<![CDATA[What are they teaching in schools?]]>Mr wtg's speech therapist is, I'm guessing, probably in her early to mid- thirties. She's presenting lots of word games to help with word retrieval, conversation, logic, and reasoning. He's come up with words that she has never heard of and ends up looking up as they are going through the exercises.

Some examples:

Talking about The Repair Shop (British TV programme - 😁 ), Mr wtg mentioned the luthier, master hatter, and horologist. "Do you mean Mad Hatter?" Therapist had never heard any of the terms but verified them all by looking up the show.

Mr wtg: "It's my modus operandi."
Therapist: "What?"
Mr wtg: "Modus operandi."
Therapist: "What's that?"
Mr wtg: "My mode of operation."
(Therapist looks up "modus operandi". Reads the definition and confirms it's an actual phrase.)
Therapist: Oh. Modus operandi. That's Latin; I didn't take Latin.

(Therapist reviewing homework that involved naming things that are in a certain category. Mr wtg's entry for some color category was "sienna".
Therapist: "Sienna? That's not a color. That's not even a word."
Mr wtg: "Look it up."
(Clearly she's never owned the 64 count box of Crayola crayons. I'll bet y'all remember "Burnt Sienna". She looks up "sienna" and reads the definition. Says nothing else. )

Either we're old, or our children isn't learning.

Maybe both.

]]>https://wtf.coffee-room.com/topic/3546/what-are-they-teaching-in-schoolsRSS for NodeSat, 09 May 2026 00:20:41 GMTFri, 08 May 2026 19:08:17 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to What are they teaching in schools? on Fri, 08 May 2026 21:27:32 GMT]]>

@Big_Al said:

I hope the mention of therapy suggests that Mr. wtg is progressing in rehabilitation from his stroke.

He is recovering some use of his right side, though it is slow going. He can walk short distances with a gait belt, foot brace, quad cane and a helper person. His balance, strength, and endurance are all improving. He has a few things that hold him back, namely torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders and a pretty arthritic back.

The arm wasn't doing much of anything until last week. He is now able to move the arm just a little bit in certain directions when doing some of the OT exercises. That was pretty exciting as it indicates that his brain is figuring out how to get that right arm to move. Progress!

Thanks for asking!

]]>https://wtf.coffee-room.com/post/24797https://wtf.coffee-room.com/post/24797Fri, 08 May 2026 21:27:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What are they teaching in schools? on Fri, 08 May 2026 21:00:15 GMT]]>That must be frustrating for everyone. I've heard of sienna in both the raw and burnt shades, not to mention raw and burnt umber as well as other naturally derived pigments or colors.

I really can't blame younger people for not knowing some things we take for granted. A great deal of vocabulary specific to new technologies could entirely escape some of us old-timers.

I hope the mention of therapy suggests that Mr. wtg is progressing in rehabilitation from his stroke.

Big Al

]]>https://wtf.coffee-room.com/post/24794https://wtf.coffee-room.com/post/24794Fri, 08 May 2026 21:00:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What are they teaching in schools? on Fri, 08 May 2026 19:26:07 GMT]]>Oh dear. That’s rather disconcerting!

And yes, I know all those words, and yes to burnt sienna.

Good grief!!

]]>https://wtf.coffee-room.com/post/24791https://wtf.coffee-room.com/post/24791Fri, 08 May 2026 19:26:07 GMT