<p>nellieh, my D got her learner’s permit last week on her 15 1/2 birthday–the first day she was eligible to do so. She is our second child so it isn’t nearly as scary this time around.
She starts summer school on Tuesday to complete her PE 10/health and driver’s ed. She should be fully liscensed by March. My baby is growing up.:(</p>
<p>I just don’t know how some of you get past the worries and let your 16-year-olds get that license! S2 will not be holding one for a while.</p>
<p>We finally received his grades…much lower than his own expectation before he started high school. Looking at a tough uphill climb for the next few years…sigh. There is at least a silver lining here - he finally adjusted to the rigor toward the end…I think.</p>
<p>PCP – Our grades actually went DOWN significantly as the year moved on. I attirbute it to a time consuming EC (which he eventually had to back off of) and a rough patch/break up with the first serious girlfriend. Ah, growing up is so much fun.</p>
<p>My S1 is only 14, so a while before we hit driver’s status. Honestly he does not want to drive, but I’m convinced he needs a license before college.</p>
<p>NELLIEH – We have summer reading, 2 book reports and an exam on the 3rd book when school starts. Honestly, my rising 5th grader has the most reading out of all 3 of my kids – he has required reading and then reading for Battle of the Books. We’ve dropped a few hundred dollars at Barnes & Noble this summer.</p>
<p>My 13er didnt thrill me with her grades but she also made some wise decisions and learned from over-pushing herself in the wrong areas so I am hopeful going forward she will flourish in her own way. Shell be eligible for her learners permit at the end of October but is in no rush to drive! Shes planning on getting it though when shes eligible so as to have ample time to train on her own pace. Here you cannot get your license unless you have had the permit for 9 months so the timing can make a difference. My oldest, who just graduated, will have officially had her license for 2 years this month and has grown a lot in those 2 years. They have roughly the same birthday so the timing should work out the same for my 13er and hopefully all go well! It does scare me though that some of her friends already have their permits and will soon have licenses! They still just seem so young to me!</p>
<p>I just found out that you can take driver’s ed at 14 here in TX, although you have to wait until you turn 15 to get the actual permit. I’m thinking of signing S13 up this summer so we won’t have to try to cram it in during the school year. Of course, he’s all for it!</p>
<p>Longhaul: Feeling your pain. Bought a lot of books this summer. Now we got to get the kids to read them and write those reports! “Stop txting and start writing!”</p>
<p>Ugh, the learners permit. We’re dragging our feet with D’13; we did everything on the first day with D’10 & now we ask “why the rush?” D’13 is asking though, so when she gets back we’ll get the certificate of attendance from school & then have her take the written test for her permit. She won’t be able to drive to school as a sophomore anyway (even though she could get her license this coming spring) since only juniors & seniors have parking privileges. And her sense of direction is abysmal; if ever there was a person made for GPS…</p>
<p>S got his restricted license just a few days before school was over last year. He has been driving all summer to his all of his activities. He has driven several times on the interstate with his dad in the car. We live in a relatively small town which may make a difference. Not sure I would let him drive in a big city. Right now we are looking for a car for him so he will be able to drive himself to school next year.</p>
<p>Hello Kelowna. Your posts have been quite interesting. The AP sequence is so confusing. How was your son’s score on the AP Calc test? I thought you’d post them because of how amazing taking the test is for 9th graders. Very few kids take the AB or BC so early. I believe , in the US, only 220 ish for the AB and under 200 for the BC in 9th (with an additional 20-30 for each test below 9th). Many more take courses labeled as AP but they are not really at that level-aren’t sanctioned as AP by the CB, so those kids don’t end up taking the test. So kids like your son are few and far between. Nice to have so early.</p>
<p>Funny posts on grade grubbing. Seems pretty absurd really. Making sure that recorded grades are accurate seems sensible-as does making sure you get the correct pay at the end of your shift. Trying to pressure, persuade or otherwise get a teacher to alter the grade to push it up seems highly inappropriate. The Number 1, 2 competitions are also inappropriate (and pretty silly) and I think schools should stop the valedictorian nonsense so kids will be encouraged to take risks. Spending hours in a university Prof’s lab conducting research may diminish the high school GPA but so what if the work they are doing is meaningful. Let schools go back to identifying kids ready to move on to more fulfilling challenges and cut the focus on the 96 vs 99. Selection committees for the most rigorous colleges know the differential meaning of these on the college applications (and for true scholars, those most attractive to colleges, the activities are not at all guided by what they think colleges want)-when will high schools and parents follow their lead? Who the heck cares if a student is showing outstanding effort and achievement in other ways. Our most motivated and most creative students are being handicapped and they are being bamboozled into thinking that another AP exam score of a 5 trumps true scholarship. It doesn’t. Hopefully a 9th grader getting an AP 5 in calc moves on in math to higher levels of theory and application and is not seduced into trying for a slew of 5s across tons of topics to get the most meaningless certificates of outstanding-ness at graduation. What a waste of talent!</p>
<p>Greeting from Pasadena !
Re: AP scores, we are waiting for snail mail. DS has actually forgotten all about it, I think 
Caltech and Harvey Mudd today!</p>
<p>I will write more when we are back home, but had to mention after a post like the above, that I am absolutely against AP courses in HS. 100% against. But that, of course, does not change anything ;)</p>
<p>Got AP scores today. Officially done with freshman year!</p>
<p>D’10 is still waiting for AP scores here in TN, but we had called last week since she wanted to know how many credits she’d be starting her freshman year with (25! yeah!)</p>
<p>D’13 is home! and very happy to have her own bed, shower & cat. During one of their service projects they ended up on the Sewanee campus (University of the South) and she was quite taken with it; I couldn’t get D’10 to look there, but thought it might appeal to D’13. Told her we’d go for an official tour when the time comes. I’m interested to see what her reaction is to the U of Alabama campus when we move her sister in next month; D’13 is definitely leaning towards LACs.</p>
<p>Yowser, my rising sophomore just told me he wants to do a practice ACT this summer. So very, very different from his two older brothers! He’s had his driver’s license for 2 months now and I’m starting to relax. It sure is nice not to have to cart and haul or bribe his older brother to cart and haul. He’s looking forward to being the “only kid” after we drop S2 off at college next month. It will certainly feel odd to be down to 3 in the house!</p>
<p>Tooks S’13 to his summer camp. Comes home on a Friday and starts driver’s ed the following Monday.</p>
<p>Back home for a week. Picked up the mail today and the AP scores were there. Both 5! :)</p>
<p>^Big congrats to Kelowna’s S!</p>
<p>S2 will be taking his first two AP classes this year. He played in an open state championship chess tournament over the weekend and defeated last year’s champ! I guess we are keeping this EC for now ;).</p>
<p>Kelowna – That is great! 5s! I can hardly hope for that in 11th grade, let alone 9th!</p>
<p>PCP – Great weekend for your son!</p>
<p>RobD – MyS13 is very much a LAC kid, but I am subtely pushing Bama and Honors College since it is more affordably than our state schools, even without any merit. Not that he is thinking of college much yet, but my obsessive “how the heck can we afford school for 3 kids” mind is planning. Please let us know D13 reaction. I hear the dorms are the tipping point for many.</p>
<p>PCP - big congrats to your son!</p>
<p>Need some help - wanted to write a college visit report about the two we toured. I remember there was a thread like that a while ago, with a format to follow. Can’t find it now, any help?</p>
<p>Kelowna: that is great! D takes her 1st AP this year so she’ll be waiting for her scores next July. Still haven’t gotten D’10s yet (although we know what they are 'cause she called) and they haven’t shown up in her college portal yet.</p>
<p>Longhaul: UA’s dorms are amazing! They weren’t “the” thing that tipped the scales but certainly contributed. I think UA would be a good school for D’13 also as they have a creative writing minor & a good newspaper but I’m trying to be really laid back about it. I’m hoping setting foot on the campus in 27 days will show her that all big state schools are not equal (she really didn’t like UGA or UT-K.)</p>