Men, Women, Brains and Earning Power

Ever wonder why men earn more? Now don't lose your cool! There are actually strategies you can use to change that for yourself. Dr. Warren Farrell's newly published book, Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap -- and What Women Can Do About It highlights 25 strategies women can use to craft a successful career if that is their goal. Here are helpful insights...

"The pay gap can no longer be attributed to large-scale discrimination against women," Farrell theorizes. "Men who earn more do so not because of their gender but because of the individual choices they make." For instance he suggests women consider the following careers...

Get a technical expertise, and then sell. Example: Female sales engineers (who sell their company’s product) make 143% of male sales engineers.

Within your field, discover the sub-fields that pay the most. Examples: Nurse anesthetists and traveling nurses each make twice the pay of regular nurses--and traveling nurses set themselves up to be consultants.

Know the 25 fields of the future and how to spot fields that are making transitions. Examples: Pharmacists now earn more than medical doctors. Many medical fields, such as dental hygienists, as well as assistants to physicians, or to occupational therapists or to physical therapists, will in high demand and paying highly. Ditto for many computer fields, such as network systems and data communications analysts; computer software engineers and database administrators. Technology is taking many muscle industries, like steel, and making them into mental industries. Great for women.

Farrell contends that men work longer hours at more dangerous and disagreeable jobs according to a Publisher's Weekly review.

They more readily accept night shifts, hardship postings to Alaska and entrepreneurial risks. Men get in-demand degrees in engineering, while women get degrees in French literature. Female librarians earn less than garbagemen, not because of discrimination, but because so many applicants compete for the safe, clean, comfortable, convenient, fulfilling jobs women prefer. Indeed, the author insists, statistics show that women and men with equal experience and qualifications, doing the same job, for the same hours, under the same conditions-get paid the same.

On the other hand, physical differences in men's and women's brains can contribute to choices each sex makes according to Ellen Weber. "Men's brains come hardwired for faster aggression... Women, on the other hand, tend to show more indirect kinds of aggression such as exclusion and gossip." Might we gain more from both gender's brainpower if we...

1. Value specific strengths each one brings and state that value often
2. Accept the fact that brains hardwired differently – and best results often differ
3. Reward creative use of unique talents to reach higher standards
4. Encourage opportunities for men to learn from women and visa versa
5. Ask and act on both men and women’s solutions to daily workplace problems

Hmmm, women, we'll just need to engage our noodles for a great strategy to request a pay raise rather than settling for 77 cents on a dollar that a man makes for the same work!

Thoughts?

Scaffolding and the Cutting Edge

In Chapter 2 of Awakening Children's Minds, Laura Berk discusses scaffolding as a way to help children in mastering new areas of competence. Today, we had a great example of how this works. Pamela finds cutting anything short or curved a challenge. We have been making toys from The Toymaker to practice cutting (among other things). Today, we cut out the Christmas angel box. When we started RDI, Pamela could handle simple cutting tasks that were straight and long. She was not very good at corners, short snips, and curves. She tried to cut curves with shorter straight cuts. She cut this piece all by herself today, a task she can do independently because it had all straight lines and right-angle corners. I assisted by cleaning up a couple of corners--the last skill she needs to learn for cutting corners.

When it comes to cutting, we have a shared understanding that Pamela will cut as much as she can by herself and I will cut the tricky parts. She got this far when she recognized the short, tight cuts in the roof were too hard. She told me, "Help me with this." I cut only the parts that were challenging and encouraged her to keep cutting.

She reached another tight, tricky corner near the floor of the house. I left one little triangle for her to snip and asked her if she could do it. She said she could and finished cutting the rest all on her own.

As you can see she had a couple of snags that were minor, so I cleaned it up for her. Her cutting has improved over the past couple of months, and I did not think it was worth drawing her attention to it since I had bigger plans in mind.

She did not know where to begin with the angel and handed me the entire piece, uncut. I decided to cut the inner part of the wings and section between the head and wings. I thought she could do the stand all by herself, and I would use the long curve edge of the wings to demonstrate how to cut curves. I filmed us cutting the angel: first, I told her I thought she could do the straight edges and she agreed. Then, we talked about how you cut with the cutting hand and you turn with the turning hand (she is left handed, so I wanted to avoid left versus right).

The first clip shows the straight cuts.



The second clip shows the curved cuts. This is the first time Pamela has ever successfully turned a paper while cutting a curve! You can see how pleased I am by the smile on my face!


The first technique of scaffolding I used was joint problem solving aimed at keeping Pamela in the zone of proximal development. I broke down the task into three parts: the interior, which I would cut; the straight stand, which Pamela would cut; and the long curves, which I would show Pamela how to cut. I provided very little direction in the straight cuts because she has mastered that skill. I provided detailed direction on the long curve because had never been able to do it before unless I held the paper and turned it for her. Since I knew cutting curves was at the edge of the zone, I moved in closer to narrow the zone of connection between us. I had to give her a little "tu" sound to help her think of the word, turning, which I was trying to spotlight. I also repositioned the paper to maximize success for her.

The second technique of scaffolding I used was self-regulation, or "the capacity to use thought to guide behavior" (page 49). Pamela and I talked about what my cutting hand was doing versus what my holding hand was doing. You can tell she put this new way of thinking about cutting curves into action. She made three of four curved cuts by turning the paper today. In my opinion, this is the major difference between behavioral techniques and RDI. The former focuses on changing the environment or finding ways to shape behavior; the latter focuses on thinking in new ways so that the person makes better informed behavioral choices:

In scaffolding, the adult encourages the child to grapple with questions and problems, and, thereby, to contribute significantly to the dialogue. . . The parent or teacher intervenes only when the child is truly stuck, granting the child as much opportunity to master his or her own behavior as possible. . . When adults ask children questions and make suggestions that permit them to participate in the discovery of solutions, then transfer of useful strategies to the child is maximized. by introducing language as a mediator of the child's activity, the adult's questions and prompts prevent the child from responding impulsively. They encourage the child to step back from the immediate situation and consider alternatives--in essence, to think (pages 49-50).

The third technique of scaffolding is what I covered in another blog post: warm parenting.

Of course, I cannot help but close with some Charlotte Mason musings. I think she instinctively understood the idea of scaffolding. For example, when teaching children under six outdoor geography, she encouraged parents to break it down into many little steps and to engage children in conversations about what they observe and concepts of geography. Children could learn to think of a duck-pond as an island sea, a hill as a mountain, and a brook as a mighty river. To prepare them for map reading when older, she broke down directions and distances: talk about observing the sun's movement and time, observing the sun and compass directions, paces and distance, time of a walk and distance, direction different windows in the house and other buildings face, the connection between wind direction and weather, the compass and directions, measuring boundaries (property boundaries, building dimensions) by pacing, making their own plans of their house, their property, the block in which they live, the neighborhood, etc. You can read her ideas on outdoor geography here.

Creating the Zone

I have not blogged on Awakening Children's Minds in awhile. Chapter 2 contains so much great material that I am lingering.

When I think about Pamela's abilities, I can rattle off things she can do completely independently: zipping her pants, using the microwave to reheat food, adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator, turning a whole into a fraction and vice versa, writing ten sentences with the syntax she has mastered, etc. Pamela can do even more with a little guidance from me: zipping a jacket once I get it started, baking simple recipes when I help her with measuring correctly, converting mixed fractions to improper fractions (and vice versus) when she sees she is stuck ad asks for help, writing an organized paragraph when I set up sentence strips based on her oral narration, etc. Some things are completely beyond Pamela's reach right now, even with help: flossing her teeth, making a recipe GF/CF, multiplying fractions, writing a research paper with at least 1,000 words, etc.

The tasks I put in red represent Pamela's actual development. The tasks I put in purple and blue are her potential development, or things she should be able to do independently in the future. The ones in purple are in the zone of proximal development, meaning tasks she can do with my guidance in helping her to solve problems. To help her master these future skills, Laura Berk suggests,

Rather than transmitting ready-made knowledge to a passive child or giving a child tasks for which he or she already has the requisite skills, the adult's role is to engage in dialogue with the child--by observing, conversing, questioning, assisting, and encouraging. During that dialogue, the adult continually assesses the child's progress and creates the "zone" by keeping the task "proximal"--slightly above the child's level of independent functioning (page 41).

Adults can create this zone in several ways. First, they can use shared understanding. Second, they can build a support system through a variety of techniques: scaffolding (joint problem solving, self-regulation, and warmth and encouragement) and conversation (narrative and theory of mind). Instead of writing a lengthy blog, I will cover these ideas in later posts.

I will conclude with another parallel to Charlotte Mason who had a grasp of proximal development. She knew that some children were ready for skills like learning the alphabet on their own schedule and recommended waiting until a child showed an interest. She understood that interaction between adult and child worked well when the child actively pursues learning the alphabet with the adult there to answer questions, make observations, assist in letter formation and information, etc. Although the zone was not part of her vocabulary, she discouraged adults from rushing children into something outside of the zone of proximal development.

The Alphabet.––As for his letters, the child usually teaches himself. He has his box of ivory letters and picks out p for pudding, b for blackbird, h for horse, big and little, and knows them both. But the learning of the alphabet should be made a means of cultivating the child's observation: he should be made to see what he looks at. Make big B in the air, and let him name it; then let him make round O, and crooked S, and T for Tommy, and you name the letters as the little finger forms them with unsteady strokes in the air. To make the small letters thus from memory is a work of more art, and requires more careful observation on the child's part. A tray of sand is useful at this stage. The child draws his finger boldly through the sand, and then puts a back to his D; and behold, his first essay in making a straight line and a curve. But the devices for making the learning of the 'A B C' interesting are endless. There is no occasion to hurry the child: let him learn one form at a time, and know it so well that he can pick out the d's, say, big and little, in a page of large print. Let him say d for duck, dog, doll, thus: d-uck, d-og, prolonging the sound of the initial consonant, and at last sounding d alone, not dee, but d', the mere sound of the consonant separated as far as possible from the following vowel.

Let the child alone, and he will learn the alphabet for himself: but few mothers can resist the pleasure of teaching it; and there is no reason why they should, for this kind of learning is no more than play to the child, and if the alphabet be taught to the little student, his appreciation of both form and sound will be cultivated. When should he begin? Whenever his box of letters begins to interest him. The baby of two will often be able to name half a dozen letters; and there is nothing against it so long as the finding and naming of letters is a game to him. But he must not be urged, required to show off, teased to find letters when his heart is set on other play (pages 201 to 202).

My neurotypical son learned his alphabet before we realized what he was doing. We gave him an alphabet wooden puzzle for Christmas when he was two years old. While I was running around the house doing chores or working with Pamela, he would ask, "Wha' dis?" and I would distractedly answer him. He knew his alphabet by the time he turned three. And, as he was a strong-willed, contrary little thing, I just know had I introduced the idea of learning his alphabet, he would have turned ten years old before learning it. I am so thankful that being swamped with Pamela's needs prevented me from ruining a good thing!

The Tam-Pam-Tallman-Jamberry-J-man-Sly Show

One reason why I love the Internet is the opportunity to meet kindred spirits. When you live in a town with a population just over 4,000, you find it hard to meet homeschoolers doing RDI, the association method, and living books with an autistic child, much less one who graduated from the boat school and married a naval officer. Today, the kids (Pam and Tallman) and I had the pleasure of meeting Jamberry and her crew (J-man and Sly). We met them at Swan Lake and spent a leisurely lunch at Burger King. As I have not clue if my camera has a timer, much less how to use it, I took a short video clip of the crew.


The map of the lake covered in rainwater fascinated Pamela. She kept running her finger through it and talking about floods. Sly discovered where the muscovy ducks hide from the tourists (under a very ancient magnolia tree). We also laughed at the disco duck, shaking his bootie for the camera.

We all had a great time. In typical fashion, Pamela and J-man quietly did their own thing. Jamberry and I talked non-stop when we weren't redirecting kids! Sly who has no older brother to rough house and Tallman who has always wanted a younger brother packed in male bonding in a few hours. I enjoyed being with someone who can order a gf/cf meal!

J-man fascinated me because he reminded me of Pamela at that age! Many times, when I meet children in the spectrum, they are very different from Pamela. J-man had that very sweet, gentle spirit--quiet, yet alert and watchful to everything happening around him. He flashed that warm-hearted smile several times and had a couple of giggle fests (Pamela giggled too when she was thinking of her favorite You-Tube videos). I did see one major difference: he communicated with his face, which Jamberry attributed to RDI (I believe her based upon our lone-ranger RDI experience). Many times, I could get an idea of his thoughts based upon his facial expressions.

Seven Bloggers and It!

That is the afghan I am crocheting for Steve. Eighteen skeins down and fourteen to go! The blanket should measure 75 inches by 90 inches when complete, and I have the scars to prove it (I keep my yarn tension tight). By the way, the afghan represents It for all you Five Children and It fans.

Rats! Mady tagged me because she tagged the first seven people to comment on her blog after she had decided to choose those unwilling and unknowing victims. I thought commenting was good netiquette . . . Here is my mission should I choose to accept it:

1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven Facts You Don't Already Know about Me
1. I was born on an island (Japan) and have lived fourteen years of my life on islands in the Pacific and Atlantic. Maybe that is why I enjoy books like The Brendan Voyage and Kon-Tiki.

2. I am a Navy brat and former naval officer. The last time I counted I have moved at least thirty-three times.

3. I was THE top twenty-five percent of my graduating class (we had four seniors that year). We were the last senior class ever to graduate from that school.

4. I was the only person in my family to start and end my education at the same school: A. L. Bristol School at Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada. I attended Kindergarten for three months and promptly dropped out because of a move. I graduated in 1980.

5. Speaking of seven . . . my parents had seven children, a yours-mine-and-ours family. It was my flesh and blood sister who dumped a bowl of oatmeal on my head, not my step brothers.

6. Seven historical incidents I would have like to have seen in action: (1) a meeting of the Inklings, (2) a lesson for Helen Keller by Annie Sullivan, (3) Charlotte Mason delivering her homeschooling lectures, (4) Theodore Roosevelt romping with his kids in the White House, (5) William Wilberforce and William Pitt discussing politics, (6) Pa Ingalls telling the story of the pig and the sled, and (7) the performance of Handel's Messiah in which the King stood (just so I could find out why and preserve that tidbit for history).

7. Seven is an important number spiritually speaking. I am a spiritual mutt: my great, great grandparents were booted from a Holiness Pentecostal church for growing tobacco and taking their children to the county fair. My dad grew up Methodist; my mom, Lutheran (Missouri Synod). I was baptized by water immersion in a Baptist church, confirmed in the Lutheran church, and am married to a Roman Catholic. The bottom line for me is that I have accepted Jesus as my personal savior and He guides my life (when I let go of the reins).

My victims are fellow bloggers, both cloaked and uncloaked, who have helped me figure out RDI for Pamela. See what happens when you are nice to someone: Mary, Sonya, Nifferco, Queen Mum, Chef Penny, and my three cloaked amigas Poohder, Jamberry, and Kathy.

Yes, I can count! I tagged eight people because I could not in good conscience leave one of them out! So, what are you going to do, force me to live on an isolated island in the Aleutians? Too late! I've already been there, done that--TWICE!

Brain Rhythms at Work!

Whether we choose to read a book alone at home or enjoy a business lunch with a colleague, electrical signals constantly fire across our brain. If you were to look at these signals, they'd appear as continuously moving patterns -- brain rhythms, if you will, that change depending on our activities and thoughts. Interestingly, researchers recently identified a new rhythm that appears during social interactions... offering a glimpse into the coordination that takes place within and between brains. What does this mean to us?

“While many interactions between people rely on mutual information exchange, little is known about how such social processes are integrated in the brain,” J.A. Scott Kelso, neuroscientist at Florida Atlantic University, said. “What this research suggests is that a unique pattern can be seen in the brains of two people interacting and that these brain activities distinguish independence from cooperation. This new brain rhythm that we have discovered and termed the phi complex actually distinguishes when you’re socially interacting and when you’re not.”

Phi distinguishes whether a person does her own thing or whether he coordinates with others, according to Kelso.

Five tips for more effective social interactions at work:

1. Provide well-balanced and productive employees to coach new hires one-on-one. Do you see departments dancing more in sync?

2. Establish employee "pairs" and provide up to 30 minute time slots monthly to share new strategies and tips to use new software. Might this lead to greater productivity where you work?

3. Create more empathy in your workplace by hiring more empathetic employees Dr. Ellen Weber advises. If you could use an employee to resonate with your leaders emotionally … check out Dr. Vittorio Gallese's work on empathy and mirror neurons.

4. Be the change. Craig Harper challenges folks to "commit a random act of kindness, generosity or selflessness today and do something where there's nothing to gain for you... Stop being strategic for a moment and just be nice..." See what happens!

5. Sell yourself in your product... Daniel Sitter explains why people should want to employ your services. "Your 'why' should be both unique and compelling. I particularly like what bestselling author and CEO Harvey Mackay says... 'The reason you should buy from me is that you get me!' That's it" - the person-to-person connection!

When people connect, incoming electrical messages are absorbed by tens of thousands of neurons simultaneously engaged in the same process so that the resulting electrial charge is strong enough that electrodes on the scalp can detect it! That's powerful!

“The phi complex is closely tied to the success of the mutual interaction between people and is not merely a consequence of one person imitating the other,” said Emmanuelle Tognoli, FAU neuroscientist. “Our measure of behavior, the phase or timing relationship between the actions of two people, is important because it characterizes the informational exchange between their brains.”

In the first comment below, you'll note Mike Sansone's question about the way bloggers might connect: "So our links to relevant blog posts, connecting and extending the conversation...those are blog rhythms at work?"

Mike it would be very interesting to see whether bloggers who have formed friendships online spark the same brain rhythms as they might in person. My sense is that this particular research highly connects to visual imagery. Perhaps that works if bloggers can see one another on a cam. :-) Thoughts?

Do you have additional tips to improve social interactions with folks at your workplace?

An Engineer's Take on Shakespeare

My dear husband, an engineer who never read Shakespeare in high school because he grew up in Central America, finally watched his first Shakespeare movie. It has taken me years to get him interested in English living books that he missed because he read Don Quixote and other Spanish classics. Last night, we sat down and watched The Merchant of Venice (Warning: the movie is rated R because ladies of the night flaunt their "goods" in some crowd scenes and two merchants talk business at a brothel where they handle some "merchandise"--nothing beyond handling, however).

Me: "Honey, you might like the story and Al Pacino plays one of the leading role." Like many men, my dear husband has a weakness for gangster movies.

He: "It's not on a stage, is it?"

Me: "No, it's set in Venice. It is like real movie, only with dialogue by Shakespeare."

He: "Well, turn on the subtitles."

Me: "Uh, I tried that. They're in French. Closed caption doesn't work either. But, I'll explain any confusing parts."

He reluctantly agreed to watch. The first hurdle was the caskets of gold, silver, and lead. I explained how Portia's deceased father set up a lottery in which she would marry the man who picked the casket with her picture after reading the poem assigned to each. His engineering mind began to whirl, "But, wait a minute! By the third guy, everyone will know."

I tried explaining that only one suitor could be in the room at a time, but it took seeing how the suitor scenes played out for him to get it. When the Prince of Morocco came with his men, my dh says, "So, that's like his posse, huh?" Yeah, sure, whatever. He did get it when Portia insulted the Prince with what appeared to be compliment in Act II, Scene I ("Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair as any comer I have look’d on yet for my affection"). In that same scene, Steve perked up when he heard, "All that glitters is not gold," and remarked with surprise, "That came from Shakespeare?"

Of course, he got wrapped around the axle when Bassiano was deciding which casket to choose.

He: "Oh, come on! She knows which casket has her picture. All Bassiano has to do is watch her reaction."

Me: "Yeah, but look he's not watching her. He is thinking about the meaning of gold, silver, and lead and the poems in making his choice."

He: "Yes, but she's so obvious. All he has to do is look at her."

Me: "But, he's not!"

Shakespeare's plot drew him into the movie. He had to find out if Shylock would really demand a pound of flesh. And, in the court scene, he grabbed the book to compare how faithful the movie was to the original text, remarking "I'm impressedeth." He could not imagine how Portia would be able to save Antonio from his fate, and I was surprised he resisted the temptation to scan the text and figure out her strategy. (With the Bleak House DVD, he could not wait for the third disc from Netflix and looked up a synopsis of the book online.)

Just to give you an idea of how an engineering mind processes Shakespeare, we had to pause the court scene and rewind it several times to calculate the number of ducats Shylock meant when he said, "What judgment shall I dread, doing were in six parts and every part a ducat I would not draw them; I would have my bond."

We heard the word pots, not parts. When I pulled out my hard copy of the play, Steve said, "Parts? Oh, well then, that's easy. It's 36,000 ducats."

As they bind Antonio's limbs to the arms and legs of the chair and tighten the belt tying his chest to the chair, he eyes the straps skeptically, "Do you think those straps are strong enough to hold him?" Then, as Shylock places the point of his blade on Antonio's chest, he comments, "Hey, why didn't Antonio fatten himself up? He could have taken estrogen shots or something . . ."

Then, the whole ring prank with Portia and Nerissa got him going, "Why those ______!" I will leave you to fill in the blank so that my blog may remain chaste.

In the end, my dear husband enjoyed his first Shakespearean movie. In sooth, my lord demandeth of me that he shall heareth nought but the Shakespearean tongue part from my lips from this day forth. So fare thee well since I needs be gone!

Photos Can Manipulate Memory

A photo doesn't lie... or does it? With the recent boon in technology it's fairly easy to doctor photos. Most of us take for granted that what we see in a photo is the truth. But recent research at UC Irvine and University of Padua reveals that memory and attitude of public events can be altered... For example, see what a difference it makes to your interpretation of the Tianamen Square protest...

Researchers doctored the original Beijing photo to show large crowds standing in the sidelines while a lone protester stood before a row of advancing Chinese military tanks. Then participants answered questions about the event, including the size of the crowd, the response of law enforcement personnel and the level of violence.

What does this mean to you? Recently reputable media outlets such as the LA Times and USA Today published digitally altered photos, and subsequently issued retractions and apologies. You can see potential to manipulate people's minds with altered images.

“It’s potentially a form of human engineering that could be applied to us against our knowledge and against our wishes and we ought to be vigilant about it,” Loftus of UC Irvine said. “With the addition of a few little upsetting and arousing elements in the Rome protest photo, people remembered this peaceful protest as being more violent than it was, and as a society we have to figure how we can regulate this.”

Ethics and honesty are key to good journalism as well as advertising. How can we preserve objectivity, truth and fairness to both sides of an issue whether in news or advertising with some measure of freedom?

Images Sway Attitude and Choice

A picture paints a thousand words...

Why is it that pictures express ideas so well? "Images in contemporary consumer culture are an emergent form of writing," according to Linda Scott (Oxford University) and Patric Vargas (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). Scott and Vargas suggest that "mass communications technology has created a cultural classroom in which the world's first democratic pictography has developed." Have you wondered why graphics grab your mind and influence your thoughts?

We're living in exciting times... we have many choices to express ideas. Consider million dollar visually oriented Super Bowl ads... Check these "winners" out and see how images without words affect you...


See how the NIKE commercial makes you feel...


Interestingly both commercials evoked an emotional response for me... you? It's because more of your brain is engaged than with words alone. Researchers discovered that images influence attitudinal judgments. Specifically, an ad containing a picture of a product stimulates vivid visual imagery processing more effectively.

Pictures favorably influence attitude toward an ad and brand more than ads with impressionistic images or one without an image according to an article in the Journal of Advertising by Laurie Babin and Alfred Burns.

Why so? Some researchers believe a "positivity bias" is associated with imagery because people are not inclined to fantasize about negative outcomes. They took note that imagery processing most frequently connects to pleasant emotional or affective elements of the stimulus.

Lest you think words are not as important as pictures, Babin and Burns also find that text

...containing instructions to imagine also stimulated vivid and elaborate visual imagery processing and enhanced attitudes. Tests for mediation indicate that mental imagery processing explains all or some of the direct effects of the two imagery-eliciting strategies' influence on attitudes.

Visual information tends to be remembered over words because pictures presumably activate a visual as well as a verbal encoding process. In an advertising context, use of pictures in print advertisements has been found to lead to more favorable ad attitude.

Thinking of new mediums to communicate purpose as you blog, build a brand or make sales pitches?

Thankful for the Association Method!

I have some BIG NEWS to share about speech therapy ala the association method. But, first, I will share a quick recap!

A few weeks ago, we reviewed 131 irregular verbs for simple past tense and mastered simple past tense questions containing the word did. She knows 79 irregular verbs for simple past tense. Of the ones she missed, she knows seven by sound but spelled them incorrectly. That means we can slowly work through the 52 remaining verbs at our leisure because she knows enough to move onto present progressive tense. My idea is to start with the seven misspelled verbs and lump them in with ones she can spell. For example, she wrote layd but wrote said and paid. That will be an easy fix. When I write up the next batch of studied dictation, I plan to find quotations using irregular verbs she misspelled.

As outlined in my plan for speech therapy, we did present progressive tense sentences last week and are doing the questions that go with them this week. The focus for these two weeks was to contrast present progressive tense with simple past tense for the same situation, describing it during and after the action. For example, "The boy is fixing the skateboard with his tools" goes with a picture of a boy fixing a skateboard, while "The boy fixed the skateboard with his tools" goes with a picture of him skateboarding.

Guess what! After years and years of failure, Pamela has caught onto present progressive tense with ease! Back in 1994, I bought Laureate's all seven Micro-LADS and Early Emerging Rules. In 1996, I started drilling her with a hand-me-down program from Pamela's last teacher (Vocabulary, Articulation, and Syntax Training Program cards), a visual way to practice sentences with varying syntax, including verb endings. In 1998, I made color-coded charts for the different verb endings that go with tense and started drilling sentence patterns ala Teach Me Language.

We did a combination of all of these things off and on with very little measurable improvement for about eight years until we came across the answer to our prayers. Yes, I can safely say that the association method is THE ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS when it comes to syntax. Why? I can remember working with Pamela's present progressive tense during her elementary homeschool years. All of the drilling and diligent practice never amounted to much and no matter how hard we worked she would still say things like "dog is run" or "dog running" as a complete sentence. She continued to do this until we started focusing upon simple present tense back in May.

About three years ago, we started doing the association method. One thing I knew is that, if Pamela could finally get present progressive tense straight, then I would know without a doubt that it was working! It has taken three years of working through the varies levels of syntax and stories (see page 9) to reach this goal. But, in two weeks of teaching, she has finally nailed it!

Each of ten reading primers from the syntax-controlled Reading Milestones program has six stories. I always have Pamela narrate in writing her favorite story. We just finished Level 02 Reader 05. This time she chose a story about Dee and Boo, two-costumed characters that appear in some of the stories. She wrote this story without any help or correction from me. Look at her beautiful use of present progressive tense! In days long gone, she would not have been this accurate even with an example in front of her because she just could not process language in this way!



The true test is for syntax to generalize into every day conversation. Present progressive tense is already emerging with accuracy!!!!!!

Yesterday, for both RDI and generalization of speech therapy, I got out twelve pictures card for the three little bears story that I found at Hearing Journey. (It was a weekly activity that is no longer available.) She put them in order, and then we took turns retelling the story. The video clip is six minutes long and, in those six minutes, I only needed to remind her to use full sentences four times. The following is a transcript of all of the sentences she used!

She had NO slip-ups the two times when she used present progressive tense. I know she jumps around from one tense to another but look how well she puts words together! This was NOT possible before the association method and would have only happened in one sentence by sheer luck, much less nineteen sentences. I also love how she added little touches when I asked her questions, adding "I said" for emphasis or responding with "That's right." And, at the very end of her retelling, Pamela gives my hope for the future by saying "The goldilocks will run" for I have not formally taught future tense!

Some bears are eating some breakfast.
The family goes to the woods.
The girl goes to a house.
The girls go inside, see some breakfast.
It’s cold porridge; eat cold porridge.
She sat on the hard chair.
She sat on the soft chair.
She sat on the old chair.
She said, "Too hard! Too little! The bed is great!"
Goldilocks slept in the bed.
The porridge is gone.
Baby Bear feels sad because the porridge is gone.
I saw a broken chair.
A baby bear cries because the chair is broken.
Goldilocks is sleeping.
Baby bear is angry, "Get out of here!"
The girl felt scared.
She is frightened.
The goldilocks will run away.

In case you are really bored and are not in the midst of baking turkey, pie, mashed potatoes, etc., this video clip is one reason why I am so very thankful this year:

Cheap SkypePhone For The Massess

Just like ordinary mobile calls. Select a contact and call for free or cheap. Chitt- chat with allways-on friends

Mobile operator 3 and Skype got a winner.
SkypePhone as explained by Skypephone Journal.

This is finally deal that gives mobile VOIP in the hands of massess and at the same time resolving few important issues like making free or cheap calls on 3G mobile phones ( Not WiFi style, Steve please note ;), bringing easy-to-use interface,chat and IM into a mobile phone in a big way.

It seems it is selling really well.
Who would have thought few months ago it will sell like cakes? Look at the pics.

Skype is not a newcomer. It was already in mobile VOIP operations but this is really unique deal that will bring awareness to the possility of cheap/free calls on the 3G networks.
The visionary and brave mobile operatore 3 Three has made waves again.
The secret could be extremelly calibrated mobile offer for SkypePhone:

3 Skypephone offers:

• Free Skype-to-Skype calling worldwide, reducing or eliminating international long distance charges, provided your contact is also on Skype (on any platform)1

• Free Skype IM (presence and chat)

• Unlimited Internet browsing

provided you contract to purchase a monthly minimum of £12 of traditional voice and SMS text messaging services from Hutchison Whampoa's 3 Service. on an 18 month contract; the phone itself is then free. Alternatively you can purchase the Skypephone for £49.95 and do a minimum £10 monthly Pay-As-You-Go top up.

SkypeOut is leftout possible because they expect to ride on the network effect. How smart is that ? Very, indeed.

Imagine Steve Jobs choosed to start iPhone revolution in the partnership with Hutchinson 3 Three in Europe and then making pressure to the US shores ? He, he...Oh, yes, I know, iPhone wasn't supposed to be ''masss phone'', but it's intended to be internet-phone, no ?

So, Skype is a very much known internet brand ( very viral too ) and now combined with the most innovative mobile operator in the World ( remember they were first in the world introducing very brave flat rate models for 3G ) and with the little help of chinese manufacturing, they could be enjoying happy Christmas ;)
Skype Telecom. ''No- worry use'' and ''''select your contact and call.''

T-Mobile will have to do something with Jajah in the similar manner.

Turkey Surprise!

I had a hard time snapping a picture of Pamela. She knows when the flash is going to go off, so most pictures show her with closed eyes. On the third try, I suggested to her to look away. On Friday, Pamela made a turkey from The Toymaker. I chose the black and white version so that we could experiment with the crayon shavings technique. However, if your time or patience with coloring is limited, you can try the colored version.


Pamela painted the turkey body and tail feathers (pieces A and B) with brown water color. While the paint was wet, we added the shavings. Once dry, I covered it with a piece of paper, then a towel. Pamela and I melted the shavings with a brand-new iron. I am not sure why it turned so brown: did we have the heat too hot or did the colors mix in with the brown water color? Whatever the reason, the effect turned out surprisingly feather-like. They say even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. As I am not a crafty person, I felt like I found a nut that day!

Do you see our little mistake? We drew the head on the wrong end at first. I think it gives it character . . . At least, that is my story, and I am sticking with it . . .

Shared Understanding

Adults guide children by seeking to create a shared understanding (the million-dollar word is intersubjectivity). In Awakening Children's Minds, Laura Berk points out that "each participant in the dialogue strives to grasp the subjective perspective of the other, an effort that results in a 'meeting of the minds,' in which the partners' thoughts make contact, connect, and coincide" (page 42). With very young children, adults bear greater responsibility for striving for a mutually understood of thinking about a situation. As children mature, they are more able to figure out the perspective of others.

People with autism take longer to figure out that people have their own minds and thoughts. They also have a hard time learning to see the perspective of neurologically typical people because their brains perceive the world so differently. Teaching this ability, theory of mind, can help smooth out and prevent misunderstandings.

The other day, I caught a great example of our effort to reach a shared understanding about glue during the crayon shavings activity. Usually, I let Pamela spread glue with a toothpick because she does not like the feeling of glue on her fingers. I did not realize that we were out of toothpicks. In this clip, she tells me several times that she cannot glue without the toothpicks. I knew this was going to be a problem for her, so I offered to spread the glue with my finger. I gave her a chance to think about trying, and she opted out of this sticky conundrum. I used this as an opportunity to let her know that I do not mind the glue. I described how the glue felt and how glue bothers some people but not others. My camera stopped filming, but you can get a glimpse of how the dialog began. (Google video is acting up again, so I hope I don't have to upload this again.)


Incidentally, Charlotte Mason recommended dialogues to reach a shared understanding in her book, Formation of Character. At the end of the chapter called The Philosopher at Home, father and son take a walk and discuss what the boy could do to avoid being cross. In Inconstant Kitty, the aunt suggests how the mother can encourage her daughter with a short attention span to stick with her dolly tea party longer by letting her know what adults do, "What! The doll's tea-party over! That's not the way grown-up ladies have tea; they sit and talk for a long time. See if you can make your tea-party last twenty minutes by my watch! (page 32)" The adults in Under a Cloud and Dorothy Elmore's Achievement have gentle dialogues to help them figure out how to handle sullen moods. Given time, I could give many more examples.

Ultimately, Charlotte believed that the mind is where all good habits began, "'Sow an act,' we are told, 'reap a habit.' 'Sow a habit, reap a character.' But we must go a step further back, we must sow the idea or notion which makes the act worth while" (page 102). Sowing ideas with a very light hand can only be accomplished through mind to mind communication between children and adults, even if they are the long-dead author of a living book. She covered in great detail one important function of parents, inspiring children:

That he should take direction and inspiration from all the casual life about him, should make our poor words and ways the starting-point from which, and in the direction of which, he develops––this is a thought which makes the best of us hold our breath. There is no way of escape for parents; they must needs be as 'inspirers' to their children, because about them hangs, as its atmosphere about a planet the thought-environment of the child, from which he derives those enduring ideas which express themselves as a life-long 'appetency' towards things sordid or things lovely, things earthly or divine (page 37).

Treat Myself - Lyrics to Inspire

Treat Myself

Music - Stevie Wonder; Lyrics - Stephanie Andrews

There’s a place I can go
When the tension’s high and I’m feeling low
In a flash I can be in another space
As a different me, have a new id.

I think I’ll treat myself to all the pretty places in my head
Yes, I’m going to treat myself to all the pretty places in my head

There’s no rich, there’s no poor
Everything is love, no such word as “war”
There’s no black and no white
Rainbow colours they, dress the days and nights,
Life’s a paradise

I think I’ll treat myself to all the pretty places in my head
Yes, I’m going to treat myself to all the pretty places in my head

It’s amazing how the mind
Can do what you want it to
It can take you to a time
Where you’ll want to stay forever
Feeling everlasting pleasure

If your life’s in a place
That you can hardly bear
Come along with me to mental ecstasy

I think I’ll treat myself to all the pretty places in my head
Yes, I’m going to treat myself to all the pretty places in my head

Whatsoever things are lovely
Whatsoever things are pure
Whatsoever things are honest
Whatsoever things are true

"I loved the lyrics to Treat Myself so much," Galba Bright shares, "that I had them pinned on my office wall when I was a consultant to the Government of Jamaica. I used to meditate on them in the sauna when I was planning my relocation to Jamaica. In my humble opinion the words are truly transformative."

Galba offered the deeply moving message in Treat Myself for A Global Poem In Praise of Peace initiated by Thomas Warfield

Thanks, Galba!

**Photo by Robyn McMaster

Breaking Barriers: Arts for Peace!

"In China the dance troop engagements concluded," Thomas Warfield recalled, "so I decided to travel and see China on my own. I boarded a train and set out. Though I spoke Cantonese, I could not speak Mandarin so signs meant nothing. After a long ride the train stopped though nothing was in sight but a small girl digging in the sand. As I stepped down, she literally shook, shivered and backed away. Suddenly she stopped making circles in the sand with her stick. Her eyes fixed frightened on me... she stood statue-like. No doubt I was the first black person she had ever seen and she did not know what to do. She had not realized there were people on this planet very different from herself."

Circles in Sand "Slowly - maybe over thirty minutes - I made my way to the stick, kneeled, and slowly began to make circles in the sand," Warfield continued. "Before long the little Chinese girl found another stick, settled on a nearby spot and drew sand circles once more. We were quiet, but somehow I felt we connected deeply as our hands moved the sticks in rhythm. She drew, then I drew - her line, then mine. Before I knew it, another train stopped and I determined that I must leave. So I put down my stick, looked at the little girl and waved as I boarded the train."

Eventually Warfield realized this encounter was the most meaningful connection he experienced in life to that point. "It surpassed language, race, age, gender, class -all the cultural issues that separate. Yet, I connected powerfully."

Who is Thomas Warfield? His mother's a minister and his father a conductor. He's the nephew of internationally renowned singers William Warfield and Leontyne Price. He made a name in dance...

Warfield's career spans 14 years with the Opera Theatre of Rochester, and performances with the New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera afforded him the experience of working with many of the world's leading artists, including directors Franco Zefferelli and Spike Lee, composers John Adams and Marvin Hamlisch, scientist Carl Sagan, singers Placido Domingo and Beverly Sills.

As a professional dancer, singer, pianist, actor, composer, choreographer, music & theatre director, teacher, producer and poet, Mr. Warfield has traveled to dozens of cities throughout the U.S. as well as Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Athens, Taiwan, Bangkok, Seoul, Stockholm, mainland China and Macau - where he was associate director and guest artist for a Chinese dance company, and decorated as an honorary citizen of Macau. For 2 years, Thomas was dance captain and performer with the Viva Musical Circus in Japan - a goodwill collaboration between American, Japanese and Russian (Moscow Circus) artists.

PeaceArt helps define peace "Art's about creativity captured through love and understanding," says Warfield. "The arts connect to people as I connected to that young Chinese girl - Arts soar above barriers that keep us apart - language, race, age, gender and class." Warfield founded and now directs PeaceArt International, a non profit organization. Artists of all genres participate to build peace and community through "individual and collective creativity in the arts."

Poetry Circles for Peace Thomas Warfield uses his talent to create a circle for peace. He decided to begin with a poetry project - He invited people to contribute two lines of poetry for A Global Poem In Praise of Peace. Soon his mailbox was flooded with mail from around the world, from all kinds of people. Mother Teresa told Warfield she could not write a poem, but she jotted down her thoughts. Warfield says her ideas are absolutely powerful. He had poems from President Jimmy Carter, soldiers in Nicaragua and Leonard Bernstein amongst others. He is currently compiling these poems to publish as a book.

Legacy circles As I listened to Warfield today, I asked, "What am I doing to create peace and understanding with people different from me?" What would I include in two lines of poetry? Here's a rough start...

Build brand new brain dendrites... oh move your feet to butterfly, brush color, write, act, make melody of...
Love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, hospitality...

What's your life legacy for generations coming? What two lines would you create? Create your two line poem and I'll add it here....

Thanks, Galba Bright of Tune Up your EQ for taking the challenge to write the two line poem, "As for me, from my heart, 'A vision without passion is merely an idea. Developing people and transforming organisations is my powerful purpose.'"

Galba, thanks... you make a great difference for people in Jamaica and beyond!

Al of 7P Productions shares a quote that moves his life forward...

"Only love creates something out of nothing." Al we're glad you shared this quote since it shows that love is the core of creativity.

Agrokor, T-Mobile And EPH In MVNO Croatian Adventure

Croatian business games with telecom flavor

Are they nuts ? Spring 2008 ?

Croatian consortium is preparing to launch KMOBILE brand next spring. I suppose MVNO but it's not clear yet.
''In order to expand mobile telecommunications offer on Croatian market.''So they say.

The members are: Agrokor Group, the largest privately owned company in Croatia and leading retail company, EPH - the leading Croatian Publishing House and T-Mobile Croatia the leading mobile communications company on Croatian market.

At the end of a day. It could be success.
Still, wise concept and execution is the key. I belive they have researched the market extremelly well. It's their modus operandi.
I'll be watching this unusual mobile move in Croatia and report back ;)
I have my opinion on this one, but won't tell ;))

But you know what ?
I read Ivica Todoric's interview given last week to Jutarnji list. Eventually, they ( or he has that big dream about ''global'' Agrokor ) could try to become global company with mobile business in the new ''new'' telecom business , but not in a Kmobile-way. No, no. ( yes, I forgot that's not their core business )
The strategy should be different.

MVNO is usually about simplifying mobile products and service ( overcomplexed businesses, like telecoms are ) with simple message- proposition and tailored marketing push.

Pop-Corn :)

Best Laid Plans

I made my first contribution to a blog carnival (see the little icon below the Halloween photograph), the Fifth Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival, hosted by On Our Journey Westward. You can enjoy past editions or contribute to the next one!

Yesterday, I had a craft all planned, and it fell apart, which is typical for me. The reason why Pamela has a head start on flexible thinking is because I can be so ditzy. I bought some paint for this spinning art project and went to look for the lazy Susan where I keep my spices. I should say, KEPT my spices. I have used it for YEARS, but it did not fit very well in the cabinets of my new house. Until I started looking for it, I had forgotten that it is packed up in a box somewhere OR worse, sitting ON a thrift shop shelf here in town. I am not really certain where it is.

So, at the last minute, I ran to the computer, googled paint and crafts, and found a very long list of potential ideas to explore uncertainty with Pamela. I wanted a craft that was easy enough for Pamela to figure out by referencing my nonverbal communication. I chose crayon stained glass because she has never made crayon shavings, and I already had everything (except the wax paper, so I decided it would be a Christmas ornament).

We made two "balls" and glued them back to back. Today, we will punch a hole and add string. I am pleased because Pamela referenced beautifully to figure out what to do without me saying a word. At first, we tried peeling thick crayon with a vegetable peeler, and I saw that it was too awkward for Pamela. Then, we switched over to the pencil sharpener. You can see how well Pamela will check me to see if I think she is on the right track. At one point, the crayon broke and Pamela read my nonverbal communication to get a blade! Pamela must have been thinking we were sharpening crayons at first because, when I pointed out the full shaving container, she pointed and said, "Trash!" Later, she asked, "What's that for?" I answered mysteriously, "You'll see!" The first clip spotlights the intial nonverbal communication and Pamela's ability to reference to resolve uncertainty. In the second clip, we use more verbal communication as most of the uncertainty is what to do is resolved.




You would think *I* had had enough UNproductive uncertainty for one day, but the iron bit the dust, right before our very eyes! For some mysterious, unfathomable reason, the power button dislodged in a weird way and refuses to turn on the iron. Yes, I meant refuses. I have the worst luck with mechanical things and, if something is going to break, it will break under my watch. I really did nothing special to break it. I didn't even drop it. I thought Black and Decker appliances were supposed to be indestructible, but, at least, the iron lasted longer than the electric can opener--I used that twice before it bit the dust. In fact, I don't even remember when I bought the iron, so that is pretty lengthy for my track record with appliances!

Android, Mobile Maps And Google Earth ?

Today's Android video demonstration had a for one moment an Earth map picture on the display of a mobile phone ( 3D globe looked like Google Earth, but it's only app called '' global time'' ) .

My first thought was '' OhMyGod, somebody read about my silly hopes when iPhone was launching'' :)

I'm still waiting for those to be delivered, but the story is getting closer...

Google Android SDK Is Out

Mobile software developement with Android , the newcomer from last week ?
Ready to PR start. Even marketing program is in place.
At first glance, it looks to me like May 2007 when Facebook announced their App platform only this platform works in mobile internet ecosystem.

There will be thousands apps blooming, but only 5 % will actually matter over time. ;) Digital icons and avatar graveyards or per aspera to success and fame.

If you ( The developer, yes, you ) build BoozeMail, iLike,Are you a naughty girl - I'll be happy with that for more than a week. If I'll be able to find it in my app folder trees and the display doesn't show ''one big ERROR'' ;)

I'll look further into this long tail business.
Where's Apple ? Who knows what Steve Jobs is now thinking of Eric Schmidt ? ;))

Many places are set up to provide more information for Android SDK:

Blog
Faq
Groups

Time to be patient. More than ever :)

USB Mobile Broadband Gizmo

USB info smog, wherever you are, huh

A gizmo made by Sony Ericsson.
USB mobile broadband modem called the MD300 .
Available in Q1 next year and stylish.

Literary Addendum to Warm, Authoritative Parenting

Last week, I stumbled upon a thought-provoking quote from Great Expectations which I believe dovetails nicely with the posts on warmth and authoritative parenting. Pip, an orphan being "brung up by hand" by his sister, sees the effects of her arbitrary, cold parenting style upon his personality:

My sister's bringing up had made me sensitive. In the little world in which children have their existence whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice. It may be only small injustice that the child can be exposed to; but the child is small, and its world is small, and its rocking-horse stands as many hands high, according to scale, as a big-boned Irish hunter. Within myself, I had sustained, from my babyhood, a perpetual conflict with injustice. I had known, from the time when I could speak, that my sister, in her capricious and violent coercion, was unjust to me. I had cherished a profound conviction that her bringing me up by hand, gave her no right to bring me up by jerks. Through all my punishments, disgraces, fasts and vigils, and other penitential performances, I had nursed this assurance; and to my communing so much with it, in a solitary and unprotected way, I in great part refer the fact that I was morally timid and very sensitive (Chapter 8).

One reason why I love Charlotte Mason's recommendation to read living books is the effect they have on me. Both teacher and child grow as soul-satisfying books speak to their hearts and minds.

P.S. Two days later, I found another great quote about being seen and not heard from E. Nesbit's book, The House of Arden. Edred, a boy transported back in time and place to being locked in the Tower of London for knowing too much about the Guy Fawkes plot, notices the blessings of being able to speak his mind:

Every one was very kind to him, but he had to be very much quieter than he was used to being, and to say Sir and Madam, and not to speak till he was spoken to. You have no idea how tiresome it is not to speak till you are spoken to, with the world full, as it is, of a thousand interesting things that you want to ask questions about. One day–for they were there quite a number of days–Edred met some one who seemed to like answering questions, and this made more difference than perhaps you would think.

And, wait until you learn the identity of the answerer of questions . . . But, I shan't give away any spoilers . . .