<p>Thanks. :)</p>
<p>momreads - I looked for this summers listings and all I saw was last summers, but I did note that out of the five scheduled, four were cancelled due to low enrollment. The only one left was the Econ/Finance that became a requirement for the graduating class 2015. Who knows what theyāll offer for this summer but is doesnāt look like anything that would be on S3s Sr. schedule. The summer CC courses start in mid-May, a full month before school is out and Iām not willing to layer anything else on, especially during SATs & finals. Iām just trying to brainstorm options before we meet with the GC on Friday morning.</p>
<p>MomfullofQs I think prob-stat will be the choice here for S too. Our school has a good calc teacher and a converted physics teacher. D, who is a more determined student, has struggled with AP calc AB. Iām terrified of Sās chances there. He seems determined to try 4 AP classes next year- English, gov, APES, and calc. If he does heās adding a study hall. Spanish is done after three years I believeā¦ And he wants to be a teacher (now, anyway) so there is a class for kids like that, and his music class. If he will go prob-stat them Spanish IV comes back. BlueIguana, given your knowledge of VA schools, what do you think? He loves JMU. His grades may be borderlineā¦he takes the tough courses but his GPA reflects a plethora of Bs. The upward trend is nice thoughā¦we meet the GC on Monday. Not sure she knows what she is doing though behemoth is all over community college. Much as I donāt want my babes to leave I know they deserve the college experience,and they want it. Iāve seen too many kids try community college and end up stalling, then admitting theyāre not going backā¦ Not an option here. Tough to figure out these classes.
S17 is pondering all honors for 9th grade. I wish I believed he had the determination to study hard enough to do that. Heās smart enough- just social and very fitness/ sports oriented. Iām guessing I will be or tied about NCAA clearinghouse and such with that one. His grades will matter there too. Not sure I want to go against my better judgement with him. He loved UVA when he went with me to get his sister from Leadership on the Lawn (plug for that if youāve got kids interested in UVA- D loved it and Iām glad she will go in as a first year knowing her way around) but I doubt he will be able to play his sport at that level. The ACC is tough in all things athletic. 
Between the senior trying to finish up right, and the incredible number of ālastsā, the junior trying to best position himself for his senior year ( and too many more ālastsā) and trying to learn from their experiences while guiding the youngest, Iām bordering on meltdown mode hereā¦can we g back to them being little kids, please?</p>
<p>89wahoo: I have some former students who just love JMU. One is doing something in speech communications. One of interested in broasdcast communications. One of my friends, a GC at my former school, is a JMU grad. Itās a nice school. Generous on AP credit. My younger son ('14) also has some friends who are at JMU and really like it. The school does not interest my son, because there is no track and field program for men. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, my son was pretty stoked as he qualified for the regional indoor track and field meet in two events. His plate has been pretty full lately, so he and his dad will be glad to enjoy the upcoming weekend of ice hockey games.</p>
<p>DD picks classes on Monday and/or Tuesday (they have both days for it but Iām not quite sure how it works). Some are certainties in her mind, some required and some ideas. Sheāll take AP Calc AB for sure and wants to take AP Psych and AP Chem and probably AP English. She has to take religion but as Seniors itās a community service class so hopefully no homework and more of a āfreeā period. That leaves two more periods to fill as they have 7 classes that meet all year (only 5 per day though). I think the remaining question is does she fill one will AP Bio, AP Music Theory or Band/Chorus. Her goal is to have a study during band period so she can go when she wants but not have to be there if itās first/last period or she can use the period to study if she need to. She loves the band/music teacher and would just hang out in her room any free time she has if that were allowed! She would have taken Anatomy/Phys next year except had the teacher this year for Forensics and hated the class - teacher has no control over the kids in a mixed honors/CP class and itās not been a good experience. So I can see her taking the AP Music Theory class and then hopefully having a study during band period. It would make a nice senior year for her if it works that way and would keep me from suggesting the AP Bio I think she āshouldā take to go to college for science.</p>
<p>89Wahoo - I know a lot of kids out of our hs love and have headed to JMU. Neither of my boys were interested, S2(2011) no mech/aero engineering, S3(2014) too big. Have you looked at CNU, Christopher Newport? Iām hearing a LOT of really good things about them and know one of S2ās friends is there, doing well and really loving it. Iām out of the loop on what they are going to want as far as Sr. year in math. I think once you are out of the UVa/W&M/or VT engineering race AP Stats is a solid choice if your student (or you) are hesitating in any way about Calc AB. Another school thatās getting a lot of buzz around here is Elon. It is private, just into NC, smaller, but their COA starts MUCH lower then most at $38,500, not the $55k other schools are starting at. Higher stat kids can see $5k-$10k merit awards to bring that down. They have a nice honors program. Since youāll double up for a couple of years you might see some FinAid.</p>
<p>I hear you on the meltdown mode - I told DH the other night as he tried to offer me just a 1/2 glass of wine (I rarely drink - I must have looked a bit haggard - I went with cookie dough instead)ā¦If I could just go back to 3,5,&7 or 5,7&9 when they were all going the same direction, there was order, and just a wee bit of controlā¦Iāll admit it, yes, control. Iām not type-A by far, never been a control freak, but with kids 21, 19, and 17, a husband that is about to retire from one career and look for a job in private industry in less then a yearā¦the lack of order and control is REALLY smacking me from all directions and itās a wee bit disconcerting. Things were very easy by comparison when they were younger. I think these are just the hump years where everything is changing. Iāve been told it settles down after a while. In the meantime Iām looking for a yoga class because I canāt wait for my world to calm down for me to regain my center of gravity. I love yoga but am very bad at doing it at home aloneā¦plus no matter how long Iāve been doing it my ligaments are short and I am not flexible (imagine, lol). I need an instructor as a cheerleader to keep me motivated. :)</p>
<p>My S is registering for classes today and I got a little bit of a say in the Core classes but the electives are 100 % his choice. By electives, I mean extra core classes like this year.</p>
<p>He is taking the ACT on Saturday. In practice tests he is getting a 23 in English and a 32 in Math but that is accuracte. Sadly.</p>
<p>Count me in (wishing this was over). Got an email notice today ā S had detention because he skipped a class. I was getting up a good head of steam and loading Mom Rant #174: Do you know how important junior year is? What were you thinking? Iām not sure youāre ready for college etc. </p>
<p>Then I texted S and asked if heād skipped class. He said yes. He had his meeting mentoring freshman (a school based program ā they tell you up front you have to make all the meetings).</p>
<p>So Iām not yelling at him after all.</p>
<p>D is missing a week of school to travel with her dad. I am just LIVID, but I donāt get to yell either. It does no good. H got the opportunity to go, and the two of them hatched a little plan to take off. I swear, sometimes I feel like the only member of the family who knows how important it is to keep her grades up junior year.</p>
<p>OY VEY!!! Hugs, chocolate, cookie dough, punching bags, all around!!! Pick your poison. In the hs class of 2011 thread we had a cast iron frying pan that we passed around to āadjustā various teachers, students, exās, etc, that made bone-headed decisions. It seemed to be very therapeutic in a cyber-support kind of way. It sounds a bit, um, violent, explaining it now, but it seemed all very appropriate then, lol!! Iād be happy to donate my frying pan to the hs 2014 thread for the duration if anyone ever feels the need. You simply have to remember who had blueiguanaās frying pan last. ;)</p>
<p>On a more serious note, I am sorry about your ex oālives. Talk about lack of control. That has to be exceptionally frustrating. I canāt imagine the self control it must take not to āblow a nuttyā as my kids call it.</p>
<p>Classof2015, sorry about the false alarm. Nothing like getting the adrenaline going only to find out you were misinformed. Thanks a lot Classof2015ās school, great job! :mad:</p>
<p><whisperingā¦remember, blueiguanaās="" frying="" panā¦available="" to="" all="" ;)=""></whisperingā¦remember,></p>
<p>@ordinary-- I know its frustrating, but I see it from a different angle. She has a great relationship with her dad and he is present during all of these wonderful moments of her life. She is one lucky girlā¦ just send her on her way with her schoolwork in hand so she doesnāt get behind and a firm wag of the finger(that the work better be done upon her return). She will remember this week riding shot gun with her dadā¦ forever! :)</p>
<p>BTW, DD received a phone call from U of Miami yesterday! During classā¦ really? donāt they know that these kids are in class early afternoon? Are they operating with a full deck?</p>
<p>Its my guess that they are pulling out all the stops to get kids thinking about their schools. Especially for those that are in a different geographic regionā¦ I wonder if she will receive more of these annoying phone callsā¦</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the reminder of the 'flip-side NHCtMom. Youāre always such a good balancing factor for us (at least for me). Great points.</p>
<p>Must have crossed posts with Blueā¦ didnāt realize this was your exā¦ hmmm not sure what to say on that one Oālives. But to have her dad in her life is a beautiful thing. My own ex works a block away from our home and dd only saw him twice last year.</p>
<p>Hereās the kicker. Heās not an ex. Weāre celebrating 25 years this May (unless I bean him with that frying pan first!).</p>
<p>Donāt you love it when your husband gets to be the āfunā parent? Letās get away! Letās plan a nice trip! And we get to be the stern human Remembrall from Harry Potter, reminding them of stuff they should already know (see Mom Rant #174).</p>
<p>I like frying pans! I also like chocolate ā¦ and margaritas ā¦ ;)</p>
<p>What a scare, classof2015! Glad it all worked out and he was able to explain before the wrath of mom kicked in! haha</p>
<p>Good luck to all ACT takers this Saturday. </p>
<p>I saw an announcement that DSā school will be starting a jazz band next year and for interested students to stop by. DS has never taken band in school, but plays bass guitar in a band with friends. I suggested that if it sounded interesting, he ought to stop by and speak to the band director - full disclosure that he does not read music but plays pretty good. To my surprise, he did stop by and took his guitar to school today to āauditionā. :)<br>
He has not chosen all of his classes for next year, so if he does take the jazz band class, that will make scheduling a little more difficult, but still doable. I think we had one spot still undecided.</p>
<p>OMGosh Oālives!! I am so very sorry for making that assumption!! It was TOTALLY clear in your post! Iām really embarrassed. :o Seriously, please accept my apologies. </p>
<p><note to="" selfā¦reading="" comprehension="" is="" a="" good="" skill,="" use="" it!=""></note></p>
<p>Hey, donāt sweat it. If I read that dad was off on a trip with d instead of mom I might think āex,ā too.</p>
<p>DS is also signing up for classes this week. His school has 7 academic periods but he has so many required courses that he really only has to choose 3 classes. He is required to take AP Gov, AP Lit or AP Lang, Geosystems, and a Senior Research Lab (applications for this were due in December). Heāll also register for Calc BC (kids are required to take calculus so AB fulfills this, but given his interest in engineering, it seems prudent to take BC the year before college!)</p>
<p>So that leaves two periods for options. The problem is there are tons of classes that sound interesting to him so trying to balance work load with a varsity sport, a club sport, and college apps in the fall will be tough. Heās currently considering Nature of Materials, Cryptography, Film Study, AP Econ (online), Science & Public Policy, AP Psych. According to DS, scuttlebot at school is that these are are easy classes.</p>
<p>He wonāt get his final schedule until August.</p>
<p>Iāll tell you what ā¦ Iāll take that dang frying pan and smack the HS choir director over the head for making my DD15 cry for the 3rd time this year. Sheās a loon. Ugh.</p>
<p>I really feel like junior year is winding down - debate season ended last week which takes up a TON of DD14ās time. Mock Trial regionals are this weekend - if they make it to state (and I assume they will - they have an awesome team this year ā¦ fingers crossed!) weāll have that on the calendar but thatās pretty much it. Oh, state music competition for choir, but in the scheme of things, thatās nothing!</p>
<p>This is typically the time of year that she comes down with some major bout of the flu - she goes non-stop until debate is over them BAM sickness. Nothing yet, but I fully expect her to be down for the count soon.</p>
<p>She got selected for Natural Helpers and their retreat is in a few weeks ā¦ sheās definitely looking forward to that. </p>
<p>Hope everyone on the east coast is getting ready for Snowmaggedon ā¦ stay safe!</p>
<p>Anyone want to take blueiguanaās frying pan off my hands? Iāll happily keep beaning the choir director until then ā¦</p>