Joylyn

remind me again that Lexie will learn to write.

Today she took three messages. She couldn't write down (or didn't) any
of the names. They were all parents from the soccer team. She wrote
down the phone numbers. I couldn't read them. I could see that the 0's
lookied like C's, and the 7, 9, 4's were backwards. One number she got
all wrong, I still don't know who it was that called and I have no way
of finding out.

This was not funny, If she's goingto answer the phone when Dad's asleep
she needs to take a proper message. I told her, you don't have to
answer the phone, we have voice mail. Just let it ring. But really, at
8, shouldn't she be able to write down a phone message? She writes not
at all.

I need reassurance that this is OK.

I should add, I think this is part of her eye issues, fine motor skills,
etc.

Help?

Joylyn

Betsy

**She writes not
at all.

I need reassurance that this is OK. **

My 9 year old boy doesn't write at all. And I literally mean not a
word, although he knows how all the letters are formed.... uh... mostly.

There was some stuff on the HSC list (CA) recently that I found
comforting, claiming that stilted resentful writers are created by lots
of early writing drill. (I guess I have drifted from handwriting to
composition, but sometimes I lump the worries together.)

It's worrying for me, too, but I'm trying to ride it out.

I am going to remount our whiteboard on the wall, it's been down since
we moved.

Betsy

PS I think it's a fine motor issue in my child, too. My husband's
handwriting is torturous. Obviously lots of handwriting practice and
being kept after school to write things over is not a winning approach
for everyone. Yick.

Deborah Lewis

***...at 8, shouldn't she be able to write down a phone message?***

Dylan didn't write at eight.

He can take phone messages now (he's eleven) but he asks the caller how
to spell stuff and has them repeat the number slowly. He'll say, "I'm
sorry, I'm a kid, can you slow down and help me?" <G> Almost everyone
now just leaves messages like "call Amy" then the number.

Does she know she can ask the caller to slow down, repeat, help spell,
etc? I'd remind her about that.
You could ask her to tell callers to call back if they don't hear from
you by a certain time.

She probably doesn't have much reason to write aside from a few phone
messages which can't possibly be as important to her as they are to you.
<g>

Good reasons for writing: Sneaking messages to friends during class -
she won't need that!
Sending love notes to some romantic interest - she won't need that for a
few more years. <g>
Filling out job applications. - probably won't need that until she's
older.

She sounds just right to me.

Deb L

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/7/03 9:47:17 PM, joylyn@... writes:

<< But really, at
8, shouldn't she be able to write down a phone message? She writes not
at all. >>

I threw a fit one week a couple of years ago after both Kirby and Marty
botched phone messages. I yelled. I said IF you cannot ask them to spell their
names and you can't double-check the phone number after you write it down, DO
NOT EVEN TOUCH THAT PHONE, don't call out, don't answer it, just DON'T. I
can't BELIEVE people think they've left a message and that I will call them back
and I can't even begin to, yada yada yada until I lost steam.

I told them to practice writing fast, just goofing around, just while they
were watching commercials or whatever, to just practice writing down phone
numbers, to practice writing their names fast, just doodle. I didn't need to see
it but they needed to do it because it was an important thing for them to know
if they ever wanted to use a phone again.

They take MUCH better phone messages now. Marty tends to type them in a
file on my computer desktop (not perfect, because sometimes the computer freezes,
though it hasn't happened with a message up, I've just worried about it).

I wasn't willing to force writing lessons on them, but once they honestly
botched some things that were potentially important (I don't even know if they
were homeschoolers or old friends or salesmen), then came a real need to know.

<<I need reassurance that this is OK. >>

I think she'll get it.
I hope she gets it without you going banshee-like as I did.

Sandra

[email protected]

On Thu, 07 Aug 2003 20:43:52 -0700 Joylyn <joylyn@...> writes:
> remind me again that Lexie will learn to write.
>
Rain (ten and a half) has been writing a lot more lately. I was worried a
few weeks ago after the Resume Writing Issue, but she seemed to recover
with no lasting effects. For some reason, writing notes to each other has
been a big thing in the last two shows she's done. During "Emperor's",
she and a few friends made up treasure hunts for each others, and wrote
letters to send each otherto the next clues. During this show, she and a
friend have been writing notes to each other in character, and Rain has
gone so far as to burn the edges of the paper she writes on and then
stain it with tea, so it looks like authentic "Lost Boy" paper. I just
think it's all really cool, and it's totally kid-driven, all I've done is
suggest doing the burning over the sink.

The other thing Rain has taken up recently is email. She has a few
friends she writes to, and she actually checks her email almost every day
now. She writes fairly long emails, as far as I can tell, and likes
getting email back. She set up the program to spellcheck emails before
they go out, so she doesn't worry much about spelling when she's writing,
and her spelling has actually improved.

I was a little taken aback a month ago when we went back to the bay area
for her friend's birthday party, and all her old non-writing friends were
now writing long paragraphs in birthday cards... OTOH, one of the moms
said she had hired a writing tutor (for her then-nine yr old). I am glad
I didn't panic, because it's really cool to watch her tackling this on
her own. So, on a reassurance-level, I think Lexie is doing fine...

If she wants to take phone messages, though, I can see how making them
legible would be an issue. Rain still occasionally reverses a 3, although
if she stops to think about it she knows which way they go. At 8, though,
she made a lot more reversals (although only numbers; she's never
reversed letters, for some reason, except for Z). When she needed to
write a number forwards, she would usually check the computer keyboard to
see which way they went. Maybe you could write the numbers 1 - 9 in big
writing and post them somewhere near the phone? Or show her some tips,
like reading back the number after she takes it and then fixing anything
that's hard to read. Or maybe you could leave a calculator near the
phone, and she could punch the number into that when she takes the
message, and then later copy it on paper? With Rain at 8, taking phone
messages at 8 was hard because the person talked more quickly than she
could write, so she would try to write quickly and it would be illegible,
but doing it in a calculator would be faster. What she generally ended up
doing was just taking names, because generally I could look on the soccer
roster or homeschool group phone list or wherever to get the number...

Dar

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/7/2003 11:44:50 PM Central Daylight Time,
freeform@... writes:

> If she wants to take phone messages, though, I can see how making them
> legible would be an issue.

I have instructed my son that the way to take phone messages is to ask the
person to call right back and leave a message on the answering machine.

Tuck


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Betsy

**I threw a fit one week a couple of years ago after both Kirby and Marty
botched phone messages. I yelled. I said IF you cannot ask them to
spell their
names and you can't double-check the phone number after you write it
down, DO
NOT EVEN TOUCH THAT PHONE, don't call out, don't answer it, just DON'T. I
can't BELIEVE people think they've left a message and that I will call
them back
and I can't even begin to, yada yada yada until I lost steam.**

You can even cover this with the "video curriculum". (See, there's
nothing in the world that can't be covered with videos. <G>)

I'm thinking of the scene in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant thinks he's
lost all chance of dating Julia Roberts again due to his daft roommate
Spike's lousy message taking skills. It makes the point vividly.

Betsy

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/7/03 11:06:52 PM, ecsamhill@... writes:

<< I'm thinking of the scene in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant thinks he's
lost all chance of dating Julia Roberts again due to his daft roommate
Spike's lousy message taking skills. It makes the point vividly.
>>

Any excuse to watch that movie seems good enough for me!

Then I'll watch "About a Boy" and then I'll watch "Four Weddings and a
Funeral."
(Darn, I might have to wait until after the conference.)

Sandra

coyote's corner

Hi,
My son was a public school student (he's 28 now).
In the 2nd grade he could barely read (they wanted to put him in the 'ungraded room' - I 'ungraded' them.
Jean-Luc learned to read using Star Trek comic books. It took us barely any time at all.
However, my son is a Tech Sergeant - USAF. He teaches avionics at Sheppard AF Base - his 'usual' job is keeping F-16 's in the air.
He's a 4.00 student at the university in town.

He still can't spell. He still dislikes taking messages.

He's okay w/ that.
Your son will be fine. Honest. Let him be.
Janis

So what.








0
----- Original Message -----
From: Deborah Lewis
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 12:30 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] writing, again


***...at 8, shouldn't she be able to write down a phone message?***

Dylan didn't write at eight.

He can take phone messages now (he's eleven) but he asks the caller how
to spell stuff and has them repeat the number slowly. He'll say, "I'm
sorry, I'm a kid, can you slow down and help me?" <G> Almost everyone
now just leaves messages like "call Amy" then the number.

Does she know she can ask the caller to slow down, repeat, help spell,
etc? I'd remind her about that.
You could ask her to tell callers to call back if they don't hear from
you by a certain time.

She probably doesn't have much reason to write aside from a few phone
messages which can't possibly be as important to her as they are to you.
<g>

Good reasons for writing: Sneaking messages to friends during class -
she won't need that!
Sending love notes to some romantic interest - she won't need that for a
few more years. <g>
Filling out job applications. - probably won't need that until she's
older.

She sounds just right to me.

Deb L



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/8/2003 12:06:51 AM Central Daylight Time,
ecsamhill@... writes:

> I'm thinking of the scene in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant thinks he's
> lost all chance of dating Julia Roberts again due to his daft roommate
> Spike's lousy message taking skills. It makes the point vividly.
>
>

I think there's also a Friends episode where Joey loses an acting job due to
Chandler's botched phone messages. That would also be a good one!
Amy Kagey
Email me for a list
of used homeschooling books!
<A HREF="http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/default.asp?sid=Z0939&gid=1684902">my Usborne Books website!</A>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dan Vilter

I am speaking at the Homeschool Association of California conference in
Sacramento this coming week on The Benefits of Television. Some of you may
recall that Sandra and Kathy and I gave a talk last year on video games that
was (I think) well received. That inspired the TV session for this year.

I would like to cite some shows or movies that have been on TV very recently
- like in the past week or two. Could we brainstorm a few of them here?
I'd like to do some sort of hand out crammed full good programming.

For example, tonight we watched the Simpson's episode where they do Hamlet,
Joan of Arc and Homer's Odyssey. It was ripe with opportunity to Talk about
Homer (not him, the ancient guy) and sirens and Shakespeare and burning
people to death.

We also recently watched the Modern Marvels on non-lethal weapons where they
talked about sensory depravation and how effective that foamy, sticky glue
is a stopping people but they don't use it because it is very costly to
clean up. And it gave opportunity to talk about the disaster at the Russian
theatre where the knock-out gas that affectively stopped the terrorists from
blowing up the theatre ended up killing over 100 of the hostages.

Or Ebert and Roper because they talk critically about films we have seen and
they intelligently explain their points of view. Saying good things about
bad movies and visa versa. Ultimately ending with either thumbs up or down
from all that gray of good and bad points. Illustrating how incomplete such
black and white answers can be. And how differently we all see the world.

So what good TV programs have you seen lately and why were they good (in a
homeschooling context)?

Thanks
-Dan Vilter

Shyrley

Joylyn wrote:

>remind me again that Lexie will learn to write.
>
>Today she took three messages. She couldn't write down (or didn't) any
>of the names. They were all parents from the soccer team. She wrote
>down the phone numbers. I couldn't read them. I could see that the 0's
>lookied like C's, and the 7, 9, 4's were backwards. One number she got
>all wrong, I still don't know who it was that called and I have no way
>of finding out.
>
>This was not funny, If she's goingto answer the phone when Dad's asleep
>she needs to take a proper message. I told her, you don't have to
>answer the phone, we have voice mail. Just let it ring. But really, at
>8, shouldn't she be able to write down a phone message? She writes not
>at all.
>
>I need reassurance that this is OK.
>
>I should add, I think this is part of her eye issues, fine motor skills,
>etc.
>
>Help?
>
>Joylyn
>
>
>
I don't know how old your Lexie is but my lad, Bryn (10) hasn't picked
up a pen for 4 years, since he left school.
His dad was beginning to fret....trying to hassle me into *making* them
do spelling tests. Blaming me for the fact they
couldn't write.
Two weeks ago Bryn discovered an online game called Runescape. One of
the important parts of the game is typing
messages to other players to bargain for items. On the first day I got a
lot of 'Muuuuuuuuuum, how do you spell ****'
2 weeks further on he is typing and spelling just fine. He still hasn't
picked up a pen cos he hates writing.
The same with my 8 yo. He flatly refuses to write. Loathes the whole
idea, yet he's typing away on Runescape as if he's
been spelling for years. 2 weeks ago he couldn't spell his name.
(I'm talking one finger typing here in case you're worried about motor
skills)
When the interest comes, there ain't no stopping them ;-)

Now, all I have to do is reassure DH that they will learn maths IF and
When they WANT to.

Shyrley

Paula Sjogerman

Since it's summer, it's hard to talk about the last week or two (we're
mostly watching the fourth season of Buffy on DVD <gg>. I'd use West Wing as
an example. Aside from the obvious points about government, politics and
current events, we always have great conversations about ethics, character
development and writing when we watch that.

Paula

[email protected]

Queer Eye for the Staight Guy. Now, what CAN'T you learn there? <g> Fashion, decorating, food & wine, style, tolerance. It's all there.

~Kelly---but maybe that wouldn't appeal to your audience! <g>

Kathleen and David Gehrke

Hey Dan,
My kids love junkyard wars. My boys will often head
out and try to create things and have their own
junkyard wars. I love the creativity it inspires. My
fourteen year old daughter is a music buff. My
daughter watches, or records TRL every day. She
watches the video clips, downloads lyrics off the
Internet and burns cd's from Kazza. She has the top of
all popular music collections. We have never been fans
of reality TV.. But last season we did watch Survivor
as a family. It made for great discussions about who
deserved to be the last survivor and about
ruthlessness and deceit. We discussed survivor skills
in our own family. The show was marginal, but I really
felt like it was a good learning project for us all.
In the cartoon world. We love Dora the Explorer. Even
my big kids will be walking around quoting Dora. And
we love Rugrats. The slaughter of the language and
usual lesson on doing the right thing and being
honest. My daughter who was very, very shy, when she
was five wanted to be Angelica. I said she is the
mean one.. Ashton thought that was great. Her power
was a quality Ashton desired. Ashton at seven is not
mean or shy.
I do not know if most kids do this, but my kids pick a
character in lots of shows we watch. "I'm him", They
shout, each assigning to be a person in the story.
And then later they play being the character from the
show. In similar situations. I think that TV gives
them a spark for imaginative play is great. Hope I
have not been to long winded. Good luck Dan.
Kathleen
--- Dan Vilter <dan@...> wrote:
> I am speaking at the Homeschool Association of
> California conference in
> Sacramento this coming week on The Benefits of
> Television. Some of you may
> recall that Sandra and Kathy and I gave a talk last
> year on video games that
> was (I think) well received. That inspired the TV
> session for this year.
>
> I would like to cite some shows or movies that have
> been on TV very recently
> - like in the past week or two. Could we brainstorm
> a few of them here?
> I'd like to do some sort of hand out crammed full
> good programming.
>
> For example, tonight we watched the Simpson's
> episode where they do Hamlet,
> Joan of Arc and Homer's Odyssey. It was ripe with
> opportunity to Talk about
> Homer (not him, the ancient guy) and sirens and
> Shakespeare and burning
> people to death.
>
> We also recently watched the Modern Marvels on
> non-lethal weapons where they
> talked about sensory depravation and how effective
> that foamy, sticky glue
> is a stopping people but they don't use it because
> it is very costly to
> clean up. And it gave opportunity to talk about the
> disaster at the Russian
> theatre where the knock-out gas that affectively
> stopped the terrorists from
> blowing up the theatre ended up killing over 100 of
> the hostages.
>
> Or Ebert and Roper because they talk critically
> about films we have seen and
> they intelligently explain their points of view.
> Saying good things about
> bad movies and visa versa. Ultimately ending with
> either thumbs up or down
> from all that gray of good and bad points.
> Illustrating how incomplete such
> black and white answers can be. And how differently
> we all see the world.
>
> So what good TV programs have you seen lately and
> why were they good (in a
> homeschooling context)?
>
> Thanks
> -Dan Vilter
>
>


__________________________________
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coyote's corner

Joylyn,
Honest, your child will "learn" this when she's ready.
Perhaps, if you're really nervous about it - you could make up games.....
Brianna & I have to spell certain words so that Teah (our dog) doesn't get excited.
Some of the words are
out
eat
business.

also, Brianna loves to draw - she draws what I call 'psycho-delic' - you know that maze like drawing??
She started hiding her name in the maze - now she's up to words like
success
desire
humor

she also asks me how to spell many words and so I do.

Your kid is going to learn what she needs to learn.
As for the messages, I had to explain to Brianna that this is our business phone and it was better to let the voice mail pick it up rather than her get flustered - 'cos it ain't worth her getting flustered! :)

When she was ready - she started to take messages.
As part of her choice - to answer the phone rather than let voice mail pick it up - it was her responsibility to make sure I or she could read the message.
I also have caller id - and that helps allot.
When Brianna wanted to practice, I would call her from the cell phone or from my next door neighbors home and give her messages. (Brianna thought this one up)

The bottom line is this - have faith, have patience. One day your baby will walk up to you w/ a message that is readable and wonderful! and you and she will feel this rush of emotion. Celebrate!

Keep us posted.
Janis


----- Original Message -----
From: Shyrley
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] writing, again




Joylyn wrote:

>remind me again that Lexie will learn to write.
>
>Today she took three messages. She couldn't write down (or didn't) any
>of the names. They were all parents from the soccer team. She wrote
>down the phone numbers. I couldn't read them. I could see that the 0's
>lookied like C's, and the 7, 9, 4's were backwards. One number she got
>all wrong, I still don't know who it was that called and I have no way
>of finding out.
>
>This was not funny, If she's goingto answer the phone when Dad's asleep
>she needs to take a proper message. I told her, you don't have to
>answer the phone, we have voice mail. Just let it ring. But really, at
>8, shouldn't she be able to write down a phone message? She writes not
>at all.
>
>I need reassurance that this is OK.
>
>I should add, I think this is part of her eye issues, fine motor skills,
>etc.
>
>Help?
>
>Joylyn
>
>
>
I don't know how old your Lexie is but my lad, Bryn (10) hasn't picked
up a pen for 4 years, since he left school.
His dad was beginning to fret....trying to hassle me into *making* them
do spelling tests. Blaming me for the fact they
couldn't write.
Two weeks ago Bryn discovered an online game called Runescape. One of
the important parts of the game is typing
messages to other players to bargain for items. On the first day I got a
lot of 'Muuuuuuuuuum, how do you spell ****'
2 weeks further on he is typing and spelling just fine. He still hasn't
picked up a pen cos he hates writing.
The same with my 8 yo. He flatly refuses to write. Loathes the whole
idea, yet he's typing away on Runescape as if he's
been spelling for years. 2 weeks ago he couldn't spell his name.
(I'm talking one finger typing here in case you're worried about motor
skills)
When the interest comes, there ain't no stopping them ;-)

Now, all I have to do is reassure DH that they will learn maths IF and
When they WANT to.

Shyrley


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ADVERTISEMENT




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kelli Traaseth

Last week on the Fairly Oddparents show,on Nickelodeon we had a great
discussion about US History.

Timmy, little boy/main character, got to meet with people from American
Revolutionary times. He was struggling with his history homework and the
internet. So his fairy godparents bring these historical people to meet him
and help him. Things touched upon: Signing of the Declaration of
Independence, met up with George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, John Hancock, Benedict Arnold (who tried to masquerade as
George, wood teeth and all)

Our discussion also included, leadership, politics, time travel: they go
into a scenerio of what if Benedict Arnold had been successful and we were
all British now, (yes, Shyrley, you would like it!) British colonialism,
obsessions,(they figured out the real George from putting out a coat rack
made of wood and he wanted to chop it <g>) and dentistry through the ages
<g>.

Don't know if this is what you are looking for, but I was amazed.

Fun!

Kelli~


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Vilter" <dan@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 8:57 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Good TV programs


> I am speaking at the Homeschool Association of California conference in
> Sacramento this coming week on The Benefits of Television. Some of you
may
> recall that Sandra and Kathy and I gave a talk last year on video games
that
> was (I think) well received. That inspired the TV session for this year.
>
> I would like to cite some shows or movies that have been on TV very
recently
> - like in the past week or two. Could we brainstorm a few of them here?
> I'd like to do some sort of hand out crammed full good programming.
>
> For example, tonight we watched the Simpson's episode where they do
Hamlet,
> Joan of Arc and Homer's Odyssey. It was ripe with opportunity to Talk
about
> Homer (not him, the ancient guy) and sirens and Shakespeare and burning
> people to death.
>
> We also recently watched the Modern Marvels on non-lethal weapons where
they
> talked about sensory depravation and how effective that foamy, sticky glue
> is a stopping people but they don't use it because it is very costly to
> clean up. And it gave opportunity to talk about the disaster at the
Russian
> theatre where the knock-out gas that affectively stopped the terrorists
from
> blowing up the theatre ended up killing over 100 of the hostages.
>
> Or Ebert and Roper because they talk critically about films we have seen
and
> they intelligently explain their points of view. Saying good things about
> bad movies and visa versa. Ultimately ending with either thumbs up or down
> from all that gray of good and bad points. Illustrating how incomplete
such
> black and white answers can be. And how differently we all see the world.
>
> So what good TV programs have you seen lately and why were they good (in a
> homeschooling context)?
>
> Thanks
> -Dan Vilter
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

Nancy Wooton

on 8/8/03 7:21 AM, Paula Sjogerman at sjogy@... wrote:

> Since it's summer, it's hard to talk about the last week or two (we're
> mostly watching the fourth season of Buffy on DVD <gg>. I'd use West Wing as
> an example. Aside from the obvious points about government, politics and
> current events, we always have great conversations about ethics, character
> development and writing when we watch that.
>
> Paula

We've eschewed the summer reruns and reality shows (we HATE those shows) in
favor of borrowed Beavis and Butthead DVD's. We had no cable when B&B were
running, so this is all new to us. Alex now does a flawless Cornholio
impression. We did have a brief geography discussion regarding the location
of Lake Titicaca (titi ca ca), and whether or not it's in Nicaragua. Oh,
and we looked up "bunghole."

Everything is educational.

Nancy

Nancy Wooton

on 8/7/03 9:14 PM, Betsy at ecsamhill@... wrote:

> **She writes not
> at all.
>
> I need reassurance that this is OK. **
>
> My 9 year old boy doesn't write at all. And I literally mean not a
> word, although he knows how all the letters are formed.... uh... mostly.
>
> There was some stuff on the HSC list (CA) recently that I found
> comforting, claiming that stilted resentful writers are created by lots
> of early writing drill. (I guess I have drifted from handwriting to
> composition, but sometimes I lump the worries together.)
>
> It's worrying for me, too, but I'm trying to ride it out.


My son is now 13, taller than me, and has become a writer. I had to sneak a
look at this, as he tends to hide his brilliance from his adoring mother :-)
This is part of a 9-page walkthrough for Zelda the Wind Waker he's writing
for the Ganon's Tower forum, where he is a regular poster:
***
Head back to land and go into your house, climb up the ladder once inside,
you¹ll find your grandma there. You¹ll go into a cut-scene with your grandma
explaining a bit of history, showing you the family shield, and giving you
the hero¹s clothes. This is Link¹s signature green tunic. (what¹s with
grandmas and giving kids clothes for holidays?)

Well, aryll asked you to come see her, so let¹s do that, there¹s not much
else to do. You could go see orca and sturgeon, they¹re the two brothers who
live in the double-decker house. Orca will give you sword training, but
won¹t give you the sword itself. (yet, heehee.)
Sturgeon will give you little bits of advice so useless, a 3 year old in a
coma would be bored. But you never know, I didn¹t look at his advice, but
maybe some of you do.....
***

"A 3 year old in a coma would be bored"??? Geez, where'd this kid get it?

Alex is my total unschooler, btw; his sister was subjected to a year of
Calvert School. He recently got very upset because the Mad Libs he was
doing asked for a present tense verb, and he didn't know what that meant.
He had to ask just as I was going out the door for work, too... I couldn't
explain it well enough for him in his agitated state (he thinks he's
stupid), so I suggested he put the word "shit" in on every verb space, then
see if they read right, or if they needed "ing" or "ed." I don't know if he
did it, but I left him cracking up instead of crying. I hope he did do it,
because he clearly can use verbs even if he can't identify the case.

His handwriting is legible printing, suitable for comics. He still aligns
the crossbar of lower case "t" and "f" with the baseline, a characteristic I
didn't correct when he was learning to write. Now it's a choice, not a
mistake. My 16 y.o. dd, Laura, types away on her preferred forums and IM's
(neither had typing lessons, but both sound faster than me <g>). She still
prints large letters, but when I asked, showed she could write small, neat
letters, but prefers large ones.

I can't remember them taking phone messages at 8, but then, they wouldn't
have been alone to take them.

Nancy

Janet Hamlin

Caroline is almost 9 and she would not be able to take a phone message and
write it down, and she may even have a problem just getting the number down
without transposing things. She never answers the phone.

OTOH, Thomas (5yo on 8/30) would probably do a better job (he's got a thing
for order, is particular, and is less likely to transpose things. He
doesn't answer the phone, either.

Difference in right brain and left brain thinkers, I guess.

Janet

[email protected]

We were watching CSI last night, and they were talking about how cicadas
are born and then burrow underground for 17 years, and then when they
come out they shed their skin and then can fly, but then they only live
for another day or so.

I'll admit that I didn't remember the details, but Rain is next to me and
she did (although she says she already knew about cicadas). I think we
learn a lot of stuff from CSI and Law and Order and those crime drama
shows, but they're my current faves so maybe I'm biased. They're also
good for problem solving and critical thinking skills, and for thinking
"out of the box". Oh, and I like the autopsy bits...

We saw King of the Hill last night, and it triggered a nice discussion on
transubstantiation and Catholicism in general ("So, Catholics are into
cannibalism why?" - stuff I never asked about during my Catholic
childhood). It was the one where Peggy pretends to be a nun to get a
teaching job. We've also learned about propane there.

Rain watches American Juniors, and she now knows who Gladys Knight and
the Pips were (she's one of the judges).

More may come to me...

Dar


On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 06:57:50 -0700 Dan Vilter <dan@...> writes:
> I am speaking at the Homeschool Association of California conference
> in
> Sacramento this coming week on The Benefits of Television. Some of
> you may
> recall that Sandra and Kathy and I gave a talk last year on video
> games that
> was (I think) well received. That inspired the TV session for this
> year.
>
> I would like to cite some shows or movies that have been on TV very
> recently
> - like in the past week or two. Could we brainstorm a few of them
> here?
> I'd like to do some sort of hand out crammed full good programming.
>
> For example, tonight we watched the Simpson's episode where they do
> Hamlet,
> Joan of Arc and Homer's Odyssey. It was ripe with opportunity to
> Talk about
> Homer (not him, the ancient guy) and sirens and Shakespeare and
> burning
> people to death.
>
> We also recently watched the Modern Marvels on non-lethal weapons
> where they
> talked about sensory depravation and how effective that foamy,
> sticky glue
> is a stopping people but they don't use it because it is very costly
> to
> clean up. And it gave opportunity to talk about the disaster at the
> Russian
> theatre where the knock-out gas that affectively stopped the
> terrorists from
> blowing up the theatre ended up killing over 100 of the hostages.
>
> Or Ebert and Roper because they talk critically about films we have
> seen and
> they intelligently explain their points of view. Saying good things
> about
> bad movies and visa versa. Ultimately ending with either thumbs up
> or down
> from all that gray of good and bad points. Illustrating how
> incomplete such
> black and white answers can be. And how differently we all see the
> world.
>
> So what good TV programs have you seen lately and why were they good
> (in a
> homeschooling context)?
>
> Thanks
> -Dan Vilter
>
>
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>
>
>

Betsy

**I would like to cite some shows or movies that have been on TV very
recently
- like in the past week or two.**

My 9 year old boy is interested in History Detectives and dreams of
being on Antiques Roadshow. He doesn't know this would be considered
nerdy by the mainstream 9 year old boy population.

(I know it's nerdy because there are jokes on Frasier about the two
brothers watching Antiques Roadshow.)

Betsy

Nancy Wooton

on 8/8/03 10:19 AM, Betsy at ecsamhill@... wrote:

> (I know it's nerdy because there are jokes on Frasier about the two
> brothers watching Antiques Roadshow.)

Veneer!

;-) Nancy

Pamela Sorooshian

I just like this example so much - don't leave this one out of your
talk!!!!

This kind of ability to think in complex ways, look at shades of gray,
but still come up with a decision is a vital skill.

-pam


On Friday, August 8, 2003, at 06:57 AM, Dan Vilter wrote:

>
> Or Ebert and Roper because they talk critically about films we have
> seen and
> they intelligently explain their points of view. Saying good things
> about
> bad movies and visa versa. Ultimately ending with either thumbs up or
> down
> from all that gray of good and bad points. Illustrating how incomplete
> such
> black and white answers can be. And how differently we all see the
> world.

Betsy

**He recently got very upset because the Mad Libs he was
doing asked for a present tense verb, and he didn't know what that meant.
He had to ask just as I was going out the door for work, too... I couldn't
explain it well enough for him in his agitated state (he thinks he's
stupid), so I suggested he put the word "shit" in on every verb space, then
see if they read right, or if they needed "ing" or "ed." I don't know if he
did it, but I left him cracking up instead of crying.**


When is it proper to say "shat"? I want to know.

Betsy

[email protected]

Betsy wrote: (I know it's nerdy because there are jokes on Frasier about the two
brothers watching Antiques Roadshow.)

Raine replies: My kids and I LOVE that show too! Whenever we go to the thrift store, they are on the lookout for some great find.
-Raine
**"Tell me... I forget...show me...I remember... involve me... I understand!"
Ben Franklin**


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joylyn

Any of the food shows. Lexie likes ANY food show. Although I have to
tell you having her tell me I'm beating eggs wrong or not browning
whatever right is amusing. ;-)

Joylyn

Kathleen and David Gehrke wrote:

> Hey Dan,
> My kids love junkyard wars. My boys will often head
> out and try to create things and have their own
> junkyard wars. I love the creativity it inspires. My
> fourteen year old daughter is a music buff. My
> daughter watches, or records TRL every day. She
> watches the video clips, downloads lyrics off the
> Internet and burns cd's from Kazza. She has the top of
> all popular music collections. We have never been fans
> of reality TV.. But last season we did watch Survivor
> as a family. It made for great discussions about who
> deserved to be the last survivor and about
> ruthlessness and deceit. We discussed survivor skills
> in our own family. The show was marginal, but I really
> felt like it was a good learning project for us all.
> In the cartoon world. We love Dora the Explorer. Even
> my big kids will be walking around quoting Dora. And
> we love Rugrats. The slaughter of the language and
> usual lesson on doing the right thing and being
> honest. My daughter who was very, very shy, when she
> was five wanted to be Angelica. I said she is the
> mean one.. Ashton thought that was great. Her power
> was a quality Ashton desired. Ashton at seven is not
> mean or shy.
> I do not know if most kids do this, but my kids pick a
> character in lots of shows we watch. "I'm him", They
> shout, each assigning to be a person in the story.
> And then later they play being the character from the
> show. In similar situations. I think that TV gives
> them a spark for imaginative play is great. Hope I
> have not been to long winded. Good luck Dan.
> Kathleen
> --- Dan Vilter <dan@...> wrote:
> > I am speaking at the Homeschool Association of
> > California conference in
> > Sacramento this coming week on The Benefits of
> > Television. Some of you may
> > recall that Sandra and Kathy and I gave a talk last
> > year on video games that
> > was (I think) well received. That inspired the TV
> > session for this year.
> >
> > I would like to cite some shows or movies that have
> > been on TV very recently
> > - like in the past week or two. Could we brainstorm
> > a few of them here?
> > I'd like to do some sort of hand out crammed full
> > good programming.
> >
> > For example, tonight we watched the Simpson's
> > episode where they do Hamlet,
> > Joan of Arc and Homer's Odyssey. It was ripe with
> > opportunity to Talk about
> > Homer (not him, the ancient guy) and sirens and
> > Shakespeare and burning
> > people to death.
> >
> > We also recently watched the Modern Marvels on
> > non-lethal weapons where they
> > talked about sensory depravation and how effective
> > that foamy, sticky glue
> > is a stopping people but they don't use it because
> > it is very costly to
> > clean up. And it gave opportunity to talk about the
> > disaster at the Russian
> > theatre where the knock-out gas that affectively
> > stopped the terrorists from
> > blowing up the theatre ended up killing over 100 of
> > the hostages.
> >
> > Or Ebert and Roper because they talk critically
> > about films we have seen and
> > they intelligently explain their points of view.
> > Saying good things about
> > bad movies and visa versa. Ultimately ending with
> > either thumbs up or down
> > from all that gray of good and bad points.
> > Illustrating how incomplete such
> > black and white answers can be. And how differently
> > we all see the world.
> >
> > So what good TV programs have you seen lately and
> > why were they good (in a
> > homeschooling context)?
> >
> > Thanks
> > -Dan Vilter
> >
> >
>
>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joylyn

It's past tense.

Today I had a shit, yesterday I shat.

Lexie loves this word. I have never heard her use it in public because
"my vocabulary is well above four letter words" but I know she loves
this word. I do too. You can use it and most people don't know what it
means.

Joylyn

Betsy wrote:

>
>
> **He recently got very upset because the Mad Libs he was
> doing asked for a present tense verb, and he didn't know what that meant.
> He had to ask just as I was going out the door for work, too... I
> couldn't
> explain it well enough for him in his agitated state (he thinks he's
> stupid), so I suggested he put the word "shit" in on every verb space,
> then
> see if they read right, or if they needed "ing" or "ed." I don't know
> if he
> did it, but I left him cracking up instead of crying.**
>
>
> When is it proper to say "shat"? I want to know.
>
> Betsy
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> ADVERTISEMENT
> Click Here!
> <http://rd.yahoo.com/M=244522.3656190.4921519.1261774/D=egroupweb/S=1705542111:HM/A=1595055/R=0/SIG=124dqs3gk/*http://ashnin.com/clk/muryutaitakenattogyo?YH=3656190&yhad=1595055>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/8/03 7:59:27 AM, dan@... writes:

<< For example, tonight we watched the Simpson's episode where they do Hamlet,
Joan of Arc and Homer's Odyssey. It was ripe with opportunity to Talk about
Homer (not him, the ancient guy) and sirens and Shakespeare and burning
people to death. >>

Last time that was on here, Marty and I sat in Holly's room and watched it
with her. It's truly brilliant. And there's another Hamlet reference in the
musical Peter Pan. It wasn't in the 50s video, but it's in the newer one. The
lost boys are asking Wendy how various stories turn out. I can't find a
transcript of that part with google, but after saying "they lived happily ever
after" about various other stories the boys ask about, they ask about Hamlet.
With the same happy voice, she says something like, "Well Ophelia dies, and
Polonius dies. Hamlet dies, and Laertes dies. The queen dies and the king dies.
And they live happily ever after!"

On top of those two pieces of humor my kids have seen the Zefirelli (sp?)
Hamlet, at least in parts, several times. The humor of the Simpsons or Peter
Pan is as helpful for them realizing how famous the story is, who the main
characters are, and what the tone of the swordfight scene is, than if they took a
Shakespeare class and read the whole play, only it's fun and it's quick.

Our TV hasnt' been on much yet not counting playing videos (mostly musicals,
while I was doing housework or preparing for the homeschooling conference in
South Carolina), but today Marty and Holly were watching Jerry Springer, and
Marty was making intelligent comments about the practice of psychiatry and the
history of freak shows in relation to that program, and Holly told us a story
from the new movie "Freaky Friday" about the mom being a psychiatrist and
telling her daughter (who is in her body for the day) that whatever the person
says, she can say "And how does that make you feel?"

I asked if it turned into a joke about the cost of a session, and she said
no, but a guy said something had been really depressing, the daughter-as-mom
said "And how does that make you feel?" and he said "DEPRESSED!"

That was a pretty rich five minutes spent with me passing through the room
where an 11 and a 14 year old were.

(Sorry I didn't answer your question, Dan. <g>)

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/8/03 9:30:54 AM, ikonstitcher@... writes:

<< We did have a brief geography discussion regarding the location
of Lake Titicaca (titi ca ca), and whether or not it's in Nicaragua. >>

"It's between Bolivia and Peru" sayeth the Animaniacs song.


I really like Beavis and Butthead. The same guy who did that does King of
the Hill.

I really like that of the settings of famously satirical, obnoxious "if you
don't get it don't brag" cartoons of recent years, South Park is in Colorado,
Beavis and Butthead seem to be in Arizona maybe, and King of the Hill is in
Texas. So New Mexico is surrounded by landmark cartoon sites. <bwg> AND...
Highland High, where Beavis and Butthead went, IS in Albuquerque.


Mike Judge

A former engineer, Mike Judge achieved animation renown for his dead-on idiot
savant satire of American suburban teen culture in the MTV phenomenon Beavis
and Butthead. Born in Ecuador and raised in Albuquerque, NM, Judge got a
degree in physics at U.C. San Diego. Relocating to Texas, Judge worked as an
engineer and also tried to forge a career as a musician, but found that animation
was his preferred calling. After a Dallas animation festival, Judge's 1991 short
Office Space was picked up by Comedy Central. His 1992 short Frog Baseball,
featuring two sadistic teen cretins voiced by Judge, subsequently led to a 1993
MTV animated series revolving around the heavy metal-loving adolescents
Beavis and Butthead. Anchored by the pair's witty critiques of muse on the teen boy
culture of raging hormones, loud music, fast food, and pyromania. Despite
fierce criticism of its overt idiocy and a 1993 scandal involving its influence
on a fire-setting viewer, Beavis and Butthead ran for several years, spawning
lucrative merchandising and Judge's first big-screen feature, Beavis and
Butthead Do America (1996). Judge branched out into network TV in 1997 with Fox's
popular, Emmy-nominated animated comedy series King of the Hill, featuring
executive producer Judge as the voice of laconic Texas propane salesman and family
man Hank Hill. Bringing his sweetly jaundiced view of American suburbia to
live-action film, Judge expanded his early short into the full-length feature
Office Space (1999). Humorously chronicling the myriad forms of office cubicle
and chain restaurant hell, with visually clever detours into the suburban white
male affection for gangsta rap, Office Space wickedly celebrated one man's
revolt against 1990s corporate culture and became a small hit. Despite his
success with live action, Judge continued working primarily in animation. Along with
his ongoing work on King of the Hill, Judge also added his voice talents to
the outrageously tasteless yet smart South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
(1999). Judge is married and has two children. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide