<p>D is only taking Honors Geometry and Biology in the fall. English and WH are Accelerated classes. Although she has As in those classes, she didn't get the teacher recommendation. Have spoken to counselor/ head of dept., etc. and doesn't seem like it's going to be changed.</p>
<p>So, just worried about the following years. Yes, if she does well in the accelerated classes, she can qualify for honors next year. Has anyone had a kid who didn't start off with all honors, but worked their way up later on? Not worried about "oh, my kid isn't in all honors". More worried about the impact it will have for class rank and scholarships later on. </p>
<p>I have mixed feelings about it. I would like for her to have "most challenging" on her transcript, and remain competitive with her classmates for college acceptances, but because it's a big transition and she will also be doing drama and marching band, having only two honors classes would, in my opinion, would be a great freshman load.</p>
<p>Well, I took all regular classes my freshman year and took honors and AP classes as I went on, though we weren’t tracked, so you could sign up for whatever classes you wanted without recommendation. Your daughter’s school is rather unique in that they track, which sucks.</p>
<p>If you’re getting involved, I would fight harder if that’s what your daughter wants you to do.</p>
<p>D took only the 2 recommended honors classes when she started MS and within a month was asking to take all honors the next year (which she did, with all A’s). I have found that the parents and students themselves are better judges of what a child can handle. I also learned (too late!) that it would have been possible to switch to the honors classes a few weeks into the school year (schools don’t typically advertise this). She ended up taking all honors classes in HS as well as many AP’s. I stopped looking at the teacher recommendations.</p>
<p>Knowing what I do now, I would get her into the English and WH honors classes.</p>
<p>In our school, parents have the final say in what classes the students take. The teacher and guidance counselor make recommendations, but many parents/students don’t follow them. Have you checked to see if this is the case in your child’s school? Ar they making recommendations, or are they allowed to veto enrollment in honors and AP’s?</p>
<p>But, if your child seems happy enough with the classes you described, and has other interests that could be impacted by more rigor and hours of homework, then I think your child should be the one to decide. </p>
<p>I think you are wise to take notice of the stresses of a transitional year. Changes can be made later, if need be.</p>
<p>But find out if this can be a choice by your daughter, rather than a mandate by the school.</p>
<p>Your daughter will just be a freshman, two honors classes will be enough for her and allow her to have a smooth transition into high school without the stress of an overloaded schedule. She can add more honors and AP classes as she is ready. She is better off to do well in the classes she is in than struggle in higher level classes. As she matures, she will be able to handle the higher level classes better. My daughter’s freshman year, she had 2 honors classes and one pre-AP class, but the other 4 were regular classes. Sophomore year she added more honors and 2 APs sophmore year, but still had 2 regular classees. Junior year, she had 3 honors and 4 APs and next year she will have all APs and Dual enrolled classes. We asked about her transcript and were told hers would be checked “most rigorous”. Your daughter will have plenty of time to add rigor to her schedule. I hope she has a wonderful freshman year!</p>
<p>It’s possible your D didn’t get the teachers’ recs in Engl & Hist but did in Bio & Geometry because she is actually better at math/science than at English & related subjects.</p>
<p>Next year, she may want/try to move up in those subjects, but don’t worry if she decides to concentrate on the fields she is talented in.</p>
<p>Mommusic, her passion is math/science! But, she actually was disappointed that she didn’t get WH honors (after maintaining a 97 average in SS). I believe she can handle the work, and don’t want her to get behind the acadmic “8 ball” in terms of class rank. I’m not talking about Ivy/top 10 schools. I’m more concerned with merit $$$$ for state schools (as in she must be top 10, 15 or 20%, etc.) Having fewer honors classes, with decreased weight, will affect that.
She doesn’t want honors English, and I think that would be way too much, so we haven’t even asked for it (although she maintained a 93 average in that class). I know her limits :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone. I called the school again, and her counselor mentioned signing something concerning “I approve this honors class, against teacher rec., knowing that if child does poorly, her classes won’t be changed during the year” thing. I am waiting on a call from the History supervisor to see if she will allow this.</p>
<p>I agree with fishymom - my D just finished her freshman year, did not get the recs for honors classes going into HS but earned them for next year. Only problem is she has to double up on sciences to catch up to where she should have been, which will be a challenge. The next battle will be to have the school allow her to take the PSAT as a sophomore, wish everyone could have that opportunity but you need a recommendation due to space limitations…</p>
<p>She got a 97 in history and wasn’t recommended for honors? That seems odd. I would seriously consider asking about that and probably overrule the teachers. And maybe also ask what the reasoning was. That said, we had our son moved to honors chemistry from regular and it turned out to be a huge mistake. I think the problem was a really screwy teacher more than that the placement was wrong, but it brought down his GPA a lot. At least most colleges forgive poor grades freshman year.</p>
<p>Another factor to consider is that in some schools, the best teachers teach the highest level classes. </p>
<p>My son was in a similar situation as a rising freshman–he was recommended for honors math and science, but not SS and English. I emailed the SS teacher to ask why. It turned out that he was goofing off a bit in class, and had a B+ at the time. We had The Talk with our son to make clear our expectations, and the fact that if he couldn’t make an A in classes in which he was clearly capable of making an A, we would have to cut out his outside activities so he could have enough time to study. He made a 100 on the next SS test and a high A for the year. He also pulled up his English grade, at our request took all honors courses his freshman year, and made all As in them. I recognize that your daughter is in a different situation in that she already had As in her 8th grade classes; my point is that if the parents know the child is capable of doing well in honors classes, it can be a good idea to push for that.</p>
<p>I also agree that it is odd that she got a 97 in history and wasn’t recommended for honors. It sounds like you are taking the right steps!</p>
<p>Moving up to a more rigorous type of class is mostly a problem with sequential subjects, such as math and foreign language. It’s less of an issue for non-sequential subjects such as history and science.</p>
<p>I don’t think your daughter will have difficulty getting into (and succeeding in) honors classes in most subjects in future years, if she does well in her classes this year and if this is what she wants, but foreign language may be an exception. If she is not in the highest tracked foreign language class now and tries to move up later, she could find herself underprepared.</p>
<p>at my public high school, honors weight was not given to freshman unless it was for a sophomore class (biology and geometry). Do you know for sure how your D high school weights?</p>
<p>Forget about what the teacher and counselor say - if your D is managing to do quite well in these courses, as she appears to be, and if she feels that she’s ready to take on the heavier workload and more competition (i.e. a class of higher achievers) and if you think she can handle it, then by all means insist she be placed there. At too many schools, given a choice of giving the student a challenge versus not, they’ll pick the ‘not’. This is a real problem with the mentality of many of the teachers and admins in some public schools at least. Sometimes it’s just a matter of logistics with them trying to balance the numbers of students in the different classes.</p>
<p>You’re right to be concerned about the path forward since if she doesn’t take the right courses now it may inhibit her from taking AP courses later which will affect class rank and may affect her happiness in school - i.e. if she’s not adequately challenged (depends on the particular student).</p>
<p>You might want to find out if this teacher is recommending ANY students for honors. S’ s current 8th grade science teacher is recommending almost no one take honors. She is also telling them that college admissions do not consider what level of classes are taken in HS.</p>
<p>D’s HS weights any honors and AP classes, even the freshmen ones. And even though I’m not sure whether her SS teacher recommends anyone else, he eventually did write one for D. Her English teacher didn’t recommend her for honors English, so that’s why they didn’t give her honors WH - since they are supposed to go hand in hand. She did get an A for the year in English, but I must admit, it wasn’t easy. I’m assuming that because of that, the head of the History dept. felt that honors WH would be too much for D, and I can understand that reasoning. I just don’t agree with it in her case. Still waiting to hear from her.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you insist on Honors classes for your D. You know her better than her middle school teachers. They probably dont know the curriculum well. Also is her high school a feeder from a bunch of middle schools? </p>
<p>Honors of today is like regular classes of our day. AP classes can be like honors… On level classes can be dismal. The best teacher get the best classes. Your kid was getting As in middle school, she should be in honors classes. If she doesnt take honors english 9th grade, it will just get harder for her to switch up. Also honors 9th grade english is where they whip their essay writing skills into shape. Make them give her the honors classes. </p>
<p>She got an A in English, and it wasnt easy- that tells me she knows how to work. Dont let them dumb her down…</p>
<p>There is a big difference between being able to handle honors in any particular subject and being able to handle honors in all of them. Keep in mind the increased workload from 4 classes compared to 2, what your D wants to do for ECs, sports, etc, when evaluating.</p>
<p>S’07 took 3 honors classes freshman year, by senior year he was taking all honors/AP and graduated in the top 5% of his class. He could have handled more his freshman year, but in the end it didn’t hurt him at all and he had a good transition to hs.</p>
<p>D’10 took 5 honors classes as a freshman and it was a big mistake. She was also dancing competitively, playing a sport and ran for & was elected as a class officer. No matter what she was doing, there was something else she was also supposed to be doing. The kid who formerly got A’s without any stress/effort at all in 8th grade was struggling to get C+'s in 2 classes. The stress left her so upset & depressed that I sent her to a therapist, who listened to her and then told us we needed to remember that she was a great kid, back off, and a C+ in an honors class was not a bad thing. Soph year she backed down to 3 honors classes, and stuck with that until Senior year, when she went back to all honors. She kept up her heavy EC load because she LOVED her activities. </p>
<p>I don’t know your school, but just because your kid got A’s in middle school doesn’t mean they’ll get A’s in honors classes in hs. I work in a hs and have heard way too many stories of kids whose parents forced the school to put them into honors classes and it backfired.</p>
<p>I say let the courses stand for next year, if she aces her classes she will be recommended to move up soph year and she’ll have a better idea what to expect from honors classes based on the 2 she’s taking.</p>
<p>(And keep in mind that College Confidential is kind of a Lake Wobegone, where all of the children are above average… don’t let the honors-at-all-cost mindset on this website cloud you & your kids’ teachers good judgement where YOUR kid and the REAL world are concerned.)</p>
Having just graduated my second kid from hs, and working in a hs, I can tell you that neither of those statements is necessarily true. Both of my kids had honors teachers who were disorganized, gave poor directions, or didn’t follow the curriculum (which was a disaster when department-wide finals came around). They also had some excellent honors teachers. Most teachers in our hs teach both honors and college prep classes. You can’t make a blanket statement about teacher quality based on the course level taught.</p>
<p>And as I said above, I know PLENTY of kids who got A’s in middle school and were shocked when they were fighting for C’s in honors classes in hs.</p>
<p>Teachers usually want to know what other honors/AP classes you are taking. Perhaps D’s history and english teachers thought the math, science combo was enough challenge.</p>
<p>FYI: I am not a parent but here’s my two cents…</p>
<p>If your child feels that he/she can handle the honors courses then let him/her try. But only if he/she feels this because they (I give up with the correct grammar XD) truly feel they can handle the work and not because you want them to be in honors. I know a bunch of kids who SHOULD NOT have been in honors/AP classes and were only there because they had parents who insisted that their child could handle the courses.</p>
<p>One of them failed out in junior year and was placed into regular classes where he did okay but not terrific. He wasn’t much of a student and one of his teacher even remarked about how he could have gotten into an AP US History class; the answer is that his parents ignored the teacher recommendations.</p>
<p>The other stayed in with a C/D average (he was pretty smart but a major slacker and had a terrible attitude, with a mom in denial) and ultimately never got into a college senior year (he was either wait-listed or rejected from all schools). Same problem.</p>
<p>The last kid was in regular classes for freshman year, decided on her own that she could handle ALL honors/AP and was failing all her classes by the middle of the first quarter. Her mom (a smart decision in this case) pulled her out and back into regular where she now has an B+/A- average. She just could not handle the speed of the honors/AP classes. Although in this case her teachers felt (in each individual subject of course) that she could handle the heavier/faster workload of the honors program, it was not a good fit.</p>
<p>It is not worth pushing into honors if YOU want it and not your child. Don’t discount teacher recommendations either, they aren’t all made up.</p>