Discipline

My kid gets along with me. She is not a brat or a terror. Usually, I have more fun with her than I have by myself. Sometimes, I appreciate a break.

She accepts my authority about when to come inside, when to turn off the computer, when to turn out the lights. But she also employs charisma and whining to get out of following the rules. I usually have trouble getting and keeping her attention.

Lesson 1 of 100 was very easy for both of us. The book provides a script for the tutor to read. That is a characteristic of Engelmann products—except for his early ones, more on that later. Listen to me say 'sss' as I run my finger under the letter. Now you do it. Listen to me say 'sssaaammm' as I run my finger under the letters. Now you do it. Now I'll say it fast, 'sam.' Now you say it fast.

It doesn't require any preparation and it's over in twenty minutes.

Lessons 5, 6, and 7 (or so) were harder. She got bored and wanted to stop. I got through it without threats or bribes. Past a certain length of time, lying down on the floor is more boring than reading lesson. I'm more patient than a five-year-old, I was able to win the battle of wills a few times in a row.

Then we had a streak of many easy-going lessons. She got a little bit better every day, and I sometimes picked up a small insight about reading, or learning, or teaching. For the tutor, some lessons are more fun than others. But if those small insights went over my head some days, overall I picked up something big about the role of repetition in learning.

Einstein was impressed by compound interest, a "powerful force in the universe." But even accretion is a powerful force. At lesson 40 the kid is not a bad reader, not of children's books.

(Well, a footnote about that. At the beginning the kid is being trained to read in a weird font, called Distar. There are visual cues that tell if a letter is silent, or if a vowel is long or short. There are some children's books printed in the same font; sadly "My Pet Goat" is a very famous example. The readings are printed normally from lesson 75 or so, and the kid adjusts quickly.)

Besides building a skill, we had built a habit of doing a lesson every day. At lesson 40, I thought I would miss it after we got through the book.