<p>In our school there is a special day set aside where the teachers meet with the kids to recommend classes for the following year. My D15, armed with recommendations from her teachers along with her own " agenda," chooses her own classes. The kids meet with guidance to finalize their schedule. I do not get involved other than to ask my D what she is planning to take. So far this process has worked beautifully. I recognize that some parents " put" their kids into classes that have not been recommended. Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not. </p>
<p>I signed off on a piece of paper that listed all the available classes but that was it. I guess the school wanted proof that a parent had seen the list? But D is able to make and change her own class schedule without any parental sign-off.</p>
<p>I do not pick for them, but we do talk about the options at length.</p>
<p>My kids show me the sign up sheet for classes next year and we discuss options. Sometimes I urge them to take a harder class and sometimes I urge them to tone down their schedule but they make the final decision. I actively try NOT to tell them to take a specific class except in unusual situations. Younger son will take an AP science next year and we went over the pros and cons of Bio vs. Chem. vs. Physics. He was the one to make the final selection. I did, however, encourage him to take AP Econ. Students have to take an econ credit and I know the non-AP Econ class would have been a complete snoozer for him. We also go over options for the next years so that they can see how their schedule might look long range–helps with balancing harder classes with less demanding ones.</p>
<p>Also, here students can take college classes through the PSEO option. Whether or not they can make it to the class depends on MY schedule, so they have to discuss and plan this with me. The GC doesn’t help them with scheduling these classes, so I have helped my son navigate through the online university course of schedules. </p>
<p>I’ve generally served as a sounding board. My youngest has certainly had her share of indecision and has asked for my opinion and I’ve given it. Almost never has it been an issue of rigor or level though. It tends to be more about things like the teacher, the schedule, or the reading list for the class.</p>
<p>She has to meet with her GC before she can finalize her schedule and he generally has a lot more food for thought to offer than I do. </p>
<p>Like others, my DD came home with her class choosing form already filled out by her. We discussed whether she should be taking AP English or not (she chose not) and she is not interested in any more history (cool, I wasn’t either), but she will take AP Calc and AP Psych and AP Bio and Spanish 5.
More of a discussion than us mandating anything.</p>
<p>At our public high school the kids plan their own schedules, but the parents sign-off on the plan so it’s more of an awareness thing. </p>
<p>With our kids, over time we moved from direction to negotiation to consultation. So far, the consultation period has lasted a long time, even into graduate school.</p>
<p>In high school, it was mostly consultation, with a little negotiation. For example, when my son wanted to drop French his second semester senior year, it was OK with us–as long as he got approval from the college that had already accepted him. They didn’t care, so he dropped it. That’s the only point of disagreement I recall.</p>
<p>My oldest daughter was IB so there were very few choices. My son is doing AP so we have a lot of choice about which classes he can take. He has choosen to take a lot of AP classes in order to match the weighting IB offers. He wants to rank as high as possible. The top 10 are always IB kids. He is in 2 APs as a 10th grader and looking at about 5 for 11th and 5 for 12th.</p>
<p>We did have to argue with the young counselor for him to be placed into AP gov in 9th grade but that is the class the IB 9th graders take so I figured he could handle it. She checked with another more experienced counselor who said sure. </p>
<p>Right now we are trying to get him into AP Micro and Macro Economics for next year. His school does not teach it but it is available online through Virtual Virginia. </p>
<p>I offer lots of advice but I also am trying to talk him out of AP physics as a junior. I’m trying to get him to take APES in 11th then maybe AP Physics in 12 (there isn’t an honors physics class). He isn’t planning to study science in college. </p>
<p>We discussed with D and S and these were very different kinds of discussions. Insisted with daughter that she take physics senior year and art junior year (she ended up taking art senior year too). She had always enjoyed art but didn’t want to take time out of a college prep curriculum. I let her know that well rounded is good, she needed time to relax and she may not have time in college. Physics because you shouldn’t see it for the first time in college. </p>
<p>S wanted honors classes soph year bc regular was too easy. He did all the footwork to get the approvals. We did discuss homework load. I’m proud of them both.</p>
<p>In 8th grade, when it’s time to pick classes for the following year, we go over the 4-year plan that our GC consider “most rigorous” (printed from the online high school handbook) and I explain what other “less rigorous” plans would look like. I then tailor a 4-year plan customized to each child’s particular interests and abilities so that they see how what they select for 9th grade fits into their overall plan. Each year we review their remaining plan together and adjust as necessary. </p>
<p>In our large public high school, my kids have spent little to no time individually with their GC. LOL our senior literally met his GC this past October for the first time and spoke with her for all of 3 minutes! I can’t imagine what she wrote about him in his LOR to colleges?! Thus I consider myself to be their unofficial GC. (To be fair, he got a new GC mid-stream between soph and jr year. He had spoken a couple of times to his first GC.)</p>
<p>I think it’s up to the school system. My kids go to a large public high school with very few guidance counselors. The teacher’s recommend classes and the parents respond to the recommendations. I have fought for my kid to be in AP US History because he loves history and just requested for him to be placed in Calculus as oppose to AP Calculus AB. My sons and I have discussed what classes to take before I submit my recommendations. Utilmately, my kids finalize their schedules with the guidance counselor based upon what the teacher’s have suggested, what as parents we have recommended and what they want and can fit in their schedule.</p>
<p>I think private schools and smaller public high schools with adequate guidance/college counselors would have a closer rapport with kids and possibly know what is best for the student to meet his/her potential.</p>
<p>I think the OP’s question was prompted by the idea of parents “putting” their kids in classes, and yes, I think a lot of that goes on in our schools. I’ve been told by teachers that many parents try to override teacher placement recommendations, and I think they are generally successful in this. </p>
<p>Never. Had numerous, rather animated knock-down drag-out discussions, but never forbade choices (resulting, in part, in a disastrous freshman year). </p>
<p>We offered guidance a couple of times in subsequent years, resulting only in a minor course corrections (our recommendations being considered and, in fact, accepted).</p>
<p>@mathyone - yes indeed. I was curious about the idea of parents “putting”, as if we could control that. My kids’ school doesn’t even have parents sign off on kids classes, nevermind choose them.The final call is the student’s, though of course they have to live with their parents’ pleasure or displeasure with their choices. I’m not sure there is some way to override my kids’ choices in courses even if I wanted to do that, which I do not…</p>
<p>Well, as I SAID, it was a figure of speech and I didn’t intend for it to be taken so literally, but there’s CC for ya! </p>
<p>I didn’t start this topic because I was trying to debate you or challenge you about “putting” your own kids in classes, PG. As I said in my initial post, your comment got me wondering how much input or control parents might have over their kids’ schedules. Based on the responses here, it seems it varies quite a lot.</p>
<p>I’d welcome your response as well if you wish to give it, of course.</p>
<p>My parents never told me what classes to take or anything, I could take whatever I wanted (high school and college) but I always told them what I was taking. My parents never “recommended” anything like the parents here, but that’s because they were 20 years out of school and aren’t CC-type parents that keep up with all this. </p>
<p>At both my son’s private prep school and my daughter’s large public high school, parents had to sign off on AP contracts. I admit to urging my daughter not to take so many AP’s, but she doesn’t really listen to me when she’s made her mind up. She is a junior in college now and does consult me on her college class schedule, but it is more listening to herself talk it out because I have no clue what classes she needs. She has difficulty with scheduling because she is a varsity athlete and has limited times that she can take classes, but it always works out in the end.</p>
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<p>At least the California public universities do not use letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>I am going to be a freshman in high school next year 
My parents didn’t push me into taking any specific classes. The only thing my dad was bugging me about was orchestra, even though I was not interested in it. He let me pick all of my courses because he knew I wouldn’t take ones I didn’t want to. I kind of wish I could pick them again though 
I made some EXTREMELY stupid choices (like picking 3 histories for my first semester).</p>