Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! A couple of people seemed to think he's a homeschooler... he's not. He's a public schooled kid. As to what he's been taught there, I really don't know. I suspect it's a combination of material not being covered at school, combined with the fact that he seems to tune out. Unfortunately, I only have him for an hour a week, although that may go up to twice a week in the summer. I'm concerned about how much I can cover in that limited amount of time. I plan to use a lot of non-fiction while helping him with his reading comp and writing, but I'll have to assign some reading as homework. Ideally, though, I'd like to get him more interested in the world in general, so that he'd maybe pick up a book on his own. Someone mentioned that his knowledge lack may stem from a difficulty with processing information in general (even from tv). That may be. I get the feeling he just doesn't care about things outside of his realm. He did say to me, "I only like new stuff," meaning he wasn't interested in the past. If I could find a way to ignite an interest in the world, I think it would help. But it's difficult in the amount of time I have--I have to offset a family lifestyle that is quite opposite to that. I think he is quite weak in conceptualizing, too. Before I started working with him (in math, a year ago), he had no idea what it meant to divide something; every fraction he saw, he called a "half", and so on. He was extremely weak. His understanding of math concepts has improved tremendously. Anyway, part of my goal is to help him understand concepts and think more deeply about things. I will definitely try the book suggestions!

I know; it's surprising, isn't it? I think that she felt a bit offended that I suggested he was lacking in any way, so she was "defending" him. I think the DK Eyewitness books would be a great way to go, as long as I can get him to read or look through them on his own. I'll suggest those, as well as the Magic School Bus books a pp mentioned. P.S. I'm reading Heidi right now, too... last chapter tomorrow!

I checked it out on Amazon, and am definitely interested in having a look in real life. I wonder if I could get a fairly non-motivated kid to read through something like that over time? Yep, you're right. Some extremely basic facts are missing. For another example, he thought that people live "inside" the Earth and that the North Pole is in the very middle, and that the Earth is in a "valley" in space. I should point out that he is not learning disabled or anything like that. It's more like he's never been introduced to basic facts and/or hasn't cared about them or retained them. He's just your average sport-loving, tv-loving, text-loving kid. I wish I could share some field trip experiences with him! No, it was not a test or an assessment. This is just my opinion--lack of basic knowledge is a major underlying issue that I believe affects his reading comprehension, which his mom wants me to improve. I also hoped to have a lively discussion with the Hive because I'm curious whether people commonly identify basic knowledge as a factor in reading comprehension. (I did a bunch of Googling for reading comp strategies, just to see what was out there, and mostly found fairly useless "tips".) Wordly Wise might help, but I feel that he would respond better to something more organic, and the results would be more lasting. I agree that going over terms before the reading would help, and that's certainly a strategy I'll be using with him. But, I think the problem goes deeper. Even if I could share the meanings of individual words, it doesn't help him place the word within his larger store of knowledge. He's not just missing the vocab words, he's missing all the connectors between them. I spent some time giving him a context for the passage, but it eats away at our time pretty quickly. Thanks! I actually just watched this tonight. I completely agree with it, although I feel they could have used better examples. Would it be weird to send the link to the mother? She'll be hard to get on board--she expects miracles from once-weekly tutoring sessions, but doesn't require reading at home, unless it's a school assignment.

BA in Music B.Education I tutor students from K - 10, as well as teach piano lessons. I also do some editing and writing on the side.

Math Mammoth WWE

One of my students recently began working on reading comprehension and writing with me. He is a 12yo sixth grader. The mother wanted to know how he was doing, and I said that one of the areas of concern I have is that he seems lacking in general world knowledge and that I felt it was a huge road block preventing him from really understanding much of what he reads. For example, when we were reading about the first satellites and probes sent into space, he didn't have background knowledge of the word "orbit", of the 1950s as a decade, of the fact that we are one planet of eight in this solar system, what a solar system is, and quite a bit more that would shock most of you. His mother responded that they weren't the kind of family to discuss things like that, and so he hadn't learned it. She implied that knowledge is just knowledge--a collection of facts that doesn't have much impact on anything else. I tried to present the argument that knowledge is a base for understanding what you read so that you can place things in context, create visuals in your mind, understand vocabulary, and make connections that aren't spelled out by the passage. I don't think she believed me. :( So, what do you say? How important is a general world knowledge to reading comprehension? What are the best ways to build this knowledge? Further, if you had to build it in a child through books only, which books or series would you recommend? (Assume there is very basic knowledge lacking in the majority of areas.) And finally, help me convince the mother that this is important (if it indeed is). I will, of course, be teaching comprehension skills as well.

Eeeeeeeek!

Thanks for the advice! I think I will do this, but I'm concerned that I'll end up spending $100 at the repair shop AND then I'll need to get a new laptop as well... grrrrr. Did I mention the laptop is 4 years old? I know to many people that will sound fairly old, but it kind of ticks me off to have to replace expensive things that often. I don't know if the age is playing into it at all.

Thanks for your help! I tried the View Icons thing, and they are truly all gone. I have no idea how to reboot in Safe Mode... After searching the internet and messing around on my computer, I've come to the conclusion that this is almost certainly a hard drive controller issue, which means my computer is probably toast (unless someone can tell me otherwise?) Is there ANY way to access my lost data? Would a data recovery service work? Is it expensive? Has anybody used a program that tries to recover data? Do they work? I saw one priced at $100, but I don't want to spend that unless I think it's going to work. Anyone have any thoughts... please?

So, I went to use my computer this evening, and BAM! My desktop started disappearing, leaving only a black screen with a recycle bin in the corner, plus the start button and icons along the bottom. I've been messing around with it the best I can (limited computer knowledge). It seems my C drive is almost out of memory, as in just a few percent left. My D drive (data) is empty. I've been trying to delete programs, but it doesn't seem to be affecting things positively--I thought it would free up space so the computer could do what it needs, but instead I'm getting messages that "the device cannot free up enough resources" and "drive failure" or something like that. I hooked up an external drive and downloaded a SeaTools for Windows scanning/testing program. So far, it's saying my drives are healthy. So, is this because I ran out of space? Or is it a nasty virus? Can I get back my TONS of files? (My music seems to be intact, but nothing else that I can find... yet it STILL shows that C drive as essentially full!! But my personal files are all empty.) It's a rotten night. I'd be crying, except that I feel numb. Can someone please give me some information or guidance on what to do next? Thank you. :crying:

That's too bad for all the kids involved. You're right, it does seem that piano students are held to a different standard sometimes.

Dd10 is solidifying her cursive; we've worked on it for the past year. Before that, she was in public school and did none. At this point, I require her to do WWE in cursive, but within a few months to half a year, I'd like her to be doing the majority of her work in cursive. However, she can do rough drafts and note-taking in printing, and we plan to begin typing this spring, so by next year she'll be able to do some final copies typed up. Her cursive looks soooo good, but it's still quite a bit slower for her than print still.

Oh my gosh, yes, this movie. *sob*

:grouphug: That does sound frustrating and awful! I wish I had some good advice.

I would smile nicely and say, "You know, I've talked with my fiance, and he's not comfortable with our friendship as it is. Since he's not comfortable, I'm not comfortable either. I just really don't want to be touched or hugged or walked to class. I know you'll understand, having a wife and all." That way, it really doesn't have to be uncomfortable for either you or him for the remaining weeks of class... as long as he gets the message. BUT, if he persists after a nice, but clear, little speech like that--well, then you know he's a creepo who doesn't care one whit about the feelings of you, your fiance, or his wife. And at that point, you can take further, stronger action. No second chances.

I do think your original post felt a bit confusing. I didn't so much think that you weren't caring properly for your dd, just that the diabetes team perhaps thought care was not quite up to par. You seemed to imply (with the info about your own illnesses, plus the word "rainbows") that diabetes care was not going as smoothly as it otherwise could. I'm sorry if that was taken wrongly.

:iagree:

It would probably be shorter to list the movies I DON'T cry at. Really. If there's anything sad, tragic, depressing, circle-of-life-ish, loving, touching, deep, innocent, beautiful... I cry. I'm just wired to get deeply into the characters and feel things strongly. I actually find a good cry while watching a movie is therapeutic, but there are times I wish I could find the "off" button...

You are not alone. For some reason, that's a comfort movie for me, and I pull it out periodically when life isn't going great or I'm having a bad day. I've probably watched it a ten times. That scene gets me EVERY time.

These are excellent points. :iagree:

Yep, that ought to work! ;)

As far as I understand it, nothing will kill the eggs. Only nymphs and mature adult lice can be killed. The eggs must be either removed, OR you can kill them when they hatch but before they become s@xually mature. That's why you should space the oil treatments or Cetaphil treatments by only about 5 days... they don't mature enough in that time to create more little lice. (Note: they *are* mature in 7 days.)

Thank you, Dana! I love the hot and cold cube story further down the page.

Re: the fish thing... I'm shocked they don't know that a bowl and some food is still not enough to keep fish alive in general. Yes, a goldfish or betta can possibly survive those conditions, but there's a lot of know-how missing about how to clean the bowl/water, that a conditioner will be needed before putting chlorinated water in the bowl or you'll kill them anyway, and so on. People just make me shake my head.

None of the above, UNLESS I'm walking in a scary/dark parking lot or I'm driving in a dicey part of the city, which isn't often. (And I'm in the country in Ontario, too. :) ) I do look alert, look around, and use my instincts. Once in a while, they tell me I need to act differently or more cautiously, and I follow them.