<p>D15 is in bed between 9:45 and 10:00 on weeknights and gets up at 6:40. She stays up a little later on weekends & sleeps in.</p>
<p>No computer, video games, facebook, etc after 9:00 in our house. Gives them time to ‘calm’ down before bed. It’s been that way since S10 was little & would play video games right up until bed time but would be so wound he couldn’t sleep. Teens need that ‘transition’ time just like preschoolers. I even need it sometimes. :)</p>
<p>Hi everybody,visiting after a while.Registered D15 at Hs today.Looks like she won’t be doing Euro Ap,as we had planned.The school has cancelled the class since they did not have enough kids.Bad luck. I am thinking ,may be she can self study AP psychology.</p>
<pre><code> I saw somebody suggesting Ap psychology as a first AP.Is it ok.Her classes are
English H
Algebra2 H
Chemistry H
World civilization/Journalism
Chinese 2
PE
Will it be too much?She wants to join debate and speech club,Model UN.And she learns piano,singing and dance.Will continue the Tae kwon do lessons.
Any suggestions?
</code></pre>
<p>I don’t think it’s a bad thing to adjust to high school first and then take on larger challenges. Particularly if she’s taking a distance course or self-studying, you can postpone the decision until after the first month or more of school.</p>
<p>IJustDrive,that’s what i was thinking too.She plenty of time.I am going to wait and see how she is handling the first semester.If she is willing to do the Ap after that she has a semesters time to prepare for the exams as Ap psychology is just for one semester in school.</p>
<p>mombbg–about the younger waking the older one up in morning–that’s our daughters-- and I, too, am wondering about the oldest as she heads to college this fall?!
I foresee a couple alarm clock gifts in her future, and a gentle reminder her cell phone, although ancient, does offer that option also…</p>
<p>S15 was on his class trip and S11 managed to get up on his own only two days. As for the other days: one day I woke him as he forgot to set alarm. The other I woke him with the alarm beeping for at least 15 minutes! It just did not do the job. We will be experimenting this summer. I guess he needs one that has escalating volume! I lke the cell phone as the backup. Somehow those teen minds seem completely in tune with their cell phones.</p>
<p>A bunch of CC posters in various threads have recommended the [Sonic</a> Boom SB300SS Alarm Clock with Shaker for Hearing Impaired](<a href=“Google Shopping - Product not found”>Google Shopping - Product not found).</p>
<p>mihcal1- not sure it will be a gift, or if so, if it will even be appreciated–but I bookmarked! :)</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>actually, it would kinda be fun to have one of those now and see what the cats think of it (especially the first time)</p>
<p>I love that name, Sonic Boom! I think this clock may be in our future. I guess I am spoiling S12 by waking him up every morning (and D15 at the same time). My problem is that when I was in high school, I was up and out the door riding my bike to school before anyone else in the house was even awake and I hated it. So, I helicopter to compensate. I wonder when I should stop. I don’t mind it because I like seeing my kids in the morning, but I don’t want to cripple their development (or ability to wake up by themselves).<br>
P.S. I don’t know what our cat would think of the clock either, but she is a hoot with the Roomba!</p>
<p>
It’s very important to stick to that rule!
Sometimes I make mine do some work that they find the least enjoyable to do for 10-15 min. before bed time, make them yawn and longing for bed time. :D</p>
<p>We all do some computer time at night and it doesn’t seem to be a negative thing–probably because both D’s weeknight computer “fun” time is maybe a little music, or reading some blogs or fanfics…no one (except H) is interested in the games those nights but D2 (HS15) will do some games on weekends, and (gasp!) so far no one in this house does facebook.</p>
<p>Just getting on the bedtime thing lately with D2 since she’s also doing 2 sports right now, I’m a little more laid back about it when she’s not pushing her body/mind as much.</p>
<p>Arg. D’s Creative Writing summer school class has just been canceled for lack of interest (though funny enough, the 7:45 section is still going, but no way is she getting up that early). Time to find something else to do this summer. She has to stay home because she needs an evening summer school class to take the science class she wants next year, but now her days are completely empty.</p>
<p>Two sports? Wow, softball alone has killed us with D15. Life has become a lot simpler since S12 got his driver’s license, though. Both teenagers wanted to do swim team but practice for that age group is 6 am and they aren’t willing to do that (me neither, so I’m not pushing). Still, shuttling the younger two around takes up a lot of my time and energy. Thank heavens softball will be over soon, I’m burnt out.</p>
<p>IJustDrive–that’s too bad about the Creative class being cancelled, would be a great summer course</p>
<p>WordWorld—yep D1 had other time consuming EC’s but D2’ sports schedule more challenging–right now it’s soccer pretty much year round along with xctry past two autumns and this is her 2nd Spring in Track/Field. Will begin HS with late summer/fall soccer (which will be a new experience-High School soccer, PRAYING for no injuries!!) and then Track/Field late winter/Spring–we’ll see how it all goes…she drives me nuts sometimes she pushes herself hard with academics/sports
this is a busy time for those softball players, that’s one sport our HS excels at currently,
good luck to your D!
Dissapointing the swimming practice is SO early, that would rule it out for us too</p>
<p>I’m looking for something constructive for my D16 in July. She’d love to do something with writing. Both D’s have nature camp (last year for D15), then D15 has a theater/drama camp, then D16 is off to Signature Music Camp at Suny Geneseo, which is so far from our house D15, the dog and I will be hanging out nearby in a rented cabin for the week. Hoping to find some volunteer jobs they can get involved in in August before a late-August family vacation. Very excited that D15 will do a Western Wind a capella workshop with me at Smith College at the end of June. Mom-daughter bonding AND we will be staying and eating on-campus.</p>
<p>We’ve had some serious problems with D’s science class in 8th grade. Basically this whole year she’s been struggling with it – not for passing, but for an A which is what she really wants. She has not got a B in her life so even though I think a middle school B is not a big deal, to her it is. They’re learning physical science. She’s been getting As in the first 3 marking periods, and in every other subject she is doing well. But this last period, these are some of her scores in science: one quiz: 70%, one class lab, 44%. She seems to have no clue why she does so badly. She also often forgets to turn in her homework, or bring her textbook back home when she has homework to do. About the problem with science, we (parents) are both scientists/physicists. We understand what they’re learning in school as the back of our hands. So at home we talk about it. From what we can tell, she understands the concepts well. But when she goes to school, she does poorly in her school work. We asked her teacher several times, all that we were told was she was doing great! It makes no sense but we couldn’t get anything out of the teacher or our D. which is extremely frustrating. Recently we haven’t talked to the teacher, and that’s when the problem exacerbated. </p>
<p>We’ve always been wondering about her attention problem. In fact, several times as parents we were thinking about talking to a doctor. D. has problem concentrating on things she does – that’s our opinion as parents. For example, when she takes her piano lesson, she constantly talks to her teacher about her teacher’s pets in the house, things like that. </p>
<p>But we don’t know if we will have a case with this girl, who excels in several things she does, including testing SAT at the age of 11 and did extremely well, and several instruments and ice skating and does very well - at least in our area she is a well known young musician. Especially she performs well on stage, some people told me that’s the kind of thing someone with ADD can’t do. They (people with ADD) also shouldn’t be able to well in things like SAT at this young age without extra time, which means she was concentrating well. Is she doing too much? That’s what I am afraid of. Or is she bored at school? ( to which she says no.)</p>
<p>when should you say you suspect your child has ADD and needs expert’s help? </p>
<p>D. has very high expectations to herself. She wants to go to a top college and do this and that. We encourage her to pursue her dreams. But if she doesn’t focus on things she needs to do, she is going to be impaired. She just starts to realize it.
Is it an age thing, or should we seek help? </p>
<p>Sorry for the long post. But this is a friendly group. Some of you may have similar kids so maybe able to offer some advice. She is going to HS so if she needs help, we’d better do something now.</p>
<p>Max, I don’t know your D at all, but gifted kids with attention issues or other LDs (often called twice exceptional, or 2E) learn to compensate for them. Don’t rule out that your D may be highly gifted and fighting herself every step of the way, particularly if the issues are primary organizational. It’s easy to call a kid lazy. It’s much harder to figure out what’s really going on. We certainly know some kids with ADD and perfect standardized test scores. </p>
<p>And I could be completely off base and this could be one of these annoying developmental stages. Both fit the pattern</p>
<p>Maxwell, I would contact the science teacher and ask to see your daughter’s work on the quiz(es) and lab(s) with low scores, along with the grading rubric(s). Then you would know what sorts of things your D missed and where she is falling short of expectations. Maybe she is understanding the concepts but messing up on calculations. Or maybe she doesn’t understand the concepts as well as she thinks she does. Possibly there is a problem with that particular assignment or that particular teacher.</p>
<p>You can address the issue of forgetting the textbook by buying a second copy of the schoolbook(s) to keep at home. We buy second copies because my kids walk to/from school and those books get heavy! Look online (use the ISBN number) for used textbooks in good condition, and sometimes they are very cheap. I bought a copy of my D2012’s calculus text for $0.79 plus $3 shipping. </p>
<p>You need to teach your D how to ensure that homework always gets done, and always gets turned in. When my kids were younger, we always went through a verbal checklist with them at the end of the evening, making sure everything was packed up (in the correct tab in their binder!) for the next day. Now they have internalized this and do it themselves without prompting. Our high school issues every kid a planner so they can write-in all assignments and deadlines. Organizational and “executive function” issues become an increasingly big deal as the quantity and complexity schoolwork increases. Many days I am amazed that my kids manage to keep up with it all!</p>
<p>Lastly, I wouldn’t worry too much if the scatter-brained-ness is a one-time or rare problem – nobody is perfect all of the time! However, if it threatens to become a habit, then you want to nip it in the bud.</p>
<p>It is possible that ADD could be a factor – it’s not unusual for it to surface at this age. Sometimes bright kids, who have been compensating well in the lower grades, begin falter when they hit more difficult material. However, you say that she is mostly still doing well on most assignments in science, and doing very well in all her other classes and extracurriculars. Perhaps there is some specific reason why she is having trouble in that specific class. (Perhaps an overly-talkative table partner? Perhaps a distracting view out the window? Perhaps it’s just before lunch and sometimes she’s hungry? Perhaps it’s the last class of the day, and she’s in a rush to get out of school?) In any case, I wouldn’t to jump to a conclusion that it’s ADD, and I certainly wouldn’t rush into medication.</p>
<p>@Max Much the same scenario here. My D15 is diagnosed ADHD and just performed beautifully as the lead in her school musical. She’s naturally very bright (“nothing if not clever” is my slogan for her). Her dad is a mathematician and I am a scientist. She does well in math, history, English (except the extra English that meets every other day, because of the difficulty of keeping this straight) but is having trouble this year in French and Biology sounds like for similar reasons as your D. First, ADHDs do well where they are getting the stimulation they need. Stage gives that stimulation. So does a history class where the teacher has the kids up and moving. Things they are naturally interested in are easier. This year my D is refusing to take meds, and I’m tired of the arguments and different drugs so I’m going to see if we can’t lick this without. Personal motivation counts for a lot. Try reading the book, “Organizing the Disorganized Child” and if your daughter is sufficiently motivated, encourage her to read it too. Many very bight ADHD people who want to succeed will learn ways to learn that work for them. Sounds like your D fits this picture. ADHD is not all bad: think creativity and energy. Regular exercise and caffeine can help. There is another discussion here on CC on ADHD and LD that I have not visited but that a friend has found helpful.</p>
<p>@Maxwell, I’ve been having similar kind of concern with my kids for several years. They are both smart and nice kids and (esp. the girl) quite ambitious, but have poor organizational skills. I remember reading a couple articles (wish I kept them…) saying it’s common for kids at this age, esp. if they are involved in many things. They may have low grade (or even more severe) AD(H)D. When they’re young, they get by because the subject matter is easy and they’re smart. When they’re older, the subject matter is more challenging and requires more attention, but at the same time they’re more mature. If they’re guided well, they can compensate their problem by their will power and intellectual ability and desire. </p>
<p>I’m hoping this is true. I agree with others who said don’t jump into medication. Consult with experts may not be a bad idea, even though I myself haven’t done so. </p>
<p>It’s nice to read other comments.</p>