Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - Original

<p>Welcome, blueraindrop! I wish I had some ideas to give you, but alas, I don't!</p>

<p>2blue, re: your youngest, do you have some threshold that has to be met? As in, "be independent, but if you get unacceptable grades, I intervene"? ("Unacceptable grades" however you define them.)</p>

<p>I've been down the "don't bug me about homework" road with S, and some of the results were not pretty. He has a planner but doesn't use it. Last year, the school used "My Gradebook.com," which parents could access to monitor grades and assignments. This year, there's a new system, but the school system hasn't worked out the online access for parents yet. Only one of his teachers has a website on which all assignments are posted.</p>

<p>S is definitely capable of straight As; I've told him if he wants to go to college early, he will have to have stellar grades this year. Last year's did not indicate his ability.</p>

<p>If anyone has ideas, I'd love to hear them!</p>

<p>Welcome, blueraindrop! I'm not sure I have any ideas for you either on successfully motivating a kid to do homework. I think that would be a great topic to start a new thread on here in the Parents Forum. One thing that my son had problems with was forgetting he had homework to do. He had a big planner that he kept in his backpack. But he hated pulling it out, so didn't and then would forget that work. He decided to keep a small notebook in his back pocket. It's easy to pull out, so by and large he gets his assignments written down. </p>

<p>I don't have any specific agreement as to a threshold, owlice. So far, he's pulled it off. It's just that he pulled some all-nighters last year and one late-night this year. If his grades slipped I would definitely step in. But it's more an issue of timing homework wisely than of not ultimately doing it. He has several teachers this year who will not accept late work. He has very specific long-term goals and is motivated to get straight A's. It is a matter of battling day-to-day procrastination and starting homework before it gets late. The risk of receiving zeros may be enough to get him started earlier this year. He does a lot of independent learning on what interests him and likes to come home and do that. In terms of time spent learning, he really does spend a lot--just not always on homework. He does think some of his classes are worthless and wishes he didn't have to take them, but knowing he needs the GPA for his college plans is his motivator.</p>

<p>Thanks owlice and 2blue. I just try to not to be a "annoying mom". My lovely DD is extremely bright. She understands everything and does quite well on quiz and test. She is very charming and sweet. I just don't feel that she really understands the impotance of rank and gpa. So far she is doing pretty well with all homeworks this school year:)</p>

<p>blueraindrop,
What worked for us (well seems to have worked) is pointing out to S what the GPA and rank was of the kids admitted to his dream school. We then went through a few other web sites of schools he thinks he would like and looked up the GPA and rank of kids typically admitted there. I can honestly say I saw a light gone on in his head. Previously he was a smart but unmotivated kid. Can't say he works 100% all the time, but he is working harder.</p>

<p>The new school year is only 10 days old, but so far S has been very motivated (not his normal state). I can think of three contributing factors: </p>

<pre><code> 1. Our "3.5 or you can't drive" policy (he just turned 16)

  1. His senior sister's college search which has opened his eye to admissions, much like mamom's son

  2. Having an error on his schedule that resulted in his spending part of the first day of school in lower track classes--one look around and he realized what I told him all last year--he didn't belong there!
    </code></pre>

<p>I've probably jinxed the whole thing by talking about it! Let's hope it lasts.</p>

<p>Thanks mamom. So far she is doing pretty well:) This is my second one, she does know littlt bit about the difference between the colleges. She is always the baby at home, we try to give her little " push ":)
Hi chintzy, why the kids are so different? I never need to worry about my first kid's homework.</p>

<p>blueraindrop, I hear you. D is very driven, always challenges herself, and I don't think I've asked her about her homework since 5th grade. The downside is she's veerrrrrrrry type A and so tightly strung we're afraid she's going to snap. S is much more easy going, elusive, (yeah, I'll do my chores, then poof he's gone). H and I joke that if we could put them together we'd have the perfect kid.</p>

<p>I swear we raised them the same!</p>

<p>Well, apparently the aliens who kidnapped chintzyboy and replaced him with that motivated, organized kid have swapped back. The disorganized slacker with the crappy progress report is back. Poor kid. It's not his fault at all. All his teachers are out to get him!</p>

<p>I noticed that my S started receiving college stuff right after he got the results of his PLAN test in his Soph year. Now that our D has taken it we will start gearing up for her college search. </p>

<p>Our D is suffering from being two year behind our S, always being known as "S's Sister". The upside is that during trips to college she came along so she got a head start on her quest for a college. The good news is that they are pretty close. which is good</p>

<p>S2 says he didn't take PLAN, but mail is arriving. S took an SATII at the end of Freshman year. Maybe this is how they got his info?</p>

<p>Seems to be the same "service" that a number of colleges must subscribe to. Mail comes from specific colleges (Sienna, Hofstra, Richmond among others) and is about helping student evaluate how to "search for the right college." All the mailings are the same theme, and the letters are even formatted alike...just written with slightly different wording. I don't recall S1 getting this mail when he was a HS Soph a few years ago...and he also took an SATII in 9th grade. </p>

<p>S2 is flattered...but just got a report card that...if he keeps it up...won't even get him into some of the schools he's getting letters from. So...it's almost a problem because they're talking about "a student as talented as you" and "your high school performance has earned you the recognition!" The recognition he'll get from his most recent report card is a visit to the GC..and it won't be the kind of visit these schools would be pleased about!</p>

<p>Don't need much advice about S...he knows what he has to do to bring his grades up and will decide whether he's going to do it or not....but, if anyone on CC has info, I'm curious about what/who is behind this college search "tool" .</p>

<p>My S just started getting these letters too -Wash U was first, then today Marietta College. He did take the PSAT in October; we haven't gotten any results yet, but I was assuming that is where the letters came from.</p>

<p>Now that PSAT results are coming in, thought it was time to revive this thread.</p>

<p>How's everyone doing? We're still in the too early to get really serious mode here, but things are falling into place.</p>

<p>We haven't noticed any extra mailings yet, but D may not have checked the box on the PSAT to receive mail.</p>

<p>Our school won't release PSAT scores until after Christmas. Students meet individually with GC (they're swamped right now w/ all the seniors trying to meet Jan 1st deadlines). S is a good student, but not the NMSF type, so we'll just be looking at them as a way to start the college search.</p>

<p>Well, I thought my ds finally decided to buckle down and perform at the level we felt he was capable of. He did make the honor roll, but we think he can do better. Actually, I know he can. ...sigh. H and I have backed off a lot this year hoping he will self motivate, ain't happening though. </p>

<p>Just got his PSAT results back: 68CR, 61M, 68W. We aren't going to be eligible for financial aid so I was hoping for higher scores, but they are still good and he has a year to get them up to NMSF level. We are in MA and I think the cut off was 222, so he has a ways to go. I can only hope. These scores and his GPA will help us start the college search though. We are planning a 3 week RV trip next June to try to get a feel for the types of schools he is intersted in....that we can also afford! He would love to go to BC but with his grades, B to B+, it would be an uphill battle and at 50K a year, it ain't gonna happen. My understanding BC only offers 10-15 full scholarships per year. So we need to find a BC clone that costs less and/or is willing to give ds a scholarship. </p>

<p>DS played sophomore football and loved it. Great coaches and motivated teammates. Did not make the basketball team this year though. A lot of the kids who did make it, play club ball and are on travel teams all year, they specialized a few years ago. Not making the team means more free time, maybe for studying???? Just made life scout, on his way to Eagle.</p>

<p>WHERE IS THE COLLEGE MARKETING MAIL?!</p>

<p>S hasn't gotten ANYthing yet. Please, colleges, show the boy some loooooove!!!</p>

<p>PSAT was over the past several years' NM cut-off for our state, so yay for that, and S took the SAT in December and is now officially DONE with it. Did well, and doesn't need to take it again. </p>

<p>The kid has an application to Simon's Rock. We'll see whether he's motivated enough to actually work on it! :D</p>

<p>Just found this thread. D got her PSAT scores back this week and I think they served their purpose. She found out that most of the schools she would have loved to go to, these scored are mid 50% scores and so her chances would be small. Hopefully, we can use this to get her jump started on some work with PSAT/SAT. DH has been trying to get her to work on this for the past year without much success. She thinks that one of her problems is focusing during the tests - considering that she's a straight A student, on the high honor roll all the time at the school, she might be on the right track. Any tips on how to help her improve in this space?</p>

<p>She however has become interested in the college application process and is looking around, trying to get a feel for the ones she likes/dislikes. Constant conversation at the dinner table - which can only be good, right?</p>

<p>arisamp,
I think your D is in a better place than my ds, great grades and OK PSAT/SAT. I suggest having her do one practice SAT a month. Not much effort on her part, but plenty of practice taking the test by the time it counts. My son is opposite of your D, pretty good PSAT but so so grades. He looks like the lazy unmotivated kid. I think colleges would rather take your D.</p>

<p>My D does not take the PSAT until her Junior year (she took the PLAN this year) , so she has time to get ready. Seems like my S got his college stuff starting Feb/Mar of Soph year. It got him interested enough to go on his first college trip during spring break of that year. And now that he is a Senior he just sent off his application to that college today</p>

<p>mamom - thanks for your reply. I am concerned that she won't be able to keep up the straight A's all through high school - the classes and her schedule is bound to get tougher. However, with a little bit of effort, she should be able to bring her PSAT scores up - and we'll try to work on that...I don't worry too much about her trying to hit the NMF cut offs, but would like to see a 20+ point bump at least !!</p>

<p>mamom --
Depending on where you want to go on your trip....Some schools like BC...that might be closer to safety for your S... with good sports programs (in at least one sport....)...and in/near cities</p>

<p>St. Johns (Queens, NY)
Xavier (Cincinnati)</p>