Rivka
@rivka-otter.bsky.social
Psychologist (but not *your* psychologist), parent, progressive, and all manner of things that begin with P. What a time to be alive and anxious.
I have to wait until Sunday so I can watch with my bestie and I am dyinggggg
November 29, 2025 at 1:04 AM
I have to wait until Sunday so I can watch with my bestie and I am dyinggggg
Shoutout to the German exchange student at my high school who came back after his first American Thanksgiving and said “in Germany, we feed pumpkins to the pigs.”
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Shoutout to the German exchange student at my high school who came back after his first American Thanksgiving and said “in Germany, we feed pumpkins to the pigs.”
Tell me more about Tourtière, that is BEAUTIFUL!
November 26, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Tell me more about Tourtière, that is BEAUTIFUL!
Has he already deleted his account?
November 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Has he already deleted his account?
(My 14yo was also offered her first shot of vodka but wisely declined. Even though “it is traditional with smoked fish.”)
November 26, 2025 at 2:06 PM
(My 14yo was also offered her first shot of vodka but wisely declined. Even though “it is traditional with smoked fish.”)
One of my family’s happiest travel memories is the time we did a “tasting tour” of the Central Market in Riga. We ate EVERYTHING. Bread soup, cheese with nettles, smoked pig’s ear, “herring in a fur coat,” and my 18yo’s first shot of vodka.
November 26, 2025 at 2:05 PM
One of my family’s happiest travel memories is the time we did a “tasting tour” of the Central Market in Riga. We ate EVERYTHING. Bread soup, cheese with nettles, smoked pig’s ear, “herring in a fur coat,” and my 18yo’s first shot of vodka.
This is why the biography of the Joy of Cooking authors is titled “Stand Facing the Stove.” www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stand-...
Stand Facing the Stove
In 1931, Irma S. Rombauer, a recent widow, took her life savings and self-published a cookbook that she hoped might support her family. Little did ...
www.simonandschuster.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
This is why the biography of the Joy of Cooking authors is titled “Stand Facing the Stove.” www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stand-...
One of the tools I use is to have them read nonsense words like “blarple.” They’re not guessable - the only way to do it is with phonics.
If you can’t read “blarple” you’re not going to be able to read “polymerization” or “Constantinople” in textbooks - and three-cuing definitely won’t help.
If you can’t read “blarple” you’re not going to be able to read “polymerization” or “Constantinople” in textbooks - and three-cuing definitely won’t help.
November 25, 2025 at 11:34 AM
One of the tools I use is to have them read nonsense words like “blarple.” They’re not guessable - the only way to do it is with phonics.
If you can’t read “blarple” you’re not going to be able to read “polymerization” or “Constantinople” in textbooks - and three-cuing definitely won’t help.
If you can’t read “blarple” you’re not going to be able to read “polymerization” or “Constantinople” in textbooks - and three-cuing definitely won’t help.
Kids who are good at three-cuing often do fine in elementary school, when texts have pictures, aren’t terribly complex, and are mostly composed of common (= guessable) words.
They come to me for testing in middle school and I’m like “oh, you never learned to READ-read, you’re just a great guesser.”
They come to me for testing in middle school and I’m like “oh, you never learned to READ-read, you’re just a great guesser.”
November 25, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Kids who are good at three-cuing often do fine in elementary school, when texts have pictures, aren’t terribly complex, and are mostly composed of common (= guessable) words.
They come to me for testing in middle school and I’m like “oh, you never learned to READ-read, you’re just a great guesser.”
They come to me for testing in middle school and I’m like “oh, you never learned to READ-read, you’re just a great guesser.”
(Obviously those decades were primarily the 70s and 80s.)
November 25, 2025 at 3:36 AM
(Obviously those decades were primarily the 70s and 80s.)
For decades my mother threw parties that involved the same two hot appetizers passed on trays: sausage balls, and something called “asparagus roll-ups” that involved rolled-flat white bread, cream cheese, asparagus spears, and crumbled bacon, baked until the bread was crispy.
November 25, 2025 at 3:35 AM
For decades my mother threw parties that involved the same two hot appetizers passed on trays: sausage balls, and something called “asparagus roll-ups” that involved rolled-flat white bread, cream cheese, asparagus spears, and crumbled bacon, baked until the bread was crispy.
Having homeschooled two children using phonics methods, I’m convinced that the persistence of “whole language” and “balanced literacy” is in part because teaching phonics is unbelievably boring. It’s agonizing. OF COURSE teachers would rather read and discuss stories.
November 25, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Having homeschooled two children using phonics methods, I’m convinced that the persistence of “whole language” and “balanced literacy” is in part because teaching phonics is unbelievably boring. It’s agonizing. OF COURSE teachers would rather read and discuss stories.
Bizarrely, I was awarded an entire Ph.D. in clinical psychology without ever being required to learn one thing about how reading works.
That information tends to be siloed in ed psych departments and schools of education.
That information tends to be siloed in ed psych departments and schools of education.
November 25, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Bizarrely, I was awarded an entire Ph.D. in clinical psychology without ever being required to learn one thing about how reading works.
That information tends to be siloed in ed psych departments and schools of education.
That information tends to be siloed in ed psych departments and schools of education.
Are your sausage balls, by any chance, a mixture of sausage, grated cheese, and bisquick, rolled into balls and baked on a cookie sheet?
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Are your sausage balls, by any chance, a mixture of sausage, grated cheese, and bisquick, rolled into balls and baked on a cookie sheet?
Receipts.
(Complete contents of the indulgent charcuterie plate in the alt text.)
(Complete contents of the indulgent charcuterie plate in the alt text.)
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Receipts.
(Complete contents of the indulgent charcuterie plate in the alt text.)
(Complete contents of the indulgent charcuterie plate in the alt text.)
When I was growing up we also did the full turkey dinner on Christmas Day. Now my nuclear family varies our Christmas Eve options, but Christmas Day has settled on an incredibly indulgent charcuterie plate.
November 25, 2025 at 2:10 AM
When I was growing up we also did the full turkey dinner on Christmas Day. Now my nuclear family varies our Christmas Eve options, but Christmas Day has settled on an incredibly indulgent charcuterie plate.
Absolutely! Whereas people don’t seem ashamed of not being able to do math. Sometimes they even sound proud.
November 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Absolutely! Whereas people don’t seem ashamed of not being able to do math. Sometimes they even sound proud.
Definitely no need to understand hockey to appreciate gay hockey romance. Although your analogy makes me think that hockey romances could benefit from a Stephen Maturin character.
November 23, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Definitely no need to understand hockey to appreciate gay hockey romance. Although your analogy makes me think that hockey romances could benefit from a Stephen Maturin character.
Is, uh, is this a kink? I would feel better if it were a kink.
November 22, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Is, uh, is this a kink? I would feel better if it were a kink.