All those in the US, sign here...

[mamama]

I see all these threads for Aussie people and thought we should have our own thread too. Not sure why, I just felt the need to make us feel special too!

So, who's stateside and where are you?

I'll start:

Mamama - in Chicago

I do sympathize. My ds was in a London private school too. I think it's better to let go of the peer comparisons, you will drive yourself nuts! Those London schools are exceptionally advanced - which can bring its own set of problems. My son is now 15 & much happier and well-rounded in the US system. I know countless teens in the UK who have gone off the rails after years of high-pressure schooling. The bigger picture is that children gain hugely from international travel. If you are away for only two years you will catch up (even though lots of people will whistle through their teeth and tell you you can't. We were away in Europe for two years where they basically played with chalk in school and sang stupid songs so I know you can.) And if you stay, what does it matter, everyone is in the same boat.

My two ds's were lucky when we arrived here as they were only 2 1/2 and nearly 4 so it was pre-school for both. I was lucky to find an amazing Montessori school where they have thrived. DS1 starts Kindy on and is really really looking forward to it, he's confident and so maybe behind on the reading and writing as compared to UK peers but he's very much more a well-rounded self-assured little boy who to quote his new teacher "walked into the classroom as if he owned it" I'm very proud of him. DS2 is handling his new routine very well. They are probably average little boys intelligencewise and I shall be content as long as they are happy and content at school.

Can really understand if older children have to slot into this different system it must be difficult!!

Lovely day here today. Found a new realtor and it's all systems go. Keep your fingers crossed for me everyone that the house sells and I can move on to bigger (not literally) and better things.

Best of luck with the house, Ali. And Earlybird, I hope this gets sorted out asap. It must be very stressful for you both.

Wet and miserable in Chitown

I think that chocchipcookie really has described the two systems very accurately. I have experienced by systems not only with my children, but for myself as well. I grew up in california and went to state schools and did extremely well. I finished high school a year early (I had run out of classes to take) and went to school in london for a year. I went to one of the top private schools in london and did the first year of A-levels. I found that although some subjects were studied in much more depth than in the USA, others were really nowhere near as advance (maths) and other were just completely different (english). What I did have that my fellow english students didn't have was a much wider range of knowledge and experience. I had studied typing, car mechanics, french, spanish, biology, chemistry english, history, latin, piano, violin and played 3 varsity sports. And I still managed to come top of my class in all my subjects in the uk, despite having had a different background in education. In high school, in addition to all the standard subjects I kept in touch with a large group of girls and foudn that when we all went off to university, I was far more prepared for life on my own and the real world. I think all of this is to say that if you are bright, you will do just fine whatever style of education you get.
On to Earlybird....education in the usa varies widely from state to state (think about teh different european countries). And within each State, you will find differences from city to city and school to school. My ds has just finished 1st grade. He was the only child in his class who wasn't reading comfortably at the start of first grade. AND the only boy with a fall birthday who wasn't held back a year. (The holding back of boys is very very common in the usa.) By the end of 1st grade things had evened out and ds was near the top of the class. In addition when the selection of 2nd grade teachers was made by the 1st grade teacher ds was assigned to a teacher who is notorious for only taking the g&t kids. There were several kids in his 1st grade class who were much more advanced than the rest of the class at teh start of 1st grade and they were a little bored by the review at the beginning, but I don't think it hurt them educationally overall. And for some of those children (particularly the boys), it gave them time to work on their social skills.
Also, I spend lots of time at home with ds doing things that aren't covered by the state schools, like more complicated math and science.
The emphasis in the usa tends to be more on well rounded children with a breadth of skills rather than straightforward academic excellence to the exclusion of everything else. I moved back to the usa when my ds was ready to start school, specifically because I wanted my dc's to have an american style education.
And for those who complain about "no child left behind," I have found it to be really effective for my ds who is on another planet and although he's really bright, he actually thrives on the repetition (because he hasn't heard it the first 9 times). And it has also had phenomenal effects on the literacy levels in the schools where it has been fully implemented.
sorry, rambled a bit, but it's a subject I have a lot of interest and experience in.

crickets....

lol, califrau, - and I'm laughing with you, not at you, btw - I think you are me in about 2 years

Okay, I just read this and you are the perfect person to try it out. Put each boy on a stool or something like that, facing each other in the kitchen and tell them to go ahead and argue and get it over with. SUpposedly this takes all the fun out of it as you have now left the room and there is no one to argue in front of.

Errr, let me know if I have totally wasted my money on my new parenting book

Ugh, mine are fighting, too and I can't take it because I have a really bad head cold. And they're only 4 and almost 2.

Colin had his birthday on Saturday. We kept him busy and it went well. He keeps telling us now that he's 4 he is a big boy. He had to ask Sunday if he was still 4, though. Caitlin's is this Sunday.

Crickets drive me crazy. We were in Arizona and they were so loud I told DH I couldn't stand it any more and turned around and walked off the golf course.

Well we've achieved something like 47 days over 90f here in Colorado . He ho. Was 100 today. I waved my ds1 off on his first day at Kindy he was totally amazing and when I picked him up he rushed out and send "Mummy, school is soooooo cool" and has told me all about the amazing things he did, PE, Music, Chocolate Milk at Lunchtime with his Beef Tacos.

I'm so incredibly proud of him and his grown up approach to life. But my boys are fighting too guys. It's endemic to the States . Tell you what let's blame it on the Hurricane Season and Hurricane Dean shall we.

Sent mine (4 and 6) to their room with no supper .... worked wonderfully. Within 5 minutes they kissed and made up and apologized to each other, daddy and me, all without being asked to. I was cooking a really yummy dinner that they could smell from their room (sauteed prawns, pasta with broccoli rape, boiled potatoes with garlic oliveoil and salt, green beens with lemon). All fine until daddy (who else) had brilliant idea of using washing up liquid to simulate bubble bath....really bad idea, don't ever try it....it bubbles and bubbles and bubbles and is impossible to rinse off...had to put the kids in the shower in the end.

Oh, now I see the advantage to having just 1 DS

Bloody hot here too

Well just wanted to share what is a momentous day in my life in the USA - just received my Employment Authorization Card from the USCIS, so tomorrow I shall be getting a SSN and then opening a bank account. Feel like a big kid. So blooming excited and are now taking the boys to Chilis to celebrate.

Cali- 2 years and 9 days. I guess her birthday is Monday. For some reason I thought the 27th was Sunday, not Monday.

Congratulations, Ali. Have fun at Chili's.

Not too bad here heatwise. I think it is around 80. I've had a stupid fever all day, and I have the a/c set for 72.

Yay Ali, great news. I got my Visa today too. Still can't bloody well work but at least I am once again a legal alien

I'm envisioning myself here talking to a bunch of little green Martian (legal) aliens on the other end of this conversation and laughing my head off. That's even better than a bunch of hairy truckers.

We are a bunch of little green Martian (legal) aliens. Aren't you?

No. I'm a big hairy trucker.

10-4 good buddy.

And as I'm in Colorado it's definitely Nanoo, Nanoo with Mork

Shazbot.

In the words of my dh when we are traveling around italy....BLOODY FOREIGNERS

I don't really have anything to say, I just feel sorry for the thread when nobody comments on it for a day is all. Now I feel better for the thread.