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ADD and ADHD Children Benefit From Learning to Read Early
Many children with ADD/ADHD have language development skills that are weak. They also find it more difficult to communicate effectively to others what they want and become more easily frustrated because of that. When frustration sets in, they start daydreaming or acting out. It is difficult to recognize AD(H)D in infants. The reason for its development at all is uncertain. There are many factors suspected in playing a role in the disorder. Until we rule out the erroneous reasons, we cannot know how to prevent it. The best we can do at this point is ameliorate it. One of the ways of doing so is by increasing the child’s ability to communicate. Language learning is best done when a child is younger than 4 years of age. After 4 years of age, the myelin (material that insulates neurons) has finished much of its growth, making it more difficult to learn languages. The longer it takes to get a child started into reading, the harder it is for the child to learn to read. This is a major point of early learning centers (daycare/preschool). Any good daycare will not just allow the children to play with toys, but will have helpers…
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To Write, or Not To Write of Teaching (“To Be, or Not To Be” rewritten)
To write of teaching or not to write on’t? That is the question. Whether ‘tis better for the mind to suffer the trials and tribulations of teaching malpractice, or to put the pen to paper to oppose it, and by opposing, end it. To train, to teach once more; and by teaching, to end the heartache and the thousands of drop outs that school is heir to? ‘Tis a higher outcome devoutly to be wished. To train, to teach, and in teaching perhaps they learn; Aye there’s the rub, for in that classroom toil, what dreams are born. When they have graduated school, what they shall achieve will give us pause. To teach respectability that lasts a lifetime long; To teach them to stand tall to the sneers and scorns of lesser minds, to end oppression’s wrongs, to be proud even though ridiculed. To bear the pains of lost contests, to rebuff the bully, no matter his size. To teach him to think on his own, so that when it’s quiet, his mind will higher rise. Who would packages bear, grunt and sweat, a day laborers life, never knowing from whence the next meal, and to dread the not knowing. …
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Voting Time
Tomorrow is voting day in the US. Not to sound preachy, but: Have you researched your issues and candidates? This being an off year, most of the voting items are local only. This is where your one vote can make a huge difference. While you still have a day to study the question, do so. Vote only on those issues you have researched. If you have not looked into an issue, how do you know you are voting for what you want. Politicians sometimes word the issues confusingly to get people to vote how they (the politicians) want not how the people want. It’s cases like this where ‘no’ really means ‘yes’ and vice versa. (Insert your own bawdy comment here.) Don’t “not vote” because you think your vote doesn’t count. If we did that, then only one side of the matter would be heard. Years of that will lead to discontent and the discontent will lead to rebellion. Isn’t that why we revolted against English rule in the first place? Because old King George wouldn’t listen to us and treat us like the good upstanding citizens we thought we were? Don’t skip voting because you think everyone agrees with…
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National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo)
It’s the first week of NaNoWriMo. Have you started working on your novel yet? You should and soon. You may love to read, but find it difficult to put together a novelette, much less a full length novel. What topic to write about is one of the toughest questions. First you start on one, then switch to another before even making sense of the first. There are so many great topics out there that need someone, anyone, to put them into words. After a burst of writing for a week, you look back at your progress and think “I haven’t made it anywhere.” You parse your scraps of stories and wonder “How can I piece some of these together to make a decent story under my deadline?” You realize that this piece can go with that piece, and then if you write another page or two you could link them to another piece. Finally you have something resembling a story. But it needs polishing. You rewrite it and come in just under deadline. Then after it’s all done, you look around and realize you still have disconnected scraps of stories waiting to be linked to something. “That’s OK,” you tell…
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Changing Seasons, Are You Ready
As the daylight lessens in the northern hemisphere and the leaves change colors, it is once again time to start looking forward to the holiday season. Halloween is over, Christmas shopping season is starting. Thanksgiving is lost in the middle. More on that on another day. The weather is changing also. Harvest time has passed for most crops. Rural folks are making sure they have the heating oil and wood they need for the winter. Urbanites are turning on their furnaces and calling landlords/repairmen if needed. We should all start preparing for the cold of winter. Ensure your car is ready for the weather in your area. Are the tires properly inflated? Does your heater work? How’s your battery doing? Do you have a blanket in the car where you can reach it without getting out of the car? (The trunk is fine if you can get to it there.) It is best to think about these things before there is cold weather than to wait and forget them till they are needed and it’s too late.
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Small Business vs. Big Box vs. Internet Retailers
The grocery store owner of a century ago knew his customer well enough to know whether or not to extend individual credit to him/her. He could recommend items based upon previous purchases. And he treated his customer like a person; asked about family and happenings in the customer’s life. This was typical of a small business. We as a society lost that when we started shopping at bigger and bigger stores. We became A customer, not THE customer. As the customer we were just an anonymous person picking up what we needed or wanted without (much) advice from the shop owner. The independent shopkeeper started to disappear, replaced by the big box store. Even many of the stores that appear to be small shops are actually owned by franchisees of a large retail chain. And multiple store names are owned by the same small group of people. If you live on either coast, look at your local supermarket chain. Chances are there is at least one chain that has a store every four miles. Look at the store where you buy your clothing. Again, it is likely a member of a larger entity. Do the clerks at these stores know…
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Vocabulary sizes then and now
If in the 1800’s ordinary people had a vocabulary of only 3000 words, and the illiterate had only 500 words from which to choose for use in their limited vocabulary, it’s no wonder that they had difficulty understanding what the well-educated had to say with a vocabulary of 5000+ words. How many words do you use on a daily or even annual basis? That is to say, how many unique words, not how many times do you use the words a, an, the, and other such words. From “How do I Pronounce?” 1885 by Phyfe: 118,000 words were in the dictionary in the 1880’s. 30,000 words were in practical use. 15,000 words appear in Shakespeare’s works. Cultivated persons in general use only 5,000 words. Ordinary people use 3,000 and the lower end of the illiterate population have the use of only 500 words. According to Adolphs & Schmitt (2003), 2000 words can provide an understanding of 95% of conversations. The typical conversation requires only 90% to 95% of the words to be understood in order to understand the conversation as a whole. (van Zeeland and Schmitt 2011) How many more words have been added to dictionaries since the 1880’s? The…