<p>zoosermom - you know we're all in agreement with you - it's not too early! Which schools in PA are you thinking of visiting? I want to take D to visit a bunch of PA schools as well, just not sure when.</p>
<p>Absolutely not to early! We had so much fun this summer visting schools. No pressure, low stakes, just fun.</p>
<p>Whether it's too early or not depends on how interested the kid is. We started with D a year ago and did a bunch more this summer; D loved it. She'd like to do more this fall but scheduling and travel costs probably prohibit it. We've got a January trip to southern California coming up, though, and will take a day or two to look at the Claremont Colleges. </p>
<p>But I suspect if a kid just isn't that interested in thinking about it yet, the beginning of junior year might seem like a certain amount of unnecessary pressure and might even be counterproductive.</p>
<p>S's HW load this year is tough--we're a bit worried about him handling it all as well, especially with EC's. He's up late every night. And, we haven't even started to think about PSAT or SAT prepping, not to mention SAT II's and AP tests. But, I recall older S's junior year also being very busy. </p>
<p>S also not interested much in driving; which is a good thing in my opinion. Plenty of time for that later.</p>
<p>Well, yesterday D had her first stressful night - and not so much because of schoolwork, but 2 of her ECs. She also had to study for an APUSH exam and do the rest of her homework, but it was the ECs causing the problems. Part of me wanted to say drop them - but they both happen to be very important to her, so I kept my mouth shut.</p>
<p>Jackief - I got an email saying that my order from college board was shipped last night, so I think I'll probably receive the PSAT booklets by tomorrow or Friday at the latest.</p>
<p>Thanks for the PSAT update LIMOM, I will be on the lookout for a mail.</p>
<p>D was working on prep for an EC last night, Model UN "tryouts" when the HW wasn't done. 6 spots avail. She was also doing a song selection for the talent show, duet so she will need to get together with her friend sometime to work on it. I told her on MUN I would be happy if she makes it, also happy if she doesn't make it. She knows I think she has too many pots in the fire, she wants to "do it all." One other new EC (small) this year in addition to 3? signficant previous ones and 3 seasons of sports. Previous years school hasn't suffered, I don't want it to now.</p>
<p>jackief - good luck to your D. My D's school doesn't participate in Model UN; they have Model Congress instead. D does participate in MC, though she's not overly involved on a weekly basis. Basically, she runs into meetings to pick up paperwork and then goes to her sport. She does attend most of the congresses though, and she absolutely loves the whole experience.</p>
<p>For the talent show, will your D be singing or playing an instrument? Just curious.</p>
<p>My D is another one who wants to do it all - 3 sports and several significant ECs.</p>
<p>Jackief - just wanted to let you know that I got my PSATs in the mail today - so a little faster than I expected.</p>
<p>Yes, it's hard as a parent to ever say 'no' to the EC's they want to do--especially when they really love them. S made principal in two youth music ensembles this year, which is really exciting, but they are both over an hour's drive away. That means two nights a week we leave around 5 pm, drive, rehearse until 9 pm, and then drive home. He tries to do as much as possible in the car, but still ends up staying up late to finish homework after we get home.
Then, there are also private music lessons, and other EC's he's involved in at school. He enjoys all that so much, I guess we'll just cross our fingers that the passion shown in the EC's will end up being a good 'hook' in those apps. We're kind of just taking everything day by day.</p>
<p>My D also has so much homework and juggles soccer on top of that. The sports commitment time seems to get so much worse each year. She has had three pre-season scrimmages in the first week of school and then three regular games a week from now on.</p>
<p>talent show = singing. She dropped piano when she entered HS. She will also be auditioning for HS's select chorus and all-state (now that she finagled her way into chorus she is now eligible for these)</p>
<p>MUN- postponed to tomorrow? due to large number of applicants</p>
<p>PSAT- haven't arrived here yet.</p>
<p>on the good news quizzes/tests so far have gone well even though the HW is so heavy. And more good news, she will be rowing at the head of the charles next month!</p>
<p>good night all!</p>
<p>jackief, what does she row?</p>
<p>I've let D choose her own ECs/sports/classes. She is doing way too much, I think, but I don't want to be the one to say she has to stop something. At some point, she's just going to have to realize that she can't do everything.</p>
<p>bugmom - I don't now if the sports time commitment increases every year - but it is incredibly demanding - especially if your kid plays all three seasons.</p>
<p>Jackief - glad to hear that quizzes/tests have gone well so far. Do you live in the Boston area, or will she be traveling there for crew? Either way, very cool.</p>
<p>I am remaining mysterious on our location, sports details etc, since I talk about our small school so much it would be much easier to locate with more geographic clues. I think I have been sufficiently vague so far. But I have said general Northeastern US in the past. Shifts eyes..</p>
<p>And I found the PSAT tests on my porch when I went out to get the paper today.</p>
<p>I understand. I feel the same way, although I guess I've been a little more specific.</p>
<p>Glad you received the PSATs.</p>
<p>no problem, Long Island is a big place :) and different circumstances re public vs small private. </p>
<p>bugmom- first welcome. Second, my younger D is doing a JV sport whereas my older did varsity from freshman year on. This is not so much talent but sports were there was only one team. The JV has fewer games but the same practice commitments. preseason is optional also for JV. So in our circumstances the difference is not so much great each year but between the levels. We don't have freshman teams in any sports. The other thing which differs by sport and not level is the amount of travel involved. Some sports miss a lot of school to leave early for games or whole day commitments. It is good to know this ahead of time to factor into sport selection.</p>
<p>jackief - interesting about some sports requiring students to miss a lot of school to leave early for games. We don't have that situation, as far as I know. D's HS has JV and Varsity for almost all sports/no freshman only teams. The amount of travel does vary depending on sports, but they tend to save the long distance games/meets for Saturdays.</p>
<p>Last night was VERY stressful. D had to go to voice coach after school to learn a song for an audition next week. We got home at 4:30 and she started her homework in pre-calc, French, and Chem; she also had a draft 4 page essay for AP Eng and a final 3 page essay for AP World; She had to study for quizzes in French and Chem and a test in AP World. At about 10 pm she had a crying fit and I sent her to bed-both essays were done, as well as the homework. She got some studying in for the test, nothing for the quizzes. </p>
<p>This is going to be an interesting year.</p>
<p>QM- hope that the stressful nights like that are few and far between. I was meaning to ask how things are going with the teacher.</p>
<p>D has some lighter nights (there was no sports practice one night this week because of weather) but typically is up past midnight. She tells me she is not tired at school (I would be) and looks forward to the weekends to catch up and possibly get ahead in a couple subjects. Luckily a few teachers have given syllabi for the term to know what's coming.</p>
<p>The teacher thing is interesting. Apparently other kids have told their parents that she is hung over (not drunk) in class, and it is worse during the earlier classes-D has her last period. Apparently some kid in her 1st period class asked her why she looked so tired and she said that she has a "very active social life" ;)</p>
<p>D says she really knows her subject matter, and while she is not a great teacher, even hung over she is better than many. I am not making waves yet.</p>
<p>D cannot stay up past midnight-she will be useless the next day. Like her mother, she needs at least 8 hours every night.</p>