<p>Just got an email from the school stating that the state of Texas is going to pay for all juniors to take the PSAT this year. Yay! Saved me some money!</p>
<p>^^^Really? Thatās interesting. Does any other state mandate or pay for the PSAT? I donāt think of TX as a traditional SAT state. Wonder what that will do for the NMSF cutoff for TX next year, given the uptick in scores this yearā¦</p>
<p>Wow Kelowna, I am also raising a Gifted child but your son leaves every body in dust. I made my D read your post. She was awed. Congrats for raising a success.</p>
<p>Dās school district pays for sophomore year PSAT, but not junior year. Go figureā¦</p>
<p>^ That was the way Texas was in the past - school district paid for sophomores, but not for juniors. In fact, they had already sent the note home asking for the money this year. Then, at the 11th hour, the district received notice that the state was paying for it. I hate to be suspicious, but Rick Perry is running for president and the educational record for TX was hurting him. Maybe this is just a way to make Perry look good. (Iām such a cynic!) But, Iām not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.</p>
<p>May I post a question to all of you parents?</p>
<p>My Junior participates as a leader in one of the clubs in his high school (robotics). They have a mandatory weekly leaders meeting for planning purposes. The adult mentor (not the teacher mentor) requested meeting times on school nights. I said no. The other parents agreed weekends were better due to homework issues. The adult mentor (single age 25) is not happy. What can I say to make this easier for her to understand? Should I compromise? In what way? Do you have a similar situation? My kids are up so late working on homework I feel I have to do something.</p>
<p>Weāve always had PSAT paid for sophomore and junior years by the district, and a couple of years ago freshmen were added. This year, theyāve dropped freshmen and sophomore, but the school and PTA are picking up the cost.</p>
<p>ETA: 2be, where/when/what time/how long are the meetings?</p>
<p>TBE: Same question as YDS (when, where, how long). The majority of my sonās activities (sports, drama, journalism, etcā¦) occur during the week. Maybe he will have a Saturday sporting event. I donāt really blame the mentor for not wanting to do it on the weekend.</p>
<p>The meetings for the student leaders were generally about 2 to 3 hours and were held at my house over the summer on Wed. afternoons. Then they had one this past Sunday morning. And the next one is Thursday at Starbucks at 6 pm. But the parents have all volunteered to host, taking turns. </p>
<p>Starbucks was the adult mentors ideaā¦Sunday morning was also her idea. The leaders are 15 and 16 year oldsā¦just nodding their headsā¦so the parents are now involved.</p>
<p>I guess I think of sports or drama as short term projects. But these student leaders not only have leader meetings but they have hours on every Tuesday when they meet with the club. And then there is the Wednesday afternoon when they teach the junior high and then there are the competition design and build meetingsā¦it is a huge undertaking. And then there are the fund raising efforts they are in charge of. It is a lot of hours total. Fortunately they do not all do everything. And there are many adult mentors specific to each task.</p>
<p>So these are weekly? If theyāre that often, seems like some compromise is in order and the mtgs could be alternated. The mentor, being a volunteer, should have a lot of say, IMO.</p>
<p>Cross-posted, but now feel compelled to add that I donāt think robotics requires any more time than the other ECs listed. Theyāre all ECs, and itās the kidās choice to participate.</p>
<p>Tobeeducated: I donāt know where you live, but around here anything on a Sunday morning would be verboten due to church involvement. People donāt schedule on Wednesday nights either for the same reason. </p>
<p>For me, even if itās not an issue with church, Iād hate to see the kids required to be at something Sunday morning. They have to be up at such a ridiculous time Monday-Friday that I like to see them have some (theoretical) down time one morning per week. </p>
<p>Why do they have to meet in person for that long each week? Is it possible that they can use some technology to collaborate without being in person, i.e. Google Docs? Wikiās?</p>
<p>^^^ That was my thought. That seems like a LOT of meeting time when the kids see each other at school every day.</p>
<p>Thanks for your thoughtsā¦and I am mindful of the time commitment of an adult volunteer. However, I have to be a parent first. Perhaps I should ask about the agenda for each meeting and then how fruitful the meetings actually are. In other words, if weekends are tough maybe we could make the meetings more efficient somehow and less often. This is a really good way to approach the issue. I could also speak with the teacher mentor and see if she feels all the leader meetings have to have an adult mentor from a practical standpoint. They did not always have oneā¦but maybe things have changed.</p>
<p>My D2 does Destination Imagination & there are definitely times when the time commitment goes up as competition draws closer & the reality of building the set, props, etc. becomes a reality. Iāve found that the longer they have to work, the longer they will take. The kids really enjoy each others company & certainly they have to brainstorm & goof around so their creativity can play off of one another. Iāve found that helping them focus their calendars around certain tasks, as well as having them figure out āwho will do whatā ahead of time helps things take less time.</p>
<p>When states pay for all juniors to take the PSAT, the NMF cut-off score goes down - great for the bubble kids! My state currently pays for sophomores. That did not help my 2011 son who was 5 points short of qualifying.</p>
<p>Apollo, I thought about that. Maybe the state didnāt pay last year (I thought it did) and it was all on our district, and thatās what caused the significant increase statewide?</p>
<p>We just got the list of NMSF, and the number from last year to this year is almost half. That huge jump really hurt ā¦</p>
<p>^^^YDS: do you mean the list of NMSF for your school? Thatās what happened at ours too; there were 4 in 2010, 5 in 2011 and now 2 for 2012ā¦</p>
<p>Yeah, for our school.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the help re: For. Lang.
Meeting set up tomorrow with a private College Consultant. Should be interestingā¦and expensive :/</p>
<p>My Jr S is off to a great start in his APās and Hrs classes. And with Track starting up this week, his ādown timeā is over.
Soph D is still trying to live up to the grades that S had last year with all of her teachers. Does anyone else have this problem? Funny thing is, as a Freshman (and Varsity Cheerleader) her UW GPA was higher than his. Gotta love family competition.</p>
<p>This website has been a huge eyeopener for me. And to be honest, I freaked the first time reading all of the resumes hereā¦VERY impressive!!</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone :)</p>