Episode 38-What we do with our own kids over the summer.

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Nicole. [00:00:03] Speaker B: And I'm Maggie. [00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the DAC Dyslexia and Coffee Podcast. We are so happy you could join us. We are both moms and dyslexia interventionists who want to talk about our students and children. What dyslexia is, how it affects our kids, strategies to help and topics related to other learning disabilities will all be covered in this podcast. Parents are not alone, and we want to give voice to the concerns and struggles we are all having. This is a safe place to learn more about how to help our children grow and succeed in school, in the world. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the conversation. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Hi, everybody. We like to start our episodes with the concept of the week. So the concept of the week is our opportunity as practitioners to kind of peel back the curtain a little bit and let you into an intervention session. So we like to talk about what we teach our students in our actual sessions. So this week's concept of the week is the C and K generalization. Both C and K make the same sound, and this can be really confusing for spelling. So a generalization that we teach pretty early on is that we use the letter K before an E, I, or Y, and the letter C before a O or U and any consonant. So there's usually. We have some posters for these, too, that are kind of cute. There's like a C with a little cat drawn on it and a K with a little kite. But this can be a really helpful generalization for our students to learn pretty early on, sometimes even before we teach that third spelling of. Of the K sound, which is ck Together. [00:01:56] Speaker A: Yes. Because there's three different sounds. Well, spellings of the sounds. [00:02:02] Speaker B: Yes. [00:02:05] Speaker A: So episode 38. We're so excited. We're going to talk about our own kids and what we do over the summer. [00:02:12] Speaker B: Yay. Yay. Because it's summer, despite the nasty weather we are currently experiencing. [00:02:18] Speaker A: Yes, it was 82 days ago and now it's only 40 and rainy. Yeah, it's Wisconsin. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Welcome. Welcome to southeast Wisconsin. [00:02:28] Speaker A: So summer is fast approaching, so we're getting a lot of questions from parents about what to do with reading over the summer. We want to keep our students reading development on track, so we thought it would be fun to share what our own kids are doing this summer and then share some things that our members and our DAC team do and some of our few listeners that are doing this summer. [00:02:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So this is pretty fun. I've been doing a lot of thinking about this. I know I'm not alone. [00:02:59] Speaker A: Yes. [00:03:00] Speaker B: So maybe we should do a follow up at the end of the summer and say, how did all this. [00:03:04] Speaker A: Did we do it or did we not do it? That is the question. [00:03:07] Speaker B: This is going into summer energy. Full disclosure. So this summer, my kids are going to summer school for the first. First time. [00:03:15] Speaker A: Ooh, that sounds fun. [00:03:16] Speaker B: They are really excited about it. Our school district summer school is like a half day program and they get to pick all their classes. So they're all like fun classes and they got to choose them all and many are based on reading or math. Like, Aiden's taking one that's like under the sea. [00:03:36] Speaker A: Okay. [00:03:37] Speaker B: But they have to kind of plan, how are you gonna get there? And they kind of have like a choose your own adventure kind of element to the class, which I think is pretty fun. And I know they have to kind of solve some puzzles to get to the next step and then they have to, like, read some clues. So he's pretty excited about that one. And a lot of the classes are structured like that, that they're fun, but they are incorporating academics into them. [00:04:08] Speaker A: Makes sense. [00:04:09] Speaker B: So in addition to summer school, we visit the library at least once a week. We are here in Heartland, right? So we go to the Heartland Public Library at least once a week. We can walk to the library from our house. So we usually make it kind of a walking adventure. We usually bring lunch and eat it at the park after we go into the library too. So this summer I'm gonna try my best every time we go to the library that they have to choose at least one book that they can each read out loud to me. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Okay. [00:04:49] Speaker B: Both of my kids officially are readers at this point, so I want them to pick one thing that they can read out loud to me and then we can pick a bunch of other things that we can read aloud as a family. And nice, you know, do fun, fun reading too. My son is a rising second grader, and so for him especially, I really want to work on his numbers and kind of quick addiction addition and subtraction facts. He's really still struggling with those letter reversals and especially in his numbers. So I'm just a little concerned about that going into second grade. I have previewed the math curriculum in our district for second grade and he is really going to need to practice that to be ready for that level. So actually I bought a math book for him and I'm still figuring out how exactly I'm going to work that into his daily or weekly routine. He seems open to it. I've talked to him about it, but I. I don't know how that's gonna go. He is not my kid. That I can easily get him to buy into. Ew. That looks a lot like work Mom. I don't know that I want to do that. So I don't know. I guess stay tuned on that one. That might be my best intentions. I'm gonna try my best. One thing that both of my kids love to do is cook with me in the kitchen. So this is absolutely my favorite way to practice reading and math skills. My son can read simple directions very well. He knows a lot of the recipe words because we've just been doing that since they were teeny tiny. So this is just something we always do. He gathers all the ingredients that we need. He's working on measuring them out beforehand too. So he's learning things like fractions a little bit. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Nice. [00:07:03] Speaker B: Like, he can do one half and one third, which I think is pretty great. [00:07:06] Speaker A: It is great. Yeah. [00:07:08] Speaker B: Like, he really does kind of understand that idea. [00:07:11] Speaker A: But functional math is really important. [00:07:13] Speaker B: It is really important. And then I also have some printed and laminated conversion charts that we just practice reading while we're cooking. So I don't expect him to know, like, how many ounces are in a cup or how many grams to. [00:07:28] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:28] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:07:29] Speaker A: I don't. I always have to look that up too. [00:07:31] Speaker B: So look it up. So I just like the idea that he can use a chart. He understands what a chart looks like. I know that they will be doing a lot of that in second grade. So just like, this is how we use those math things in real life. So usually they both help with dinner at least once a week. And then we usually do some kind of baking project at least once a week too, because. [00:08:00] Speaker A: Nice. [00:08:00] Speaker B: That's just one thing that we love to do in our family. So, yeah, those are kind of my plans for this summer. What about the Boyington kids? [00:08:14] Speaker A: We are. Well, we're still kind of making our plan for the summer. We're not as. I'm not as concrete as you are right now on my planning. Um, but we are gonna try to do a summer camp this summer where they're gonna learn a lot about dogs and small animals, and they're not gonna have to take care of em and help them on the leashes and stuff and kind of train them a little bit. Um, so they're. I think they're gonna really like that. Cause they're really into animals. [00:08:42] Speaker B: Really up there. Yeah. That sounds really cool. Yeah. [00:08:45] Speaker A: We also go to the library. All summer long, we go to library events. For some reason, they really love those scavengers hunts that the library does in there. And I'm like, you get a sticker. Yeah, I think that that's the best thing in the world. [00:08:58] Speaker B: Are you guys too? Part of this is kind of specific to our county, but you guys in the same cafe library group? [00:09:07] Speaker A: Yeah, we're in the cafe, yes. [00:09:10] Speaker B: I really like that. Where they have kind of. Each little library in the group has like one clue that you have to get. So it's like encouraging you to go. [00:09:21] Speaker A: To other libraries, kind of see the differences in them. [00:09:24] Speaker B: And I thought that was. That was pretty fun last summer. [00:09:28] Speaker A: The nice thing, too is you can check out books from any of the libraries and you don't have to take them back to that library. You can put them in your main library. [00:09:34] Speaker B: You can put them in your home library bin. Even though not true with games or movies, though. [00:09:40] Speaker A: True. That is true. Yeah, but books you can. But books you can, which is nice. And they give them back to them. And then my youngest and my oldest will be coming here twice a week to work with their interventionists. One happens to be Maggie, and the other one is Tommy, who works with Wilson. Both of them really, to keep them on track, really need that. [00:10:05] Speaker B: So that is a question. We get a lot from our parents, too. If our student is involved in tutoring and that kind of intention, that really intensive type of tutoring, which is what we do, you know, should we continue this summer? Should we bump it up this summer? [00:10:23] Speaker A: Yeah, it's really specific on the family. We. We say definitely continue, but if you bump it up, that's kind of depends on the family. Most of our students are not bumping down, which is a really good thing, and also strategically a little bit more difficult, but it works out. [00:10:41] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it. It's been. I've been doing this for long enough to kind of actually have a good, you know, feel for that. And, you know, those students who at least keep going what they are doing in the school year really end up faring so much better. They do kind of take a break. And there are a lot of reasons to take a break that are family specific. So I'm not trying to say that, but if you can. [00:11:12] Speaker A: Right. [00:11:12] Speaker B: I think it's really important to at least continue the level that you're doing during the school year. [00:11:19] Speaker A: And it also depends on your students learning needs too, because like my oldest, she would slide quite down the hill because she is an intellectual delay and that happens to them, you know, if they're not continuously using their brain. So I want her to continue on her path because she's doing so well right now. [00:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:41] Speaker A: I don't want her to lose anything. [00:11:42] Speaker B: Keep that. Keep that going. [00:11:44] Speaker A: Keep it going. [00:11:46] Speaker B: So we also have heard from a few of our Dyslexia Achievement team members, so we're going to share their thoughts. So the first one is from our team member Allie, and she's got little, little kids at home, so she says. I usually do the summer reading program with my kids to earn coupons for Fun Adventures. The Waukesha County Cafe Libraries, which is what Nicole and I were talking about earlier, do kind of a similar program. So we track our reading on the Beanstalk app, and we also attend the library programs to stay engaged and excited about reading. And then she does say, my kids are really little still and in that pre alphabetic phase for reference, which means they're not ready to read on their own yet. But they love being read to. [00:12:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:12:39] Speaker B: And they are ready for those pre reading skills. So I love that. Even at that phase, she's really thinking about, what does that look like for a summer? And kind of building that, like, love for reading and that habit of reading. I'm not familiar with the Beanstalk app. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Me neither. I'm gonna have to check that out. [00:13:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll have to check that out. Maybe that would be a fun way to do some tracking. [00:13:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know. [00:13:06] Speaker B: Or maybe it'll be a lot of work. [00:13:09] Speaker A: Hard to say. Hard to say. Amy, one of our other interventionists, she said when her children were little, they always made reading fun. So she would play card games like Snap or Zingo. They would act out books, great recipes that they found in books, like many of the Harry Potter ones that they found. That's a great idea. [00:13:32] Speaker B: That's a really good idea. [00:13:33] Speaker A: They went to the library, they made crafts, and when they got older, they would play games like Wordle and like spelling bees. [00:13:42] Speaker B: Oh, I like that. [00:13:42] Speaker A: That's kind of fun. [00:13:43] Speaker B: That's really fun. I like. I like thinking about ways that games are reading in math. Yeah, I really like. I like the idea of creating recipes from books. Yeah, I like that a lot. We just are in the middle of Harry Potter as a family. Right now. We're at book four. [00:14:07] Speaker A: Wow. [00:14:08] Speaker B: And we're kind of taking. We're taking a little pause just because of the ages of my kids. Yeah, they get. [00:14:15] Speaker A: They get a little bit. [00:14:16] Speaker B: They get a little more dark. They get a Little. [00:14:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:18] Speaker B: And dark in the kind of way that like they just have to keep track of so many characters of the story. [00:14:23] Speaker A: I think that's, that's just, that makes sense. [00:14:26] Speaker B: That's just hard to do for them. But I love the idea of marrying kind of the Harry Potter to like we already cook so much at home and my kids are kind of adventurous about what they try at least it's not that they like everything but they at least will try. So I like that idea a lot Amy. Thank you Amy. [00:14:53] Speaker A: Some of our listeners have also given us some ideas. So Lauren says that she has her seven year old read to her brother who's three and then every other night she encourages her to look at or read a book as long as she wants. And that is the deal is she has to stay in bed as long but she can have the book there. Yeah, that's a good idea. [00:15:17] Speaker B: That's a great idea. Yeah. We do something similar in our house that my kids are allowed to read in their beds at night after, you know, after it's like good night time. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:15:35] Speaker B: But I do have to cut usually I do have to cut Aiden off I was gonna say or he won't. [00:15:42] Speaker A: Really doesn't work in our house because they would just keep going. [00:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Like especially Carolyn, our middle is kind of fall asleep. She'll just conk. She's not really reading, reading the books that she's bringing to her bed either. She's really looking at. [00:15:56] Speaker A: Well she's pretty young. [00:15:56] Speaker B: She's still, she's only five. She's a rising kindergartener. So some of the books she is reading but most of them are still. She's looking at pictures. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:08] Speaker B: And kind of has quite a few sight words, CVC words. She's got words with blends. She's doing well. But Aiden, I definitely have to cut off at a certain point. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Carolyn's like that too. Yeah, I'll go in there. I'm like what are you still doing up? She's like yeah I was reading, I'm okay to read. And I'm like but do you have school tomorrow? [00:16:31] Speaker B: Yes, there has. Yeah. One of my kids needs a cut off and the other one can self do that for herself at least right now. Yeah, yeah I like that. She also kind of says I'm curious about math responses from others. So she's listening for some maths suggestions. She says she's thinking about focusing on money. [00:16:53] Speaker A: That's a good one. [00:16:54] Speaker B: I like that a lot. [00:16:55] Speaker A: Yeah, that is a good one. [00:16:56] Speaker B: You know looking at the ages for kids, too. Seven and three. That's a great time to be thinking about, right? Yeah. How does money work? That's important to know. And then she said her oldest is also going to summer school and we'll have some classes that touch on the math skills. [00:17:16] Speaker A: Nice. Brittany says that she goes to the summer reading program at the library. They read as a family every night before they go to bed. And they also read books of their choosing in their beds with flashlights after lights up. Oh, that's a great idea. I used to do that on, you know, under my covers to actually get through it. But to have him already starting that, that's kind of a great idea. [00:17:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that a lot. [00:17:48] Speaker A: And they work in reading and math when they're driving in the car or running errands, like reading signs, rhyming games, counting objects. And she's also interested to hear our other ideas. [00:17:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. I like that kind of idea of in the car. Those kind of things. Right. You're kind of in a captive audience anyway. [00:18:08] Speaker A: There's signs, there's all sorts of things you can read and. Yeah, I mean, and obviously, you know, you can make math. How far do you think we went? Oh, look, you know, we went five miles of that light and two miles of this light. How many miles did we go? [00:18:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. And kind of tying to even the idea of time. Right, Right. Okay. How long is it going to take to get from here to there? [00:18:33] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:18:34] Speaker B: How long do we really need to be at the store? Right. I mean, that's. [00:18:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know what to do with the stores yet. I think that's too much. [00:18:46] Speaker B: One thing at a time. One thing at a time. Liz says we do a lot of math equations in our car or at dinner. So similar to Brittany, she said that her parents also bought one of the math equation workbooks that they like to do with the kids when they are there. So. So the grandparents getting in the game. I like that. [00:19:10] Speaker A: That's nice. [00:19:11] Speaker B: We also play a lot of cards. And then she says we're working on both of them learning cribbage. I love that idea. For those of you not in the state of Wisconsin, cribbage is a card game that also has, like, a little peg board. I feel like that's a really Midwestern game. But it is really fun. And it does absolutely involve lots of counting. Lots of counting and lots of understanding what's a pair. [00:19:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:41] Speaker B: So I could see scaffolding that even for a younger kid, maybe Seven or eight, I think would be appropriate. [00:19:47] Speaker A: We play a lot of rummy in our house and we make Carolyn do the math because that's another game because we play 500. So, you know, you go up to 500 and I like that. Yeah. And then sometimes you have negative numbers that jump in there because you know you don't win. [00:20:04] Speaker B: Yes. She also says that she loves the summer library program and that they all read nightly, although her oldest needs to be shut down or he'd stay up all night reading graphic novels. [00:20:20] Speaker A: Yes. [00:20:21] Speaker B: Yep. Every kid is just a little bit different. [00:20:26] Speaker A: Correct. Exactly. So Brittany w. Another Brittany says, my kids are at two different levels. Her daughter missed a lot of time on her IEP this school year, so they're receiving makeup time in daycare. So she'll get letter number reading lessons throughout the summer with her special ed teacher. And because her husband and her were not. They didn't know how to attack continuing the education through the summer on their own. Um, and she wants to really enjoy the summer because she works so hard. Plus she's an average attention span, which is shorter than most her age. So when she's done, she's done. But they want her to be at the same level as her peers, so she does need the repetitions. And then she's like, I don't know. My son loves reading chapter books and math problems. And they're going to go to the library a bunch of. And they also bought some workbooks. [00:21:27] Speaker B: I like that one because that just offers that really good perspective. [00:21:31] Speaker A: Right. [00:21:32] Speaker B: We've got one kid in our house who has sounds like quite a few needs. Right. If they're working on missing IEP time and making it up in the summer, that's usually kind of a high bar to reach. So I'm kind of implying from this response that there's probably quite a few other needs going on with that kid. [00:21:50] Speaker A: Right. [00:21:50] Speaker B: And so understanding that. I also really think summer should be fun. [00:21:57] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:21:58] Speaker B: You know, I mean, personally, I love reading, so working on reading is fun for me. But that's not true of all kids. And sometimes just the overload, you. You just gotta. You gotta kind of know your kid and kind of know that when she's done, she's done. And I like that she's really conscious of. I want that repetition, but I don't want to push her so far that she's so frustrated. And that also sounds like she's still pretty little. [00:22:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say if they're working on those. [00:22:28] Speaker B: If they're working on it, you know, through daycare too. [00:22:31] Speaker A: Right. [00:22:32] Speaker B: So I'm wondering if that's not even a school. It's probably like three. Yeah. Or maybe implying that this is probably a birth to 3. Iep. [00:22:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:43] Speaker B: So I'm thinking this is a real little kid and yeah, let them absolutely have a summer. [00:22:52] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. [00:22:53] Speaker B: I like, I like that she's really thinking about that. [00:22:58] Speaker A: And then Jen says they go to the library a lot and then they also do geometry with building different projects. This is really good for her son because he rarely gets practical application, which I think that's actually a really good thing to say because Carolyn loves those build boxes and it's teaching her physics and things in math and relationships and all those things and. But she gets to build it. So it's more hands on. And I think you just learn a lot more when you're doing hands on things than if you're just reading something or looking at a worksheet. [00:23:38] Speaker B: I totally agree. I think this is making me think of Legos. [00:23:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:23:42] Speaker B: And I am really. Aiden has. Both my kids love Legos, but Aiden has really, in the last maybe two to three months, really latched down to actually like the LEGO kits. [00:23:56] Speaker A: Oh, those are nice. Yeah. [00:23:57] Speaker B: And building things with directions, which I love for a lot of reasons. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Because they're reading, they're reading, they're following directions. [00:24:05] Speaker B: They're following directions. And the, the pictures in those LEGO instruction books have come a long way since I was a kid, I will tell you that. [00:24:13] Speaker A: I remember being kind of complicated too. [00:24:14] Speaker B: It was totally overwhelming. And I. No, thank you. I mean, I loved playing with Legos in the way that I wanted to play with them, but I had no interest in building kits. It's too close to a puzzle for me. And I. I hate puzzles. Please nobody write me hate letters. But I hate them. I don't like jigsaw puzzles at all. [00:24:33] Speaker A: Although those are really good for critical thinking. And so those are fun to do in the summer too. [00:24:38] Speaker B: They are great skill buildings. And I hate them. My kids do puzzles. I hate them. They are not for me. They are not a pleasure activity for me. But I, I really love that the directions are so clear and like they're color coded. Recently, Aiden got one that was like the Harry Potter car. [00:25:04] Speaker A: Oh, fun. [00:25:05] Speaker B: He loved it because he's really, really into the Harry Potter thing. He got into it big, but he hit a point where like his brain moves really fast and he does kind of have that like, oh, I see how it goes together. But he got too far and he kind of he skipped a middle step, which was fine because he was building, like, the base, and then he was building the front. And. And then when it got to the point where they actually had to come together, that's when he got really frustrated because he missed the middle step. [00:25:42] Speaker A: And really, in Legos, if you miss those steps, you see that, and you can see your error. [00:25:47] Speaker B: You can see your error, and you can kind of go back. And it's not. It's so low stakes. Okay. So you had to take that one part back apart, and then you put it back together. And I was like that. I don't. I didn't. [00:26:03] Speaker A: That's such a good thing for frustration tolerance, too, don't you think? [00:26:06] Speaker B: Yes, it is such a good thing for frustration tolerance because. Yeah, I mean, he was mad, but it was like, oh, we could really kind of do this, like, big deal, little deal, right? What is that? [00:26:21] Speaker A: What is it? [00:26:22] Speaker B: You know, the skill of being able to look back in the directions to figure out where he had gone and where he went back on track. So I really love that Jen brought up blocks, because I think when we get this question, I think sometimes parents are feeling like I'm not doing enough or I don't have a good handle on things. And I think, first of all, if you're a parent asking this question, let's think about all the things you are already doing with your kids, because I'd be willing to bet it is a lot. [00:26:57] Speaker A: Mm. [00:26:58] Speaker B: So, I mean, almost every single one of these responses. Right. Were things like, go to the library, read every night. [00:27:05] Speaker A: Right. [00:27:06] Speaker B: None. None of these were crazy. Right. [00:27:11] Speaker A: Like, as an ot, though, I will put a little bit in here. You know, the Legos and the puzzles and anything like coloring that could get that fine motor still going, too, through the summer. It's also very important. Even so, I know that it's kind. [00:27:31] Speaker B: Of funny, but I just don't like jigsaw puzzles. Coloring is great. Legos are awesome. I just. [00:27:38] Speaker A: But even those little games that we, you know, holding cards, Anything that helps those hands continue working. Because obviously writing will come back next school year. [00:27:49] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. Yeah. Those kind of. Yeah. Pick up small objects. Millie has gotten into, like beading. Like, bigger. Like pony beads. [00:27:58] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:27:59] Speaker B: Which I'm like, that's. [00:28:00] Speaker A: That's a great activity for fine motor. [00:28:02] Speaker B: You can kind of string them onto. [00:28:04] Speaker A: Yes. [00:28:05] Speaker B: A string. [00:28:06] Speaker A: And the older you get, the smaller the beads get. Yes. [00:28:09] Speaker B: That, again, is not for me. That's where I exit the equation. Pony beads are fine, but no, thank you to Those tiny little seed beads. [00:28:17] Speaker A: Oh, they get everywhere. [00:28:18] Speaker B: Everywhere. I'm not. I. I know that that is in my future with her. There's probably no avoiding that. But if we can delay it. [00:28:28] Speaker A: So do you know what Carolyn asked for? [00:28:30] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:28:31] Speaker A: She wants a wig so she can practice different hairstyles. [00:28:34] Speaker B: Stop. Oh, my gosh. [00:28:36] Speaker A: Yes. Because the Barbie's hair is not big enough. [00:28:39] Speaker B: Big enough. Okay. Okay. [00:28:41] Speaker A: So, okay. She's learning. She's literally going on YouTube and learning different types of braids. [00:28:46] Speaker B: Okay. [00:28:47] Speaker A: And trying them out. [00:28:48] Speaker B: Okay. All right. [00:28:49] Speaker A: My hair doesn't help her very much anymore, so. Kind of funny. So any of those type of activities are also really good because what is she doing? She's learning a new skill. [00:29:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:02] Speaker A: So. And that still makes that brain build, those connections. [00:29:07] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. I mean, just even talking about what we're doing while we're doing it. [00:29:14] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:29:15] Speaker B: Going for hikes, being outside, all the things that come along with summertime. [00:29:22] Speaker A: Sometimes we bring, like, a book with us and look at the different things that were on the hikes and, you know, try to say, oh, do you think that's this type of tree or that type of tree? Yeah. [00:29:32] Speaker B: They even have, like, apps where you can take a picture. [00:29:36] Speaker A: Okay. [00:29:36] Speaker B: Of like, a tree or a shrub or something, or a flower, and it will tell you what it is, what kind of plant. And I think the DNR last summer had kind of an attachment to their app that it would actually tell you, like, if it was an invasive, specific species. [00:29:53] Speaker A: Really? That's interesting. [00:29:54] Speaker B: Which I think that's really interesting, too. Kind of that. [00:29:57] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:29:58] Speaker B: Connecting. I love this topic because I actually feel like it makes me feel like a good mom, having my, like, fingers on the, like. Actually, a lot of these things that we just do are really good for our kids. [00:30:16] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:30:17] Speaker B: I don't really think it takes a lot of, you know, I don't want any moms out there really trying to beat themselves up for not, like, doing enough or keeping up enough. I think you know the old standard, right. Like, 15 to 20 minutes a day of reading in some capacity is what is research backed. So everything else that we talked about today is, like, good for you, mom. That's like the whipped cream and cherry on top, right? [00:30:50] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:30:50] Speaker B: Those are all the things that. Yeah, that does absolutely help. But we know what the research says, and the research says 15 to 20 minutes is enough to keep kids on the right track, you know, and not totally overwhelm their systems either, which is important. Summer should be fun. [00:31:13] Speaker A: So, Maggie, what's happening outside of dyslexia. [00:31:16] Speaker B: Yeah. So outside of dyslexia. So it is May here in southeastern Wisconsin. And last weekend we got our garden planted. [00:31:27] Speaker A: Ooh. [00:31:28] Speaker B: We had. We have some tomatoes and some peppers and fun carrots and beans and peas. And I'm really excited for some summer produce. I would say I am a novice at best gardener. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Okay. [00:31:45] Speaker B: So I'm not. I'm not great at it. But some fresh veggies during the summer. That's my. That's my bar for calling my garden a success. Some of the things out of the garden. [00:32:03] Speaker A: Yes. Mine's lower. So. Actually we tried to do a garden last or two years ago and it didn't grow. Yeah. We have too many trees around us and there's too much shade. [00:32:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:18] Speaker A: And then the dogs ate what did grow. Oops. So the kids wanted to do try it again today this summer. And we talked them out of that and said maybe we would find somebody or go to the. Go someplace that have a lot of gardening things. [00:32:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:37] Speaker A: And they can come to my house. [00:32:38] Speaker B: No promisers that it will be abundant. [00:32:40] Speaker A: They can absolutely come to my house because they will be happy to dig in the dirt for you. Holding things up. Maybe not the right things, but they would help. [00:32:49] Speaker B: Hey, you know, Low Bar, what's going on with you? [00:32:58] Speaker A: Really? It's just been a lot of rain lately, I think, and our poor dogs are so muddy that our house is kind of muddy. So we've been just kind of trying to keep up with that lately. And it's. It's been raining a lot here lately. And that doesn't help. [00:33:17] Speaker B: No. [00:33:17] Speaker A: And they've ran. They have tracks in our backyard now that don't have any. They got rid of. Somehow they've managed to make the grass go away. And so it's all mud. And so whenever they run in their track. [00:33:29] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like. It's the same at our house. We've got like just dead grass. [00:33:33] Speaker A: Yes. [00:33:34] Speaker B: Where she like goes potty. And then. [00:33:37] Speaker A: Yes. [00:33:38] Speaker B: It also turns into the area that's like complete mud. [00:33:43] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:33:43] Speaker B: It's like, well, here we are. When it gets nice out, that is when I will clean the house again. But. [00:33:49] Speaker A: Yep. Until then, I just. [00:33:51] Speaker B: It is what it is. [00:33:52] Speaker A: Try to keep what it is. Yep, Exactly. It's like, okay. [00:33:56] Speaker B: Yep. [00:33:57] Speaker A: So when can. When is it going to be warm enough for giving them another bath? [00:34:01] Speaker B: Yes. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. [00:34:03] Speaker B: They need it. Same, same. See, we're real here at cac. Well, thank you, everybody for listening. Please. If you like our show, please follow us on social media and reach out if you have any questions or would like us to discuss a topic. If you do like our show, please follow us and then give us a rating on your favorite podcast player. That's how we reach more listeners and get to help more families. Thank you. [00:34:32] Speaker A: Thank you.