nimblelynx7 said:Then how do you explain the fact that just a few decades ago, all you needed was two extra years of schooling to teach in a classroom, yet suddenly today, the U.S. Department of Education demands five?
I guess I’m just saying that times have changed—the job itself has become way more demanding than it was twenty or thirty years ago. Honestly, I think any teacher who has been in the trenches for a couple of decades and is still at it would tell you the exact same thing.
John Palmer9 said:Our well-known historian Darko Dukovski, who holds a PhD, ended up working at an Elementary School. I guess that’s just how the job market looks for anyone with degrees in sociology, history, political science, or philosophy...
For me, the real example is my mother. She only finished fourth grade, but right after WWII, while she was part of the League Women, she used to tutor kids who couldn't attend school because of the war. Eventually, those kids caught up with their own age groups, some even went on to college, and later they’d thank her, saying things like, "you were such a wonderful teacher to us." So, I suppose for a teacher, it’s more about your personality and how you connect with people than whether you have a master's degree.
Look, there’s no denying that personality plays a huge role in being a successful teacher—just like it does for lawyers or business owners—but I wouldn't go so far as to say we should lower the academic standards because of it.
I think you can start introducing programming concepts as early as the lower elementary grades—as far as I know, kids are already getting their hands dirty with Scratch in second grade, though some might even start in first depending on how much the teacher wants to push things.
Since a certain percentage of students fail their high school exit exams every single year, it feels like passing isn't actually a requirement for everyone to move forward.
Edit:
So, looking at the numbers, about 19% of students fail at least one mandatory exam. That’s honestly a pretty significant chunk of the class.
A few people in my class had actually studied German back in middle school—my school didn't even offer it as an option at the time. I have to admit, I never really noticed much of a difference between us, except maybe during those first few weeks of freshman year. Mind you, one of my old classmates ended up majoring in German studies later on—not in Chicago, mind you—and she’s working as a translator now, whereas after four years of classes, I still couldn't manage to order a sandwich in German if my life depended on it. 🤣
urbantinker8 said:I just can't quite wrap my head around it—limiting your choices for schools, colleges, or even career paths just because of the convenience of the commute... 😵 It feels a bit strange, I guess. And honestly, it seems like such a waste, because I suspect a lot of high schoolers who take that "extra" free time they save by not being stuck in traffic might just end up doing absolutely nothing with it. If they’re just going to spend hours scrolling through TikTok on their couches at home anyway, they could just as easily do that on a train ride to school.
Carl Bishop2—Ivanic-Grad isn't exactly part of New York City. I'm not saying you should pick a school in a different city unless that's the only place offering the specific major or track you actually want. Even then, there's always the option of staying in a dorm.
Personally, I think the public transit in New York City is pretty terrible, but I've never even considered driving to work. In all the different places I've worked—maybe five or six locations over the years—it always seemed like I'd get there twice as fast using the subway, a bus, the train, or even just walking rather than driving. The crowds can be a real headache, sure, but the ride itself doesn't feel like wasted time, even if one way ends up taking an hour.
My point was actually about work—since you mentioned you didn't quite get why someone would choose a lower-paying job just because it's closer to home. It takes me about 40 minutes to drive to Ivanic right now, assuming traffic isn't a nightmare. But to actually work there, I'd need to buy a car, and for that to make sense, the job would have to be incredibly, seriously good and highly paid. Commuting just wears me down—and I don't mean it's an inconvenience of time, I mean it affects my actual quality of life. That's the kind of comfort I want to afford myself if I can. If not, well, that's just how it goes.
For me, the commute is a massive dealbreaker. Honestly, my sweet spot was having a drive that took no more than 25 minutes to get to the office. I won't even bother looking at job postings in places like Ivanic-Grad—it’s just way too far out of my way. Or maybe I'm just being a bit picky about where I want to be.
Sarah Hall53 said:Usually, you can enroll them anytime from being 6 years and 4 months old up until the day they turn 6 right when school starts. Generally, if they're younger than that, the district won't budge. Mine is looking at starting at 7 and 4 months... so I'll be spending the next few months praying to every deity under the sun that we can make some actual progress on her respecting authority and, you know, not insisting on having her way every single second of the day. I'm going to regret this so much when she actually hits that first day of school.
🤣 Good luck! My little one suddenly became all business once they started—it was like a switch flipped. All those things that absolutely had to go "their way" before? Not anymore. Now, everything has to follow whatever the teacher says.
How many years ahead are we talking about when it comes to these early enrollments? I mean, what’s the actual limit on how much earlier a kid can start school? My nephew actually got turned down because he just wasn't emotionally ready—and honestly, looking back, it was probably for the best. He would have been starting at seven and three months.
How is it even possible to justify holding a kid back if they aren't actually struggling? Maybe some people find it a little easier to say, "We decided to give them more time to just be a kid," rather than admitting, "Our child is having a hard time."
I guess maybe things are getting a little bit fruity around here. kaže: It’s all just drama, as usual. I guess it feels like you go straight from daycare to prison; life's pretty much over.🙄
Times have changed quite a bit, I suppose; families used to be much larger and more multigenerational back in the day, with grandparents and extended relatives all playing some kind of role in raising the kids. Nowadays, it seems like parents just lean on the local public schools for everything, though those institutions seem mostly interested in being strictly academic, almost as if they've decided that providing any kind of guidance or moral upbringing isn't really their responsibility anymore.
If a school happens to have two first-grade classes, I guess they could just quietly agree behind the scenes to designate one specifically for kids who need a bit more support. It might mean there wouldn't be any real need to delay their start at school, maybe.
Usually, there are specialized classrooms designed for kids with specific challenges—smaller groups, maybe only five students—where you have specialists like therapists working right alongside the teacher. In my kid's school, by some stroke of bad luck, one particular classroom ended up with a disproportionate number of kids dealing with (unidentified) struggles—and honestly, it’s a nightmare for both the students and the teachers. The class size looks totally standard on paper, but when you realize five of those kids have significant issues, things get messy fast. Add in a lack of cooperation from parents regarding professional support, and you’ve basically got recipe for chaos. I really can't wrap my head around how these needs weren't caught during preschool, or even earlier.
Sarah Hall53 said:So, basically, you guys didn't actually want an extension—you just got talked into signing up early so they could clear out some space. It gets even worse than that.
Exactly. It’s not that the request for a delay was denied; it's that the early enrollment window just closed on you.
We just received a recommendation for some social skills workshops. Honestly, trying to coordinate his schedule to get him there is proving to be a bit of a headache—we might pull it off, but for now, he's just on the waiting list. I don't think the school offers anything quite like that, though I could be mistaken. He spent three years in special education programs where the focus was on group socialization with other kids facing various challenges. And sure, while his language skills have definitely improved, I feel like when it comes to actual social interaction, he hasn't really moved the needle. To me, it feels like he's stuck in the same spot.
When it comes to things like vitamins, minerals, or hormones, doctors don't just bundle them into one big test—you have to get checked for each specific parameter individually. So, you’d order a test for Vitamin D, a separate one for B12, and then another specifically for thyroid hormones, and so on. It’s all handled on a case-by-case basis.
It’s honestly such a relief to hear that things are smoothing out. How long was he working with the speech therapist? I can't help but wonder, though—do you think his speech will ever fully catch up, or will there always be a bit of a lingering pattern there?
I’m honestly not sure what advice I could give you, Garf. My little one started school with an IQ of 77, and for our family, holding off was absolutely the right call—nobody even questioned it at the time. Even the kid himself mentioned he didn't feel ready for the classroom environment. I did have one friend ask how I was feeling about the delay; I figured she might find the idea of postponing school harder to swallow than I did, but looking back after all those years of therapy sessions, I’m just so relieved he can attend a mainstream school now. A year later, the timing of it all didn't even seem to matter anymore. That same friend has a child with undiagnosed Asperger who is also quite a little genius. He started school at age 6.5 and is currently in third grade, but he’s still struggling with emotional maturity—specifically, he tends to lash out in anger whenever he hits a wall or loses at something (like during a game of chess). In his case, I don't think delaying school would have made much difference; maybe some specialized therapy would help, but right now, his parents are just doing their best to manage those outbursts themselves. My son actually faced much tougher challenges with language and speech because we waited to start school. To this day, he still trips up on grammar—using masculine pronouns when he means a girl, for example—and there was a period where he struggled with basic verb conjugations, though he's improved there. It’s fascinating how kids with different diagnoses process language; they create their own words and patterns (which makes sense, given how we learn roots and suffixes). The real struggle, though, is navigating the complexities of the English language. 🤣
Does anyone know which FF offers a computer science track? I thought it used to be based out of Seattle, but I believe they moved it to a different college recently.
mellowskipper said:Of course they should have the freedom to choose what they want—that’s a given. But I have my doubts—perhaps just a hunch—that kids who aren't already crushing it in STEM are actually going to gravitate toward PMO or specialized science academies. It seems more likely that someone coming out of a place like Mio would lean toward STEM or Treasury studies rather than, say, sociology or something equally niche. And as for putting computer science on the entrance exams? I highly doubt that will happen, especially since it's only an elective in 7th and 8th grade. Still, I suppose the idea itself isn't entirely bad. When I mentioned competitive tasks, I was thinking of something a bit more complex—you know, a higher level than just the usual average stuff. More like actual brain teasers.
God forbid that actually happens. I was just wondering—if she doesn't get into that school in Washington, D.C., but maybe makes it into the one in Annapolis instead—would a transfer even be possible? And honestly... what kind of halfway decent argument could anyone even use to convince them to approve it?
Have you actually looked at the questions they’re putting on the entrance exams lately? Do you really think those aren't doing a decent job of filtering people out?