Book Review: “Liv On Life” by Wildwood School Mom Elizabeth Gorcey

Liv On Life

 

Imagine how nice it was for my family to pull into our driveway to find Elizabeth Gorcey dropping off a copy of her new children’s book, Liv On Life: Going To The Park. Elizabeth is a friend of a friend, so we chatted about the book, mutual friends and our kids.  Friendly and outgoing, Elizabeth is a mom, an artist and a parent at Wildwood Elementary School. Her daughter, Liv, is the inspiration for the book, which encourages kids to embrace their authentic voices. The message of the book, that parents should pause to slow down in our busiest times to be mindful of our kid’s honesty and perspective, is a concept that fits perfectly with Wildwood School’s progressive philosophy.

 

Going To The Park captures moments in Liv’s life as she introduces the reader to her dog Bowie and her home life. The book is the first in a series. Stuck in traffic, Liv is thrilled because she and Bowie can look out the window. Her distracted mom isn’t so happy. Liv discovers a puppy in the car next to them, but her mom doesn’t even notice. Liv, naturally curious and creative, finds excitement in the little details that make up a quick trip to the store, the park and in her own home.

 

If you have a preschooler, especially one who loves pink as much as Liv, they’ll enjoy reading this delightful book with a deeper message, reminding us to take the time to be present for our kids in this high-tech, fast-paced world. With her patient persistence and wit, Liv encourages us all to slow down to notice the beautiful, funny everyday moments in our lives. Because that’s exactly what Liv does.

 

Please join author Elizabeth Gorcey at Skylight Books on Sunday, Oct. 5, 3-5 p.m. for a book launch party! Enjoy sweet treats and espresso with the author, her daughter and other families. For more information or to buy the book, visit Skylight Books.

 

About the Author: Director, producer and actor Elizabeth Gorcey has expanded her repertoire to book publishing with the LIV ON LIFE (”LOL”) children’s book series. The twelve-book series is written from the endearing perspective of Elizabeth’s daughter, Olivia, who shares her insights and observations on modern-day life. Elizabeth currently lives in LA with her family. When not making films or publishing books, she works diligently on her non-profit art program for terminally ill children called the CARING STROKES ART PROGRAM. For more info, please vist www.livonlife.com 

 

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Manzanita School: A New Private School In Topanga

Photo: Manzanita School
Photo: Manzanita School

Manzanita School is a new private school in Topanga. It is a progressive school for grades 4-9. According to the school’s website the school’s natural surroundings on 20 acres will play an important role in the curriculum. “The strong pedagogical movement, “place-based education,” has illuminated the importance of connecting our schooling to the local environment.”

 

I was raised in Topanga and I know exactly where this school is located and it would be an amazing experience to attend a school in such a beautiful, peaceful location. –Christina

 

For more information, visit www.manzanitaschool.org

 

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Upcoming Event: Demystifying The L.A. Private Elementary School Admissions Process

The Second Edition: Coming Sept./Oct. 2013!

 

Hi Everyone, Please join me for this FREE event!

 

Who: Christina Simon, co-author, Beyond The Brochure: An Insider’s Guide To Private Elementary Schools In Los Angeles

 

What: Navigating The L.A. Private Elementary School Admissions Process

  • Selecting Schools To Visit, Types of Schools and School Tours
  • Written Applications
  • Parent Interviews
  • Your Child’s Testing/Visiting Day
  • Letters of Recommendation
  • What To Do If Your Child is Wait-Listed
  • Helpful Hints and Insider Tips

 

Where: Brentwood Presbyterian Preschool

12000 San Vicente Blvd/Bundy. There is limited parking on the street.

 

When: Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, 6:30 p.m.

 

Details: Christine Cornsinita, director of Brentwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, has graciously welcomed me back to her amazing preschool for the third year. She’s also invited any of our blog readers who would like to attend. The event is free, but If you plan to join us, you must RSVP to Christine at: bpcp90049 @ gmail dot com. Space is limited. Everyone attending the event will get an event summary from my remarks. I look forward to meeting you! –Christina

Update: Corrected email is: bpcp90049 @gmail dot com 

Let’s be social! Like Beyond The Brochure on Facebook. We post a lot of stuff on Facebook that’s not on the blog!  Are you more the email type? Get our posts in your in box by subscribing (enter your email in the subscribe” box on the right sidebar of the blog. Or, buy the Second Edition of our book at Amazon.com or your local bookstores!

Here We Go, Together: 2014-15

Santa Barbara Summer Cup Tournament. Champs!
My son in the final game at Santa Barbara Summer Cup Tournament. FCLA team 2014 champs!

My kids started their second year at Viewpoint School last week, my son in 5th grade and my daughter in 8th grade (I know!). It seems like everything is already in full swing with football practice, back-to-school night, homework, tryouts, auditions and volunteering mode. As the kids get older, juggling their schedules becomes more challenging, but it’s exciting to watch them tackle new classes and activities with excitement and enthusiasm

 

For those of you who are new here, I haven’t forgotten about my own first application process for kindergarten. It is the reason I keep writing this blog and speaking at preschools. I strongly believe every parent who wants a private school education in L.A. should have as much information available to him or her as possible. The notion that every year parents all across this city have to reinvent the wheel every September by spending hours researching information about schools, but coming up almost empty handed, bothers me. The information is there, it just isn’t as easily accessible as it should be. Most schools give very limited information on their websites. A few offer a solid admissions roadmap. Overall, websites have improved since we applied for kindergarten in 2006. Other parents can be a wealth of knowledge, but are often not willing to share with people they don’t know well (this has definitely been my experience).  Some preschool directors are a great information source (ours definitely was). Educational consultants can help those families who need assistance navigating the entire process or a few hours with an expert.

 

One of my favorite pics of the kids, 2012. Photo: Joy Smallwood
One of my favorite pics of the kids, 2012. Photo: Joy Smallwood

What this all adds up to is the “insider” information is there for those who are “insiders” when it should be available to anyone who wants it. Why should a mom who has a friend at a private school have better, more accurate information about applying then a family without connections? This is a rhetorical question, but its also one that I faced when we first applied. Generally, I found most parents to be tight-lipped about the admissions process, but occasionally I’d encounter a generous person who’d share really good advice. We also had a preschool director who was both well-connected and experienced with all things admissions. And, we had Anne Simon, my co-author and step-mom who helped us tremendously.

 

Summer in San Francisco
A fun weekend trip this summer to San Francisco with our extended family

Now that I’ve been a mom at two different private schools, I know how much “insider” information and contacts help applicant families.  Being able to say you know a current family can help your application. I’ve written recommendation letters for friends and lobbied for their kids to be accepted. Trust me when I say it can move the application from the bottom of the pile to the top.

 

So, for those who are new to the blog, just starting the admissions process, welcome. I hope you find this blog a good source of information as you proceed through tours, interviews and visiting days. The pressure can be intense and exhausting. Most of the process is highly subjective, with a few objective aspects like application deadlines or tour dates. I also hope you find the funny in it (as we try to do) every once in a while. After all, private schools can be shrouded in secrecy, much like country clubs (actually, the two go hand in hand at a few elite schools where parents refer their friends from the country club to the school and conversely, parents join specific country clubs with the hope of getting help from members who are parents at a particular school). These are the kind of things that will always surprise me, no matter how many years we’re at private school. The private airplane hanger and soccer field in the back yard also cause my eyes to widen. The idea of community at private schools is one I’ve struggled with. If I were starting over, I’d have focused more on whether the school was a fit for our entire family, not just the kids. I’d pay closer attention to the subtle things that make a school what it is (or is not). I’ve made a few good friends during these years, but my biggest challenge has been finding a true sense of community. Thankfully, I see that beginning to happen at Viewpoint.

 

Barry's birthday dinner at Madeo
Barry’s birthday dinner at Madeo

Beyond The Brochure was started in 2010, after the First Edition of our book (the Second Edition was released in Oct. 2013). Most of the writing on this blog is mine, with help my co-authors and from amazing guest bloggers. I post about 1-2 times per week and I spend about 30 hours/week on the blog, marketing the book and related events and activities. Anne and I respond to every reader email (csimon2007 at gmail dot com) and I love meeting you at events, putting faces to names and being able to share information.  I also use the blog’s Facebook page as a place to share our blog posts and interesting stuff I find online related to events, education, parenting, books, etc. Yesterday, I posted a blurb about Elon Musk (Tesla, Paypal founder) who has started a new invite-only private school, after he left Mirman School.  If you want to know more about me personally, you can find it in the “About The Authors” or the “Find Us Here Too” sections across the blog header.

 

Barry and I didn’t apply to schools as “insiders” but rather as parents who wanted our kids to go to private school. Now that its been more than 7 years as private school parents, I guess you could say that we are firmly on the inside, although writing this blog and my husband’s rather sarcastic sense of humor will probably always keep us from being deep insiders who serve on the board or that sort of thing. And that suits us perfectly.

 

Cheers to a fantastic 2014-15! –Christina

Guest Blogger Sharie: Tour Early, Make Friends

 

Photo: Brad Flickinger using Flickr Creative Commons License
Photo: Brad Flickinger using Flickr Creative Commons License

I’m happy to say our son started Kindergarten this year at our dream school and last fall’s admissions whirlwind is now a distant memory. Thanks to all the great advice in the Beyond the Brochure blog and book, our admissions process was relatively smooth and sane, believe it or not! But if I had to do it all again—like I will for middle school in a few years—there are two key things I could’ve done in advance to better prepare.

 

  •   Make friends with the graduating class at your preschool 

The first year and a half or so of preschool I was so busy dealing with terrible twos, terrible threes, sleep schedules, finding lost shoes, carting home armloads of craft projects… I was pretty oblivious to the graduating families at our school. Until it was time to start applying for elementary schools, when I realized that, even though many families from our preschool had gone on to some of our top choice schools, I didn’t actually know any of them! So much for getting the inside scoop and asking for references. Oops.

 

So don’t be like me—start getting to know the older families in your school right away. Trust me, you’ll be much happier next year hearing from your friends about the pros and cons of their new school and getting their happy recommendations rather than sending out the dreaded “You don’t know me, but…” emails and hoping for a response like I did!

 

  •  Start touring schools you might be interested in, even if you aren’t applying for another year

We didn’t tour any schools until the fall we were actually applying for Kindergarten, but boy do I wish we had looked at some earlier. Fall admissions season from the first fairs and tours in September to application deadlines in December-January may seem like a long time but let me tell you, it flies by in a way you wouldn’t believe.

 

It’s better to get your applications in early. And not just a day early, but actually early. Super early. Seriously, do them early.

 

So that knocks off a couple months right there. Plus the various fall & winter holidays also usually take up a lot of time with travel or entertaining. And, while some schools offer a tour every week, other schools only offer one or two tours per admissions season.

 

If you’re trying to look at 5 or more schools, that’s a lot to juggle! When we were touring, there were some schools I could instantly knock off the list in the first 5 minutes and other schools I wanted to tour more than once to really help our decision. Had we toured some of them the previous year, I could’ve wasted less time during our admissions process on schools that weren’t right for us and spent more time getting to know the ones that were our top choices.

 

Somehow we managed to fit all of our tours in and get our applications in early, but next time hopefully I’ll follow my own advice and make it easier on myself!

 

Sharie Piper (not her real name) is thrilled her son was accepted into their first choice school, and vows to stay in touch with the younger families at his old preschool.

 

 

Let’s be social! Like Beyond The Brochure on Facebook. We post a lot of stuff on Facebook that’s not on the blog!  Are you more the email type? Get our posts in your in box by subscribing (enter your email in the subscribe” box on the right sidebar of the blog. Or, buy the Second Edition of our book at Amazon.com or your local bookstores!