<p>I often think my daughter is doing too much ECs. I don’t know if she can keep doing them in HS. She does not want to give up any of those. </p>
<p>@mombbg: I don’t think they have that system in HS. I also hope since she is getting older with more experience, she will be better organized. </p>
<p>Did any of your kids in this group or older have any social issues in middle school? We had serious problems when she was in 7th grade. Now I think she kind of accepted everything. She has some friends but really not great. Her best friends are out of town - very strange. She made friends through summer camps and her hobbies, ECs. We live in a depressed area. It’s not easy to find people with same interest and compatible personalities. Hard to imagine what HS will be like in this front.</p>
<p>Maxwell, my D15 has some friends she’s met though outside interests, but more at her school who share her interests there (musical theater, choral ensemble). I was freaked out when she started middle school, but she’s really enjoyed it. I thinks peers are really important at this age, and kids will naturally gravitate to those who share their interests. If there aren’t many of those, that can be difficult. </p>
<p>Will the high school have, well, more kids for her to pick from? ;)</p>
<p>Oh, and I’ve been quiet this past week because I had finals (and papers and powerpoint presentations) for my first year in an MS program in social work. Half way there!</p>
<p>Limner: Congrats on your “half way” mark for your MS. :)</p>
<p>D received the final pieces for her Fall football cheerleading uniform on Friday. I think she is more excited now. Over the weekend, we found a Junior Golf Clinic nearby that will be held the week after Memorial Day. It is fairly cheap & I think we’ll take her. She has excercise induced asthma and cannot do track, so she’s planning on golf instead.</p>
<p>Her Science Fair is Friday, anxious to see everyone’s projects.</p>
<p>Her school is out May 20 - counting the days !</p>
<p>S2 is on eighth grade trip this week. Then just two and a half more weeks of school, while S1 is winding down to graduation at the same time! Our house will be a bit of a whirlwind, but what fun.</p>
<p>CheckersMidwest, good luck to your D at Science Fair! The CA State Science Fair is this week. I was helping with setup today. DH judges Jr. Chemistry Division tomorrow, and he will have a hard time deciding because there are so many really good projects.</p>
<p>Our district has 6 weeks to go! Thank goodness, because both my Ds have grades to pull up.</p>
<p>Limner, Bon courage! - I always like this french expression better than “good Luck” for obvious reason. I did a couple biology courses after my D. was born - not for a degree, just to enrich myself. It took a lot of courage and was very rewarding.</p>
<p>Thanks, Checkers, mombbg, and herandhis! My D is definitely counting the days until school is out. </p>
<p>Thanks for the good wishes, herandhis. It does take courage, but I think it’s the kind that you have more of as you get older, i.e., not caring if you make an idiot of yourself. ;)</p>
<p>We are waiting to hear if our D15 was accepted into a specialized science program that our county offers to rising freshmen. This is almost as bad as waiting for the college acceptances for D11. Will be glad when we know and both girls can look forward to the summer!</p>
<p>@ IJustDrive: Your comment gave me a laugh this morning! Same thing at my house with S15! Of course he is on a class trip, but he swore they were doing “nothing” for the three to four days before the trip. When he gets back, he will have a week and a half of school and then finals.</p>
<p>Some NON academic news this morning… I just registerd D15 for a Junior Golf clinic in a nearby town in June. She tried track last spring and we discovered she has exercise induced asthma. It never bothers her during basketball, so I assume an outdoor allergy of some kind triggers it. She’ll play either JV or Varsity golf next spring instead of track. Thought a little early instruction (with acutal instructors & not her parents) would be beneficial.</p>
<p>My D. has a French test in a couple weeks. If she passes this test, she can do French II in 9th grade. She also has a algebra I test. If she passes that, she’ll take algebra II in grade 9. other than those, everything in school slows down. but right now she is having a B is “family life.” So far she’s a straight A student. It will upset her if she gets a B in this class.</p>
<p>@limner, yes it’s important to have friends in her school. HS does not sound promising in this front. She found herself a comfortable zone, it seems. We encourage her to do band in HS, for music, and for friends. She is not athletic and feels self conscious about that. The only sport she does is not with the group of kids in her school. she’s good at playing several instruments though. </p>
<p>btw, limner, congratulations on your progress in your academic endeavor!</p>
<p>My daughter signed up for AP U.S. government in 9th grade. We’re a little apprehensive. I didn’t go to HS in this country and this is my oldest, so I have very little knowledge about APs, except for a little bit from my college students, couldn’t offer any comment when she asked me about it.
I can imagine it depends a lot on the teacher. but in general, will AP classes require a lot of notetaking? homework? extra study time? Any tips for success? I am even wondering if taking AP in 9th grade is appropriate, since they are supposet to be college courses. I’ve heard U.S. government is a relatively easy one. That should be good for her to start with. </p>
<p>We would like to hear some comments about APs. Thanks. we hope her first AP will be a success so she’ll look forward to more in the future.</p>
<p>Our school doesn’t offer AP classes but has a few dual credit ones. S’ college roommate has several AP credits. From how it’s worked at their school, the AP credits let him skip the intro courses & go right into the next level. But, he didn’t have any college credits going in.</p>
<p>My son took college/dual credit Algebra & trig in HS. He went into college with 6 credits and didn’t have to take college algebra, so went straight to calculus. (Their college required college algebra)</p>
<p>They determine when it’s your turn to register for classes or choose housing by the number of credits you have, so son was ‘ahead’ of roommate in that case. </p>
<p>@herandhisMom I would say it depends on your school. At our school, it is not offered until 11th grade and I would say yes to all of your questions as it involves writing a lot of papers and the exam is almost incidental to the course. Of course, it is a class filled with juniors, so the teacher has a right to expect a lot from them. </p>
<p>Do you know what the usual year for taking this class in your school is? If it is typically offered to freshman, I would not be too concerned, as long as you feel she can handle all the studying. If she is in a class with mostly juniors, as a parent, I would make sure that I knew the deadline for switching out with no record of the class and monitor how she is doing. She will probably do fine regardless.</p>
<p>I think the easy reputation is for the actual exam, so it just depends on how your school teaches the course.</p>
<p>herandhisMom,
At our HS, APGovt is a senior class. Is there any particular reason your daughter is pulling APGovt forward? Was she recommended to do so by a previous teacher?</p>
<p>Most schools put APGovt after or concurrent with APUSH. Does your daughter have a good US History background? Is she a fast reader, and used to summarizing and note-taking? Is she a good writer, and familiar with DBQs? These are skills she will need in order to do well in the class and on the AP test.</p>
<p>If you’re concerned, you might contact the teacher in advance and ask to see the syllabus and/or preview the textbook and other course materials. You can also take your daughter to a bookstore and flip through an APGovt study guide to see what she thinks of the material.</p>
<p>mombbg and mihcal, Thanks for your comments. </p>
<p>Our county this year for the 1st time allows freshman to take this one AP. They (the board) say it is one of the easy ones. They’ll do this as an experiment. They may have a class of their own, (There are 5 9th graders I know who signed up for it. There might be more.) or they may have some 10th graders with them. </p>
<p>My d.'s fav. subjects are history and writing. she is strong in language and humanity, at least in her class she is. so her history teacher in middle school doesn’t think she will have trouble. She is a good writer. but she is not familar with DBQs. The middle school teacher gave them some waterdown version of DBQs. sometimes she does well, sometimes she doesn’t.</p>
<p>I’ll take your suggestions, and have her take a look at some AP level books on the subject.
Any suggestions for the books? </p>
I don’t think they have that system in HS. I also hope since she is getting older with more experience, she will be better organized. </p>
So far she’s a straight A student. It will upset her if she gets a B in this class.</p>