Comments for Running With Books

Comment on Checking In by Corey~ living and loving

Corey~ living and loving — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:47:23 +0000

well well well. I haven’t been reading blogs….while I actually still write mine now and again. Good to get an update though. Sounds like things are busy, but good. Glad to hear it.

Comment on Blue Denim by Mama Bloggas July Group Writing Project Links.

Mama Bloggas July Group Writing Project Links. — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:19:59 +0000

[...] Blue Denim by bellevelma [...]

Comment on From a Phone by Snags' Dad

Snags' Dad — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:56:49 +0000

Yeah, like the word “nuts,” which he used correctly the other night watching America’s Funniest Videos when a kid hit his dad in them with a Wiffle (C) ball bat!!! Youch!

Comment on Shh… It’s a Secret! by Magic Tricks

Magic Tricks — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:00:50 +0000

Nice article, I just jumped across it on Mixx. You wont’t mind if I add your article link to my web site?

Comment on The Bad Thing You Didn’t Know About Me by Kylie

Kylie — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:14:50 +0000

Im glad Im not alone!! My addictions are lip balm AND hand cream!! I have them everywhere, and no, I wont kiss my fiance if Ive just applied lip balm!! I use everything going and must have at least 20 different varieties in my hand bag, I can quite easily spend £30 a go on lip balms! One tube will just about see me through the week. I start to panic if I cant find my lip balm and have even left work to go home and get more as i lost it, I now keep a stash at work! My boss didnt understand though! I dont know what it is but I have to have it and if Im delayed getting to it Im more crabby than if I cant have a fag! This cant be normal surely?! Never spoken to doctor about it as I think I sound stupid! But people keep telling me it can harm my lips… any truth to this??
Kylie x

Comment on Everyday Math by Lynn

Lynn — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:29:11 +0000

Heh, heh, heh…Oh, you have my utmost sympathy. Really. I’ve dealt with this deplorable program for 7 years now. I consider it crippling to say the least. Just wait until they give your child not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 different ways to subtract and then give what IMHO, is tantamount to 2 practice examples before they go skipping off to algebra for 10 minutes before skipping off to geometry for another 10, statistics for around 15, and measurement for around 5. Don’t worry ‘tho, he’ll “spiral” back to it eventually – hopefully he’ll be one of the chosen few who actually remember how to do it without having to be retaught it yet AGAIN. Be mindful that he will be told not to solicit your help because you “won’t know how to do it.” If he struggles, rest assured that it will be you who doesn’t “get it,” his teachers who “don’t know how to teach it” or him because he “lacks motivation.” Funny, it NEVER seems to be because it’s a horrible program developed by people who consider themselves “experts in pedagogy.” Well, perhaps they’re experts in pedagogy, but as near as I can tell, they’ve got a lot to learn about child psychology, and what stress does to a family seated around the kitchen table at night doing homework.
As far as calculators go, be careful what you wish for. My DH is of “mentor age” of many of the younger men who work with him. It’s appalling to him to have to wait for a charge to locate a calculator to do a simple calculation. These are young men who “came of age” in the constructivist mathematics period i.e. the “New, New Math.”
As far as multiplication and division algorithms go, prepare the bottle of Tylenol for the impending headache you’ll have as you calculate from left to right vs right to left of traditional algorithms. You can do it, but prepare for a level of frustration beyond what you think it’ll be.
I wish you good luck on your endeavor. I suggest that you approach your child with the utmost caution, but make sure that he knows the easiest way to find the correct answer, and try to be sympathetic to his plight to avert sheer frustration. If he’s talented in math, you are lucky and he may do alright, but if he’s like the rest of us “regular schmucks” who need one way to solve a problem to mastery before throwing 4 other ways to do it, he may well learn how to despise math.
One small note of hope if-you-will. EDM is on its third revision. With each revision, it seems to be ever-so-subtly becoming more like traditional math. Fractions for example, are now delved into more than two pages of two workbooks. This is a good thing.
Again, I wish you good luck, and I wholeheartedly advise you to speak up – loudly if necessary – should you find your son lacking in the basic skills he needs.

Comment on All I Need is a Miracle by Corey~ living and loving

Corey~ living and loving — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:47:09 +0000

great post. I think you are on to something though….no stinky tag miracles are coming his way…he will only get crumbs.

Comment on All I Need is a Miracle by Connie Quarrick Hall

Connie Quarrick Hall — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:08:31 +0000

“so basically, he fed them crumbs”
you’ve just made my day….SO funny.

And I know all about the blanket thing….my son is TWELVE and still sleeps with his blankie. (though he does hide it when friends visit, which I find amusing) Can you imagine the shape it’s in after 12 years?

Comment on “sss-fear” by Melanie

Melanie — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:55:52 +0000

Welcome back.
I have been checking every so often over the last few months as I always found your blog to be very interesting and amusing.

Comment on Now That Would Be A Torturous Vacation by Corey~livingandloving

Corey~livingandloving — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:59:57 +0000

oooooo sounds like he is getting a bit adventurous.