from Philadelphia, PA, so who knows?

 

[SandySu]

Ok, I found my favorite lake pretty fast. This is Blue Lake up in the North Cascade's, a 2 mile hike in and not many flat spots to pitch a tent. These were take a long time ago with a 35mm camera.

I usually went backpacking with my brothers or a girlfriend but one time I went by myself and my German Shepherd and stayed for a week just living on the trout in the lake. My brothers joined me the following weekend and brought hamburgers and beer. Hamburgers never tasted so good after eating trout for 5 days.

I should add that I had the whole lake to myself until my brothers showed up.

Gorgeous photos. You are really brave to be in the wilderness all alone. I don't think I ever would have dared, even in my young and reckless days.

 

[tmcase]

This is Icicle Cr in Eastern Washington. Again, this was taken a long time ago with my 35mm camera.

 

[SandySu]

If mazes grab their attention right now, you could use some mazes as a reward for a good tutoring session.

Tandem reading or reading out loud together, can help when independent reading feels too challenging. Remember that when reading challenging material they can get so overwhelmed with the difficulty of sounding out words and the other tasks of reading, that comprehension is lost. I really think you might have been choosing materials that are too difficult for them.

Talking to the teacher about the Accelerated Reader program, and finding the kids' levels may be critical at this point.

Recently I challenged the boy with some difficult stuff, but usually, they comprehend what they read. For instance, today, the boy read about April Fool's Day, and there were questions about it at the end, and he zipped through them. Most of the time, the book he brings home to read for fun is harder than the stuff I give him. I think a lot of that goes over his head. For instance, the reference to a professional athlete. He didn't know what that was. Of course, I explained. OK, granted, today one reference was to condiments on a hamburger, and he didn't know what condiments were. That's how I get my vocab words.

 

[SandySu]

OK, one more photo from my walk today, and then I'm off to bed. This is looking across the creek to the side with the closed trail. You can see ice on it, which is why. They always close the trails till May 1.

 

[Renolizzie]

Good morning peeps. Yes, it is still morning here in the West but good afternoon to you East Coasters

I am getting a bunch of clean up work done outside. The trainer cancelled until tomorrow or Thursday. The farrier should be here at noon. This is my week I only clean for a couple o hours at other people's houses so I try to get lots done since I don't have to make sure I am not too tired to clean their houses properly.

Love the photos of the boats.

Hope everyone is having a nice day. It is cooler today but it isn't too windy so far.

 

[rave]

Early this week the brakes went out on my car. Very mushy, but still operable if I went slow. I took it to my mechanic in town. He fixed the brakeline. Just before the brakes went out, it got noisy, so I talked to him about a new muffler. Later he backed out of it, because he knows my regular mechanic, and he could do it. So, the muffler got replaced. OK, here it gets good. All the while, there was a nasty sound when I would try to start my car, but it would start. I hoped it was just dirt in my starter, and would fix itself. Yesterday, it was raining, and the extra moisture, it wouldn't start at all. A friend put me into contact with yet another mechanic, and we bought a junk-yard starter. He towed the car, and installed the starter. He was afraid it was a gear tooth where the engine met the starter, but it was just the starter.

I think everything that was frozen up in my car unfroze, and one problem followed another, and followed another, just because those parts didn't have a protective coat of ice.

The snow is mostly gone now.

Amazing coincidence! My car has been acting and sounding wonky so I asked my BF to test drive it with me last night. At least it misbehaved for him the same as it has been for me. Generally, whenever I try this, the car will behave itself perfectly until I drive it alone again. However, on the way back from our excursion, my Jeeper's brakes went out. Apparently, all four of 'em were smokin' when we got back to the house. The pads were worn out down to the drums. Cars are one thing that I know absolutely nothing about. In my defense, I had asked my son to check the brakes because they'd seemed "wrong". And when I had to have my ball joints replaced, the mechanic had commented on the poor condition of my brakes. But, my son said that they still had plenty of life in 'em and there was nothing to worry about. I won't be asking my son for automotive advice in the future. Just sayin'.

I hope that you get yours fixed with a minimum of expense. My BF is very mechanically inclined - especially with vehicles. So, I'll be getting a brake job for the cost of parts on Saturday. Which all goes back to the comment about taking into account a man's mechanical skills when considering a companion. Too true. But, of course, we need to be equally helpful in our own ways to compensate.

Sandy...I think I've caught your drawing fatigue. I haven't touched my drawing in 3 days. I'm not having any problems with it but I just don't feel like working on it. I hate this!

I read where another artist said she works on several works at the same time, alternating between them so she doesn't get bored or in a hurry to finish. I might try that. I haven't gotten very far on this drawing so I shouldn't be bored but I just can't seem to get motivated. I wonder if it's the nerves again.

That can be a trap. You can get into a mode where you don't want to fight to surpass problems and just move onto the next. I had to install and enforce a rule with myself because I almost always reach a point where a piece looked as if it wasn't going to work. Bulldogging through the problem instead of letting it side-track me was my only solution.

'92 Buick LeSabre. By nice on the inside, I also mean under the hood. She is spotty green, bad paint.

I find with writing that I switch off on various tasks, depending on my mood. Creativity flows from the inside, you can't force it to conform to rigid rules of what to do when.

I couldn't agree more, but there are times when you have to force yourself to do things that you don't want to in order to achieve the ultimate prize of artwork of which you can be proud.

Wow, I'm just the opposite. If I was under pressure I'd be a nervous wreck and would probably screw up the drawing.

Yep - me too. It wouldn't work at all unless I feel free. One reason why I refused to accept commission pieces.

I bought new and kept forever. I had my Chevy Luv pickup truck for 14 years, my Ford Escort for 19 years. The Mustang was a used car, but it's in good shape, so I hope to keep that one, until I die. LOL

A Mustang? Heck yes! Wish I still had my Dad's '65 Mustang. 'Course, the floorboard woulda been a total loss. You could see the pavement when I last saw it.

I think I might go to bed early. It's pouring outside, and rain always makes me sleepy.

Tonight's photo is of daylilies and some water lilies, too, in the lake. This is on the property of the Ithaca Zen Center. They have lovely grounds with lots of flowers. I doubt it's open to the public, but a friend came up here to attend a retreat there, and while she was in the area, I visited her.

Ohmygosh! Just beautiful!! I snagged it for puzzles which I never seem to have time to do anymore.

Thank you. I have tons of photos and I might get carried away. LOL!

And the downside of that would be ... what?

I'll see your sailboat and raise you one.

This was taken during the Wooden Boat Festival in my home town. They have a mock shoot out almost every year.

I wish Rave would check in. I'd like to know how her wrist is doing but knowing her history she probably won't post until tomorrow. Maybe this will draw her out.

The shots have been miraculous. My wrist and hand haven't felt this good in ... forever! I'm being careful not to abuse it though.

Thanks for the suggestions. The sucker was in a book from school that the little girl had to read. It wasn't Chinese, and the girl didn't know the word. I told her it was another name for lollipop, and then she understood. The teeter-totter was a word I learned when I was a kid. I had always called it a seesaw. I think these kids use seesaw, too. Maybe they learned these words from me, or maybe they're just East Coast words. But the teeter-totter was used by someone near Rochester, NY, and I came from Philadelphia, PA, so who knows?

"Teeter-totters" and "suckers" for me too. I grew up in Ohio. Dunno if it's a regional thing but it probably is. Just like we grew up drinking "pop", not "soda". The washer and dryer were in the "basement", not the "cellar". Here in Indiana, the mid-day meal is "dinner", not "lunch", which can lead to all kinds of confusion. What I call "dinner", they call "supper".

Gorgeous photos. You are really brave to be in the wilderness all alone. I don't think I ever would have dared, even in my young and reckless days.

That's one of the reasons that Terry and I click so well. I'd do it in a heartbeat even now.

 

[rave]

Aside from the fact that I feel like I have a brand new wrist and hand, I've been busy. I started three flats of flower seeds in Jiffy peat pellets for my yard-not. The flowers will be planted amidst the resident prairie flowers to add color and interest. So far, I've planted seeds for echinacea, shasta daisies, black-eyed susans, hollyhocks, columbine, sunflowers, and four o'clocks. Today I'll start white peaches, Ranier cherries, some red giant grapes (that looked like a fruit grown near Chernobyl), plums, and a bunch of other flower seeds. I won't put anything outside until the danger of frost is past. Bob Dole (my pet pineapple plant that I started from a pineapple that I rudely consumed) can't wait to get back outside. I also have four primroses that I haven't managed to kill yet that are eager to get out from beneath my brown thumb. I swear I could kill an air fern. Still very little sign of growth outdoors. I do have a couple lovely drifts of crocuses though.

I'm so glad that your son is home safe with you now, Q.

Fantastic photos everyone. I had a ball stealing 'em.

Other than that, I've been fighting with two pharmacies, my neurologist's office, and an insurance company. They were having trouble getting my Copaxone for my MS renewed and out to me on time. Also, there was a snafu with a prescription that I called in last week for anti-seizure meds. My doctor's office kept forgetting to renew the prescription. Ultimately, I ran out and had a rather unpleasant day without it yesterday. That situation is resolved now too, thank goodness.

I also now have all of the pieces sawn for two desk organization projects. Can't wait to build that!! My drill press is now sitting on my living room floor again just waiting for my attention. I never claimed to be "normal", did I?

On top of all of that, I now have a 30% off coupon for Home Depot. Dunno if building materials will qualify, but that's what I intend to find out as soon as I post this. If they do, I will FINALLY get to start work on the shed that I designed in CAD years ago. It will look like a part of the house from a distance with the same siding and shingles, but it will be separated from the house by a breezeway. I'll have to build it in pieces, because I can't afford it all at once. I'm hoping that I can get the posts for the base and the decking to go between the house and shed. I can go ahead and build the base and decking then. After that, I can get the framing done, and lastly, the trusses and roof. Then, when I can afford it, the siding for the building, a roll-up door for Kermit and my tractor, and a walk-in door in the breezeway area. After all of that is in, I'll install a three layer waterfall pond between the shed and the ramp leading off of the front deck. I already have the pump and liners for this. I'm so excited I could squeak!! And yes, I'll probably bombard you with photos of the work in progress.

 

[tmcase]

Hey Rave.

In my defense..."That can be a trap. You can get into a mode where you don't want to fight to surpass problems and just move onto the next." I'm not having a problem with my latest drawing but I like the idea of having more than one going on to change things up a bit. Since I only have 1 brown pencil to do my current drawing which has various shades of brown, that could be a problem. It's a Verithin brown pencil so I could use varying pressure to get the different shades but they don't blend. I plan to get some pastel pencils tomorrow or the next day when I get paid. I've started a 2nd drawing in the meantime.

I'm glad your wrist is feeling better, now just don't over due it and screw it up again.

Yeah, the wilderness trek by myself with nobody else around was heaven. It was so peaceful and quite I always hated to leave. My brother and I did a week long backpacking trip over the Olympic Mts and I don't remember see a single person, just a lot of deer (and mice).

We had a great time.

Hello the rest of you Volties.

 

[JerryRM]

Good morning, afternoon, evening, Peeps. Raven, my Mustang is a 2002 6 cylinder coupe. I learned to drive, on a 1950 Ford (yeah, I'm old). It was a rust bucket and the floorboards were rotted out, too. The older cars are considered as classics and people want them, but IMO they were poorly made rust buckets.

 

[JerryRM]

Hi Terry. It's time for me to hit the road, busy day today and errands to run.

 

[SandySu]

The shots have been miraculous. My wrist and hand haven't felt this good in ... forever! I'm being careful not to abuse it though.



"Teeter-totters" and "suckers" for me too. I grew up in Ohio. Dunno if it's a regional thing but it probably is. Just like we grew up drinking "pop", not "soda". The washer and dryer were in the "basement", not the "cellar". Here in Indiana, the mid-day meal is "dinner", not "lunch", which can lead to all kinds of confusion. What I call "dinner", they call "supper".

Rave, I'm so glad the shots are working so well. I guess it was worth it then. Was it?

I guess it's regional. It was soda where I grew up. How the meal words went where I grew up is that supper was in the evening (6 pm), lunch was midday (noon), but on Sunday, we had dinner, a bigger meal than lunch, more like supper, and that was sometime midafternoon (around 3).

 

[tmcase]

Ha! This is a funny subject. BF calls lunch supper so I'm always confused about what he means. For me Lunch is noontime-ish, Dinner is 6pm -ish. I've never used the word supper. He's from the east coast so I guess that's the difference.