yellowroom

dirty perve!

kodokan

I volunteer in the media centre at my son's junior high, and it's fascinating at that age (12-14) to see the girl/ boy difference. The boys are COMPLETELY oblivious to any sense of fashion - they turn up in a mix of whatever was on the top of the piles in the closet regardless of colour or pattern; in their PE kit so they don't have to change if they happen to have PE first period (girls NEVER do this!); in holiday T shirts with slogans about Florida or New York on them, etc. The only thing I've noticed that seems to be in any way 'a look' is wearing long, almost knee-high socks with shorts (sportswear stuff rather than lederhosen hiker stuff). I'm obviously old, because to me this just looks stupid.

The girls are more cohesive, but unless I'm very label and quality blind, it all seems to be fairly run of the mill. Jeans or leggings - no girls are in shorts at this point (it's AZ with temps in the mid-70s, so perfectly realistic) - teamed with tops built up in layers. Normal trainers seem to be fine, or ballet slipper style shoes.

The only slightly Stepford thing is that ALL the girls have exactly the same hair style, that of wearing it long and dead straight, smoothed down on their head. Which is unfortunate, as my daughter's thick, wavy shoulder length mop really isn't going to comply with this. Oh well, she's 9... hopefully the look'll change before she gets there.

Sally Redux

They all look cloned around here.

Sally Redux

My son used to do that. It's a Mexican look I think.

transatlantic_chap

I was very oblivious to fashion as an early teen as well. My wife might argue that this situation has persisted into my late thirties.

transatlantic_chap

So far I have not been very impressed with the UK school my kids attend -- it's very well regarded by people in the area, and Ofsted rate it as 'excellent' but I have yet to really see much evidence that it is much more than average. My daughter is 9 and still hasn't had a single bit of homework. Obviously I don't want her to be stressed and swamped, but I worry that she is not going to develop good working habits. Also, with class sizes of 30+, she doesn't get much individual attention and sort of drifts around in the middle of the class, as neither the best or the worst. I guess that happens in US schools too. We do some work with her at home to ensure she doesn't fall behind.

steveq

I'm not sure I believe that homework for 9 year olds is a good idea, nor that the idea of getting habituated to working overtime for free is a good idea either....

Find out if the school actually HAS a gifted and talented programme. Many do, but some have ideological objections - move her if that's the case.

transatlantic_chap

Thanks for the tip!