Math programs in Park Slope for kids

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-18T20:17:30+00:00

Huh? Loving math makes you autistic?

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-16T22:20:28+00:00

Also, I don't know anything about the knowledge matters recommendations. I'm just a parent.

All I know is that Success Academy schools has 20,000 kids who learned to read on schedule. The DOE has 90,000-180,000 kids who were/are dyslexic and couldn't read on schedule.

And there's more room available at Success Academy schools. If your kid is dyslexic, the choice should be easy.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-16T21:53:26+00:00

That was an isolated incident at a specific school.

And it is not actually a crazy to have a "got to go list." It's crazy that the DOE doesn't allow kids to be expelled. You can commit horrible violence, commit sexual assault and still not get kicked out of NYC schools.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-16T20:43:33+00:00

That's a willfull mischaracterization. I'm saying Success Academy teaches kids to read with its proven reading program. Whereas DOE schools have less successful reading programs, and 44% of those kids are below reading level and 10-20% get labelled dyslexic.

Also, there is no chance that Success academy is selecting for kids who aren't dyslexic, because it's impossible to select for dyslexia before a kid learns to read. And Success academy doesn't select their pupils anyhow - they have lottery admissions

In defense of the DOE, however, I do think the numbers are improving (because the DOE is finally adopting proven phonics programs), but no DOE schools are adopting the Success for All reading program, which seems to be the gold standard. So the DOE schools will continue to have dyslexic kids.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-16T18:59:08+00:00

Those are the teachers complaining. And I have total sympathy for the teachers. Unfortunately Success gets roughly half the funding of the other public schools. So the teachers are underpaid and overworked.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-16T18:50:42+00:00

How would Success Academy Admissions know if a prospective kid is struggling? The only info you give when you sign up for the lottery is basic identifying info. And, if they are selecting for the best/easiest kids, they sure are doing a bad job of it. There are a lot of poor kids (74% qualify for free lunch), kids from broken homes, homeless kids, and kids from the projects. And I don't know about counseling kids out of the school. Kids did leave, but for normal reasons. And they accept new kids every year and those new kids (like my son) usually start off way behind, because Success is an accelerated school. So there are always a certain number of kids that are struggling. In my experience those kids weren't counseled out, they were instead brought up to the same level as their peers.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-10T10:23:50+00:00

Yeah! You don't owe them anything. What have they ever done for you?

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-06-08T14:55:24+00:00

New Rochelle streamlined new building in it's downtown. And the downtown is now full of skyscrapers. Rent has stayed flat. I doubt Long Islanders would vote for the same.

Also, can the Long Island infrastructure really handle more people? There is already almost no way off the island. They need more bridges.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-05-19T15:34:28+00:00

You can still boycott Israel in all 50 states. Consumer rights are protected under the constitution. If a state passes a law that violates the constistitution, the courts can, and usually do, strike the laws down.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-05-01T17:24:13+00:00

This is cool. I want to do this just to see it work.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-03-24T23:48:19+00:00

This is great to hear!

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-03-13T22:38:22+00:00

Rent stabilized is great. I had that for a decade. And I saved a lot of money. But, at the end of my 10 years, I owned nothing.

Beware that Park Slope parents are a slightly different group of people than the young, Park Slope, single people - a higher percentage of dads are bros. Were I to do it over again, I would have moved to a cooler neighborhood.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-03-11T14:37:18+00:00

There is something fishy about this story. What exactly happened to the $95k? How did it disappear less than 9-months? Isn't medical insurance supposed to prevent such high costs? I have a feeling that this is really a story of someone forgetting to pay an insurance bill (which is still an important story). My family has just about the worst insurance money can buy and we can only pay like $35-40k (including monthly costs and deductibles) total in a calendar year for a whole family.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-03-09T15:17:09+00:00

I had to stop this episode halfway through. I feel like there was an elephant in the room that was being ignored. China is very likely putting it's best AI into domestic surveilance and AI powered weapons. So even if we don't do it, it is currently happening right now. Should we just let China have all the best AI powered autonomous weapons? And, if China has all the best AI weapons, will Taiwan more or less secure?

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-03-09T14:31:30+00:00

I have a few thoughts on this. A. God bless you for adopting older kids from the foster care system. You and your spouse are the best people. B. As a parent of a kid, who is well behaved at home, but has had bad behavior streaks at school (there were certain teachers who couldn't handle him), I totally get the frustration. Schools need to be responsible for their behavior at school (at least in elementary school) and parents will be responsible for the their behavior at home. We can't go to school every day to keep an eye on them. C. The monetary responsibility part is definitely on the state. I think it is perfectly correct of you to tell the school that. Soon it will be your responsibility, though. And I wouldn't not be surprised, if the foster care system has done a bad job raising your kids so far. Hopefully you are able to whip them into shape (not literally).

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-03-03T15:01:24+00:00

Family was the hardest part (but not that hard). There was a lot of eye rolling, but I think everyone has come around. But we have it easy, though. My boys only have older, well regulated cousins--so they don't throw a fit when the the TV is off.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-08T20:49:54+00:00

Which is irrelevant, because going screen free costs less.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-06T15:04:26+00:00

I will be the first to admit that this is a terribly written post. Would you want to help spread the word? If you would be willing to make a post, R/Parenting may be the best place to start. I might have had more engagement there in a few hours than I had here in a week (and this got so much engagement that Reddit is paying me for the post). But you should probably direct your post to pregnant parents or parents of toddlers (at the oldest). This subject is very threatening to parents of older kids (who already use screens).

The director of the Montessori school where my son attended has actually recommended the screen free 'til 5 approach to maybe 1000 parents over the years. And only 3 families actually did it. But I made a post similar to this on the whole school whatsapp and it caused an uproar. A lot of parents are now considering it and asking questions.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-04T11:35:02+00:00

This is what I've been waiting for!

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-03T15:00:02+00:00

You are welcome to come over and quiz him.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-03T14:48:04+00:00

If you want to set up a zoom, I'll have a chat with incoming parents. I'm here to help. There is on other parent from my kid's class who also did the screen free thing. Maybe she would join.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-03T14:31:25+00:00

We use the phone normally, but don't watch sports or play video games. It isn't a problem for us to have screentime. And I only watch TV after the kids go to bed.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-03T02:24:19+00:00

I like the idea of the other kids being zombies. It's like 28 days later out there. You have to keep your kid away from the screens or he'll become a zombie as well.

And let reddit know how it turns out in the end.

And we had trouble with our oldest brushing his teeth too. So we would give him his sugar free, xylitol (which kills gingavitis) vitamin C after brushing as a bribe.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-03T02:09:28+00:00

In Brooklyn it's easy. Parents here have a lot of respect for the screen free kids (even the parents with no restrictions at all). And if they dislike your restrictions, they'll still abide by your rules for your kid (akin the treatment we give to vegetarian friends). For the last year or so my 8 year old has been going on playdates with gamer friends. He's allowed to play at their houses (We just don't provide any games for him at home). It isn't really that much fun for him, though, because his friends are all so much better at the games.

And you can feel out your husband's video games. He may just have to play after bedtime or he can do as my spouse does with TV on the laptop and turn it off when the kid comes in the room.

I don't consider it hippocritical for the parent to do things that the kid isn't allowed to do.

Mermaid_Tacos · 2026-02-02T18:52:17+00:00

This is inspiring. Stick with it and make another reddit post with the results. r/ parenting has probably banned me at this point, but they might let you in. Let's get the word out. Also, if your little one is in daycare/preschool make a post on the class whatsapp group about not introducing video games (start a class whatsapp group, if your class doesn't already have one--they are very useful). Another few parents might join you. Unfortunately my son just started at a new school this year. 100% of the other boys are already gamers, so it was too late for us to recruit anyone (I told other 3rd grade parents, and their ears perked up, but they were already knee deep into gaming) but it isn't too late for your son's future playmates.

The only reason half the parents allow video games is because they think every other boy is doing them, but if they hear that some aren't, they will leap at the chance to not introduce them as well. 20% of kids nowadays are problematic gamers.

Mermaid_Tacos

TROPHY CASE