Apparently you can now find my site by using the search string:
Should I feel guilty for not posting bail?
Wow. Did Google mis-read that one.
Totally want to know the story behind that.
And mysterious searcher, I can say with some confidence that Google cannot tell you what you should and should not feel guilty about. Your faith is misplaced.
Because I am the kind of Mom who is all about the fun, I had my two school-aged kids do Fast ForWord over the Christmas holidays. That’s right. I am a mother of a mother.
Fast ForWord, Language to Reading module now has version 2. So, all the stuff I posted describing the games is really just a waste. But the same principles are underlining the new games — sound discernment, language comprehension, processing speed, working memory, attention and focus. The visuals are much flashier (due to Flash technology) and the games a bit more entertaining. Still lots of rewards and the program keeps you 90% successful. There is also the addition of a best score feature for each game, so you can tell if you’re beating your previous high score.
The kids did about 12 sessions each. My 10-year-old son got through 33%, my 12-year-old daughter got through a whopping 75% of the program. So, if I was to take that pace and figure out how long they would have taken to complete the program entirely, my son would have taken just over a month and my daughter less than 3 weeks. That about doubles the pace at which they were completing the modules in the summer.
So, maybe they’re just getting good at Fast ForWord, or maybe they’re getting better at the stuff that Fast ForWord trains.
Hard to tell.
Since I last wrote an update there have been other noted improvements.
My son got his best report card ever (no A’s yet, but several B’s). His handwriting is slightly improved. He got to the third round in the school spelling bee. He finished the Harry Potter series and has moved on to the Narnia series.
My daughter’s report card is also improved although her improvements are mostly from C’s to C+’s. I’ve noticed a huge improvement in her writing ability–sentence structure, paragraph structure, handwriting, punctuation. When I read her writing, I can finally detect a train of thought instead of random thoughts thrown on to a page with a bunch of connectors and commas. She got to the fourth round of the school spelling bee. She finished her first big book — Twilight. She can actually read quite fast now. She forgot to read the book assigned over Christmas vacation “The Bridge to Terabithia” and then read it in less than 2 hours, which is pretty impressive. Of course, she can still miss some major plot points when she’s reading that fast, especially because it seems like her ongoing issue in many contexts is detecting the main point.
So, overall, there seems to be some marked improvements in several areas. It’s not like waving a magic wand — poof! brain issues gone! Would that were the case. But it’s certainly been one of the most effective therapies we’ve tried.
Update: Go to my Fast ForWord page to get all my postings about Fast ForWord plus some other useful links.
Really. Have you seen my glasses?
Because I thought they were right here, but they’re not. It’s not like yesterday where I was rooting around in my purse for my keys only to discover that I had them in the hand that was holding the purse. No, no. This is different. I’ve checked all the usual places — my desk at home, desk in the office, my face, kitchen window ledge, night table, bag, purse, meat drawer, car trunk — and they are just no where to be found.
This actually isn’t the first time I’ve lost my glasses. I’m still bitter about the last pair because they were so cool — brown from the front and green from the side. It took me nearly a year before I finally admitted to myself they were lost. By that time, that particular design wasn’t being made anymore, so I had to reconcile myself to a whole new style — the current lost glasses. And now I’ve grown quite fond of them, so I really wish they would reappear.
Did you take them?
Because it’s not funny anymore. I’ve had a headache for days now. It’s not like I have time to go back to the eye doctor or the $400 to pay for another set just because of the one bum eye.
It has got me wondering if perhaps I have my own personal Bermuda Triangle going on. Because, now I’m thinking about a number of other things that have inexplicably been lost around me. This is only a partial list:
And may I just note at this point, that I don’t think it’s at all fair that a personal Bermuda Triangle should come without the Bermuda. I think future versions should contain that feature.
So, I figure it’s either a personal Bermuda Triangle that I carry around with me like those cartoons that have the guy with the little rain cloud hanging over his head, OR I have a cross-dressing Gollum with digestion issues, and a bum right eye, living between the floorboards who’s in need of a good read by flashlight and some way to upload data and photos to the net for some nefarious purpose. Perhaps he’s posting picture of his Precious on craigslist.
It explains a lot.
Hey…wait a second. Remember when YOU-KNOW-WHO was coming over and I didn’t have time to clear off the desk that was piled about a foot high with crap all over it, so I just crammed it all into a canvas shopping bag and stashed it in the toy room? Well, I can check, but really, why would I have put something I use in with a bunch of junk? It can’t hurt to check I guess. Hang on a second. I’ll be right back.
So?
So they were there okay? Shut up!
That only proves that my Gollum doesn’t have a bum right eye.
I know, what’s with the dearth of postings? Christmas holidays are over Tentative Equinox North.
And I hate reading posts that start off with “Sorry I haven’t posted much lately.”
But there you go. I also thought I would never say “Don’t make me pull this car over.”
Some dreams just have to die.
Here’s my list of excuses:
Choose one, or all of the above.
And it’s not going to get any better for a few days, so just cool your jets in the archives. None of you read the stuff from January 2008 anyway, (except for Mahoney Musings) so there you’ll find at least 1/2 an hour of entertainment and edification. You know if you’re into getting edifices. I’m not judging.
I am off for a relaxing weekend with Tentative Equinox South in her native land courtesy of my Pool Boy. Maybe I’ll bjournal about my travels. Maybe I won’t. No promises.
Because I also hate it when people write a long post about all the posts they’re going to write and then don’t. I don’t want to know what you’re going to write about. I just want to read it.
And now I have to finish packing.
Have a great weekend everyone.
For Christmas 1978 I received a 1979 Calendar. It was The Dennis Lee and Frank Newfeld Alligator Pie Calendar with delightful drawings (by Frank Newfeld) and an accompanying poem for each month (by Dennis Lee). Most of these poems I can still recite from memory. This week something twigged in me the memory of this poem (from April):
by Dennis Lee (originally from “Garbage Delight”)
I am sitting
In the middle
Of a rather Muddy
Puddle,
With my bottom
Full of bubbles
And my rubbers
Full of Mud,
While my jacket
And my sweater
Go on slowly
Getting wetter
As I very
Slowly settle
To the Bottom
Of the Mud.
And I find that
What a person
With a Puddle
Round her middle
Thinks of mostly
In the muddle
Is the Muddi-
Ness of Mud.
This poem came to mind absolutely spontaneously. I somehow became aware that there was this little voice in the back of my head chanting these words over and over. It wasn’t until I finally took a second to pay attention to the words that little voice was saying that I realized what was going on. I’ve been giving myself my own message.
In a couple of areas in my life, I’ve been stuck. I’ve been sitting in the middle of a rather muddy puddle, dwelling on my stuck-ness and the muddiness of mud. And the great thing about being stuck, is that it makes for entertaining stories with your friends, in a way, it’s wonderful to be stuck in this great big mud puddle. You can really wallow in mud.
It reminds of a saying I brought home to tease my Dad with (him being an engineer).
Arguing with an engineer, is like wrestling with a pig. After half an hour you realize the pig likes it.
Not only have I been stuck, I’ve been enjoying being stuck.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the swamp is great. Remember (from my list of 100 things) that my most memorable theatre experience involved a set that was a giant mud puddle. The swamp is the place of germination, of stewing — a symbol of that creative unconscious. I think that by and large we don’t do enough walking around in our own swamps. It’s just not a great place to get stuck in. You need to start bringing that stuff to the surface, show your shiny rocks and orchids to the tribe, or else your swamp starts to stagnate.
Do you think I’ve overthought a kid’s poem too much? Nah. Just a reminder that there are truths hidden everywhere, even in innocent looking children’s poems. We just need to take a moment to hear them.
Sidebar: It was interesting perusing my 1979 calendar. I recorded all the hot dog days at school but not my little brother’s first birthday (sorry James). I did note that the we were going to the Muppet Movie on October 21st though, so at least I got the important stuff. There’s a mysteriously named “Chicken orders due” on February 18, and a “Blessing of Cars” on April 22. Apparently we had a federal election on May 22. I took a piano exam in January and went to a swim meet in December. I know I started doing a paper route because I’ve recorded all the days I had to go out collecting. And most importantly I recorded on Friday, July 13 that Sky Lab was falling.
Our X-Box 360 needs to be sent to the mothership for repairs. It’s got a severe case of the lockjaw, poor thing. It either can’t or won’t open its maw to receive or discharge the feeding discs (okay, the games, if you must be so whimsically challenged). After following the Gateway horror story that my sister is still in the throes of, I’m a bit sceptical we’ll ever see it again. (Really, DO NOT BUY A GATEWAY anything because if you ever need it to be serviced, you may find yourself in a psych ward. Just a friendly little public service announcment.)
Anyhoo. The thing seized up while it had a rental game in it, and we had to endure weeks of the woman with the voice of Roz from Monsters Inc.:
You still have the video game you rented.
Yes, as we explained to you the first two times, it’s locked inside the console and we haven’t had the time to endure an hour-long wait with customer service to figure out how to get it out.
You’ve had it for quite some time.
We know. I’m sorry about that.
I’ve got my eyes on you.
<sigh>
Once we (the Pool Boy) finally gathered the energy, we did find out how to get it out, which involves taking the front panel off, poking around with a stretched out paper clip (very technical) until you hit a release mechanism and then it kind of sticks out far enough that you can pull it the rest of the way (that’s what she said).
That didn’t fix the problem however, it just meant we could get Roz off our case.
Nope, back to customer service we (the Pool Boy) went. And after much repetition of our very complicated address (CA-NA-DA) to what I gather was someone with a thick New Delhi accent (not that there’s anything wrong with that) we were to expect the arrival of a box. We were then to package the wounded X-Box up in the box and send it along. We couldn’t get warranty, but we did manage to negotiate down to a $30 charge — not too bad.
Anyway, the box arrived yesterday.
It bears the hopeful address of — wait for this, you’ll love it…
Fulfillment CentreCan’t you just hear the harps and the beating of angel wings while yearning X-boxes have their innermost wishes granted? It’s enough to warm the cockles of your heart.
Seeing a department called…The Fullfillment Centre…(you have to say that with a slight pause, and then an uplifting sing-songy voice) It reminded me of a time when the Pool Boy was in a car accident and as it was a lease (the car, not the Pool Boy, he’s all mine) we had to deal with a department called — and I’m not making this up…
The Total Loss DepartmentPoor things. Isn’t that a terrible name for a department? I bet everyone suffers from malaise and low self-esteem in that office. I can assure you that the department lived up to the promise of its name. My hope is that a department named…Fulfillment Centre…(don’t forget the sing-song) is full of optimism, good will, and a can-do attitude. Kind of like Santa’s workshop.
Now you. What would you name the department for which you really work (you know, to give it an accurate description)? What would you name the department of your fantasy job?
Watch this video:
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66 (it’s 20 minutes long, but it’s truly brilliant).
Then read this article:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=503829 (and if you think the situation is different in Canada, for the most part you would be wrong.)
You may also perform these tasks in reverse order. I’m a benevolent dictator.
Remember, how in in my last post I was a titch irritated by how we use a business term to describe the strategizing, planning part of the brain (executive function)?
It’s everywhere. We have learned to apply business principles to science, education, and creativity, just to name three obvious areas. And, it seems to me that these are areas that may not be well served by forcing them into a business model.
Sir Ken Robinson uses the term strip-mining, which, to my ear resonates with truth and not just about education. We also strip-mine our creative people and our thinking people. Let’s find out everything they’ve got, mine it, find it’s market, exploit it, use it up, get it on the shelves with a price tag on it. And when the creative types complain that they’re feeling like they need a bit of time off to fill the well, we’ll sell them classes, and books, we’ll tell them they must not want it enough (which is a bit like saying I guess you just don’t want to win the lottery enough), we’ll teach them how to run themselves more like a business.
We need a new model. And with business failing so spectacularly in the last few months, maybe this is the time. It’s time to let this one die, so something else can come replace it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about brains lately.
It’s a side effect of having a child with brain issues.
I’ve begun to wonder if the primary focus of brain training should primarily be to train the executive function.
Because if you’ve got that you can overcome pretty much any handicap.
Barbara Arrowsmith-Young is a good example of this. She was born with brain asymmetry — very disabled in some regards, very able in others. And one of the ways in which she was ‘able’ was in her executive function. So, she was still able to get a post-graduate degree despite the fact that she had to read and re-read material many times because one of her dysfunctions made finding main points difficult. Her memory was excellent though. So, my bet is that she essentially memorized everything in order to pass her examinations. She then went on to invent a whole new way of dealing with learning disabilities by curing herself (and continues to help thousands of kids with learning disabilities through her Arrowsmith Program).
But what would have happened to her had her executive function been the part of her brain that was on the disabled side of her brain equation?
Similarly, I find that when my kids WANT to do something, they can get good at it. But if I have to be their outside executive function and do all the planning, scheduling, marshalling resources, focusing attention, nagging, monitoring and policing, well, I’m just driving everyone (myself included) crazy and we’re not making much headway.
Example: for years, I’ve been nagging my two older kids to read. I’ve read to them, we’ve sat down to read through children’s classic literature together, I’ve bought them beautiful editions of books, I’ve refused to let them see the movie versions until they read the book. All for naught. Because it was all about my agenda. But once they decided there were books they wanted to read, then I didn’t have to nag once. They went and did it, forsaking television, their homework, even bugging their baby brother. They got involved in the magic of that storybook world.
Leading me to my ultimate parent realization…
It’s much easier to be a good parent when your kids WANT to do something.
The trick is in getting to the wanting.
Which leads me back to my original thought. Don’t we need to train the executive function of the brain first? Because if my kids WANT to solve their brain puzzles, then there will be no stopping them. And they would also then have the brainpower to strategize, to work through the hard places, to keep focusing on achieving that goal. They wouldn’t be doing because “Mom said I had to.”
Fast ForWord is another example of this. My daughter loved doing it because she was actually quite good at it. The programme is motivating with all the reward pellets it hands out. So, as a result she moved it through it at a really good clip. My son on the other hand didn’t like doing it, so it became a battle of wills to get him on that computer. So, he moved through it at about half the rate at which my daughter moved through it. There were still good results, but if he had been self-motivating, he would have done better.
My daughter desperately wants to be on stage. But because her executive function is impaired, she can only see the final goal–being in that spotlight in that fantastic costume with the audience applauding wildly. She doesn’t want to believe me when I tell her that we need to get her to dance class, to singing class, to acting class, that she will need to PRACTICE. And so, I’m left again being her executive function. Enter Mama Rose. “Baby, I’m going to make us a star!” Because that’s what it’s going to look like to the world. That I’m pushing her for my own reasons and not hers.
I wish it wasn’t named Executive Function now that I’ve repeated it about fourteen times. It irritates me that we have to understand our entire world through the lens of business. Especially since business has not turned out to be such a stellar example to follow of late. My brain is looking for a bailout too.
But then, I’ve been a tad irritable lately.
I can see this trail of thought is going to turn out to be a series, because I have lots more yarn to untangle on this one.
Enough for today though.
Has anyone out there in the internets ever come across Executive Function brain training?
Just wanted to let subscribers know that I’ve now created a page dedicated to Fast ForWord on my site. On this page you will find links to all my Fast ForWord posts as well as related outside links.
I sometimes have moments when everything becomes clear. I understand why my hair is going grey, why I suffer from tension headaches, and why there always needs to be beer in the fridge. This afternoon, I had one of those clarifying moments.
We have two bathrooms. One is upstairs. One is downstairs. The downstairs one is where we shower. So, because I’m always thinking of other people’s welfare (like my own) when they (me) exit the shower dripping wet, I occasionally like to stock the downstairs bathroom with towels. That occasion was today. (I know right? You’re totally jealous of my glamorous life.) I was folding the clean towels and putting some in the upstairs linen closet while also making a pile of folded towels which I intended to take downstairs. And when I say “I intended” what I mean is that I intended someone else to take them downstairs.
This is where child labour comes in.
Calvin (10) had just arrived home from school, he was doing the usual after-school veg in front of the tv (the new tv!).
Calvin, could you please take 6 towels from this pile and take them to the downstairs bathroom?
His eyes glanced over at me until he heard the word ‘please’ and knew I was asking him to do something. At that point, he tuned out.
Griffin on the other hand is all over it.
I do it! I do it!
He comes screaming over, picks up as many towels as his four year old arms can carry, and starts to head down the hallway.
Knowing that Griffin + big load in his arms + stairs = stitches, I lighten his load considerably.
Calvin is still staring at the tv.
Calvin I need you to take 6 towels to the downstairs bathroom.
Total repeat of the glance over and the tune out.
Maybe I’m making this too complicated for him. Perhaps. Let’s just summarize the main points shall we?
Calvin! 6 towels! Downstairs bathroom!
Huh? (Eyes still fixated on the tv.)
6 towels! Downstairs bathroom! NOW!
During this whole exchange Griffin has been going back and forth a couple of times and has lessened the pile of towels considerably. I’m not even sure there are 6 towels left. Nevertheless, I’m not letting Calvin get away with the fade out.
Calvin! Now!
Calvin finally and arduously gets to his feet. I continue to fold the clean towels. Calvin appears in the hallway and dumps 6 towels on the floor in front of me.
The six towels that Griffin had taken to the downstairs bathroom.
Let me repeat that.
Calvin brought me six towels that only moments before, Griffin had taken to the downstairs bathroom.
Does anyone else feel a seizure coming on? Is it just me?
There is obviously only one conclusion to draw from this. Here it is:
Well, that, and don’t talk to your kids if the television’s on.
Please, someone, share a parenting story to make me feel a little less alone. Or just tell me it will get better (even if that’s a lie). Or, just say hi. It’s a bit echo-y in here of late. I need some company.
I’m off to get a beer, but I’ll be back. I await your showers of support.
 | John on Dilbert 2.0 |
 | Tentative Equinox No… on Come Walk With Me |
 | Michele Forsey on Come Walk With Me |
| Tentative Equinox No… on Fast ForWord — Round… |
 | jstpddle@me.com on Fast ForWord — Round… |
| Tentative Equinox No… on Jump! JUMP for the Math! |
 | fauteuxadmin on Jump! JUMP for the Math! |
Tentative Equinox North
Tentative Equinox 