<p>They don’t administer the PLAN here until sophomore year and I thought that was typical. Maybe her math & science scores took a hit because they haven’t covered the material in class yet.</p>
<p>I don’t even know what PLAN is. :o</p>
<p>The PLAN is the pre-ACT test that comes after the EXPLORE test (also an ACT product.) Here they administer the EXPLORE test in 8th grade (although younger D also took it in 4th grade as part of a talent search) then all 10th graders have to take the PLAN. The PSAT is offered in 9th, 10th & 11th grade but not required. ALL 11th graders have to take the ACT in TN as a graduation requirement which is why I assume they all have to take the PLAN in preparation.</p>
<p>Of course, in the districts infinite wisdom, the ACT that they all have to take in school on the same day, is administered without the writing section. So if you are applying to a college that requires a writing section and you don’t take the SAT (which a lot of kids here do not) then you have to take the ACT a 2nd time even if you did great on the school administered test. </p>
<p>I’m hoping they change that before April 2012 when my freshie D takes it in school.</p>
<p>Our school district gives all freshman the PLAN. Parents can pay a slight additional fee to have their freshman take the PSAT instead.</p>
<p>Sophmores are given the PSAT.</p>
<p>S2 signed up for the upcoming AMC 10 & 12. Anyone in the same boat?</p>
<p>Nope, but D signed up for the National Spanish Examination.</p>
<p>Looks like 1st Semester is 6 A’s and an A- Honors Alg II.</p>
<p>Didn’t qualify for nationals in debate, but that’s ok, it was the first time she did public forum instead of Lincoln Douglas. On to dance competition season!</p>
<p>DD has a solid 3.3 GPA and I’m beginning to think maybe she should wait til her Junior year to try and take AP US History.</p>
<p>She wants to take it as a sophmore because she has to double up in Math her Junior year (Alg II and Geometry) to catch up. But I’m worried about the stress level of AP on a sophomore.</p>
<p>Gosh, doubling up on math is a lot. D did that in 6th and 7th grade and it was rough for her, but math is her relative weakness.</p>
<p>Does she love history? That would definitely make it less of a chore.</p>
<p>S2 doubled up on math in his first semester. He took precalc at an uni extension along with his high school math. </p>
<p>Even without precalc, he already carries 31 credits (should be 32, but the school will not grant 32 to a freshman, so they deducted one credit from orchestra). The normal range is between 24 to 26 credits. He is definitely feeling the heat. He was up past 2 am the last two days! He wanted the precalc class and was thrilled at the time, but now he realized he has a bandwidth issue. I’m really proud of him to come to the realization that he needs to stop the uni class for now to focus on his hs work. I knew it was hard on his pride when he told me he decided not to continue on with calc.</p>
<p>S2 told PCM the other day that he never learned how to study in middle school because he was getting top grades without ever having to read textbooks or taking any notes. After getting disappointing grades on several tests, he is forced to acquire study skills now and acquiring them quickly. I’m glad this is happening to him now rather than 4 years later! In a way this may be a blessing in disguise. Without his overloaded schedule, he would still be cruising along in his old middle school modus operandi, unknowingly setting himself up for spectacular failure in the future.</p>
<p>Lessons learned? Let the kids stretch themselves so they know their limits and learn to adjust. I’m sure the next semester, which is about to start next week, will be much healthier and enjoyable for S2.</p>
<p>OctoberDana: My D is taking AP Euro as a soph & my older D did the same. It’s the norm at our HS for that to be the 1st AP that the kids take (although there is a freshman boy taking AP stats this year; he’s a bonafide genius.) If you pop around CC, there are a number of threads about AP classes & their value that are current; it seems to vary dramatically by HS. Can you get a feel from students who are in or who have already taken the class about the workload? Ds experience here is that it is a very note taking heavy class, and that they spend a lot of time learning how to write in the DBQ & FRQ style for the AP exam. </p>
<p>PCP: It’s really normal for bright/gifted students to hit the “I don’t know how to study” wall in HS. My oldest was diagnosed with an LD in 8th grade & had to work through that whole organizational/executive function process then while her fellow gifted students didn’t really hit that stumbling block until 10th & 11th grade when they were taking multiple AP & honors classes. The gifted consultants say it happens every year. But as you said, better in HS than in college :)</p>
<p>Indeed RobD, my D with AD/HD hit it with the double math in middle school.</p>
<p>Everyone has to learn how to study and be organized sooner or later, it’s just so foreign to “gifted” kids. I jettisoned out of HS because I was bored and frustrated with the drama a year early and boy, was I shocked that first trimester!</p>
<p>RobD, I was the same way, and I see the same thing happening with my D. I’ve been trying to find study/organizational resources for her. Any ideas?</p>
<p>sydsim, we use a planner, but have thought about updating her cell phone to something that can sync with Outlook for the organization piece. Thankfully, many of her teachers in MS and now HS have notebook checks that are good for a lot of points, so she’s learned that skill. She makes a lot of flashcards, and that’s definitely starting to help - but nothing will every replace real working memory.</p>
<p>Ergo the pain last week during semester finals. She’s great at standardized tests, but not so much at normal tests. Which is a large part of why we thought that IB was a more appropriate route than lots of APs for her. The jury is still out.</p>
<p>sydsim: it was about a 6 month process facilitated by her gifted consultant, an LD tutor, my Dh & myself. We trotted out every single organizational method that was suggested. At one point my D got very frustrated and said “you’re not letting me figure out what works for me!” And we weren’t. So we backed off and helped her talk through what did and didn’t work for her. For kids with an LD, what looks logical to an outsider might not work with the way they are wired. So you have to let them own the process but help guide them through it.</p>
<p>For D, it turns out she needs a paper planner and she needs to write everything down. She also has a 7 pocket vinyl folder (in the past accordion style, but this year a book style) with a pocket for each class that she keeps loose papers in. </p>
<p>Flash cards are big for her in the classes where working memory is an issue: language classes, and science.</p>
<p>And meds :)</p>
<p>My D has a dual diagnosis and had been going w/o meds since the end of 6th grade, but promptly asked to go back on the second week of school this year. We’re still tinkering with the “cocktail”.</p>
<p>The other thing I started doing in middle school and have continued to do for her this year is an Excel workbook where I log what’s going on as far as the online parent tracker. This way - she can print it out and take it with her to quickly address things as they happen instead of letting them sit and slowly count down to zero credit for being late - she also transfers info from this into her paper planner. It tracks her grades so she is cognizant of where she is at and what needs immediate or additional attention. There are worksheets in it that also include her schedules for dance and important dates for performances, competitions, ballet intensive auditions and the like. I’m hoping to transition the babysitting of this document to her before graduation. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. D needs help in actually learning how to study - as in reading texts, by herself, and retaining the information. Then, she needs to be able to express herself better in the retelling of that information. </p>
<p>As it stands now, I assist her in this area (helping her to analyze and break down a story, etc. But I know that she needs to become more independent with this skill).</p>
<p>She does fairly well with keeping track of her assignments, etc and the school has their grades online.</p>
<p>There are classes she could take to help her, at CCs and online. If you google “study skills” you’ll find a plethora of resources. Books, software, online classes, local CC classes. My kids both found using Kidspiration and then Inspiration helped with organizing writing until they felt more confident about it. Scholastic has an online flashcard tool.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I will look into those options!</p>
<p>I thought I would post this for posterity: Ds2 just rcv’d his first piece college junk e-mail, based on his freshman PSAT score. And it was from his older brother’s first-choice school. I hope they like ds1 as much as they like ds2. :)</p>
<p>Argh! You’re kidding YDS! I specifically told D2 to make sure and check the “no mail” box on the PSATs and she assured me that she did. Halleluia! Now if I can only get the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (America’s Arctic University) to stop mailing D1 our college mail will be down to that which we still WANT to receive :)</p>
<p>BTW, registration for 10th grade is almost done. I just have to sign the waiver to give D2 permission to take 7 classes and forego the study period. Relatively painless.</p>