<p>I am glad you were able to take advantage of the knowledge around CC-those SAT Subject tests were a thorn in the side of my son-Class of 2011. We didn’t know about them because he didn’t go to a school that sends kids to schools that require them-maybe one every couple of years-so that wasn’t part of the guidance he received. He managed to get good enough scores in the Math II but just couldn’t pull them out on other sections-did it sink his applications to those schools-who knows-but it cost a lot of time and aggravation trying to get them where they needed to be.</p>
<p>That’s why finding this place when your kids are just starting HS is great if you haven’t been through this process before.</p>
<p>I didn’t encourage my D15 to take a practice SAT offered at our library this year because I thought it would cause her too much stress. If I wanted to get a book with a practice test she could take at her own pace, just to get a feel for the test (which may reduce stress/boost confidence in formal practice & actual tests) does anyone have any suggestions about what to buy? Thanks for this thread…very helpful!</p>
<p>CC students would suggest this book -
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2nd/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307653968&sr=8-1[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2nd/dp/0874478529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307653968&sr=8-1</a></p>
<p>There are review materials and 10 sample tests at the end of the book which are supposed to be real SATs.
My D. used several sample tests to practice before she took the SAT in March.</p>
<p>I’ve learned a lot from here. Thank you all!</p>
<p>DD’15 sends greetings from Spain! She had her first ever octopus and apparently enjoyed it until she realized what it is 
She has e-mailed me great pictures of some indoor market in Madrid, where people shop while drinking wine. She felt it was my kind of place. I am raising a glass of chardonnay to that! 
I really can’t believe that she is having such a great opportunity!</p>
<p>re: PSAT.
There are summer programs that do require this score, not just NMS ;)</p>
<p>Kelowna do you have a Class of 2011 HS Grad?</p>
<p>No, why do you ask?
My oldest is in the class of '13</p>
<p>I saw DD '15 and had a brain cramp! That’s 15 as in HS, not college-right?</p>
<p>Sorry it’s been a long year. ;)</p>
<p>Yes
This is a HS thread.
My 14 year old DD is spending entire summer in Europe - right now she is in Spain, Madrid to be exact. She has already experienced so much, has seen Toledo, next week she will be in Barcelona. At first I was worried to death but now I am absolutely thrilled that she is able to experience this! We are not rich by any means, she went privately with her Spanish teacher and is staying with her family. Very proud to report that she has no problems communicating in Spanish, actually she says everyone around is shocked by how good her Spanish is Now I will have to figure out how to keep this Spanish going while she is in HS…</p>
<p>My son, a HS 2011 soon to be grad-went to Spain this April with his Spanish 5 class. It was amazing and he only had 8 days. They didn’t get to Barcelona but did get to Seville, Toleda, Madrid and lots of other places-he is smitten!</p>
<p>My daughter, the Class of 15 HS student, is already looking forward to her trip there as a senior-maybe if he goes again he could take his little sister!</p>
<p>I am so happy to hear she is having such a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>Was you son able to speak fluently in Spanish while there?
My daughter had two years of private conversation lessons on top of her Spanish class at middle school (she took Spanish for native speakers), and she is really pleasantly surprised how easy it is for her to communicate there. Actually tomorrow she will be an assistant teacher in the class of 4 year olds and she is able to communicate with them - to me communicating with the little kids is always most difficult.
In HS she will be taking Spanish but also starting in French. Any thoughts on how to keep/improve in the language? We, the parents, do not speak the language.</p>
<p>Thanks for the links on SAT prep! Our big news here is that we will shortly have a new family member. After carefully planning for our animals to expire when our kids left for college, I succumbed to the D15/16’s lust for a kitten after our cat died unexpectedly. Oh, well, at least I won’t have a completely empty nest come 2016. : ) And for this baby, no college tuition to save for!</p>
<p>Our HS only offers Spanish 1 and 2. No other resources locally. The best substitute I have found is Rosetta Stone. There are several levels…Home, school, professional, etc. The sets come with books, CDs, etc. They are sold outright on the internet or Barnes & Noble, or Ebay has them too.</p>
<p>Any links for merit scholarships. My S is going to 9th grade and I want to see if he works to qualify for any if possible. Being in a middle class, I am not sure if he would qualify for a “means” scholarship.
Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Hi</p>
<p>Need some “community service” tips please. What can a 8th grader do on his summer vacation. My S wants to do something this summer; like helping veterans; soup kitchen; </p>
<p>He genuinely wants to be engaged; Any other suggestions please</p>
<p>Kelowna my son was very pleased that he could communicate well in Spain-the listening is much harder than the speaking since they speak very fast and have different accents-much like someone coming to the USA would encounter with English-it would sound much different in New England than Texas! I would think Spanish is so readily spoken in so many areas of the country he will be able to keep up with it-I don’t think he plans on taking any more courses in it at college.</p>
<p>Sorry about the loss of your cat tutor.</p>
<p>murugan check out the threads here on merit scholarships. If you are not sure about qualifying for any means scholarships go to some schools websites and use their calculators-do not just rely on the federal EFC since many schools require a different form-the CSS Profile. If your son is a good student and is willing to look at schools that are just a notch below the “top tier” schools there is merit money out there.</p>
<p>If your son wants to be involved those are good ideas. My son has been very involved with our local parish and my daughter is continuing, although at a much smaller level than he was. Does your son like being around older people? Senior centers and facilities that house our older folk are great places to get involved. Sports? My daughter will be working in the soccer program our town runs for the little first year players.</p>
<p>Community Service: Our school always has community service needs. Sometimes the students can take a semester (and get credit for it) to ‘help’ in preschool one hour a day. County or community library? Help clean, categorize, or with the summer children’s program.Hospital? Nursing Home? The assisted living places enjoy things like Bingo…he could go once a week & call out the numbers, etc. Humane Society or animal shelters? Our girl scout troop spent about 6 hours cleaning and walking dogs there once. Carry out groceries for people at the grocery store. (This is especially nice in the winter when the older people are worried about falling)</p>
<p>Does anyone here know anything about “thinkwell” online courses?</p>
<p>Hi there, just saw this site, my youngest D will be HS class 2015 college 2019 and I have three older children 2 already in University and one who just graduated HS 2011 college 2015, recognize Pepper 03 from that thread. Figured I would join this group early. Been living in Europe for 9 years and although I have done the college thing 3 times, figure there is always stuff to learn from other wise parents especially now that we will be moving to the states in July and attending American High School for the first time!
(we are Americans just been overseas for a long time!) Looking forward to getting to know you all!</p>