No no no! Go get this book today: Forgotten Algebra! I cannot express how much this book awesomely rocks. I was in the same boat (well, okay, 10 years with no math) and I knew NOTHING, and a week with this book - I only got through the first 11 chapters, not even halfway through the book - and I got an 83 on the Algebra section of the placement test at my college! Scored high enough to bypass all the math for dummies, placed out of Statistics, even! Go get it, now, you won’t regret it!
Bless you, wonderful woman. I’ve been rather in despair over that stupid math placement test coming up and this should be exactly what I need to not feel like a complete moron.
[continuing hijack] Another thank you, WhyNot. I don’t have any tests, or any continued schooling coming up, but I’m tired of feeling like a math moron. I’m going to try this book too, in hopes of getting back what I’ve lost. (It’s been 30 years since high school for me.)
My little one starts private Pre-K on September 2nd. My older one starts 1st grade in public school on September 4th. We’ve got to figure out what to do with him for 2 days. I don’t understand why they won’t start the day after Labor Day, but it’s pissing me off. We’ve got to work, but we have to keep him entertained instead. Gah.
And you’re welcome as well! It’s not for learning algebra the first time - not enough “whys” for that, but for people in our boat who once kinda sorta knew it and have forgotten, it’s a perfect procedural review.
I see she also has a Forgotten Calculus book out. I haven’t learned Calculus yet, but if I do take it, I’ll pick her book up as well, as an extra supplement. I wish she had a Forgotten Geometry book, but alas, it appears not.
And, to bring it back to the thread, I can’t believe I didn’t even think of when MY school starts - I only thought of my son’s. My school starts tomorrow! Eek. I’m taking College Algebra (which, while I tested out of it, was the only thing that will fit into my schedule that the nursing school will accept, so c’est la vie), and Human Structure and Function I. Woo. Not terribly exciting, but it’s one of the classes required of first semester nursing students. I’m not officially in the program yet, but I figure if I can take it now, I’ll make my first semester of real nursing school that much lighter. Especially 'cause it’s going to be so much memorizing, taking it while I’m taking another class I mostly know anyway will be much easier! (God, if only I had this sort of foresight the first time I went to college!)
And my wee one will start “school” just as soon as I get all the paperwork in order, probably two weeks. She’ll be going to the child care at my college two mornings a week while I’m in class. She’s terribly excited. She’s had her little pink backpack packed for a week!
MiniWhatsit’s Montessori preschool starts back up next Tuesday, but Whatsit Jr. starts 1st grade on Wednesday of this week. I am very nervous. This will be the first time in his little life that he’s been away at school and not been home for lunch. Although, if I made it through the “My baby is riding the bus!” transition last year, I guess I’ll make it through “My baby is eating lunch in the cafeteria!” this year. It just seems like an awfully long day for a 6-year-old.
Term 1: Tue 29 Jan - Fri 11 Apr
Term 2: Mon 28 Apr - Fr 4 Jul
Term 3: Mon 21 Jul - Fri 26 Sep
Term 4: Mon 13 Oct - Fri 19 Dec
First term next year starts on Tuesday 27 January. The Christmas/summer school holidays are usually 5-6 weeks in length, with three other breaks each of 2 weeks during the year.
Here in Allegany Co. Maryland, school started today. Mudgirl (entering 3rd grade) had a half-day, with tomorrow to be a full day. EtherealFreakOfPinkness (now in her 2nd year of community college) started a normal schedule today.
The school year here in Japan begins on the 6th April! I am STILL not used to it even after 17 years here. I’m used to a September start.
The kids’ summer holiday this year was really stingy - July 25th to August 18th. Three measly little weeks.
They get a long weekend in October, three or three and a half weeks over the new year, ten to twelve days in March, between the school years, and then three to four days in early May. That’s it. They start training them to be miserable salarymen from an early age.
So in this lovely “long, long Summer Holiday” that they constantly say in school here, my 6th grader had 27 pages of worksheets to do, a daily diary, a book report, a long essay of his chosen topic, a “free study” topic to study and write up, and a craft project to complete. I was spitting feathers.
However this kid’s mother is a sly gaijin so I chucked the diary, telling the school that they don’t need to know private information (the kids have to write what they did, what time they got up, what they helped their parents with, how long they studied and what time they went to bed. Bugger that, it’s none of the school’s business!). Then my son decided to write a summary of Japan’s history in brush caligraphy on a long scroll. I told him that reading the book for it, writing it and then decorating it counted for the essay, book report and craft project all rolled into one! I told the teacher that myself so that he didn’t get yelled at.
If the poor kid did everything to the letter he wouldn’t have had one single day free this “holiday”.
Sorry, “When do your kids go back” shouldn’t bring on such a rant, but really!
Public schools started last Monday (August 18th) and I started my third semester in grad school yesterday. I’m taking Archives Management, Collection Development, and Instructional Graphics (i.e. how to make a decent looking website and fiddle with graphics). This should be an interesting yet geeky semester.
Freshmen report tomorrow, my daughter (a senior) starts Thursday, and there’s NO SCHOOL FRIDAY.
How freakin’ stupid is that?
Labor Day makes such a lovely, clear line of demarcation between “summer” and “not summer”. Why not just go with that, instead of having ONE STUPID DAY of school the week before, which serves no purpose other than to fuck up the last week of summer?
Exactly!