Jump to content

Menu

Kay in Cal

Members
  • Posts

    1,366
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Kay in Cal

  1. My 6yo ds (yes, the challenging one) has been taking Karate since last September. I asked a lot of people about schools around here, and chose to check out the school we use because while I had many others recommended, I had eight recommendations for this same school.

     

    I feel ds has been challenged to learn a lot of self control and discipline--class starts with a short meditation time. Classes can be large, but there are multiple instructors per class and it is a large studio with multiple classes (pre-school, kids, adults) happening simultaneously. There has been a good balance between communicating with us about our son and recognizing his challenges, and requiring him to have self control. He often has one-on-one instruction which is perfect for him!

     

    One of the things I like is the mental memorization work and emphasis on good behavior, academic achievement and respect. At orange belt level (the second belt, where my ds is now) kids have to memorize "home rules for children" including keeping their room clean, speaking respectfully to their mother and father, etc. On tuesday thier instructor was telling the kids -- "Karate is important, but school always comes first!" (I translate that to mean "education", I don't think it's intended as a ps bias or anything). They have a quiet homework room in the back (as well as a toddler toy/play room), and lots of kids actually come after school and park themselves and use it. They are welcoming of homeschoolers--one homeschool mom I know started her kids there some years ago, and is now a black belt herself!

     

    I also like how diverse the school is (I guess pretty normal for here in LA), but the owner is Persian and students come from all backgrounds, though there are many Farsi speaking parents around as well.

     

    Anyhow, as a "newbie" karate parent, we're pretty happy... I'm going to link an article on thier site about how to choose a martial arts school:

    http://www.teamkaratecenters.com/new/find_school_1.asp

  2. I enjoy listening to classical music, and now that we have a faster computer that is located in our school space, I'm looking for a station to have on in the background... of school, my day, quiet time, etc.

    On the radio I listen to our local classical station (KUSC) which I enjoy, but maybe there are some great ones out there I've never even heard of!

     

    Do you have a favorite station you listen to online?

     

    I'm particular to:

    Commercial free

    Low talk (or very good informational background talk!)

    Streaming that shows info on the song being played

    Emphasis on "classic" composers, with some new ones introduced as well--maybe 75/25 with more obscure composers

    Mozart. I really love Mozart.

  3. We'll be using the REAL science Earth/Space for next year. We're doing Life Science this year, and it has been a big hit! I've got the curriculum in hand (just came last week) and we're excited to start it. I do wish there were more levels of this program--it's looking less and less likely she'll be writing any more, and the first two are really fabulous, IMHO!

     

    We do some additional reading and worksheets because my ds LOVES science--using the Evan-Moore "Giant Science Resource Book", a McGraw-Hill textbook and lots of library books!

  4. Stick with what works. Nothing is going to be "perfect", and you're less likely to end up with missed areas if you don't jump around from curriculum to curriculum, as they generally cover it all but at different times.

     

    Personally, I like Singapore--great coverage of concepts. But it expects that you do math fact drill/memorization at a different time, and requires you to schedule that on your own. If that is a weak area, I'd spend some time focusing just on fact mastery for a while.

  5. OK, I'm a stickler for it. In this day and age, I shop online to save money... if I go to a store, I expect some service.

     

    Case in point:

     

    We went shopping to a new game store today. Game stores are few and far between, so we drove almost an hour to get there. We had collected items to purchase that would have been a couple of hundred dollars. Then... I went to ask a question of the employee, and he basically ignored me for a while because he was talking to some friends (the only other customers in the store) about their Warcraft game. Finally I got his attention, and he wouldn't let me open a wrapped book to see what was inside it--fairly unusual for a non-sealed book. Nothing horrendous, but that, combined with the eye rolls at my kids for liking Pokemon and his ignoring me and general "please don't bother me with business, I'm hanging out right now" attitude ticked me off. It wasn't horrific rudeness, just 'tude from a 20 something man, not the middle schooler he was acting like. He was actually snickering at me with his friend when I walked out after asking for his name.

     

    My feeling was that I don't care to support anything but good customer service, and prefer not to shop there. My dh thought he was rude, but it was a good store in terms of selection, so just ignore it. My dh thought asking for his name was "making a scene". He is totally unassertive about these things, so it's hard for me to judge if I was just being over sensitive.

     

    How about you? Does customer service trump all, or are you willing to put up with it to shop where you want? How bad does bad have to be? I don't want to be the "service-Nazi"... really.

  6. I stole a small spool of rainbow colored ribbon once when I was about 13. I felt so bad about it, absolutely wracked with guilt, I went back the next day and "accidentally" overpaid for something else and then fled before they could flag me down. Ugh.

     

    My kids--not yet. Though when he was a toddler, my oldest ds took a wallet off a display and put it under our stroller. I really don't think he was old enough at the time to be intentionally trying to steal it. It set off the alarm at the door, and the guard and I had a fun time trying to figure out what it was. When we located it, she just let me walk it back to the counter.

  7. I agree with you! Good advice for a general interest presentation (maybe even a guest sermon)... but for college? Grad school? Higher education should have just that--higher standards. Deeper content. I think group work and discussion can be valuable even in that setting, but it cannot replace the basic experience of absorbing information. Even seminar format classes I took (small groups around tables) were intense, long, and content-rich. And would not have been helped by a powerpoint presentation at all!

  8. She has a daughter in 2nd grade, and a 2yo at home. The daughter's teacher isn't good this year, though she goes to an expensive private school. Public schools aren't really a good option in their area, and money isn't an issue. Both she and dh are well-educated, erudite people... and I think both socialization and academic fears are an issue.

     

    What advice would you her as she begins to investigate? Not for sure, but my guess is that she would tend to be more interested in Unschooling or Charlotte Mason than Classical.

  9. Stock my pantry with napkins, plastic ware, sugar, cream, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard or any other condiment packets taken from restaurants.

     

    My depression era grandmother does this--fills her purse when she eats out. Her theory: it isn't stealing because they charge way too much for food anyways. She loves to say things to waitresses like: "I could make this fried chicken at home for 50 cents! Why does it cost $9.00?"

     

    BTW, she really is not so poor that she couldn't afford these things, but believes that she is.

×
×
  • Create New...