<p>My daughter went to an IB program within a regular (somewhat low socioeconomic) public school. The IB students, who came from all over the county and were admitted through a selective process, accounted for one-fourth of the total population.</p>
<p>IB was in many ways its own world. Although there was some interaction with the other students (in ECs, in non-IB courses required for graduation such as PE and health, and in certain combined AP/IB courses), the IB kids tended to form their own community. They also dominated the school, holding virtually all the major positions in extracurriculars other than sports (although some were in sports, too). </p>
<p>In my experience, kids in IB programs tend to be much more academic (not necessarily intellectual, but definitely academically ambitious) and driven than your typical high school population. They have a lot in common with each other and much less in common with their other schoolmates. Thus, they stick together. At my daughter's school, being IB or non-IB transcended other factors such as race. Two IB kids of different races or ethnicities were much more likely to be friends than one IB kid and one non-IB kid of the same race.</p>
<p>My daughter sometimes complained that IB was a fishbowl -- that she only knew the 100 people in her IB class and a few from the classes just above or below hers -- and I think this played a part in her selection of a rather large university. She refused to apply to small colleges because she didn't want to find herself in another fishbowl. On the other hand, once she was in IB, she stopped complaining about the disciplinary problems and slow academic pace that bothered her in her ordinary middle school. </p>
<p>Another thing about IB: In place where there are lots of choices (including science/math programs), IB tends to attract more girls than guys because of its liberal arts orientation, which many girls like. This is nice for the guys. Not so nice for the girls. In my daughter's IB program, the gender ratio was so skewed (two-thirds girls, one-third guys) that certain customs that are almost universal at other high schools didn't exist. For example, people didn't need dates to go to the Homecoming Dance or Prom. They went in groups, with the (few) guys not necessarily being specifically attached to any of the (many) girls.</p>
<p>"That's interesting starbright. It must make it more challenging if your child is going to look at US colleges and take the standardized tests. Although going by the general guidelines such as SAT I after Alg II is completed might not be as cut and dried, hopefully a review of the topics covered would give a good enough sense."</p>
<p>Exactly what I was just thinking! I was also wondering about subject tests too. This will be potentially tricky.</p>
<p>^^ yes, the general wisdom is Math 2 after pre-calc. Hopefully there are people in your school system who have some familiarity and can make recommendations. There are also so many prep books out there, that it shouldn't be impossible to figure out, but just something to keep aware of, as the best time to take the test in your case might be totally different than it is for most US students.</p>
<p>Parents of 8th graders - are your kids looking forward to starting HS?
Are they applying yet?
What questions/issues are you currently dealing with?</p>
<p>I have a hs freshman/9th grader. I/we are dealing with the age old conflict between "who he is" versus who he "thinks he is/wants to be". My son "wants" to be number one, or at least in the top five of his high school class (and he has 887 kids in his freshman class!). He thinks that he is one of the top kids. He really isn't that kid. He is the kid who leaves homework until Sunday evening only to realize that he had more than he thought. He is the kid who does just good enough for the A (low 90's but won't put in the extra time for the high 90's). He is the kid who will spend Friday afternoon and evening playing some combat game on his xbox live (with others online) instead of getting a jump on (let alone looking at) his weekend work (which is extensive given the courses he is is taking). I have no problem with his being a low A/high B type of student but he will get himself all worked up later (when time is short) and totally stress out over the possibility that he may not do acceptably well (to him). He drives me nuts. DH says I have to let him just learn for himself that he 1)
cannot procrastinate and then make it up later and 2) isn't really IVY league material with his work habits and 3) Maybe isn't as "gifted" as he thinks he is.</p>
<p>
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3) Maybe isn't as "gifted" as he thinks he is.
[/quote]
if he is getting As despite his current work habits maybe he is gifted but not yet mature ... given my personal experience I'd suggest letting him deal with the consequences of his procrastination and also consider throwing him into deeper and deeper water until he finds a pool he can't swim using his current study habits. (For me personally I didn't flounder at all until getting creamed at a tough college where there was no where to hide).</p>
<p>seiclan, my oldest wasn't that different. He ended up graduating #8. He got into the Ivy where he was a legacy, but ended up choosing Carnegie Mellon for it's topnotch computer science program. He's working very, very hard and gotten great grades. He commented that in a few classes he did better than other students who were as smart as he was and had more previous experience, but were slacking off. He likes the work so much it doesn't feel like slacking (At least his math, science and computer courses.) He got a B in a history course - I saw one of his papers which had this comment: "This would have been an A paper if you'd handed it in on time." Oh well! That history course has been his only B so far though.</p>
<p>he is in 8th grade and when he does not get an a it is because he didn't turn something in on time (it must be turned in that day at the beginning of that class). sigh!</p>
<p>I don't know yet exactly what we have here with him. Time will tell. He did manage straight A's first quarter but honestly, with his work habits it is only a matter of time before the grades drop. We will have to see if that spurs him onto more in depth study or not. He is so intense. I have to hide on Sunday evenings so it dosen't get to me. I have told him over and over that I only care that he does his best effort, not that he get the best marks...he puts all the pressure on himself (it is compounded by the "gifted" group of kids in his gifted/honors classes...yes, his high school has a level of classes above honors called gifted/honors where the kids get to do lots of extra work and projects for the same weight as a normal honors class---why he wants to be in that program is beyond me).</p>
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And when do the "gifted" finally mature???
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I doubt this is particularly different than any other kids ... some early ... most typical ... some late ... and unfortunately since most grading scales are on absolute scales (not student specific) in some ways gifted students can often slide with immmature/poor work habits longer than most other kids ..their "gift" will allow good results despite the lack of effort .. which is why I advocate throw them into a deeper pool where their gift can't carry them.</p>
<p>The first conflict I remember with a teacher was with my 8th grade Algebra teacher who would not give me an A+ for a grade. I probably never had a wrong answer on a test but did not show my work on tests (or turn in homework). The teach said I needed to show my work so he would know I wasn't cheating ... I handed in my tests 10-15 minutes before the other kids because I could look at word problems and "know the answer" in a few seconds ... I coudln't have shown my work if I wanted to; the answers sort of came to me (years later I figured out what I was doing back then). I made it through HS never doing math HW, getting good enough grades, getting great SATs, and getting into a top engineering school ... and then getting totally smoked at college. I finally was in an environment that required me to use a organized approach to solve the problems ... not required because the teacher told me to ... but required because that was the only way I could solve the problem. (FYI - I had some friends in college who were brilliant and still did not need to structure their work habits.) I know throwing me into the deep end made me get more structured and organized ... I have no idea when or how it would have happened if I had continued in environments that were easy for me.</p>
<p>^^ FYI - I'm not really gifted ... I was one of the 1-2 smartest kids in my math class growing up pained by the pace of the class (taught to the slower kids) ... but I am not gifted anything like a lot of kids on CC skipping ahead multiple years of math or having national level skills.</p>
<p>My freshman D got her first report card. It was pretty good for the first time with high school classes, most of the grades were really strong above an A average, however there was a C+ in history after a B- at midterm. I was kind of shocked, although I don't want to compare my kids, my older D never got a C and I never did either, this was new territory. Although her overall average was right between B+/A- the C+ kept her off the high honor roll.</p>
<p>The comments from the teacher say she is working at it, doing revisions on her papers and talking to him (but she could come by more frequently), which is good. I just know that she isn't working as hard as she could, as she is always on facebook with a status of "I'm bored" or "I hate my stupid history homework" or some such. No I'm not overly snooping but others in the house do keep tabs on each other very well "MOM! She's on the computer again!" We know that writing is definitely a weak area for her and if the English class is on the easier side I'm hoping the history teacher will help her writing mature.</p>
<p>As long as she does her best and works hard, we'll be happy. The social distractions were always more of a challenge with this D :)</p>
<p>grrr! now the county has decided that the high school level courses are not just for highschool credit but high school credit with the grade following. so last year's algebra I A does not count but this year's C+ in geometry does . plus they are rushing through geometry in 4 months so there is not much time to fix a zero from a missing homework assignment...wonder how the colleges will view this 5 years from now!!</p>
<p>Jackief my freshman D also is very social. The time she spends on Facebook, texting and the<br>
computer is way too much. I am moving the computer out of her room this weekend.
It's a hassle to wake her up in the morning. She spends over an hour getting dress in the morning even when she knows what she is going to wear.
She got all Bs on her report card . I am waiting to get the written comments from the teachers.</p>
<p>Freshman son has become more social but also more competitive this year(unlike two older sisters). It has become increasingly important to him to be a top student (almost obsessively). Came home with straight A's first quarter and also at the interim of the second quarter but works too hard. He was very unhappy with his PSAT scores (only practice for Freshman) and now wishes that he had at least opened the book and done a few practice questions ahead of time. He is too cocky and I guess he hadn't realized that they would get the results in class, where everyone would compare and he could be embarrassed.</p>
<p>He could be a perfectionist, and reduces the time available so that he has an excuse if he doesn't do something wrong.</p>
<p>He could also have imposter syndrome, where he believes he's not really gifted if he can't complete the work in short order with little or no effort.</p>
<p>Or, he could just be a procrastinator who has difficulty finding the motivation to do the work if he has a lot of time.</p>
<p>Refreshing this thread.
I am especially curious to hear how is it going for the current 8th graders with HS applications and course selection for freshman year.
To be honest, I am stressing over it :( I think that I have been reading too much into some posts on CC. We have not yet met with the guidance counselor re:course selection. Before,I thought that math is going to give us some trouble, since S is accelerated, now I beging to think about foreign language. He has been studying Spanish since 5th grade and I thought that a natural progression would be Spanish 3 as a freshman, but some people tell me that rushing language is unwise and he could benefit from starting in Spanish 2.
How is it going for others? Is it a smooth sailing as your kids are changing schools?</p>