The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
dryerlintfan said:
Yes, this. For many, it's not necessarily smarts that is the goal. It's advantage in life. If you go to this preschool you have a better shot at this elementary school, and if you go to this elementary school you have a better shot at this elite middle school, and so on and so forth until you reach Ivy League schooling.

In America, it's often more who you know and not what you know that gets you ahead in life. So the goal becomes more to be well connected or have things in common with those who are well connected (elite kindergartens) instead of be well read or well versed in mathematics.

It's certainly not for the majority of the country, but you will find this to be the case in most major cutting edge cities like LA or NYC
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The Dutch system is just such a far cry from the US system. Of course, where I grew up, there was no choice in schools. My town's population was around 1000....there was only one elementary school and one Junior high/high school combined. I don't think we even had a preschool when I was that age...I know there was one when I was in Junior high because our home ec class did puppet shows about safety for the preschoolers...my group's topic was stranger danger. Another group had traffic safety. That's all I remember. But I don't think there's a preschool there anymore. But you lived there, you either went to the one school they had or you homeschooled. There was no "who you know" thing....everyone knew everyone and their business. But over here, with the tiered system for high school, if you don't get the scores, you can't get into the higher levels of school, and without those, you can't go to University. So here, the advantage in life is based on being willing to learn.
 
12in12

12in12

Well-Known Member
ajrwdwgirl said:
He fought through cancer in his mouth and throat area last year. His dentist first noticed it and he wasn't a smoker or tobacco user. Around Thanksgiving this year things were going well, and then less than a month ago he started feeling out of sorts and went back in. He was set to do intensive treatments starting this week, I believe. He was about 38 years old and had a lovely 3 year daughter. It is just so sad.

Hubs is dealing ok with it, but he didn't sleep much and I didn't sleep much worrying about him. We will probably have to miss the funeral, which Brad is pretty upset about. The funeral hasn't been announced yet but we are assuming it will be Saturday and we will be on our way to WDW that day. I really hope for hubs sake the funeral is on Friday. I won't be able to with him because it was announced a week ago that we don't have any subs for that day but at least he could go.
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I'm sorry to hear about Brad's friend. Such a loss is terrible for all involved.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
21stamps said:
We had 2 interviews and oral and written tests before kiddo got “accepted” to Kindergarten. He’s shy around strangers, so I was extremely nervous when they took him by himself for the testing. We didn’t even find out if he got in for about 3 days, I was sweating bullets.lol.

It is extremely different now.. you have to know a minimum of certain sight words and counting before kindergarten starts.
In second grade we’re doing Powerpoint presentations, and graphs.. him, not me. It’s not parent projects.
Can you imagine doing that 20-30 years ago?
I can’t. School has changed drastically.
I used a poster board and glued on photos or magazine cut outs to give a presentation back when I was in elementary school.:cautious:
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Yeah, we don't have any of that here. There are no admission exams or interviews. You pick a school, you sign them up, they do around 4 or 5 test run days where they go to the school for the morning and get the feel of what school is like, then on their 4th birthday, they officially start and they just keep going. They learn their letters and numbers and they play a lot. In first grade they start to learn to read and do basic math. In 4th grade, they have their first report and power point presentation. In 3rd grade they add a few other subjects like Topography and science and social studies. Then in 5th grade, most schools start teaching English, or in my DD's case, she's getting Spanish since she is already fluent in English. But there were no interviews or anything to see what they knew prior to starting school....that was a surprise to me because I remember when I started kindergarten they asked us about like...shapes, colors, could I count to 10, did I know the alphabet, and could I skip and gallop. I think that was it, but I was surprised they don't do that here. I was told back home now, the kids are expected to know how to read when they start kindergarten! Say what? Where are they supposed to learn it???
 
MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
dryerlintfan said:
Yes, this. For many, it's not necessarily smarts that is the goal. It's advantage in life. If you go to this preschool you have a better shot at this elementary school, and if you go to this elementary school you have a better shot at this elite middle school, and so on and so forth until you reach Ivy League schooling.

In America, it's often more who you know and not what you know that gets you ahead in life. So the goal becomes more to be well connected or have things in common with those who are well connected (elite kindergartens) instead of be well read or well versed in mathematics.

It's certainly not for the majority of the country, but you will find this to be the case in most major cutting edge cities like LA or NYC
Click to expand...
I don't think Ivy League is that important unless you go to Harvard Law. Sure it helps in some fields. We have a family friend who is in her mid 40's now. She went to U Arizona for PR. Her family is from Long Island. She got a job working for a small pr firm in DC. She had the nerve one day to write to the lawyer of Monica Lewinsky. This is back in the 90's when that scandal was going on and telling him to go to dine at a specific restaurant her pr firm worked for. Anyway her nerve and smarts got her moved quickly up and eventually moved on and she became the PR person for Katie Couric. Actually met her at her wedding because she was invited as well. She didn't need a fancy school. She went to all public before college. She became successful because of her own guts and brain. By the way, she quit a couple of years ago. Oh, and her husband is actually from Israel, is an engineer and has an amazing job in Manhattan. They now live in a mulitmillion dollar mansion in Connecticut. No Ivy League there. Bob Iger as I posted earlier last week, only went to public NY schools and plain old Ithaca College. Nothing fancy. It is what you do with what you are given that has a lot to do with how you end up. Sure connections help, but it is not something most of us can count on, and unless you plan on being a politician or an actor, are not that important when your goals are to become an engineer or a doctor. There is too much pressure and I think a lot of it goes to the old adage of "Keeping up with the Joneses". Phooey I say to all that. Just my opinion.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
21stamps said:
I think I’m the only woman who has never owned a Vera Bradley bag. I did borrow a VB beach bag from my sister for our Fall trip, I didn’t realize until too late that my beach bag had a stain on it.

I’m weird.. I have a fear of multi colored items or strong prints.lol. Hence my child not having Disney clothes or any traditional “baby” clothes or shoes. I’m so weird that if I receive a multi-colored floral arrangement, I will dissect it and rearrange in multiple bases by color.:hilarious: I’ve always been this way..maybe scarred from how my mom dressed me during the 80s? ;). Although, a few weeks ago my son brought me multi-colored flowers when I had the flu, I didn’t rearrange those.

I’m not sure if there’s some psych term for my aversion to multi-colors, if there is I’d love to know . ;)
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You aren't the only woman who has never owned a VB bag....um....I'd never even heard of it until today. Do we have a blushing emoticon? Yeah....I'm not a real trendy person. I couldn't care less what brand it is or what's in style as long as it's comfortable and meets my needs.
 
MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
21stamps said:
We had 2 interviews and oral and written tests before kiddo got “accepted” to Kindergarten. He’s shy around strangers, so I was extremely nervous when they took him by himself for the testing. We didn’t even find out if he got in for about 3 days, I was sweating bullets.lol.

It is extremely different now.. you have to know a minimum of certain sight words and counting before kindergarten starts.
In second grade we’re doing Powerpoint presentations, and graphs.. him, not me. It’s not parent projects.
Can you imagine doing that 20-30 years ago?
I can’t. School has changed drastically.
I used a poster board and glued on photos or magazine cut outs to give a presentation back when I was in elementary school.:cautious:
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with cut outs. :) Kids love projects like that.
 
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
21stamps said:
I’ve seen some really cute stuff at Target too, and then I look at the box and the required assembly..realize I can’t do it.
If you ever want to come to my area please let me know.. there’s a loft bed from IKEA that I’ve been wanting for my son for the past couple of years.. since you’re experienced now, maybe you could help me with the project? ;)
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Sure. I can be paid in manicures and Disney gift cards.
 
DryerLintFan

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Songbird76 said:
The Dutch system is just such a far cry from the US system. Of course, where I grew up, there was no choice in schools. My town's population was around 1000....there was only one elementary school and one Junior high/high school combined. I don't think we even had a preschool when I was that age...I know there was one when I was in Junior high because our home ec class did puppet shows about safety for the preschoolers...my group's topic was stranger danger. Another group had traffic safety. That's all I remember. But I don't think there's a preschool there anymore. But you lived there, you either went to the one school they had or you homeschooled. There was no "who you know" thing....everyone knew everyone and their business. But over here, with the tiered system for high school, if you don't get the scores, you can't get into the higher levels of school, and without those, you can't go to University. So here, the advantage in life is based on being willing to learn.
Click to expand...

I didn't go to preschool either, although some were available. We just couldn't afford it. I remember the HUGE thing stressed to me by my family was that I needed to know how to tie my shoes on my own before kindergarten :joyfull::joyfull:

Songbird76 said:
Yeah, we don't have any of that here. There are no admission exams or interviews. You pick a school, you sign them up, they do around 4 or 5 test run days where they go to the school for the morning and get the feel of what school is like, then on their 4th birthday, they officially start and they just keep going. They learn their letters and numbers and they play a lot. In first grade they start to learn to read and do basic math. In 4th grade, they have their first report and power point presentation. In 3rd grade they add a few other subjects like Topography and science and social studies. Then in 5th grade, most schools start teaching English, or in my DD's case, she's getting Spanish since she is already fluent in English. But there were no interviews or anything to see what they knew prior to starting school....that was a surprise to me because I remember when I started kindergarten they asked us about like...shapes, colors, could I count to 10, did I know the alphabet, and could I skip and gallop. I think that was it, but I was surprised they don't do that here. I was told back home now, the kids are expected to know how to read when they start kindergarten! Say what? Where are they supposed to learn it???
Click to expand...

From preschool. Preschool is the new kindergarten and we're expecting our children to learn more things, earlier than ever
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
Yeah, we don't have any of that here. There are no admission exams or interviews. You pick a school, you sign them up, they do around 4 or 5 test run days where they go to the school for the morning and get the feel of what school is like, then on their 4th birthday, they officially start and they just keep going. They learn their letters and numbers and they play a lot. In first grade they start to learn to read and do basic math. In 4th grade, they have their first report and power point presentation. In 3rd grade they add a few other subjects like Topography and science and social studies. Then in 5th grade, most schools start teaching English, or in my DD's case, she's getting Spanish since she is already fluent in English. But there were no interviews or anything to see what they knew prior to starting school....that was a surprise to me because I remember when I started kindergarten they asked us about like...shapes, colors, could I count to 10, did I know the alphabet, and could I skip and gallop. I think that was it, but I was surprised they don't do that here. I was told back home now, the kids are expected to know how to read when they start kindergarten! Say what? Where are they supposed to learn it???
Click to expand...
It’s definitely a requirement to be able to read and write before kindergarten at all of the schools I know of here. Like I said, it wasn’t like that when I was a kid.

MySmallWorldof4 said:
I don't think Ivy League is that important unless you go to Harvard Law. Sure it helps in some fields. We have a family friend who is in her mid 40's now. She went to U Arizona for PR. Her family is from Long Island. She got a job working for a small pr firm in DC. She had the nerve one day to write to the lawyer of Monica Lewinsky. This is back in the 90's when that scandal was going on and telling him to go to dine at a specific restaurant her pr firm worked for. Anyway her nerve and smarts got her moved quickly up and eventually moved on and she became the PR person for Katie Couric. Actually met her at her wedding because she was invited as well. She didn't need a fancy school. She went to all public before college. She became successful because of her own guts and brain. By the way, she quit a couple of years ago. Oh, and her husband is actually from Israel, is an engineer and has an amazing job in Manhattan. They now live in a mulitmillion dollar mansion in Connecticut. No Ivy League there. Bob Iger as I posted earlier last week, only went to public NY schools and plain old Ithaca College. Nothing fancy. It is what you do with what you are given that has a lot to do with how you end up. Sure connections help, but it is not something most of us can count on, and unless you plan on being a politician or an actor, are not that important when your goals are to become an engineer or a doctor. There is too much pressure and I think a lot of it goes to the old adage of "Keeping up with the Joneses". Phooey I say to all that. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I feel the same regarding Ivy League schools. My brother in law was accepted to Yale, he placed in the 30th %.. 30% of kids were supposedly “smarter” than him. I know he agonized over the decision to attend or not, ended up deciding it wasn’t worth the stress. He attended a different private university, finished number 1 in his class every year.. he’s an orthopedic, which one would have given him the better advantage? Top of his class in a great school, or middle-ish of his class in an Ivy League school”, I think the former.. and it worked out for him.

My high school’s curriculum set us up to be accepted into any university of our choice, meaning they had a minimum required curriculum/extra curricular/volunteer/community requirements to give us the basics.. but your performance in those requirements determined what schools you got into.. not the high school alone. Most people didn’t end up going Ivy League, I think it was around 15%. The school did help with admissions into other schools though, and the student ratio of obtaining college scholarships was huge.
The specific school only gets you so far though, for sure. A kid can achieve exactly the same in public school or home school.
 
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
Well, the replacement they hired for my role (so I can go help out in another area) started today, and I'm a little worried. I'm hoping it's just first day jitters, but my gut says this girl is a bad match for the role. I can already tell her tech skills aren't very strong. They told me that she didn't have Excel skills when she came on, and they said, "Well, you picked it up." Er...I knew Excel; there were features I needed a refresher course on, like pivot tables, and then getting on it every day strengthened my skills. Someone with no Excel skills...worrisome. Then she needed help with Outlook. Er...also not good. And then her communication skills are lacking. She asks questions, and there have already been several times where I've said I don't understand or she needed to rephrase. Not good when you're emailing several hundred people.

Like I said, hoping she's just having first day jitters, but I'm worried.
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
StarWarsGirl said:
Well, the replacement they hired for my role (so I can go help out in another area) started today, and I'm a little worried. I'm hoping it's just first day jitters, but my gut says this girl is a bad match for the role. I can already tell her tech skills aren't very strong. They told me that she didn't have Excel skills when she came on, and they said, "Well, you picked it up." Er...I knew Excel; there were features I needed a refresher course on, like pivot tables, and then getting on it every day strengthened my skills. Someone with no Excel skills...worrisome. Then she needed help with Outlook. Er...also not good. And then her communication skills are lacking. She asks questions, and there have already been several times where I've said I don't understand or she needed to rephrase. Not good when you're emailing several hundred people.

Like I said, hoping she's just having first day jitters, but I'm worried.
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If you wind up doing both jobs will you get paid for both?
 

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