[with love Heidi]

Welcome Nancey, it’s good to hear your starting to feel like sewing again! The piccies go in the flicker group. You can find it by clicking on the button on the bottom of this page that has a blue and pink circle in it. You do need a fliker account but you can set one up from there. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

I got out a couple of bear carriers for playgoup this morning, they went down a treat, including the “My mum’s got one of these but it’s black!”

[Sarvi]

Oh, school sewing can be so fun. Pockets to hold secret treasures, linings and facings in surprise, fun fabrics, pretty name tags for everything!

Nancy, welcome back! I hope you’re able to find sewing therapeutic. I know that it really gives me a much needed boost from time to time.

Heidi, what a great compliment to have the carrier recognized from mama’s!

[cybele727]

School sewing. Ooh. I recommend bloomers or tights or leggings under all those dresses. :).

So went to the dealer for new machine. That went well. I brought a family reunion to show what my machine was doing. She looked at it, before showing her the button hole fiasco, said, “well this is quite well done. No one would ever know that this is homemade. On a hanger in a store this is a serious designer dress.” I puffed up with pride and said, “well it helps that the pattern is so fabulous.”

She was especially impressed with the hem facing!! But it’s super cool to have a professional admire your work.

🙂

[Tamara]

Jesims, wow! How exciting! So she doesn’t need a “uniform” for preschool made a certain way or colour or anything like that? I recommend things that are comfortable so she can move from sitting down to dancing and playing. So basically what she would wear to play in at home, styles like that.

Cybele that’s so great! Yes to have someone say that kind of thing is a really great feeling, especially a professional. It’s such a buzz!

[meleliza]

The preschool wardrobe depends on the school, really, but in general something easy to move around in. Nothing that will get caught on stuff and good play shoes. I used to send my oldest in nice looking clothes and even hand knit sweaters, as I was raised to look decent for school. However, my middle is now at an arts based preschool, whose academics we love, but whose other practices get on my nerves. He comes home covered in paint nearly every day and IT ISN’T WASHABLE. So he has a pile of clothes for school that are already destroyed. He not allowed to wear anything that doesn’t already have holes/paint. It’s weird to send a kid to school in only his nastiest clothes, but if I didn’t, all his clothes would get nasty. Now, my oldest went to this school to for one year, but never came home quite so dirty. I don’t know what it will be like for baby girl when her turn comes. Can you imagine all her lovely dresses ruined?

Tamara, preschools in the US are almost always private and don’t usually require a uniform. The only preschool I know that has a uniform is part of a larger elementary school. Our government run schools rarely offer preschool so most parents send kids to a preschool/daycare center. Uniforms in the US are not the norm in general, though it’s getting more popular. Public schools in big cities have strict dress codes that they might call uniforms, Catholic schools still have uniforms of course, that’s what we do, and some private schools do. I think some public schools in the South have the strict dress code type too. Maybe it’s some left over anti-Englihs feeling? The same reason we drink coffee and not tea?

[Jane]

Piper is a very girly, girl. When given the choice of what to wear each day her answer is always a skirt or a dress. She likes her shiny shoes too. I know I can get sparkly sneakers that she will approve of. I have leggings in every color of the rainbow so we’re covered there. It is a catholic pre-school but there is no uniform requirement. When touring the school the children were painting with water colors and had lots of projects hanging on the walls but they all seemed fairly clean. I don’t mind if the things I make her get dirty. Just today she was jumping in puddles while wearing a book report dress. I always say I am not heirloom sewing for her, I make her clothes to wear and play in. She’s so very excited to start school too bad she has to wait so long.

In other news, we are in a flash flood / tornado warning area until morning. So good thoughts would be appreciated.

Jane

[nancy]

Sarvi, thank you for your kind words of welcome! Yes, getting back to sewing is feeling very theraputic.

Btw, I love what you said about sewing for school, that it “can be so fun. Pockets to hold secret treasures, linings and facings in surprise, fun fabrics, pretty name tags for everything!”

I keep hoping to hear that my son and his wife are expecting. It is taking a bit longer than they anticipated. When they do say a baby is on the way, I will be so excited! They know I will be sewing oliver + s garments. :o)

[Sarvi]

Fingers crossed for good weather for you, Jane!

And fingers crossed for a sweet new baby to sew for in your family, Nancy 🙂

[Tamara]

Well, today I went to get the supposed new school uniforms that our school has announced the children have to wear. Good news? I managed to get skirts and shorts enough for them to wear one and wash the other and mum to sew some more. Bad news? The shirts and dresses won’t be available at the school until April! That is the second term for us when we will have to think about the winter uniform! The plaid is a little different to what I have found online but I actually know what it looks like now which is great. I was talking to the guy in the Drapery and he said that he’s had parents in there complaining about the uniform. I told him straight that I would love to get hold of the plaid and make the dresses on the side and maybe help some other out. He said that just because they are getting embroidered that it doesn’t mean that you have to wear them. He said that it is still a state school so this “being penalised” business for not having the exact uniform isn’t going to stand up for long. All the people who chose this new uniform are sending their children to private schools for high school. So it makes it a little obvious to those people who aren’t as well off and is a bit off putting to tell the truth to see it happen. It is almost like they are trying to make our school a private one with the uniform alone.

The plaid does look nice though but I can’t say a lot for the quality of the fabric. It looks flimsy to me. It is cotton and that is good because not many ladies know about fabrics and I was afraid they’d choose any old thing.

So I have a question for you ladies in U.S, is it compulsory to send your child to preschool? And how many years do they go to preschool for?

We have just changed the laws here where Preprimary ( in W.a it is called this the year before the first grade) is now compulsory and full time. They now have it so that Kindergarten (the year the kids turn 4) is heading to what Pre primary was. The expectations are higher and I’m not sure if this is really a good thing for little children. My nephew is starting Kindergarten this year and he is only 3!

[cybele727]

Our education is generally decided by each state. It is a power of government reserved to the states, and not the federal government.

But…. Compulsory education is age 6 to 16.

However, most states start at 5 (which is kindergarten). It has become full day in states like New York, and other northeast states. We also have in NYS, UPK, (universal pre-kindergarten) for 4 year olds. That is half day. It is not available in every school district nor to every student. It has limited spacing and is first come first served.

Generally UPK is funded by the state and not the local school, so the state funds it for districts with higher poverty rates. My district oddly encompasses million dollar estates and housing projects with serious poverty and immigration issues. It also has a major university in it.

As a result, we have UPK, but the people who it is intended to reach, ie the kids with limited English, or poverty stricken and sadly not school ready, don’t know to register. So those kids who are already school ready start earlier, creating an even wider gap.

What I learned in kindergarten, my now 1st grader (6 y/o boy) learned in UPK. So basically they have pushed down all learning by one year here in NY.

Thankfully, because my daughter’s birthday is in late December, she will be almost 5 when she starts UPK in Sept of 2014. Because of her physical disabilities, this is good – her physical maturity and skill level will match her classmates more closely. Bad part, she has no cognitive disabilities, and will be intellectually way ahead of her class. Her therapists are concerned that if the school decides she needs even more therapy they will want to place her in a special needs all day pre-school. Her cognitive needs won’t match her classmates in that type of school! That will be challenging for everyone. Right now the school sends a therapist every day to the house to do therapy!

As to too much for little kids, there is great debate among parents of little boys to “red shirt” their sons and start a year later than eligible, precisely bc boys especially have got so many wiggles and attention, and fine motor skill issues, that they would be more developmentally ready.

Sorry if I have gone on too much. (Former teacher). 🙂

[cybele727]

I should add that you can drop out at 16, but you get until you are 21 to finish high school! 🙂

[Jennifer1568]

My daughter who is now 7 went to PreK at the age of 4. It is a full day program just like regular elementary school.and is a state funded. She loved it but I sort of regret sending her because she is growing up so fast. In Virginia in 2014 the PreK program is going to be accessible to everyone but not required. We have the same situation here, the PreK program is designed for at risk students but it is the parents who are proactive who seek it out. I also sent my daughter to “preschool” starting when she was 2 years old 2 days a week for 21/2 hours each day. I had to pay for those years. She loved going to preschool, too.

I agree that structured, academic school environments are not a friendly place for some active, curious boys. The learning model should be more movement and action oriented with a smaller class size to accommodate little boys.

[Sarvi]

My daughter has been in “pre-K” since she was a little under 3. It’s a Montessori school, in theory, but it does not really fit with what I remember of the paradise of my own Montessori. The kids get time out for misbehavior, and they sit at a desk and practice letters and numbers. WTF? What happened to the peace table where you hold hands and look into each others’ eyes until love fills your heart and you’re able to work out your disagreement? What happened to cutting up oranges with a little plastic knife and serving all your classmates, then cleaning the school before heading outside to look for caterpillars? I guess on the plus side, she is in the company of children, and of adults who can fully focus on children, instead of trying to find ways to amuse herself while I try to keep her away from hot and sharp things in the kitchen, or away from my fascinating tools and devices, none of which she is allowed to handle.

That said, I am trying to avoid public school if at all possible, as horrible as it feels to me to say that, and as much as it clashes with my politics. I just remember what it was like going through a system totally starved of leadership and resources, and there is no way I’ll put my kid through the same experience if I can help it. My cousin chews me out and is very defensive of her public schooling, but as I like to remind her, a good private school is cheaper than a good zip code (unfortunately)! If I could live where she lives I would happily send my kid to those schools. Some of them are nicer than my university!

[Tamara]

Working out any disagreement in school is one that I think is individual to the school. Discipline is also another where individual strategies are used. My N was in year one last year and was having a few challenges with some older boys in the playground. He is a bright kid who can get frustrated if he isn’t listened to and he was going through some stresses on a personal level also, but he is not aggressive or violent. School decided the best strategy for him was to put him in isolation for 80 minutes! I had a conversation with the Deputy Principal where there was an admittance of him being on his own because “You know you get called out!” This is where I told her straight that 80 minutes of time out for a six year old kid was child abuse and that all child development experts state one minute for every year of the age of the child until they are 10! And to take some time to see the bigger picture.

We ended up having 7 “yellow cards” in term one alone and lots of phone calls from teachers who hadn’t calmed down before dialling. There were accusations that my son had the social skills level of a four year old – I found that completely insulting to my own intelligence let alone his – they wanted to get him diagnosed with something so that they could have an aid to “teach him to play” . I went and got a second opinion from a Pediatrician who happens to be a mum herself. We looked at all the things they were pointing to that he “could have” and because I brought him with me, she had a conversation with him and told me that if the school still complains again, then get them to put it in writing and come back to her. I got the written report of all the fuss back in May, in the mailbox on New Years Eve! I can tell you this has made me less than happy and we are on holidays!!

So I think every school differs in the way they handle things. I really don’t like the way our situation was handled though!

We have no choice but to send our kids to the school they are currently at. We did look at a private school in the next town when all this stuff was happening, but it meant the children wouldn’t get music or art and that meant no piano lessons also and there was no bus stop close by. So we have had no choice but to stay where we are.

So when my kids exclaim that they hate school, I chime in and agree and then we talk about it. I do a lot of talking an nutting out with my kids.

I’ve probably been gabbling but this is a subject that requires my soapbox – sorry for boring everyone to tears.

[Jennifer1568]

I agree 80 minutes for a 1st grader is too long. There was a little boy who was in kindergarten at my daughter’s school who used profanity more than twice and finally the school put him in in-school suspension (sort of detention study hall) for an entire day. And there were year long consequences for having spent that day in ISS, The child was prohibited from going on any out of school field trips. I thought that consequence was not thoughtful nor constructive. But the parents supported the school and tried to get the child to accept the rules. Giving the child a feeling of alienation is far worse than the actual punishment. Sometimes it is really hard for me to bite my tongue and go with the program. I want to fight the system. I agree that sometimes there is a crisis in leadership- at the school level, at the local level, at the state level, and at the national level.

I think a peace table could really work. I know that looking into the eyes works. I do that all the time when I am serious with my daughter. I make her look into my eyes while I tell her something.