<p>First two days are behind us!
I have to say DS has grown and matured a lot over the last year.
I trust him, I can communicate with him, we have learned how to control our emotions when talking to each other, I am slowly learning how to accept criticism from him;)
I think the classes he is most petrified about today will turn out to be easy. Other problems will emerge, as usual, very unexpected.
I am going to post his classes, in hope you will do the same. I know that every school is different, but I still learn a lot when I see those schedules;)</p>
<p>AP US History (standard for IB kids at this school)
AP Biology
Honors Chemistry
AP Music Theory
AP Statistics
Spanish 4
TV Production
Honors LA 11 (standard for IB kids at this school)</p>
<p>He is also taking Calculus Based Physics at the local college, as school does not offer Physics C
He is still considering taking Debate 2 after school, but his schedule is so full this fall that I am suggesting āwait and seeā approach". With 4 AP classes at the school plus physics class at the college (7 hours weekly), he will have lots of thing to do!
Add a sport, an instrument x 2, religion, scouts to it - no time to breath!
How do YOU cope with all of that?
I am coping with Chardonnay tonight ;)</p>
<p>Kelowna: your sons schedule is one of the most ambitious that Iāve ever seen! It makes me tired just looking at it, so I understand the Chardonnay ;)</p>
<p>AP European History (1st AP most kids in our school take)
English II Pre-IB
Spanish III Honors
Chemistry Honors
Algebra II Honors
Theatre Arts I (to fulfill the fine arts requirement)
Personal Finance (1 semester; new to TN graduation requirments for the Class of 2013)</p>
<p>So far so good I think. Dās waiting for some ECs to begin but Fall softball is in full swing. I know sheās planning on returning to Destination Imagination (she took a year off) and the school theatre club. Sheās also taking piano lessons (she just started last year) and she has an independent writing & film making group that she joins weekly. </p>
<p>Thatās it for her; she is my child who balks at being overscheduled & she follows her own muse. Weāve talked about the necessity of having quality ECs for application time and she gets it but is not going to join stuff just to join. A couple of things she really wants to do arenāt available till Junior year.</p>
<p>First, thanks Fineartsmom for your comments about DS. I donāt think he is looking for a silver bullet. He knows he needs to work on it, but he knows himself too. He knows, and I know, that he will do work he has to do. With a tutor he will feel he āhasā to do it. </p>
<p>On to DDā13 - her schedule this year is good, not too bad:</p>
<p>English (H)
Chem (H)
Alg II (H)
AP World History
Spanish III
Engineering (this is a project based class offering a broad view of engineering)
Health (1/2 yr)
World Foods 1/2 yr (which she is trying to get changed to a computer class)
Gym</p>
<p>She also does Xcountry, winter and spring track, Best Buddies and Peer Mediation. She also performs in the two theater productions at the school. Sheās going to look into Robotics club. Should be a fun year!</p>
<p>Sā13 attends a theatre magnet HS, so schedule is somewhat fine arts lopsided. </p>
<p>English II (Pre-AP, which I guess is like Honors)
Algebra II (regular because he decided heād rather coast and make an A, than work and make a B - heās a āfine artsā kid)
AP World History
Theatre Performance/Acting
Varsity Choir
AP Spanish
Chemistry (Pre-AP)
Theatre Production</p>
<p>His ECs, besides performing in about 5 plays/musicals at school this year, are dance (only one night a week this year, down from 3), piano lessons and voice lessons (only one per week, down from 2). I am so glad that he cut down on his after school lessons, as rehearsals seem to take up so much time. Luckily, we made him quit doing community theater during the school year when he hit HS or weād never see him.</p>
<p>AP US History
Honors Trig/precalc
Honors Chem
Honors Physics (honors level of science classes required before AP level is taken)
Honors English 10
Honors French 3
Chorus
Phys Ed</p>
<p>She plays varsity field hockey (fall) and varsity lacrosse (spring) Winter is forensics season and she will try out for the school musical. Not much time for anything else!</p>
<p>D doesnāt start school until after labor day, but she got her schedule yesterday after anxiously waiting by the mailbox all week. She is in a music magnet, so her electives reflect this.</p>
<p>Honors English 10
Honors Chemistry
Honors Trig/Math Analysis
AP World History
Honors German 5
Honors Music Studio
Honors String Ensemble</p>
<p>D also made the varsity field hockey team last week. This is a great accomplishment for our sophomore! Sorry for gushing, but we are very proud.:)</p>
<p>Hey all, Iāve been away from CC for a month School starts for ddā13 on Tuesday. This year sheās taking</p>
<p>AP US History
English phase 5 (highest Honors level, weird system)
Alg 2/Trig (essentially precalc since sheāll be in AP Calc next year)
French 2
Chemistry phase 5
sophomore religion class
gym (first semester, daily)
drivers ed (second quarter only)
Acting 2 (second semester)</p>
<p>All summer reading was finished last week :)</p>
<p>This is the first year I decided to let my D truly decide where she felt comfortable taking classes - sheās so not her sister and I really want her to find her place so to speak, as when she finds what makes her happy it will all work out.</p>
<p>Her schedule-</p>
<p>Honors English
Pre-Calc
Chemistry
PE/Health
Photography II
Art I
Theater II</p>
<p>Itās art heavy but I have a feeling more will come out of this year with this course load than if we pushed her to do the normal courses most are doing. Iām hoping it will then put her in a good spot for owning what she takes junior year and starts focusing on where she may like to go. Sheās also hoping to get a job and do a lot of local volunteering. Itās a completely different path than the one Iām used to with my older one now in college but itās nice to know it really matches who she is.</p>
<p>Same here ELY, my DDā13 high school doesnāt offer AP to sophomores. (Most kids take AP US History as juniors.) But she is two years ahead in math:</p>
<p>English II - Gifted/Honors
Advanced Math (PreCalc) - Gifted/Honors
Biology - H
Civics/Free Enterprise - H
Spanish I
Symphonic Band
Talented Theatre
PE (Dance Team PE)</p>
<p>Her ECs are:</p>
<p>Beta Club Treasurer
Drama Club
Dance Team
FCA
Student Council
Band</p>
<p>ATM, she is interested in going into secondary math education with a gifted ed certification, although her passion is musical theatre. Strange left brain/right brain mix, but thatās my girl! She initially wanted to teach theatre in HS, but she realized the economics of that wouldnāt work as most high schools in LA have one or two theatre teachers to a whole department of math teachers. She is thinking she can teach math and still be involved with theatre or dance as sponsorsā¦</p>
<p>No problem taking AP classes at our school. In fact, there are even occasional 8th graders taking AP Calc. It is insane in my book, but once you are among sharks, you have to swim with them, right? On the other hand, the fact that this school is so competitive is part of the reason DS has chosen to attend it.</p>
<p>Feeling a little sad today. DS is considering quitting Debate. I am 100 % behind his decision, so why do I feel this way?</p>
<p>Listing Sonās schedule ā We have few APs in the entire school. </p>
<p>They do not restrict who takes the APs too much, but for the science APs you are required to take a year of that same science first, which inadvert. restricts to seniors in AP science or juniors who skip Physics.</p>
<p>Under NJ state law, 2 years of US History is required, which restricts APUSH to junior year.</p>
<p>English is restricted to 11th & 12th grade due to scheduling.</p>
<p>======================================</p>
<p>English 10th grade - Honors
Pre-APUSH (basically APUSH spread over 2 years) - no honors level
Pre-Calc - Honors
Latin III (no honors offered)
Chemistry - Honors
AP Govt & Politics
Ethics ( 1 term - required for graduation)
Art (1 term - required for graduation, but he loves it and I expect heāll complete AP studio Art before graduating)</p>
<p>No PE required ā playing a school sport is counted in place of PE</p>
<p>=====================</p>
<p>His 11th grade schedule is pretty set too given his 10th grade schedule, most classes just naturally progress to the next level
English ā he is on track for the AP English Comp
History ā heāll finish the APUSH
Latin ā finish out Latin IV
Calc ā must take before an AP Calc in senior year (or AP Stat)</p>
<h1>Religion (required for graduation)</h1>
<p>He starts after Labor Day and still has not completed all his summer work (need to read another book and complete 2 reports)</p>
<p>Sās school began offering one AP for freshman (Human Geography) a couple years ago. Most sophs can only take one AP as well (World History) but S is bilingual so he is allowed AP Spanish. By junior year they are allowed to take as many APs as they want and can handle. The HS is predominantly minority and lower income but many students are encouraged to take at least one AP through AVID which supports first generation college bound kids.</p>
<p>Usually here it is only AP Euro that most kids opt to take in 10th. D thought it was crazy to take a class that didnāt even satisfy the history requirements for graduation so she wasnāt interested - can you tell she is not pushing for the fast track :)</p>
<p>Next year sheāll likely take AP Calc AB, AP English and APUSH but stick to regular tracks for science and she may opt out of APUSH but we havenāt decided yet. Sheād rather stick to a regular track for math too but the only options for Calc are AP which is stupid in my book but it is what it is. Then sheāll likely take AP Stat in 12th. </p>
<p>Wow Kelowna - AP Calc in 8th is crazy! I am sure their are kids that can do it certainly but as a whole it seems crazy - but you said your S opted to attend his school so Iām assuming it is a magnet or other such where kids choose to jump in with the sharks In that case more power to them!</p>
<p>Itās odd, one has to be World Geography which they take in 8th at the MS and it is counted on the HS transcript and GPA, and then they have to take I think World History in 9th and USVirginia in 11th and Government in 12th - so they need those 4 to graduate, at least for the advanced diploma though I am fairly certain they are required for a standard diploma as well.</p>
<p>And we only require Heath/PE in 9th and 10th (or rather 2 credits so most take it in 9th/10th).</p>
<p>For math on the advanced diploma itās 2 years past algebra so D has already satisfied that but I told her in no uncertain terms that she was taking 4 years of math in HS though I may back down on taking one in 12th depending on what sheās aiming for at that point since sheāll have completed AP Calc and while sheās gifted in math, she has no passion and little motivation for it.</p>
<p>For advanced diploma -
English - 4 credits required
Language - 3 years of one or 2 years each of 2 languages (any years taken in MS are counted in HS GPA and on transcript)
Math - 2 years past algebra (and if you take algebra and/or geometry in MS they are counted on HS transcript and in GPA), so essentially at least 3 credits including algebra
Science - I think itās 3 credits (my older D who just graduated had 8 science credits so I forget how many were actually needed! )
PE/Health - 2 credits</p>
<p>Many students take these requirements and run with them but some, like my Dā13 are more likely to take this and expand a little but not to the extreme. After Dā10 had 8 science and 6 math credits along with a slew of others, I donāt mind stepping back and trying out a more subdued path that still satisfies the advanced category but may keep her sanity and not sleep deprived like my older one :)</p>
<p>Yes and they have to be those 4 so if you take more thatās fine, you just still have to take those 4 - I need to check the specifics if thatās what it is for both the standard and advanced diploma but I think it is.
Just checked - for standard you have to have world history and US/VA and Govt so 3 credits and 4 the advanced studies you have to have world geography and world history, US/VA and Government and when I look it does say AP Euro can be used but I think what we discovered when looking at is was that by you 9th grade year you already have the world geography credit and take world history and then you still have to take US/VA and Government so while you can use Euro, you would have to do it instead of your 8th and 9th grade classes and most people donāt know about that in advance so ultimately you would still need it in addition to the other 4. None of my kids are historically inclined so it wasnāt something we ever researched along the way.</p>
<p>In our district, four social studies courses are required. World History I and II, US History, and US Government. In the 10th grade year, you can substitute AP World History for honors World History II as my D has done. You may also substitute APUSH and AP US Government for their honors counterparts in 11th and 12th grade. There are only two sections of AP World being taught this year, so the great majority either do not quality to do this or they choose to remain at the honors level. Also, hs biology and chemistry are prerequisites for the AP sciences that our school offers. My D wonāt be eligible for those until next year. Most eligible students at her school wonāt be able to do this until senior year.</p>
<p>Texas just instituted 4X4 - 4 English, 4 Soc Studies (Geography, World History, US History, Govt/Econ), 4 Science and 4 Math. I think science has to include biology, chemistry and physics or integrated physics and math has to include Alg I and II and Geometry. Language is either 2 or 3 years, depending on which diploma you want.</p>
She is in a music magnet, so her electives reflect this.</p>