Thursday, April 10, 2008

Good Old Lunch Time

I had an epiphany today. My lunch hour is to me in the here and now just the same as recess was to me when I was in grammar school. I have not changed a bit in 44 years!

I don't remember being a very enthusiastic student. I loved Literature, Art, History....the rest....I either wasn't interested in at all or I hated it...as in MATH! Yuck!

I was never a fan of grammar. And I know it shows. I know I make all kinds of grammatical mistakes. I have a friend who took a college grammar course. Hearing her talk about the stuff they talked about in that class made me (almost) wish I could take it. Now, at my ripe old ungrammatical age, I really wish I knew the rules.

The teaching method my elementary school used to teach reading was the Look & Say method.


look and say method
Method 2:

With the 'look and say' method children learn to recognize whole words or sentences rather than individual sounds. Your student will look at a word which you sound, and in turn will repeat the sound (the word). Flashcards with individual words written on them are used for this method often accompanied with a related picture.

If you don't use a picture with the word the child will probably make a wild guess as to what it says trying to remember what sound you made previously. This is not a good method if you don't include pictures.

It is also recommended with this method to use whole short sentences rather than individual words. Write a short sentence representing the picture displayed. Say the sentence and ask the child to repeat it while pointing and looking at each individual word as he/she repeats what you said.

By making word cards you can create different sentences again and again. You can use each word card first to learn individual words and then laying the word cards together to form a sentence. You may need to make several word cards using the same word; e.g. the - and in order to form proper sentences.

In my humble (not really) opinion this is the CRAPPIEST method every devised by pedagogy!

This reader is typical of the ones I was taught from.

Guess Who
Scott, Foresman and Company
Copyright, 1951

Check out the scintillating vocabulary.


What child would not learn to love to read after being exposed to this?

Even so, I do remember Dick, Jane, Sally and Spot with affection. It must be those rose-colored glasses I must use to read now!


Somewhere around the 3rd or 4th grade I began to love to read. I was unstoppable. When I was 10 I was allowed to walk to the neighborhood library alone. I was in heaven! I could go whenever I ran out of books. (those stingy librarians would only allow you to check out something like 3 books...what was up with that? I wanted to take home a whole stack.) No one imposed a reading regime on me, but neither did anyone guide my choices. Once grown I realized there was a whole world of literature that I had missed out on.

Ever since those days reading has been my #1 hobby/safe haven/friend. Until my divorce. My chemical make-up became topsy-turvy. Add to that the fact that somewhere during this time menopause began and I lost my mind (concentration) for good. I still have problems sticking with and finishing a book today. But I have discovered that I can listen to a book on CD and I don't have the same concentration issues. My drive to and from work is 30 to 45 minutes each way so I get quite a bit of reading done.

I began this post writing about recess/lunch hour and it has become something altogether different. So I'll end where I began...lunch.

I have been salivating for a Greek salad with a particular local restaurant's ranch dressing for days. Today, I splurged. It was yummy.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for all your help tonight!

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  2. That salad looks dee-lish. Love those hot green peppers on the side---they are my favourite. Very Greek.

    You are not alone in your reading dilemma. I too have lost the ability to concentrate and read for hours on end, as I used to do in my youth. I become distracted and lose focus often, and all too often, fall asleep! But, I do perservere and get my reading done slowly but surely. I always have a book on me, to whip out and read when I am waiting in a line or situations like that.

    p.s. I hope you enjoyed that yummy looking salad.

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  3. lavinia ladyslipper, isn't it awful. Some days I mourn the loss of myself.

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  4. First off, grammar. I had no idea that I had no command of the English language until I started blogging. But I had resigned myself to the fact that I can only do the best that I can. Is that even correct? Reading I love to read. I love a good mystery or what people refer to as a summer/beach read. The salad looks great.

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  5. After raising a house full of teenagers, my vocabulary was full of "like", "awesome", "really" and "cool" and that was about it. I rediscovered the english language when I started blogging a few months ago. You are not alone in losing your concentration ability and it is definitely hormones to blame...isn't it lovely? I will have to try the books on tape!

    Thanks for the trip down memory lane with Dick, Jane and Sally! ;)

    And your salad looks heavenly!!!!

    (I'm adding you to my sidebar faves...hope you don't mind.)

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  6. If that salad is from where I think it's from I wish I could've had lunch with you!

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  7. I had forgotten how much I like Pearl Buck, too. Adding her to my favorite books...

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  8. Willow,

    Thank you for adding me to your blog roll.

    I mourn the loss of my hormones ... funny when you are young, all that comes along with hormones is so tiresome. If I had only known how wonderful having them is!

    I keep thinking of other music and books I really love too. So hard to collect all of my thoughts at once. So I keep updating my profile.

    Mod Girl, not sure if we are talking abou the same restaurant. I think I know the one you mean...it is too far from work to go there on lunch hour. If it is the same, I have been dreaming of their humus. Yum. Greek has been on my mind lately.

    Lookbeyond...grammar smarrar! Who needs it!!! Reading, I love.

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I'm glad you stopped by and I look forward to your comments. As Dr. Fraser Crane would say, "Hello, I'm listening."