Thursday, March 20, 2014
Blind Item #3
This A list mostly movie actress who is an Academy Award winner/nominee is used to getting what she wants all the time. Not known for diva behavior or anything, she is very nice all of the time. While enrolling her child in pre-school she was told that her first choice was not available. Why? The actress had decided to not work with a certain director. That director's wife is the admissions director for the school. Huh. Funny thing. The actress signed on to do a movie with the director a few weeks later.
Amy Adams
ReplyDeleteThat Picasso movie
DeleteThe muppets. James bobin.
DeleteCate Blanchett have any kids old enuff for skool?
ReplyDeleteCate lives in London right?
ReplyDeleteAdmissions Director for a pre-school? Seriously?
ReplyDeletePeople who worry that much about where their kids go to PRESCHOOL make my teeth hurt. Do they have higher-quality glitter glue to eat at the other place? Cause I'm pretty sure that's all they do in preschool
ReplyDeleteI thought Cate moved here to Mericuh?
ReplyDeleteCare lives in am energy efficient house in Hunters Hill, Sydney
DeleteReese?
ReplyDeletecharlize
ReplyDeleteSo stupid. But I'd probably do the same. Lol
ReplyDeleteReese and charlize are known divas.
ReplyDeleteHow has no one guessed Sandy?!? Sandy Bullock for the win!
ReplyDeleteBecause with her having made $70 million from Gravity, along with the millions she's made from previous movies, she could buy the damn pre-school & fire the admissions director & anyone else that pissed her off!
DeleteNow really, that just sounds like a bad investment.
Delete"If you don't do my movie your kid may end up going to school with the plebs. Do you hear me? THE PLEBS"
ReplyDelete@TTM, memorizing the words to "The Wheels on the Bus" can be challenging. Maybe they switch it up to "The Wheels on the Limo?"
ReplyDeleteJenny, zactly! Twinkle, Twinkle Huge Diamond or something!
DeleteThis is Amy...I know the director & wife this is about...Amy is a sweetie, even her competition loves her
ReplyDeleteOooh insider info that is totally believable
Deletethose of you who dont realize how important a high quality pre-school is are ignorant to parenting and child development.
ReplyDeletewhile these multimillion dollar schools are outrageous and probably absurd, they do offer many more child development opportunities that have lasting and resounding positive effects on the child's cognitive development. pre-school is one of the most critical developmental periods in a child's cognitive and social growth.
go look at the statistics in states (like MS) that do not even offer pre-schools. This is not something to be mocked at all.
Wheels on the bus indeed.
DeleteSo what happens to those kids without A list parents who can just sign onto a movie to get their kid a quality education? Are you a bad parent if you can't provide that for your kid? Maybe more emphasis should be put on quality public education, since that's where the majority of kids are educated.
DeleteWas it Matt Damon who said his kids go to public school?
I didn't go to preschool.
DeleteWhat was your point again?
So is the movie The Muppets, if this is Amy Adams? She was perfect in that (like everything) and I remember thinking they were lucky to get her. Love that movie, btw.
ReplyDeleteheadrot the simple fact that you are discussing anything about how to raise a being who will end up sane and fully functional in society leads me to believe that today is opposite day.
ReplyDelete@headrot - but surely there is decent pre-school education available that doesn't depend on you being 'in' with the admissions director? I mean, i just can't even believe that title exists for pre school provision.
ReplyDeleteAll my kids went to state provided pre school, picked their noses and played in the sandpit - 2 now attend selective grammars, one has just achieved straight As at GCSE (16 year olds compulsory exams in the UK). Whilst i realise an anecdote does not a statistic make, i do not understand this desire for 2/3/4 year olds to be hothoused when they should be playing.
stop being a troll. noone was even talking to you.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Pot meet kettle. So suicude is up for grabs, but god forbid we make fun of a fancy preschool.
Delete@violet there are plenty of "solid" options, but you do get what you pay for with the high end ones, opportunities for bi and tri lingual development (the positive effects of this on brain development have been well documented)
ReplyDeletethis, violet, is also the kind of educational stiatration that is much more of an issue in the US than in similarly developed countries, like the UK. The US is rapidly falling behind in educational rankings, primarily because of the lack of focus on early education and educator training.
Areas such as Canada (@TMM), Japan, Finland, The Netherlands, Germany, and UK have not had their education systems suffer like America's has. they've also not had their education system be used as political and social tools to manipulate the public populace as America has had happen over the reasons.
So yeah, being from the UK you're children are just generally better off in terms of their early education.
Just make sure you keep reading to them! :)
I'm not sure that an early childhood education in the UK is superior to that of the US. People in the UK also misuse "your" and "you're", and none suffer dire consequences.
Delete@7 Speak for you're sel---
DeleteAAAAHHHH
AAAHHHHhhhhhhh.......
its not about hot housing either, its about providing constructive and learning play environments, where the pre-schoolers can explore and learn via play.
ReplyDeleteoften times pre-schools focus on the play, or the learn, rarely are they able to effectively integrate these two together effectively. Usually this approach is called Montesorri and it's very popular among the wealthy who can afford the educators who are highly trained in it. it's also extremely popular in the UK where I think it may have originated.
But is it effective?
Delete@seven of eleven the US is one of the bottom ranked developed nations in terms of education. almost everyone is better than the US
ReplyDelete/slow clap for Bacon Ranch
ReplyDeleteNo one is mocking preschool, headrot. But in all your wisdom, I'm sure you're absolutely correct in your assumption that those of us that are parents have no idea how important the early years of cognitive development are since we so carelessly mock an admissions director. I guess we just got lucky that our kids are in gifted programs (8 y/o) and dual language programs (5 y/o) after keeping them locked in the basement for the first 4 years of their life.
And now the kid is gonna spend his/her days in an environment partially controlled by someone who is petty, manipulative and possibly obsessive?
ReplyDeleteGosh, what could go wrong?
If I had personal or professional issues with the director of the school or her husband, that is the last place I would send my child! I would be afraid that the problem would somehow filter down to the child even in small ways.
ReplyDeleteBTW, there was a Montessori school in Ontario that was shut down because the operator was found to be dealing crack part-time. I kid you not.
@discoflux with an attitude like that it sure seems like it.
ReplyDeletealso: since you dont seem to know that, the placement and recommendations into those programs has more to do with how well a poorly trained teacher likes the student (at least in the US) as opposed to anything else. infact, most researchers and experts think that the "gifted" label is an inaccurate joke intended to keep parents happy and feeling good about their efforts.
It's spelled Montessori and it was developed in Italy. Also, you misused "you're."
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to trash education systems, get your shit right.
#teamgoogleburncentersinyourarea
Delete@katydid not with the crack it isnt :O
ReplyDeleteUmmm, I'm Canadian too and know lots of kids who go to Montessori private schools. They are, for the most part, all spoiled little brats with attitude problems. Including our friends' kids. My own daughter has attended a private school on a full academic/athletic scholarship since Grade 9, transferring from a "regular" high school. The elitist attitude that these teenagers have already developed is alarming to say the least. They come to our house comparing the merits of the Land Rovers vs Range Rovers vs Mercedes they all drive, and how much money their divorced parents spent to win them over on alternate weekends. Although I believe the networking that can be done at truly elite private secondary schools may set one up with business contacts for life, beginning in preschool does appear to be nothing but a snob factor if you ask me. God help these kids when they don't have it all handed to them on a silver platter.
ReplyDeleteThere have been empirical studies, and if you're middle-class or above, preschool (type, cost, even whether the children go at all) has no effect whatsoever on future development.
ReplyDeletePreschool does help disadvantaged kids, though.
Bitch, my kids went to early learning centers starting at the age of 3! They 5 y/o didn't just magically get placed into a dual language program by the advanced learning fairy. Jesus fuck. Learn to read sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I wasn't trashing Montessori schools at all - I think they are wonderful - but very expensive. I was just offering a hard-to-believe news item.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is now a debate about pre-school. Education begins at home.
ReplyDeletethey do more than glitter and glue.......
ReplyDeletealthough I do think it really isn't important in the long term scheme of things what preschool you go to
just another elitist attitude
@oothoon thats exactly all i was trying to point out :)
ReplyDeletein fact i even said that the overpriced schools are ridiculous but do provide different opportunities, but that pre-school education as a whole was vital and not to be mocked.
the example i even cited, MS, is a state that has no pre-school program and is one of the poorest states in the country, which is why they desperately need pre-school programs.
its a shame that the failure of literacy programs is so apparent on here.
Yes. Yes, it is.
Delete"The advanced learning fairy"
ReplyDelete@Disco, you made my day.
@discoflux you sound like youre overcompensating :( everything ok? your kids ok?
ReplyDeleteWho asked you for help? Who the hell do you think you are to meddle in Disco's life?
DeleteThe things we do for our children. sigh.
ReplyDeleteDear lord. If only you were worth my time and energy...
ReplyDeleteI'm going to carry on not hating my life so much that I envy people who kill themselves.
I heart you, Disco. <3
ReplyDeleteBeing an American living in a Scandinavian country, I originally thought like Headrot - that intense early education was invaluable.
ReplyDeleteI can say that in the country where I live, however, kids don't learn to read until they are 8 or 9 years old. They also get no standardized tests whatsoever until they are 15. There are very few tests in class, either, and the children are encouraged to work together, not to compete each other.
Result: this tiny country has a huge biotech industry, and a strong tech community, and is generally very prosperous. Second result: I no longer believe in force-feeding young children advanced education.
Poor me - I went to (public) nursery school (it wasn't called pre-school back then), and I sure as hell didn't suffer.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally with TTM on this.
I think Montessori might be a smidge overrated, at least in my area. I know several kids in the 8-10 age range, and of the five who went to Montessori, two are doing no better, and two worse than, children who went to less "exclusive" pre-schools. Only one is excelling. It's not always you get what you pay for. If mummy and daddy throw money at a problem but don't get involved the child will not perform well in school no matter how "selective" the admission process is.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think preschools that stress academics are BS., and chose a coop with teachers educated in child development. Social development is key for that age group. I suppose it depends on your kid, but mine was so not ready for straight academics! There was reading and basic math skills like counting and such, all through play. Let the kid explore the world through their own learning styles and natural aptitude.
ReplyDeleteim not going to know anyone for trying to do what they have to do for their childs education
ReplyDeleteincluding sleeping with the headmaster...forrest gump mama style lmfao
Lotta - I heart you back, betch.
ReplyDeleteSeven - That Tom Hiddleston gif made MY day.
#headrotcanwrite
ReplyDelete#baconranchcallin'it
#discofluxilikeu
#readyrkidabok
#thxray
#npKimba
Delete@VeronicaCostello Exactly. The best pre-school I was ever involved with was in a church basement, run by an enterprising and child-loving woman who went on to get an advanced degree in Child Development and Education. The kids could hardly wait to get there. It wasn't purely academic by any means. Some kids at 3 are still in pull-ups!
ReplyDeleteJust to close my part of this out - I didn't go to preschool. I had involved parents and grandparents and was reading at an advanced level when I started kindergarten at 4. I was reading at a college level by 8 and was placed into gifted programs in rural Louisiana that entailed learning outside of the classroom and a focus on science and arts. I continued this program when I lived in the earlier maligned state of Mississippi. I was forced to leave the program upon moving to Texas in junior high because they, unlike Louisiana and Mississippi, worked on a credits system and I didn't have the necessary credits for the honors level classes.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest has attended a public early learning program and the DL program is in a public school. The oldest does go to a private school that is for gifted children. And you don't have to be a scientist to see that, yes, there IS a difference between gifted children and non-gifted children. If you don't believe that, you haven't been around some of the dum-dums that other dum-dums have popped out.
sigh. this is a perfect example of why the american education system will forever be crippled and unsolvable.
ReplyDelete@discoflux i thought you were from the south. it was pretty apparent.
ReplyDelete@headrot If you look back to Monday's L'Wren Scott thread, there may have been someone pretending to be you, who was supportive of suicide. If it wasn't you, people who didn't read to the end of that thread don't realize that. If it was you .. Maybe you could set things straight?
ReplyDeleteWhat made it so apparent? That I'm educated, gainfully employed, have a happy family, and don't act like a petulant teenager who throws out suicide talk for shock value?
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to figure out where you're from but, according to google, there's no such place as Tedious Assholeville.
Let's all work on our chakras. Ommm
ReplyDeletePreschool is a lot more than nursery rhymes and sing alongs. It's a shame not everyone can afford top tier schooling but I will fight tooth and nail to get my kids into the best program in the state. Sending your child to elementary school without quality preschool education can have a severe negative impact on their cognitive, social emotional, and language development not to mention already placing them behind their peers who did receive quality preschool education. Their kindergarten teachers will have 25 kids in one class at the least and they absolutely do not have time to teach your kiddo what they should have already learned. If you scoff at quality early childhood education and just go for whatever is cheapest/most readily available be prepared that your child may struggle throughout their entire education,.not just the first few years.
ReplyDeleteLeek it was her. Here's Headrot's "blog" some real nuggets of literary wisdom in there.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't care what anyone does with their life, I think suicide is cowardly and selfish, but ultimately it's your life. Shitting on kind people that were extending a helping hand to a stranger because they're kind souls is a nasty way of conducting yourself on line or in real life. Headrot, YOU'RE a shitty human being. Get off Disco's tip.
Cate Blanchett lives in Sydney and no one would ever describe her as nice. She's a total bitch. This is Sandra Bullock.
ReplyDeleteI am just going to state the obvious; there is more than one school (ha!) of thought on the topic, people have to do what they think is best for their kiddos. And that will probably look different to different people.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Captain Obvious oot!
Sorry I forgot the link
ReplyDeletehttp://realityasfiction.blogspot.com/?m=1
Pardon my forgetfulness and my lack of ability to make it clicky, I didn't attend a fancy pre school. Now I need to get back to my six figure job, asshole.
@katy, so those entries on the blog were added the day people on here were being so amiable to a suicidal commenter. Real sweet.
Deletewho knew preschool was so controversial! jeesh...
ReplyDeleteNow everyone play nice in the schoolyard..
Lol Derek I've been going to school for education and human development for the past 8 years so standardized tests and preschool are my soap box. And honey boo boo,.love you girl. I annoy myself with how much I could go on about education
DeleteI think it's Sandra and Louie. I think Louie is pre-school age if I'm not mistaken.
ReplyDeleteLove Sandra for wanting the best for her child though.
@katydid Oh dear.
ReplyDelete@headrot
ReplyDeleteI think that the pro-suicide stance bothers people (me included). Sort of like pro-ana, or other self-destructive behaviours.
Clicky for KatyAwesomeSauce:
ReplyDeletehttp://realityasfiction.blogspot.com/?m=1
@Seven--oh lord! ; )
ReplyDelete@J---thats cool--I was just being goofy : ) (as always)
ReplyDeleteSchool enrolment is a tough competition these days. I dont blame her.
ReplyDeleteChildren schmildren.
ReplyDeleteMeh who cares... Next! Lol
Headrot, what happened to you was absolutely horrible. Unbelievable. I'm sorry there was no adult kicking ass on your behalf. I would have been more than happy to do so.
ReplyDeleteYou are still young though. Stop letting it run your life. Recover from this and show them that nobody controls you now. I know you're angry, but you're being angry at the wrong people. Focus your anger where it belongs, and you will start to get the trash out of your life. Get angry at the people who did this to you. Apply the same standards that you would with a child, to yourself. Look after that little girl (now you) like she should have been looked after.
My pre-school experience came from my mother who taught me how to read before I hit kindergarden and English was not her first language, and playing with my siblings and the neighbourhood kids. When kids were allowed outside and before computers were invented and there wasn't much on TV.
ReplyDeleteKids with learning issues or motivation issues MAY benefit from more expensive schools but not necessarily. Pretty sure Gates and Jobs, both men did not finish college, didn't go to hoity toit preschools.
You really should let your kids mingle with the riff raff, financial fortunes can turn overnight these days.
If you want to network join the Rotary Club or any number of organizations for just that purpose when you are an adult or even a teen if you are that ambitions. You don't need to network when you are bloody 5 and have no clue what you want to do in life
ReplyDeleteIt may seem silly to want your children in these "exclusive" preschools, but oftentimes if they get in for preschool then they are guaranteed admission for elementary school and beyond. Public schools are atrocious (nothing against teachers who care), more so now with CCSI being implemented. Kids should not be grouped together by biological age instead of intellectual ability does not help everyone.
ReplyDelete/mom of three kids, two of whom go to private secular, youngest currently on year-long waiting list for preschool
Amy has a pre-school aged daughter (she's 4) but her movies coming up don't match, unless this title isn't publicly confirmed - Lullaby's director is dating Katherine Jenkins and Big Eyes is a Burton movie.
ReplyDeleteSandra only has the Despicable Me movie Minions coming up - the director is French and I couldn't find a wife. The OTHER director is named Kyle Balda and I can't find much at all. Could be him.
Cate Blanchett & her husband have a theater they run in Sydney. I'm sure that's where the children go to school. During awards season she kept talking about having left film for 6 years to run her theater before she got offered Blue Jasmine.
ReplyDelete@lazyday Cate and her husband stopped running Sydney Theatre Company last year but you are right they do live in Sydney, in Woolahra. The youngest, Iggy is around five or six so this doesn't fit her. I'd vote Amy Adams or Sandy B...
DeleteNot Woollahra
DeleteDon't know about Jobs but Bill Gates left Harvard without a degree because Microsoft started taking off and he couldn't be in Boston and Albuquerque at the same time. Gates wouldn't have founded Microsoft if he and Paul Allen hadn't learned programming on the private school computer terminal donated by the Mom's Club.
ReplyDelete@lazyday603, I believe Jobs dropped out of Reed College.
ReplyDeleteAmy Adams in Man of Steel
ReplyDeleteDirector = Zack Snyder
Wife - Deborah Snyder
Marin Montessori School in CA
Maybe?
Well this was interesting. Anyone else notice the Beyonce blind is now missing?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI grew up the only child of a working single mom with no money. She taught me to read when I was four. We never had a TV. We moved into a house next door to a library when I was 8. I read every day. I read in the bathroom, I read at the dinner table, I read under the covers at night.
ReplyDeleteI didn't go to pre-school or kindergarten, went to inner city public schools my whole life, got into every college I applied to, went to Yale, worked in the dining halls all four years for pocket money, worked every summer, graduated with honors.
All it takes is one parent who's involved with their kid.
Whatever. My first kid went to a Montessori preschool and the second went to daycare. Literally almost the exact same program was used at each - one just cost more and, oh yeah, they sat at desks more often. Little Kay #2 likes to move around a lot so she would probably have killed her Montessori teacher, had we subjected her to that. Preschool makes not one whit of difference, and anyone losing their shit over one for their kid is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteJust to set the record straight, everyone here has (or will have) gorgeous, intelligent, and well mannered children that will make the world a better place to live. Even the hippies that raise their children in a TeePee in Yosemite.
ReplyDeleteAnd I read all of Count's posts anymore as if he were Snoop Lion.
I secretly hope Count is Snoop. :)
Just to set the record straight, everyone here has (or will have) gorgeous, intelligent, and well mannered children that will make the world a better place to live. Even the hippies that raise their children in a TeePee in Yosemite.
ReplyDeleteAnd I read all of Count's posts anymore as if he were Snoop Lion.
I secretly hope Count is Snoop. :)
TMI from too many people. Strangers on an internet gossip site don't need to know about your children or your life.
ReplyDeleteAmy Adams is the answer to the BI.
People should fret less over pre-school and instead read to the kid every night for 15 minutes at bedtime, starting at 4-6 months during last feeding, create regular opportunities for supervised play & sharing with others (playgroups) at about 6 months, teach courtesy & talk about kindness, helping, taking turns, not disturbing other people in public, and how to eat at a table with other people. By the time the kid is about 3, he'll be able to behave appropriately in restaurants, airplanes, and other public & semi-public places & have reaped enough smiles & unsolicited compliments from strangers, fellow travelers & diners, etc to have a positive self-image and confidence to adapt to whatever "learning system" his parents pick for him.
ReplyDeleteIt all starts at home & more than anywhere else, we reap what we sow.
I'm surprised nobody guessed Natalie Portman...
ReplyDelete