Recent content by RandomG

When we moved to the PV area (mid school year), before we signed the lease, I called the school and gave the kids' names and really made sure they knew us well before we even arrived. I talked to the registrar directly (over the phone, after a few phone calls, we were on first name basis). We...

Quite an accurate article. My husband and I came from two different Eastern European countries in the 90's to get PhD's in STEM fields (Physics and Engineering). Out of the 20 grad students at my department (yes, a small dept.) maybe two were American, the rest from China, India, Bangladesh...

I don't know about Catholic high school. You have to take religion classes (mandatory, not elective), for the entire 4 years. In my opinion, that time in school could be better spent. Often they require more religion credits for graduation than they do math credits. But to stick to the original...

It's good to hear there are other options to get your college level classes over with before the end of high school. However, comparing to for example the high schools in the areas I lived in, in FL, I would have thought Irvine high schools were all that and more. In FL, pretty much any decent...

TBH, and I know I may sound like a broken record by now, but I truly don't see the competitiveness at this point here, in Irvine. Everywhere I go, that's all I hear, Irvine schools are so competitive, it's so hard, so much work, tiger moms etc. I'm in a K-8 school, with a 6th grader...

And that's exactly why I signed a two year lease. Rents around me have already gone up 4-5% since December, or even more for upgraded rentals.

And who says math can't be...FUN?!! My kids got tired of the same old way of doing math, paper worksheets, or working out of a book. So I bought one of those magnetic whiteboards (about 3ft by 4 ft), super cheap, at Walmart, a couple of dry erase markers, different colors,  put it on the wall...

I checked the IDTech camps at UCI, they are between $1000 and $1250, I assume per week, and many of them sold out. People have money to blow in Irvine! Kids better come out of there with at least a bachelor's in computer science!

It's only for a couple of hours. They have plenty of fun the other 10 hours! :) :)

I love that farmer's market. My only problem is I never get there early enough, but I'll get up early on Sat, for good croissant! Also at that market, there was this German guy who sold the most amazing German bratwurst. Grilled in front of you, on fresh baguette, with mustard and grilled onion...

Yeah, France is not an option! Champagne Bakery is not too bad actually. It's just that it's hit or miss, and I've been to two. If you go towards the end of the day, it's usually stale.

Logic, we'll see you at Sierra Vista then! Yeah, to get my 6th grader to do extra math at home, I have to threaten to unplug video game consoles, no dessert for a month, no cell phone, and then I get: "It's so unfair! None of my friends do extra math!" Little liars!

Tried French's in Irvine. Quelle horreur! It's like getting cakes at Albertson's!! I'm looking for more of a bakery/pastry place (tarts, cakes, Parisian macarons, French classics, confectionary), not so much a sandwich/omlette place. Thanks for all the suggestions! When I do find what I'm...

I signed my son up for the IPSF math class for 3 weeks this summer. It's to get him ready for advanced math 7th grade. Very reasonably priced, $175 for 1hr 40 min monday thru friday. We'll see how much he learns. I never pay for this kind of stuff, since I work with them at home, but my son is...

Paris Baguette opened today at the Crossroads. I had been waiting for it for so long! And now I am so disappointed. Looks very pretty, shiny and new. But this fusion concept, French/Asian, just doesn't do it for me. It's too much Asian, too little French. It's just like Bon Epi, or 85 degrees...