Just wondering.......

[nekokami]

Reading to your kids is also the strongest predictor of later academic success that has been found of any action parents are able to choose to take. (Socio-economic status is the best predictor, but not completely within most people's control-- and correlates highly to reading to kids, anyway.) Not that academic success is everything, no matter how you choose to measure it, but I think it is worth encouraging.

Gifted programs tend not to get funded because everyone assumes the bright kids can take care of themselves, so in an overstressed budget, they get cut. In our district, kids who want to play sports have to pay extra fees to cover costs, especially transportation. I think the performing arts are funded by ticket sales and donations.

With the attacks the education system is routinely subjected to, I think it's stunning that it works as well as it does, actually.

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

What are the ages of the people I see posting on this most wonderful site? I"ll start....I"m just turned 60, and for those of you who haven't reached this milestone yet, relax, it ain't all that big of a deal. I still feel in my mid forties in my head, tho my physical body reminds me constantly I'm not. Its a good age. I can look back and see how far we've come with technology, and marvel....Anyone remember the commodore 64? And now, God's little miracle......the KINDLE!

I'm, pause while I figure it out..., I'm about to turn 55. My first computer, three of them was the TI99'ers. Wanted a PC but couldn't afford it, so got the 99'ers instead. I was a computer professional in the Air Force, having taken computer courses in my college, before you could major in them (the old IBM 360 mainframes). We had to use punch cards to input our programs. First job in the military had HPT (head per track) disks which were about three feet, yes feet, in diameter. I actually got to see one of the OLD drum computers, one of the last in service back in the 70's.

I'm still hooked on computers, and can't wait to get my first eink device. Waiting for just the right one.

Alyson

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

I'm, pause while I figure it out..., I'm about to turn 55. My first computer, three of them was the TI99'ers. Wanted a PC but couldn't afford it, so got the 99'ers instead. I was a computer professional in the Air Force, having taken computer courses in my college, before you could major in them (the old IBM 360 mainframes). We had to use punch cards to input our programs. First job in the military had HPT (head per track) disks which were about three feet, yes feet, in diameter. I actually got to see one of the OLD drum computers, one of the last in service back in the 70's.

I'm still hooked on computers, and can't wait to get my first eink device. Waiting for just the right one.

Alyson

I never wanted an e-book reader until I saw the kindle being demonstrated. Just the thought of having 200-plus books in my purse at one time gave me chills. Then when I discovered all the wonderful books available for free, and a couple of other sites even downloaded them to my kindle directly without going thru the computer, I was hooked. I have enough books downloaded to carry me thru until the authors I want, (Bradbury, Asimov, etc) are all available. Sitting in the doctors office the other day, I downloaded two more from Amazon. $1.59 and 80 cents. I won't trash the other ebooks because truthfully, I never researched them. It was love at first site for me. Hope you find one soon.......as DixieGal once said......"you'll wonder why you waited so long!"

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

It was love at first site for me. Hope you find one soon.......as DixieGal once said......"you'll wonder why you waited so long!"

Don't get me wrong.. I've decided I DO want one. But right now price is a big consideration, and I want to make sure the one I get will satisfy me in the long run. With the competition over format and DRM, I'm going to just watch for a while (like I did with Beta vs VHS, and HD vs Blue)

However, with my eyesight hurting me reading so much on a LCD screen, backlit, I've fallen in love with audio books. I listen to one almost constantly. Found I can do my household chores, travel in the car, and even sleep while listen, all of which I could not do when I sit down to read.

BTW, anyone want to discuss audio books and audio book formats, I'll be happy to join in.

Alyson

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

However, with my eyesight hurting me reading so much on a LCD screen, backlit, I've fallen in love with audio books. I listen to one almost constantly. Found I can do my household chores, travel in the car, and even sleep while listen, all of which I could not do when I sit down to read.

sleep while reading ??

[Katiesue]

I'm new to the forum and have loved reading the threads here. I am just about to wrap up my forties.

I too have always loved reading, although I don't think I began to read as early as some of you. But one thing in my childhood that made a difference is the fact that we did not have a TV until I was older. So I did more reading for entertainment that the average kid. My parents finally bought a small black and white TV when I was about 12.....by then all the other families on the block had color TV's. My brother and I used to nag the stew out of our folks about getting a TV, but now I'm very grateful that we didn't have one.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Katiesue

I'm new to the forum and have loved reading the threads here. I am just about to wrap up my forties.

I too have always loved reading, although I don't think I began to read as early as some of you. But one thing in my childhood that made a difference is the fact that we did not have a TV until I was older. So I did more reading for entertainment that the average kid. My parents finally bought a small black and white TV when I was about 12.....by then all the other families on the block had color TV's. My brother and I used to nag the stew out of our folks about getting a TV, but now I'm very grateful that we didn't have one.

i didn't have a tv growing up either. you're right, i think it makes a big difference.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katiesue

I'm new to the forum and have loved reading the threads here. I am just about to wrap up my forties.

I too have always loved reading, although I don't think I began to read as early as some of you. But one thing in my childhood that made a difference is the fact that we did not have a TV until I was older. So I did more reading for entertainment that the average kid. My parents finally bought a small black and white TV when I was about 12.....by then all the other families on the block had color TV's. My brother and I used to nag the stew out of our folks about getting a TV, but now I'm very grateful that we didn't have one.

TV was a late addition to my house, too. I think one arrived when I was about 8 years old. I still remember my mother asking me if I wanted us to have a TV. Since I had no experience with them, I had no opinion.

While there were TV shows I liked and was unhappy if I missed, I had already developed the habit of reading, and my parents never used the TV as a device to keep me occupied.
______
Dennis

[nekokami]

I do have fond memories of watching Nova on PBS as a child. Does that count?

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i didn't have a tv growing up either. you're right, i think it makes a big difference.

I can't remember a time when we didn't have a TV. However, although I loved watching the tube (and still do), I also loved reading. I'll never know if having or not having the TV would have made a difference to me ... but I really doubt it.

The reason I say that is that I learned to do my homework and study in front of the TV. So, it's most often like background noise to me. I mean ... it's not like most of the shows demand much in the way of intellectual effort to watch them. Ever since I was little ... I'd watch a minute or two, then shift back to my book or whatever homework I was doing ... work on that for 20 minutes .... look at the TV for another two or three minutes to see what they were up to now, then back to the book.

When I was studying for my bar exam (California 1988) I watched TV almost constantly while I studied. I can't imagine that it hurt me. However, I also wouldn't recommend it as a method of study for everyone. I guess my way of explaining it is -- if I can be so comfortable with a subject that I can converse about it well, even with the distraction of the TV set, then I guess I've really learned it.

How's that for a rationalization??

[nekokami]

I think it depends on the individual. I have trouble switching attention back and forth between things, and I can't even have vocal music playing while working... without really working hard to concentrate, anyway. Even instrumental music can be a problem. But I know plenty of people who manage just fine with all kinds of background noise.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I think it depends on the individual. I have trouble switching attention back and forth between things, and I can't even have vocal music playing while working... without really working hard to concentrate, anyway. Even instrumental music can be a problem. But I know plenty of people who manage just fine with all kinds of background noise.

True. I also think it does have something to do with your surroundings as you grow up. If you always have quiet when you study, you are going to be used to that. If there is a certain level of noise that is background noise to you ... then that's what you are used to.

When I was in the medical program at UCLA, one girl and I were given pop exams to do and sent off to the library at the Medical Center to do them. Now, I've always had breathing problems ... I'm allergic to everything, and my lungs and sinuses are always working hard to get any oxygen at all into my brain. So, in a quiet room .... my breathing can sound a bit Darth Vader. She and I were working on our exams, and then suddenly she looks at me and, at the top of her lungs shouts "WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP BREATHING, IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY."

Me .... I had long since gotten used to the sound of my breathing and I just don't hear it anymore. I took my exam and sort of sheepishly moved to another floor of the building.

[nekokami]

Wow. And you live with a clowder of cats!

Breathing wouldn't bother me, I think. It's mostly anything with language in it-- pretty much any language. My brain just can't seem to stop trying to parse it. I know heavy equipment doesn't much matter, especially if it's a relatively constant noise.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Wow. And you live with a clowder of cats!

Breathing wouldn't bother me, I think. It's mostly anything with language in it-- pretty much any language. My brain just can't seem to stop trying to parse it. I know heavy equipment doesn't much matter, especially if it's a relatively constant noise.

Yes, and I take close to 16 Benadryl every day, four at a time. I was told by a doctor, maybe five years ago, that my lungs are very scarred. If he'd just been going by my lung capacity (which is nil), he would have thought I was a heavy smoker.

But, no. Just allergic to my furry children. All 22 of them.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I think it depends on the individual. I have trouble switching attention back and forth between things, and I can't even have vocal music playing while working... without really working hard to concentrate, anyway. Even instrumental music can be a problem. But I know plenty of people who manage just fine with all kinds of background noise.

Curious. I can have music on as background and pay attention to a foreground task. I can't do that with TV. Voices demand my foreground attention. It drove me nuts at a former employer when a colleague in the next cubicle insisted on having all of his conversations, personal or business, on a speaker phone to leave both hands free. I really wasn't interested and didn't want to know.
______
Dennis