First Day of School Tips

[irvinehomeshopper]

Learn from the Mexicans. Give the kids these to inspired them walking to school.

Time conflict no problem. Let me introduce an innovative solution that few of you knew about or even remotely comprehend. Have the older kid WALK to school.

I wanted my kids to walk to school. We lived close enough and they don't get enough exercise as it is. They somehow managed to get their friend's parent to feel sorry for them and come and get them and bring them home every day. Of course I bet they thought I was lazy and my kids thought I was absolutely horrible for "making" them walk.

Your kids are goooood.  My kid never walked until 1st day of kindergarten. She was excited at first until we ran into sprinklers turning on and construction on the sidewalk.  That's when she glared and me and said "this isn't walking, this is dangerous." 

But by the end of the week she loved it because she got to see older kids on bikes, razors, and skateboards going to JTMS.  Now she wants one of those cool kid vehicles to go to school.

It's all about accessories and PR.  Maybe even Wheelie shoes.  Whatever gets them outside and breathing fresh air.

 

[lnc]

Cypress Village ES: So much construction going on and a ton of parents that drive to drop off their kids.  It's semi-chaos.  I saw a parent getting a ticket for parking illegally.  Then a few minutes later I saw another parent getting a ticket for parking next to the fire hydrant.  Either they were new immigrants or new to Irvine.  I guess you have to learn the hard way.  Once all the construction is complete it should be more of a peaceful experience.

Where were these traffic cops when people were running STOP SIGNS in CV?!!! 

Guess giving out parking tickets during times of chaos is more important.

Actually there's one this morning park on corner of Rush Lily and Roosevelt trying to catch stop sign violators.  But it's Sunday around 7:30 in the morning and the traffic was really light.  IPD sure know how to pick the perfect time to catch the traffic violators. 

 

[Ready2Downsize]

LOL! Wheelies wouldn't do it. My kids were supposed to walk to Northwood High. Plenty of kids walk. I was lucky they didn't have friends driving them.

 

[ZeroLot]

Learn from the Mexicans. Give the kids these to inspired them walking to school.

That is so old school.  This is the new gen way.

It's cheaper because the USPS provides all the supplies.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

Old school taggers get their thrill from spending a long time on their graffiti without being seen of caught. The stickers are lame and won't stick to Irvine's infamous beige stucco wall.

This guy painted this in my hood and other busy 24/7 hood without ever being seen. He literally spent 1/2 a day tagging some walls.

 

[ps99472]

Starting CDC this week, seems like not many kinders go to CDC and gets picked up at 11:40, kinda makes my wife and I feel like bum parents.  I guess people don't need to work anymore.  I wish I can put a camera on my kids head so I can see what she goes thru everyday.  She seems very happy though after her first day of CDC.  Coming from Montessori, it's hard to transition to CDC environment.  Security just seem so lax, anyone can walk thru the unlocked gate.  Hate to feel so paranoid but that's just being a parent no?

Fallback is to go back to Montessori (their kinder is not that full and our money is always welcomed!).  But what about 1st grade next year?  We still have to use CDC eventually unless one of us goes part time or quit our job. 

 

[irvinehomeowner]

At least you have a gate.

Most IUSD campuses are wide open so imagine your K kid there.

We kept our kids in Montessori through K because public school K is only half day. There are pros and cons to that but when we transitioned to public school, our kids were easily ahead of what was being taught (which they liked since school/home work was easier).

The main benefit of having them in your neighborhood school is that they make friends with kids on your block/street. We have a backup plan to our dual drop-off situation where one of our neighbors can take one of our kids if needed.

Speaking of that, we actually practiced the walk over the weekend, not too far... but not really close either. So they can do it... they just don't want to... esp because it's really warm right now.

The kid that is in a new school had a hard first week... no friends and was eating lunch alone... made me really sad. Luckily, on Friday, one friend was made and we hope that will snowball into more. I'm a bit ashamed to admit this but we even asked them to tell us what stuff the other kids are into and we'll "think" about buying it if we don't have it.

The helicopter blades are still at full speed.

#ImNotTheFatherImTheSmother

 

[kalbi]

Starting CDC this week, seems like not many kinders go to CDC and gets picked up at 11:40, kinda makes my wife and I feel like bum parents.  I guess people don't need to work anymore.  I wish I can put a camera on my kids head so I can see what she goes thru everyday.  She seems very happy though after her first day of CDC.  Coming from Montessori, it's hard to transition to CDC environment.  Security just seem so lax, anyone can walk thru the unlocked gate.  Hate to feel so paranoid but that's just being a parent no?

Fallback is to go back to Montessori (their kinder is not that full and our money is always welcomed!).  But what about 1st grade next year?  We still have to use CDC eventually unless one of us goes part time or quit our job.

Totally understand how you feel.  My kinder child went to CDC last year and loved it.  Made lots of friends and played all day until we picked up.  I also liked how CDC was able to heat her lunch for her. 

As for security, CDC staff actually picked up my child in front of the kinder class and walked her and the other kinders to CDC.  As for security at CDC, although CDC gate is unlocked, they were really strict with pick up.  Husband rarely picked up and he was asked for his ID to prove that he was child's dad.  Also, had a friend's parent pick up child.  Even though I emailed CDC authorization, they not only checked ID but called me as well to make sure. 



I too felt like a bum parent when I saw all the other non-working parents picking up their kids at 11:40.  What's up with that? No one works in Irvine??

 

[ZeroLot]

Old school taggers get their thrill from spending a long time on their graffiti without being seen of caught. The stickers are lame and won't stick to Irvine's infamous beige stucco wall.

This guy painted this in my hood and other busy 24/7 hood without ever being seen. He literally spent 1/2 a day tagging some walls.

Wow!  I have to say that this is art ... not graffiti.  Although I know many Irvinites will disagree with me.

 

[lnc]

I too felt like a bum parent when I saw all the other non-working parents picking up their kids at 11:40.  What's up with that? No one works in Irvine??

FCB, trophy housewife, and 1%er don't have a regular 9-5 job if they have a job at all.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

I would be surprise if Irvinites know about this graffiti.  A local grocer put a plexi glass over it to protect it. Do you know how much this graffiti is worth? You may want to send your kids with the spray cans because the graffiti is worth more than a Harvard education

Old school taggers get their thrill from spending a long time on their graffiti without being seen of caught. The stickers are lame and won't stick to Irvine's infamous beige stucco wall.

This guy painted this in my hood and other busy 24/7 hood without ever being seen. He literally spent 1/2 a day tagging some walls.

Wow!  I have to say that this is art ... not graffiti.  Although I know many Irvinites will disagree with me.

 

[zubs]

Saw it on netflix.  Watched it all the way through.  good shit.

 

[furioussugar]

Banksy is awesome

 

[cubiczirconia]

First day was smooth!

I wish I had a smooth first day of school.  The kindergarten teacher blew me off twice when I tried to say hi.  Once I even raised my hand and shouted out that "I have a question", she looked at me, ignored me again and talked to another parent.

Release was chaotic all week.  Today she didn't even know where my kid was.  Adults had to walk all over campus looking for my kindergartner. 

Yesterday my kid got a nasty paper cut and needed a bandaid.  Her teacher told her "no".  My kid had to go to her after-school care facility to ask for first aid.  It was pretty bad and they had to wash it all down, apply disinfectant, and then apply a band-aid.

The last time a school was this bad I had to pull my kid out. 

Ugh! Which school is that? I would be concerned if my kid went through this- I am fine with looking thru me the first day of school. If you didn't get your teacher a gift, or her favorite coffee, or knew her through your older kid, chances are you will be ignored in public schools. But within a month most teachers develop at least a virtual relation with all parents. Not treating the child's paper cut is something else...

Did you talk to the teacher and let her know your displeasure?

How is school life going for everyone? We are chaos central. Other than getting lunch boxes done and getting everyone everywhere on time, we have let go of everything else. House is a mess because cleaning lady rescheduled a weekend appointment and we can't accommodate her on a weekday. One parent down with flu this week and the double duty isn't pretty :/

So, you double careers without parental support.. what's your scene like when one parent is down?

 

[irvinehomeowner]

So, you double careers without parental support.. what's your scene like when one parent is down?

Grin and bear it.

We actually have some grandparent support but we mostly do it on our own and only use them in "emergencies" (like Open House nights where the kids aren't allowed to come and both parents should be there).

We used to have some cousin support but now they have their own families so we can't turn to them as often as we used to.

SchoolBook Update: I think my kid is up to 4 or 5 friends now, so looks like they will be okay.

 

[ZeroLot]

First day was smooth!

I wish I had a smooth first day of school.  The kindergarten teacher blew me off twice when I tried to say hi.  Once I even raised my hand and shouted out that "I have a question", she looked at me, ignored me again and talked to another parent.

Release was chaotic all week.  Today she didn't even know where my kid was.  Adults had to walk all over campus looking for my kindergartner. 

Yesterday my kid got a nasty paper cut and needed a bandaid.  Her teacher told her "no".  My kid had to go to her after-school care facility to ask for first aid.  It was pretty bad and they had to wash it all down, apply disinfectant, and then apply a band-aid.

The last time a school was this bad I had to pull my kid out. 

Did you talk to the teacher and let her know your displeasure?

So, you double careers without parental support.. what's your scene like when one parent is down?

I ended up talking to the principal because the paper cut was just one of 3 main concerns I had.  So far all is well now.  Guess Irvine teachers require royal treatment and pampering.  Something I'm not accustomed to.

They should do a teacher swap as a reality TV show and swap out Irvine teachers with one from the hood.  That will really be an eye opener show.

As for one parent down with no backup grandparent?  The secret is REALLY good friends.  We are really lucky to know some friends who are willing to babysit should it get that bad. 

But the Golden Rule is, only one parent is allowed to be down at a time.  If both of us are down, then the oldest child gets to be Mom until child services finds out.

 

[Veronica]

If the City Council together with Mayor Choi continue rubber-stamping new developments in Irvine, causing excessive overbuilding and massive overcrowding in our schools, these problems will get worse and worse.  No wonder teachers were unfriendly and could not find your kid on campus (ZeroLot) - they have a crazy overflow of students and untrained staff to deal with this problem.  I moved from LA to OC to escape the traffic and school overcrowding, but I have to say that our Irvine schools are starting to resemble LA schools more and more. 

So, on a related topic, I personally want to vote Mayor Choi's team out of the office as I see such negative impact on our schools.  Our local elementary school in Irvine is at a capacity and is about to burst? 

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

You all arrived 12 years too late to Irvine. The best of Irvine is now a by gone era. Suburbia historically has not been able to handle population over 120,000 due to the way infrastructure was set up let alone this city has already double the allowable yield. Metropolitan infrastructure is drastically different from suburbia structure in governmental, civil, traffic, land use, transit, education and etc. Transitioning from a backyard to an urban model is extremely challenging.

 

[iacrenter]

If the City Council together with Mayor Choi continue rubber-stamping new developments in Irvine, causing excessive overbuilding and massive overcrowding in our schools, these problems will get worse and worse.  No wonder teachers were unfriendly and could not find your kid on campus (ZeroLot) - they have a crazy overflow of students and untrained staff to deal with this problem.  I moved from LA to OC to escape the traffic and school overcrowding, but I have to say that our Irvine schools are starting to resemble LA schools more and more. 

So, on a related topic, I personally want to vote Mayor Choi's team out of the office as I see such negative impact on our schools.  Our local elementary school in Irvine is at a capacity and is about to burst? 

Who are you supporting: Daigle or Gaido for Mayor?

 

[Veronica]

Gaido.  Her platform is to stop overdevelopment of Irvine and I really hope she will deliver.