Whip Round for Mr Armstrong!

[shell-like]

Before we took him out of primary school because it was placing increasing stress on his neuro-atypical brain, our son was one day told to complete his set work in a more senior class-room, to escape the distractions in his own. The teacher there was talking about volcanoes and Pompeii.

"Does anyone know the name of the volcano that destroyed Pompeii?"
Instantly: "Vesuvius," from... guess who.
"Just get on with your work."

[Kallie 1]

I remember my first day at school. The teacher gave us a velvet bag filled with chocolates. Then immediately onto the serious business of learning to write the alphabet, writing and repeating the letters. Then on to small words eg, cat, dog etc. she was amazing and I picked up reading quite quickly. It was here are the letters and this is how they sound. All done in a Belfast accent. Sounds like a Victorian teaching method. But it worked for me.
My mother thought 5yrs was too young to go to school, where she came from the accepted age was 7yrs.
Also English wasn’t her first language.
I wonder about children whose parents aren’t proficient in English, are they better able to learn out of necessity. Hence they have a better vocabulary?

[dougie]

Now imagine what it was like to be the only left-handed child in a class being taught with that mind-set.

It's strange. I spot left-handers everywhere now, even oldies. Are most of us capable of either but someone decided RH was best? Possibly the occasional LH-er in classes. I am hopelessly RH. I'd struggle in a LH world

[somebody else [adminning]]

It's strange. I spot left-handers everywhere now, even oldies. Are most of us capable of either but someone decided RH was best? Possibly the occasional LH-er in classes. I am hopelessly RH. I'd struggle in a LH world

It's like many things - there is a spectrum. R-handedness is the norm, but some are profoundly R-handed, some are ambidextrous but because R-handedness is the norm they tend to do stuff mainly with their right 'til it becomes more convenient to do something with their left hand and some of us are profoundly left-handed and different people sit at different points along the range. However, it's still the case, apparently, that only about 10% of us are definitely left-handed.

And I notice left-handers, too, but that's because I am one and there are so few of us. And in some countries, it's still considered wrong/sinful/bad to be a left-hander.

I wonder how long it'll be before the clown in charge of the US decides that there's something deviant about being a left-hander and does something about chucking any lefties out of any position of authority.

[Pat Clifton]

Now imagine what it was like to be the only left-handed child in a class being taught with that mind-set.

I've always been deemed to have terrible writing (although lwhen I find examples of it from my teens/twenties it seems quite neat! These days it's barely legible). My lovely teacher in Junior One decided to move me onto Joined Up Writing ahead of the rest of the class but the cow* in Junior Two moved me back to printing just as the rest of the class were making the transition. The following year I moved not just classes but schools (and indeed counties). Everyone in my new class had of course long since learnt joined up writing so I basically had to wing it without having been taught properly.

* She was, I think, newly qualified and generally pretty horrible. I haven't just take agin her because of the writing thing! One day we were discussing how awful she was and I declared: "She's such a cow, isn't she?" at which point one of my 'friends' pipes up: "Miss! Miss! Pat Clifton just called you a cow!" Thanks!

[somebody else [adminning]]

I've always been deemed to have terrible writing (although lwhen I find examples of it from my teens/twenties it seems quite neat! These days it's barely legible). My lovely teacher in Junior One decided to move me onto Joined Up Writing ahead of the rest of the class but the cow* in Junior Two moved me back to printing just as the rest of the class were making the transition. The following year I moved not just classes but schools (and indeed counties). Everyone in my new class had of course long since learnt joined up writing so I basically had to wing it without having been taught properly.

* She was, I think, newly qualified and generally pretty horrible. I haven't just take agin her because of the writing thing! One day we were discussing how awful she was and I declared: "She's such a cow, isn't she?" at which point one of my 'friends' pipes up: "Miss! Miss! Pat Clifton just called you a cow!" Thanks!

And, of course, joined up writing is designed, by right-handers, for right-handers. After weeks and weeks of my teacher telling me I was doing it all wrong and it wasn't neat enough, she eventually relented and allowed me to not join my 'o' and 'f' when writing 'of'. There were a couple of other letters she gave up on, too, and stopped having a go at me because I Woz Doing It Wrong.

Actually, now, on a good day, my writing isn't too bad, if I don't have to write too much. It's very much a mix of joined up and separate letters, and it's certainly a lot neater and more readable than that of the sister who had ITA foisted upon her.

[Pat Clifton]

And, of course, joined up writing is designed, by right-handers, for right-handers.

Yep. Like everything else!

[rosiet]

It's like many things - there is a spectrum. R-handedness is the norm, but some are profoundly R-handed, some are ambidextrous but because R-handedness is the norm they tend to do stuff mainly with their right 'til it becomes more convenient to do something with their left hand and some of us are profoundly left-handed and different people sit at different points along the range. However, it's still the case, apparently, that only about 10% of us are definitely left-handed.

And I notice left-handers, too, but that's because I am one and there are so few of us. And in some countries, it's still considered wrong/sinful/bad to be a left-hander.

I wonder how long it'll be before the clown in charge of the US decides that there's something deviant about being a left-hander and does something about chucking any lefties out of any position of authority.

My final class, my top groop were 7 left-handers.

[La Bez]

I've always been deemed to have terrible writing (although lwhen I find examples of it from my teens/twenties it seems quite neat! These days it's barely legible). My lovely teacher in Junior One decided to move me onto Joined Up Writing ahead of the rest of the class but the cow* in Junior Two moved me back to printing just as the rest of the class were making the transition. The following year I moved not just classes but schools (and indeed counties). Everyone in my new class had of course long since learnt joined up writing so I basically had to wing it without having been taught properly.

My handwriting suffered from something along the same lines. Most of my primary school career was in a tiny school in Co Durham - so small that only Junior One (from memory) had only one year group in it. We were taught joined up writing from very early in our time in Juniors, and while my writing wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible either.

Then, when I was 11, we moved to Newcastle, to a much larger primary school, where those in my year were only just learning joined up writing, and in a way that was very different to the one I’d been taught. Instead of just letting me get on with writing the way I’d been taught - after all, I joined the school after the Easter holiday, I only had one term left, before moving on to grammar school - the teacher insisted that I go back to printing, and learn the same method as my new classmates, punishing me with big red marks when I slipped into the old way. My writing ended up as a horrible, messy, mishmash, and never recovered. Like you, these days it’s barely legible, but that’s most likely because I hardly ever have to use it

[dondy]

I wonder how long it'll be before the clown in charge of the US decides that there's something deviant about being a left-hander and does something about chucking any lefties out of any position of authority.

There have been fourteen US presidents since WWII (counting Trump once) - according to Wikipedia six have been left handed

[Fire-Pig]

And in some countries, it's still considered wrong/sinful/bad to be a left-hander.

This was the case when I was in Ghana, I was teaching in a girls’ school with 600+ pupils. I taught very few who were left handed, in every case their mothers were European, possibly left handed themselves!

It was very difficult invigilating exams, particularly the O level equivalent, there could be 90 girls in the hall. If anyone wanted more paper, they could get their left forefinger up to about shoulder height and then hiss. This was very difficult to see, even the Ghanaian staff members were imploring them to raise their hands higher but it seemed almost physically impossible.

If for any reason, you had to pass something to another person, and had to use your left hand, you tried to touch the wrist with the right hand, as if to ask forgiveness.

I left Ghana just over 50 years ago, so don’t know if all that is still true.

[Maggiechow on the iphone]

Similarly to Jane Berry, when I was in the 3rd year of Junior school, we moved to a village some miles away. I had been taught to write with loops (cursive?), but the new school used more like joined-up print. I kept getting told off for “wasting ink”.
My handwriting had always been poor, but the change of style made it worse.

[no other]

I remember wearing a plaster over my 'lazy eye' at school.

No, wait a bit! Over my good eye, to let the lazy eye work harder and catch up.

I couldn't see the board clearly, so I peeled the plaster off my eye.

[no other]

I remember wearing a plaster over my 'lazy eye' at school.

No, wait a bit! Over my good eye, to let the lazy eye work harder and catch up.

I couldn't see the board clearly, so I peeled the plaster off my eye.

Much more recently, my optician showed me an x-ray showing a kink in the optic nerve which is the actual cause of the lazy eye.

[cherrytree]

Any primary teacher worth his or her salt will be very careful to make sure that left handlers and right handlers sit in the correct place at a table so that they don’t collide. And of course there are left handed scissors too.

[no other]

Re the original post, I also feel little sympathy for farmers who might have to pay inheritance tax for farms worth millions.

As soon as this was announced there were tractors in London and dire warnings about food shortages if the government did such an unthinkable thing.

I'd call that holding the country to ransom, but I guess that only counts if it's public servants protesting.

[hilde]

Re the original post, I also feel little sympathy for farmers who might have to pay inheritance tax for farms worth millions.

As soon as this was announced there were tractors in London and dire warnings about food shortages if the government did such an unthinkable thing.

I'd call that holding the country to ransom, but I guess that only counts if it's public servants protesting.

What the govt was doing was bringing them into line with every other family business that has to pay IT. If all these celebrities and rich people hadn't been going off and buying farms as a tax dodge in the last 15 years, the probably would have left ordinary farmers alone. Some of these 'farmers' even had the audacity to declare publicly that this is what they were doing.

This is why Michael Foot said we shouldn't worry about the rich, because the rich look after themselves. I have no doubt the rich will now be looking at what they can do to avoid tax in other areas.

[CloggyMcClogFace]

I'm confused as to why and/or how some of the posts in this thread have the thread title as Miss rather than Whip Round for Mr Armstrong.
Any clues welcome.
Ta.

[Pat Clifton]

I'm confused as to why and/or how some of the posts in this thread have the thread title as Miss rather than Whip Round for Mr Armstrong.
Any clues welcome.
Ta.

I think my cursor was playing silly beggars and I Miss-typed* on one of my posts. This was then perpetuated by anyone who replied to me.

* See what I did there?

[CloggyMcClogFace]

test post

Ha! I didn't know a thread title could be fiddled with in a reply!

[CloggyMcClogFace]

another test

[CloggyMcClogFace]

So we can just start threads within threads?
Is this a new way of 'dealing with' thread drift?

[Simply_Fee]

So we can just start threads within threads?
Is this a new way of 'dealing with' thread drift?

Depending on which “skin” you have as your view of the board you may or may not see the thread title in each post - I don’t. (So the previous few posts make little sense to me).

[dondy]

Depending on which “skin” you have as your view of the board you may or may not see the thread title in each post - I don’t. (So the previous few posts make little sense to me).

Thanks for posting that, Fee. I cannot see the title in posts so was very confused by this exchange !

[CloggyMcClogFace]

I wonder who was more confused - those who saw it or those who didn't...