<p>I meant don’t care what happens. I was out late, too!</p>
<p>Yeah, this TAKS writing test is so annoying. My S is a fine writer when it comes to a research paper or even a short fictional story. But he seems to have trouble with the whole “personal narrative” thing. “Write about a time when friendship was important” “Write about a time when you were proud of yourself” Everything seems so trite! S has one friend who writes about grandma dying every time (since 4th grade) and another friend who writes about her back surgery over and over. I told S just to pick one event (summer camp or a family vacation) and fit it into the prompt. </p>
<p>If he seems to have this much problem writing about himself, I can hardly wait for college essay time. “If you were a color, what would you be?” “If you had a theme song, what would it be?” Not great prompts for concrete thinkers!</p>
<p>Thanks Blueshoe - my D also saw it as a character building situation. In her case it was handled well and everything worked as it should, after she complained. I feel the important lesson she learned was that when there is a wrong, it can be corrected. If things had been handled poorly, it may have made her less likely to report something in the future. And I was so glad to see that she will come to us when it’s needed. (I always felt she would but this certainly confirmed it. She also saw that I was 100% on her side and would fight for what was right.)</p>
<p>My D has to take CAHSEE (CA State high school tests) next March 8th (English) and 9th (Math). She’s not worried about them, my S passed first time they were offered. They are very basic.</p>
<p>I think we need to pass out some cookies in here…here’s some chocolate chip :)</p>
<p>My D is now a senior (yay, no TAKS!) but in her group there has always been a bit of a competition to see who can make up the most outrageous story for the personal narrative writing assignment. I remember one when a girl (only child who hates sports) wrote about being able to come off the bench to score a winning basket when her twin sister was hurt so their terminally ill little brother in the stands would have a final moment of joy … or something like that …</p>
<p>D will take the English writing standard administered to all 10th graders on three separate days next week. It is also very basic…nothing to wring your hands about.:)</p>
<p>OneGirlsMom: I love it!! The crazier story the better, I say!</p>
<p>I have a friend who is one of the graders. She loves to retell some of the better one (read: funny ones!)</p>
<p>Blueshoe & AtomicGirl: so sorry that your D’s had to deal with such awful behavior on the part of both fellow kids as well as adults who should know better. Don’t think that D2 has had anything like that happen to her, but D1 did back in 5th grade. I’d still like to slap that kid upside the head and it was 8 years ago!</p>
<p>and thanks for the cookie AtomicGirl :)</p>
<p>reeinaz: at least he got 2 apps in! Crossing fingers that he’ll get a positive response so his summer will have “something to do.”</p>
<p>No standardized testing here in 10th grade, but they do have to take the Writing TCAP in 11th grade. Here’s the rub: the administration determines who gets their parking spots first based on their writing tcap score. So seniors who score a 6 go first, then seniors who score a 5, then band members, then the rest of the seniors, juniors, etc. They were having so many kids just blow it off that they decided to make it a “carrot.” D1 got a 4 on hers so she didn’t get one of the primo spots. But D2 will take it as a personal challenge.</p>
<p>Ds actually liked one of the TAKS readings this year! He told me all about it and said all the kids were talking it up.</p>
<p>One of his teachers stopped me at the soccer game tonight to tell me how well ds did at the assembly yesterday. That was nice.</p>
<p>Ds spent 20 minutes on the phone with ds1 tonight, who advised him on his choice sheet. They get turned in tomorrow. Ds2 seems nervous to take 5 APs, but that really is par for the course at his school. Ds1 took six junior year, including a more difficult math. We built some real blowoff classes into his sked, too. ;)</p>
<p>Morning all! Some things are getting busier here as softball has finally begun (there was a chance they wouldn’t have been able to field a rec team and D had decided not to pursue the HS team) but DH is the coach so I don’t have to pay attention too much 
And regional DI competition is next week. </p>
<p>And things are slowing down at the same time as the huge projects for sophomore year are wrapping up. D will be taking a practice ACT next week (the juniors take there’s then “for real” and they offer the freshmen & sophomores a chance to take it without it being officially scored by ACT.) Then spring break; yay! </p>
<p>D finally made some decisions on schools to look at. DH thinks I’m pushing it a little as D1 didn’t start looking at schools until junior year, but when we started then I felt like we were a little late. And I think D2 will have much different parameters for choosing a school. So we’re going to look at Agnes Scott (all womens) and Emory in Atlanta. A preview day at Belmont (which D isn’t really interested in but it’s local and it will be the first “info day” she’ll go to which will give her something to compare to) and then next month a preview day at Sewanee.</p>
<p>Life is busy here as well. D1 and S2 will be coming home this month for their Spring Breaks (different weeks). S3 ('13) is very busy. He is attempting to play tennis and run track. Had 3 tennis matches last week and then spent all day Saturday at a track meet. We will see if he can keep it up. He is getting lots of snail mail and emails from various colleges. There was an interesting one from Brown about a summer program (something like sports journalism combined with tennis). The cost was pretty outrageous and likely way out of our budget but I wonder if anyone has done it and whether it was worthwhile.</p>
<p>This week marks the half way point of the third marking period for my D. Her submission to the science fair has finally been completed and judged at the school level. The project will be moving on to the next level for ajudication. I was happy for her because so much time and effort goes into these projects. D’s chamber orchestra also was ajudicated last week and earned superior ratings in the state music assessment. She was offered a solo in the last week prior to the performance and was really nervous about it, but she nailed it! Studio recital in a little over two weeks…scary! </p>
<p>Ts5athome, my D plays tennis as well. They do not play their first match until next week, however. Your S is very ambitious. Tennis matches and track meets take so long to complete and take up so much of your time. Good luck to him in all his endeavors! D got the Summer at Brown mailer as well. These programs are way out of our league (financially), but I think I saw a thread here at CC discussing the program a while back if you want to do a search for more information.</p>
<p>S is also home for spring break…very happy to have him home!</p>
<p>We are also mid way through the 3rd quarter. Last week was so hard for DD b/c she was in the school play. Practice every night from 5 PM till 10PM. She basically came home from school, showered, did her hair and makeup, maybe snuck in 15 minutes of homework and went to practice. The play was Thurs, Fri and Sat. The play (and DD) were AWESOME! The kids really put on a wonderful production of Cabaret! I know DD did not get to all her homework over the week and have 2 tests and a quiz on Friday. Waiting for the grades to post to see how much she hurt her GPA for the play. I think it was worth it, but it is so hard to see her grades dip.</p>
<p>Track starts today!</p>
<p>tx5athome and blueshoe: I might be more excited than my son that his first tennis match of the season is tomorrow! His team lost no players to graduation last year, and will lose only one (number 5) to graduation this year, so the future is bright.</p>
<p>I cannot imagine playing tennis and running track; playing tennis (both club and school for my son) takes up so much time by itself!</p>
<p>Schokolade, D’s team is young as well. One senior, two juniors, and three sophomores are included in the top six seeds. Only our number one and two seeds had playing experience last year, but the young ones are hungry and will gain much from the experience this year.:)</p>
<p>Just need to brag - DS has a 97 (A+) in his AP Govt course! 3rd qtr ends on 3/25, hoping he can keep that grade up. English is an 89; 90 is in the A range. I’ve given up on seeing an A in Chem. The tests grades are good, but I now understand my son - the teacher really does hate him and the homework, class participation, etc grade is worth 25% of the final grade. He is just hanging onto a B, but his lab & exam grades average 98, so yes, it is the fuzzy class participation grade knocking him down. </p>
<p>DS stared is major EC weekend activity. 8 grueling weekends over 3 month period. He is training to be a cadet staff member for a search and rescue school/camp. It involves a lot of physical things on weekends and bookwork/instructor course outline planning during the week. Grades will take a hit. That is why I need to celebrate that AP course grade now.
DS '13 had science fair as optional this year and he chose to not participate. I am so glad as we need to help the elementary kids with their required science fair. I don’t know why all their deadlines weigh on my mind. Why can’t I be that parent who just floats in oblivion of school stuff. Instead I am constantly checking up onn them. I’m trying to make up for not doing this with DS 13 in hopes by the time they hit high school they have better organizational skills and can plan beter for these long term projects.</p>
<p>My FIL starts low dose chemo and radiation today. His cancer is rare. Non-curable. Hoping the treatments will extend his life by a year and ease pain. He was in the hospital for infection again last week. He already needs his stints replaced and it hasn’t even been a month. On top of all that, none of us ever kept on him re his health insurance. His employer paid retiree benefits, but when the employer was sold the new owners did not pick up the health for retirees. He never picked up a supplemental for Medicare. These treatments are going to bankrupt him ($15,000/week). He has 4 kids, 3 with spouses. How foolish do we all feel for not agreesively pursuing his finances, etc. I knopw he is a grown man, but I feel we should have addressed this 2 years ago when we insisted he have a will drawn.</p>
<p>
Boy, I feel this statement. My S’11 has threatened to call from college to make sure his sister’s (D’13) college search does not lag behind. He had a particularly bad night filling out apps and lost it a bit. We were able to use a recommendation letter for a previous app - so it all worked out. But he was so upset with himself for not making sure it was all lined up weeks before.</p>
<p>Longhaul - I am so sorry to hear about your FIL’s health. What sad and horrible news in terms of his health and the status of his health care. There may still be some supplemental carriers he is eligible to particiapate. </p>
<p>Congrats on DS’s AP Gov grade! Yeah!!! Also, his EC is so COOL! Search and rescue would be so, so exciting to my DS12. Not so much for DD13. </p>
<p>School searches are not on our horizon, yet. She’s getting some letters from some great schools, but I think we need to wait to see if she enjoys the engineering program this summer (if she gets accepted). Then we can start focusing.</p>
<p>I have a senior son & a sophomore daughter so we are always looking forward to mail! Son wants to be a vet & plays tennis , daughter wants to be a writer but heavily involved in music & theater. What are some good summer programs?</p>
<p>Longhaul: I’m so sorry to hear about your FIL. The financial implications just make an awful situation that much worse. Did he not know about the retiree health insurance change? Is there some recourse with the new business owners? </p>
<p>socialdramamama: welcome! For your writer D there are a lot of summer writing programs. Iowa’s is the gold standard but there lots of regional ones. Teen Ink has a pretty good list: [Teen</a> Ink | Links to summer programs & camps for high school students](<a href=“http://teenink.com/Summer/]Teen”>Pre-College Summer Program Guide & Creative Writing Guide | Teen Ink)</p>
<p>since my D is interested in musical theatre were are going on our first campus visit over spring break. At first I thought I was a little crazy for starting so early but after being on cc i realize in this case the earlier the better. At first my D was opposed to it because it seemed so far away but she has come around alot especially after seeing one of her friends start too late this year and have to wait until next year to transfer.</p>