Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Ideas and not a lot happening....

I've decided I need a new email address. My current access anywhere one is a yahoo account, and it's my initials from my first marriage, and the word yokel, a loving nickname given to me by someone long ago, that stayed and was used by others. I love it, I cherish it, but at the same time, it's time to leave it behind and move on. Obviously I'll keep the other email going, as it'll be the only one that some people have for me, and I can leave it for all the spam to go to, as well as all the stuff from people who I need to keep in touch with. That way, when they email me, I can then tell them the email has changed. And those who dont' email me, that's cool! Lol!

So, what to have for the new email address? I can't get to my Outlook from school, so I do need to have a webmail address. Whilst I'd love something cool and funky, I also have to give it to random people for work every now and again, so that's a minor limitation.

The cheap seats have made several suggestions, ranging from "Crayfish Dave" to more sensible but premature ideas. (And that evokes a whole lot of other feelings in me, which I was surprised about, tbh!)

The other option is that I keep my current email address, and learn to use my school address for school stuff. Which would mean actually learning it lol. It's just long and clunky. Hmmmmmm.

Any ideas?

In other news, the child has blitzed through stage 6 reading, and is heading towards stage 7 with no worries. I was able to speak to his ELS teacher today, who is a Teaching Assistant at school. The AC did ELS (Extra Literacy Support) for 16 weeks from October to January. It was 20 minutes, every day, of small group work. Most people were surprised when he was put in for it, because he is considered to be one of the most intelligent and together children in his year, but my beloved child just wouldn't write.

Partly, it was because he felt his writing was untidy. He felt it was untidy because one of the small ones in his Reception classroom had told him his mark making was "rubbish". So he stopped doing it unless he totally and absolutely had to. He would find any excuse - need drink, need toilet, need different pencil, need rubber, need ruler, need different chair, not right book and so on and so forth.

Partly, it was because it was a lot of effort for that much fine motor control. I know my boy. I love him, totally and utterly, but I know him, and there are times when he is an idle little monkey! Because writing was hard work, he didn't want to do it.

However, he had the right support at the right time, and has surpassed everything we thought could happen.

16 weeks of 20 minutes a day, and the child is well away. He writes by himself, he cheerfully wrote in everyones cards for birthdays this week, he wrote me a lovely card for Mothering Sunday, he's written part of a story, he's just writing everything, and he's happy to do it. He and R were doing his homework the other day whilst I was working on the computer, and he wrote what he knew, asked R for bits he didn't, and I was almost overwhelmed with the love and support that was being shown, and the ability and want that the AC had to write. to shove down on paper what was in his mind.

I wonder where he gets that from? ;-)

I'm just watching Heston Blumenthals Roman Feast. He's a nut job, but he's amazing.

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