I have been so lax in posting; this will be a quick summary of what we have done the past five weeks.
Geography: both kids are now into their mapwork. Here is what we do: First, we read the section of the book that is assigned. On a different day, they get two outline maps. One is a map with the places marked and the names written neatly on the map. (I usually choose the places that will be marked, and I try to use something that has some significance in the story, or if I know it will be important later on.) They also have a blank map, and their job is to copy those marks and names neatly onto the blank map. Then the third day (not always three consectutive days) they are given the original map to study. They have to pay attention to location and spelling, and when they feel like they are ready, we put away the marked map, and they have to fill in a blank map. Afterward, they can get the original map back out and correct their work. The next week, we will add one or two places on the map.
Composer/Music Study: We have changed this up. We used to do it near the beginning of the school day, but the other day our musical selection was over 30 minutes long! This caused a lot of grief, because the kids were anxious to get their day started. I don't allow multi-tasking (reading, drawing, chores, etc.) during our weekly "music study" time. I don't mind repeating the music in the background, but the music deserves to be really listened to a couple of times. After all, that is what the composer had in mind. It was not written to be background music.
So I was trying to figure out a way to make this fun for the kids, but still encourage active listening. I came up with the "Drink Party." The kids can order special drinks that we would not get to have on a daily basis. I made up some recipes and gave them fancy names. For instance, "Cowboy Roy" is root beer served in a frosty mug. (Apparently there is an alcoholic drink by this same name, but I wasn't aware of that at the time. oops!) I also have a couple of fruit juice drinks that are made with frozen concentrate and lemon-lime soda. I have a little electric ice crusher that I hardly ever use because it is so loud, but I do use this to crush ice for our party, to make it a more special occasion. :) The rules are that you remain seated until the music is over and no refills. I don't want it to be me in the kitchen making more drinks the whole time! I do allow a bit of talking at the table, but I do encourage them to mostly be quiet and listen.
The drink party has been very popular and the kids really love it.They even requested that we do this on a different day of the week while we listen to Shakespeare, so we are doing it then also.
Shakespeare: We are listening to a dramatized version that we bought on Audible.com. At first, I didn't want to do this because I thought it was a cop-out and my kids should read it themselves. But I did think of this: Shakespeare wrote those plays to be performed, and most people in Shakespeare's day only experienced them in that way. So while we are not watching a performance, we are hearing it acted out by excellent performers. After we are finished, we will watch a video performance.
Outdoor Hour: We have enjoyed some park days, but the past two weeks two kids have been ill. They seem to be on the mend now, so we will get back into our weekly nature study this week.
Fall Break: We are taking our Fall Break a week earlier than the school kids. We are going back to good old Branson, Mo. for some family fun. We leave tomorrow. Everyone is so excited!
Showing posts with label Charlotte Mason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlotte Mason. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Week Three Recap
We are using AmblesideOnline curriculum, Years 4 and 6.I had enough "demo-skipping" when I was in school.
Dad brought home a super-fancy little scale home from work that would measure in grams so that Peanut could do one of her science demonstrations. The demonstration did not work out as planned, I think maybe the scale was too sensitive. She actually has had a few demonstrations this year. We try to always do anything mentioned in our book. I had enough "demonstration skipping" when I was in school. I am sure we did less than 10 hands-on projects in science, and that counts watching something the teacher did, at least up until high school.
We got an audiobook of Robinson Crusoe. It is better that way, I don't have to stumble over words, etc.
We did some nature study at the local park. Each kid picked a tree. We took samples of the leaves home for identification, then by the time we all got time to look ours up, the samples had deteriorated quite a bit. Ooops. Guess we'll repeat next week. We did see a ground squirrel sticking his head up out of his little hole, so that was fun. I am not a fan of ground squirrels and moles, but this one was at the park, so I can live with that.
This is not the one we saw, it's just a picture off the ol' Internets. We couldn't get to our camera quickly.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
First two weeks of school
The first two weeks are behind us! It happened so quickly, I didn't even get a chance to post the first week recap. Here are some highlights and things I learned:
1. Robinson Crusoe is going to be a hard read. Not that it is not a good book. It is so interesting, and we are going to like it. But it is just hard to read. I am reading aloud, because that is what Ambleside recommends with this book. It is difficult reading. The spelling, grammar, and capitalizations are crazy. At least, not what we are used to in this century, and you are supposed to use the unabridged version. However, I wish I had searched longer for a more corrected copy. I find myself stopping and stumbling over the words. I've already printed out this copy, so it will have to do, and maybe it will end up being good for me.
2. I am already tweaking the schedule to allow for shorter readings on almost all of our books. I felt like I had split things up adequately, but it helps morale around here if the reading from one book is less than four pages. That seems to be the magic number, no matter the size of the book and type. So I'm happy to oblige. They get a few more assignments per day, but no one has complained about that.
3. Junior is reading from It Couldn't Just Happen
. He has specifically requested that this book be assigned every day, no matter what. Wow! So that is a good endorsement for that book, from the boy who wants to cut every extraneous second from the schoolday.
4. Peanut is reading The Hobbit
. She didn't want to like it, it is a long book and she is not a fast reader yet. However, she really loves it now. I wish I had been "forced" to read it as a child! :)
5. We had a zoo picnic with our homeschool group. This is a fun way to see our friends, but not the greatest way to see the zoo. We did not see a great deal, but we had a great time, and there were a lot of animals out early in the day because of the cool morning weather.
6. Our other Outdoor Hour was spent visiting our local nature park. Much of the water has dried up, but little Bubby was still able to feed some catfish and carp, so he was very happy about this. We met friends for this excursion too, but it was a smaller crowd. :) We did a color scavenger hunt, looking for various colors in nature.
1. Robinson Crusoe is going to be a hard read. Not that it is not a good book. It is so interesting, and we are going to like it. But it is just hard to read. I am reading aloud, because that is what Ambleside recommends with this book. It is difficult reading. The spelling, grammar, and capitalizations are crazy. At least, not what we are used to in this century, and you are supposed to use the unabridged version. However, I wish I had searched longer for a more corrected copy. I find myself stopping and stumbling over the words. I've already printed out this copy, so it will have to do, and maybe it will end up being good for me.
2. I am already tweaking the schedule to allow for shorter readings on almost all of our books. I felt like I had split things up adequately, but it helps morale around here if the reading from one book is less than four pages. That seems to be the magic number, no matter the size of the book and type. So I'm happy to oblige. They get a few more assignments per day, but no one has complained about that.
3. Junior is reading from It Couldn't Just Happen
. He has specifically requested that this book be assigned every day, no matter what. Wow! So that is a good endorsement for that book, from the boy who wants to cut every extraneous second from the schoolday.4. Peanut is reading The Hobbit
. She didn't want to like it, it is a long book and she is not a fast reader yet. However, she really loves it now. I wish I had been "forced" to read it as a child! :)6. Our other Outdoor Hour was spent visiting our local nature park. Much of the water has dried up, but little Bubby was still able to feed some catfish and carp, so he was very happy about this. We met friends for this excursion too, but it was a smaller crowd. :) We did a color scavenger hunt, looking for various colors in nature.
Monday, August 23, 2010
How I use the workbox method with Charlotte Mason
Last year I read about Sue Patrick's Workbox System and was eager to try it. I could understand how it would help my children to become more independent with their school day, but when I investigated the Internet for people who used the method, much of what I read was speaking of children that were a little younger than mine (3rd and 5th grades last year.)
This post will tell how we adapted the system to work for us, and to work with the Charlotte Mason approach that we try to follow.
First, let me just recommend that you not look at my instructions as a basis of the system. I do several things differently. If you are really interested in this approach, please purchase the eBook and read it. (It's not too long.) It is available instantly through a download, so you can get started quickly. Then you can adapt to your own needs. Sometimes I will mention items that are in the book without explaining, but if you search for other bloggers who are doing workboxes, you will probably see pictures of what I'm talking about.
After reading the eBook, I began to realize that some of the concepts, such as repetition, would not exactly mesh with Miss Mason's philosophy. I also do not put "fun" things in my workboxes, as I want to allow my children the pleasure of getting their work done so that they can choose afterward what will be done for fun. I don't think Ms. Patrick's way is wrong, but I just want to do things differently than that.
Our workboxes are really not boxes at all. We use clear poly envelopes which are found at office supply stores. They take up less space and are more suited for our books than a plastic shoebox. They are more than $1.00 a piece, but that was the most expensive part of our system. The envelopes are durable, and though once in a while one will be destroyed, most of ours lasted through last year and are being used again. They can be repaired fairly well with clear packing tape. This year, we have rules for taking better care of our envelopes!
Each child has a milkcrate-like container. I already had a couple of these that I have used for years for other purposes, so those were free for me.
I use calendar numbers (use link or Google it) to number the envelopes. These are attached with Velcro dots so they can be removed. I laminated mine to make them more durable. Each envelope has a loopy dot of Velcro and the numbers have the hook side. I used self-adhesive dots and scratched the plastic a bit with sandpaper in one spot to try to get the adhesive to stick better. I will call them box numbers after this, but use the term "calendar numbers" when you search.
Each day, I slip the books for the day into the envelopes. If we are using the same book two days in a row, I leave it in the folder, and change the number if needed. I add anything needed to complete the assignment, such as pencil and paper, or math items. Usually science equipment doesn't fit, so that will be laid out where the demonstration will be performed (i.e. kitchen or bathroom.)
I use small Post-its attached to the book to write the specific assignment for the day. Usually it will be page numbers to read. If needed, I will add notes such as, "Read this with Mom," and so on. I put this either on the cover of the book or use it for a bookmark.
I arrange both boxes at the same time, hoping to prevent a bottleneck situation where both kids need my help at the same time. I also space assignments out so that items that require handwriting are not back-to-back. Once they are in the box the way they need to be, I use the box numbers to label them. The kids pick each envelope up in order and return it to the back of the box when they are finished. (The workbox book suggests that the child have a separate box in which to place the completed work, but my kids found it confusing and it cluttered up our space. That may be because they are older, and they find it motivating just to see the numbers climb higher and higher towards the end.)
Our family does not do a number strip on which to place the box numbers. I will add more on that later.
We do have a bit of time at the beginning of the school day to do any of our work that is done together, such as reading the Bible, composer and art study, Spanish, and Shakespeare . The workboxes are for individual work, and they come after our group work. Handicrafts, music practice, free reading, playing, and nature study happen mostly in the afternoon, and are not scheduled in workboxes.
This post is getting a bit long, so I will close it and add more tomorrow about how we take better care of our envelopes, and more detail about how we use these.
This post will tell how we adapted the system to work for us, and to work with the Charlotte Mason approach that we try to follow.
First, let me just recommend that you not look at my instructions as a basis of the system. I do several things differently. If you are really interested in this approach, please purchase the eBook and read it. (It's not too long.) It is available instantly through a download, so you can get started quickly. Then you can adapt to your own needs. Sometimes I will mention items that are in the book without explaining, but if you search for other bloggers who are doing workboxes, you will probably see pictures of what I'm talking about.
After reading the eBook, I began to realize that some of the concepts, such as repetition, would not exactly mesh with Miss Mason's philosophy. I also do not put "fun" things in my workboxes, as I want to allow my children the pleasure of getting their work done so that they can choose afterward what will be done for fun. I don't think Ms. Patrick's way is wrong, but I just want to do things differently than that.
Our workboxes are really not boxes at all. We use clear poly envelopes which are found at office supply stores. They take up less space and are more suited for our books than a plastic shoebox. They are more than $1.00 a piece, but that was the most expensive part of our system. The envelopes are durable, and though once in a while one will be destroyed, most of ours lasted through last year and are being used again. They can be repaired fairly well with clear packing tape. This year, we have rules for taking better care of our envelopes!
Each child has a milkcrate-like container. I already had a couple of these that I have used for years for other purposes, so those were free for me.
I use calendar numbers (use link or Google it) to number the envelopes. These are attached with Velcro dots so they can be removed. I laminated mine to make them more durable. Each envelope has a loopy dot of Velcro and the numbers have the hook side. I used self-adhesive dots and scratched the plastic a bit with sandpaper in one spot to try to get the adhesive to stick better. I will call them box numbers after this, but use the term "calendar numbers" when you search.
Each day, I slip the books for the day into the envelopes. If we are using the same book two days in a row, I leave it in the folder, and change the number if needed. I add anything needed to complete the assignment, such as pencil and paper, or math items. Usually science equipment doesn't fit, so that will be laid out where the demonstration will be performed (i.e. kitchen or bathroom.)
I use small Post-its attached to the book to write the specific assignment for the day. Usually it will be page numbers to read. If needed, I will add notes such as, "Read this with Mom," and so on. I put this either on the cover of the book or use it for a bookmark.
I arrange both boxes at the same time, hoping to prevent a bottleneck situation where both kids need my help at the same time. I also space assignments out so that items that require handwriting are not back-to-back. Once they are in the box the way they need to be, I use the box numbers to label them. The kids pick each envelope up in order and return it to the back of the box when they are finished. (The workbox book suggests that the child have a separate box in which to place the completed work, but my kids found it confusing and it cluttered up our space. That may be because they are older, and they find it motivating just to see the numbers climb higher and higher towards the end.)
Our family does not do a number strip on which to place the box numbers. I will add more on that later.
We do have a bit of time at the beginning of the school day to do any of our work that is done together, such as reading the Bible, composer and art study, Spanish, and Shakespeare . The workboxes are for individual work, and they come after our group work. Handicrafts, music practice, free reading, playing, and nature study happen mostly in the afternoon, and are not scheduled in workboxes.
This post is getting a bit long, so I will close it and add more tomorrow about how we take better care of our envelopes, and more detail about how we use these.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Back to School Day
Today was our first day of scheduled school for the year. It went pretty well. Mostly because I scheduled a very light day for getting started. We started at 8:30 and everything was done by 11:00!
We are following AmblesideOnline.com again this year. Junior is doing Year 4 and Peanut is doing Year 6. Bible, Spanish, Latin, Art, Music, Nature Study and Shakespeare/Plutarch are all done together, then we split up for History, Geography, Science, Math, Writing/Grammar, and Literature.
The big kids did really well getting back into the swing of things, but little Bubby didn't like it much. He did enjoy watching the DVD that we watched for Spanish. He will probably pick up some of that, since it is repetitive.
This year I did something a bit different. I took pictures of the books each kid is using for the first term (12 weeks) of the year.
Here is Peanut's:
and Junior's:
Another tradition we do is to fill out an info sheet on what everyone is interested it, how tall, how old, favorite subject, and we add a picture to that.
Well, that's it for the first 12 weeks. I left out Plutarch's Lives, because I haven't gotten it printed out yet. Julius Caesar is our first guy to study. Also, I haven't figured out what Peanut will do for Latin. The Prima Latina is a little too young for her, and she has already done the first six lessons or so, but it will be good to review that, and if she hates it too much, I will find something else.
We are following AmblesideOnline.com again this year. Junior is doing Year 4 and Peanut is doing Year 6. Bible, Spanish, Latin, Art, Music, Nature Study and Shakespeare/Plutarch are all done together, then we split up for History, Geography, Science, Math, Writing/Grammar, and Literature.
The big kids did really well getting back into the swing of things, but little Bubby didn't like it much. He did enjoy watching the DVD that we watched for Spanish. He will probably pick up some of that, since it is repetitive.
This year I did something a bit different. I took pictures of the books each kid is using for the first term (12 weeks) of the year.
Here is Peanut's:
and Junior's:
Another tradition we do is to fill out an info sheet on what everyone is interested it, how tall, how old, favorite subject, and we add a picture to that.
Well, that's it for the first 12 weeks. I left out Plutarch's Lives, because I haven't gotten it printed out yet. Julius Caesar is our first guy to study. Also, I haven't figured out what Peanut will do for Latin. The Prima Latina is a little too young for her, and she has already done the first six lessons or so, but it will be good to review that, and if she hates it too much, I will find something else.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Printing Public Domain E-books at a Low Cost
Since we follow a Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum, many of our books can be found online as downloadable public domain e-books. This saves quite a bit of money, but reading the texts can cause a problem. The books can be read off the computer screen, but this isn't always convenient, and usually involves some special set-up by mom to get the margins at a convenient width and get the brightness adjusted to it is comfortable to read for a longer period. Another problem is that the computer will be tied up sometimes because our math curriculum (Teaching Textbooks) requires computer use.
We don't own a Kindle or other electronic reader, and that is not in the budget for our school.
Last year, I printed off a couple of texts with our ink jet printer, and that worked pretty well. I finally calculated the cost of that, and found that I would have been better off buying a used book!
This summer, I came across some good directions* for printing e-books at a low cost. This website is focused on the Robinson Curriculum, which also uses many public domain books. A black and white laser printer will print these books for a much lower cost, so I researched and found a printer on sale this summer for $60. I calculated the cost according to their method, and found that in almost every case, I could print a book for less than I could buy it used. I make my books half-size, as they recommend.
A tip that I have learned is to format all your printing on MS Word (or your similar software) and do not change any printer settings except for asking it to duplex, either manually or automatically. Print small samples of just a few pages to make sure your printer is going to do what you want.
I am currently experimenting with different binding methods to find what works best for my family. More on that later.
*I have found that these directions work for almost everything, except poetry and Shakespeare's plays. For that, you are better off printing as-is on half-sized paper. If poetry is included in the text, you will have to manually format it.
We don't own a Kindle or other electronic reader, and that is not in the budget for our school.
Last year, I printed off a couple of texts with our ink jet printer, and that worked pretty well. I finally calculated the cost of that, and found that I would have been better off buying a used book!
This summer, I came across some good directions* for printing e-books at a low cost. This website is focused on the Robinson Curriculum, which also uses many public domain books. A black and white laser printer will print these books for a much lower cost, so I researched and found a printer on sale this summer for $60. I calculated the cost according to their method, and found that in almost every case, I could print a book for less than I could buy it used. I make my books half-size, as they recommend.
A tip that I have learned is to format all your printing on MS Word (or your similar software) and do not change any printer settings except for asking it to duplex, either manually or automatically. Print small samples of just a few pages to make sure your printer is going to do what you want.
I am currently experimenting with different binding methods to find what works best for my family. More on that later.
*I have found that these directions work for almost everything, except poetry and Shakespeare's plays. For that, you are better off printing as-is on half-sized paper. If poetry is included in the text, you will have to manually format it.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Preparing for the Fall
I have spent the past few days getting my schedule ready for next year. Last year we used AmblesideOnline for our core, and we are doing the same this year. We really enjoyed getting into a more Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum, and I feel like this is where we will stay.
To plan our year, I started out by choosing which years we will be using from the AmblesideOnline site. This year my daughter will follow Year 6, and my son will follow Year 4. There are different reasons why we chose not to combine both kids in one year, and I will go into that on another post.
To get everything lined out, I made tables in MS Word with five days across the top, and each subject down the left side of the page. I made separate tables for both children, although some areas are the same for both of them. This way, they will be able to see their weekly chart and tell how much they need to do for the day.
Here is a small shot of what they look like:
AmblesideOnline gives you the suggestion of work that should be completed each week of the program. I spaced things out so that Mondays and Fridays are light days, and Tuesday - Thursday are our heavy days. This will work out best with the schedule of outside activities we are planning. I also added a tweak based on my experiences last year. Instead of 12-week terms as AmblesideOnline suggests, I fit everything into 11-week terms. This gives us a catch-up week if we need it, or a field-trip week.
To plan our year, I started out by choosing which years we will be using from the AmblesideOnline site. This year my daughter will follow Year 6, and my son will follow Year 4. There are different reasons why we chose not to combine both kids in one year, and I will go into that on another post.
To get everything lined out, I made tables in MS Word with five days across the top, and each subject down the left side of the page. I made separate tables for both children, although some areas are the same for both of them. This way, they will be able to see their weekly chart and tell how much they need to do for the day.
Here is a small shot of what they look like:
AmblesideOnline gives you the suggestion of work that should be completed each week of the program. I spaced things out so that Mondays and Fridays are light days, and Tuesday - Thursday are our heavy days. This will work out best with the schedule of outside activities we are planning. I also added a tweak based on my experiences last year. Instead of 12-week terms as AmblesideOnline suggests, I fit everything into 11-week terms. This gives us a catch-up week if we need it, or a field-trip week.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Burgess Books Online
Here is a list I have compiled of all the Thornton Burgess books I could find that are available for free online.
If you have read any of the Burgess stories, I know you have fallen in love with the little characters. We always look forward to hearing about nosy Peter Cottontail, mischievous Sammy Jay, and wise Grandfather Frog. For me, the best thing about them is reading them aloud. The dialog is charming, and I love doing the different voices.
I know that Ambleside Online curriculum recommends some of them, as do other homeschool curricula. They are wonderful stories which teach morals and values while exploring the world of wildlife.
The majority of the Burgess books that you can find online are at Gutenberg.org. There are a few more out there, however, that are not included on Gutenberg. Most of these are not available in text format, because they are scanned images. They do include the color illustrations by Harrison Cady.
Burgess books on Gutenberg.org
Burgess Bedtime Stories from an old calendar.
The Adventures of Peter Rabbit
Bobby Coon’s Mistake
A Great Joke on Jimmy Skunk
The Neatness of Bobby Coon
A Merry Coasting Pary
Paddy’s Surprise Visitor
The Three Bears
Reddy Fox’s Sudden Engagement
Grandfather Frog Stays in the Smiling Pool
A Robber Meets His Match
Peter Rabbit Proves a Friend
Young Flash the Deer
Additional Link: Podcast of Old Mother West Wind by Lori K. Brooke. There are audio versions of some of the Burgess books available at Gutenberg.org and Librivox.org, but I wanted to share these because they are different, and not as easy to find. The woman reading them has a grandmotherly, sweet voice, and there is background music added which gaves them a relaxing, bedtime feel.
Please comment if you know of any other Burgess stories available online, and I will add them.
If you have read any of the Burgess stories, I know you have fallen in love with the little characters. We always look forward to hearing about nosy Peter Cottontail, mischievous Sammy Jay, and wise Grandfather Frog. For me, the best thing about them is reading them aloud. The dialog is charming, and I love doing the different voices.
I know that Ambleside Online curriculum recommends some of them, as do other homeschool curricula. They are wonderful stories which teach morals and values while exploring the world of wildlife.
The majority of the Burgess books that you can find online are at Gutenberg.org. There are a few more out there, however, that are not included on Gutenberg. Most of these are not available in text format, because they are scanned images. They do include the color illustrations by Harrison Cady.
Burgess books on Gutenberg.org
Burgess Bedtime Stories from an old calendar.
The Adventures of Peter Rabbit
Bobby Coon’s Mistake
A Great Joke on Jimmy Skunk
The Neatness of Bobby Coon
A Merry Coasting Pary
Paddy’s Surprise Visitor
The Three Bears
Reddy Fox’s Sudden Engagement
Grandfather Frog Stays in the Smiling Pool
A Robber Meets His Match
Peter Rabbit Proves a Friend
Young Flash the Deer
Additional Link: Podcast of Old Mother West Wind by Lori K. Brooke. There are audio versions of some of the Burgess books available at Gutenberg.org and Librivox.org, but I wanted to share these because they are different, and not as easy to find. The woman reading them has a grandmotherly, sweet voice, and there is background music added which gaves them a relaxing, bedtime feel.
Please comment if you know of any other Burgess stories available online, and I will add them.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Call Menus and Listening Skills
As a teaching mom, I get tired of explaining things to my kids and seeing their eyes glaze over. I know they are not with me. I will redirect them and say, "Are you listening?"
The answer is always something like, "Yeah. What'd you say?"
Or when I asked them to narrate back to me, a la Charotte Mason, I get a blank look, and if I hear anything, it is not related to what we just read. It is usually related to the picture on the front of the book.
It's aggravating, I know. But if you are in the same predicament, you might want to be a little easier on them. You might be doing the same thing yourself, but in an acceptable, adult manner.
Have you ever thought about this: How many times have you called a customer service line and had to listen to the computerized menu twice? Or thrice? I have to do that all the time. As soon as I press "one" for English, my focus slips down the drain like spaghetti. Somewhere between "three" and "four," I get hopelessly lost.
And I really am going to look into getting a rotary phone.
The answer is always something like, "Yeah. What'd you say?"
Or when I asked them to narrate back to me, a la Charotte Mason, I get a blank look, and if I hear anything, it is not related to what we just read. It is usually related to the picture on the front of the book.
It's aggravating, I know. But if you are in the same predicament, you might want to be a little easier on them. You might be doing the same thing yourself, but in an acceptable, adult manner.
Have you ever thought about this: How many times have you called a customer service line and had to listen to the computerized menu twice? Or thrice? I have to do that all the time. As soon as I press "one" for English, my focus slips down the drain like spaghetti. Somewhere between "three" and "four," I get hopelessly lost.
Now, what did they say? Was it "three" for account information? If I push "three", will I get a recording of my balance, or will they let me talk to someone? I really need to talk to someone. ..Oh, no! Now they are on "five"! What was "four"? Oh no, I think "four" was what I needed! Do I push "0" or "*" to make this thing repeat?After thinking about this issue, I am resolved to be a little easier on my kids for their listening skills. I'm going let them push "*" to hear the menu again, and repeat with all the coolness of the computerized lady. I might even say, "Your call is valuable to me. Thank you for being a customer!"
I wonder if you can still buy a rotary phone?
And I really am going to look into getting a rotary phone.
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