<p>Of course a job can be an EC-my older D and several friends had to work and since they all got into college I have to assume that their jobs helped rather than hurt them.</p>
<p>My '17 kid goes to a very different school. They don’t have traditional periods or classes, though they cover the typical HS subjects. First period the kids have electives-all of them. D’s language is Japanese. All the kids take “digital arts” which is everything from audio programming to movie-making (last year the freshmen made 5-minute movies for a film festival). Math is a traditional period-sometimes. Often it will last longer or be shorter, depending on the projects going on (see below). All freshmen take geometry unless they’re working above grade level. There’s LA, Social Studies, Science, too, of course, but these are done in “Project-Based Learning” style, sometimes with others, sometimes alone. It’s basically unit studies for the entire school. Each quarter, the kids present their projects to the public and are questioned by professionals in the fields they studied.</p>
<p>Hard to explain, but we love it. PE is done through sports, outside EC’s or even using one of those fitness apps, as long as the kids document it to come out to 45 hours a year. D is in several forms of dance classes so we should be covered for all four years by the end of next year, lol. </p>
<p>We don’t start till Sept. 4, but registration and school photos are on Aug, 26, and we have a BBQ on the 28th. MichiganGeorgia-how’s the bus situation?</p>
<p>^ It’s 5 minutes shorter now but still standing room only. DS is studying for the drivers permit he just turned 15. Cut off for kindergarten was Sept 1st and I didn’t want him to be the youngest in his class. If he can pass the test I can get him a parking permit for the golf cart and he can drive himself to school. It takes about 20 minutes on the golf cart. IF I think he has studied enough I will take him either this weekend or next to take the test.</p>
<p>Lol-I have NEVER heard of anyplace other than vacation resorts where people drive golf carts for other than golfing! It sounds like that will really help him. </p>
<p>We live about 20 minutes from school too-but by FREEWAY! D won’t be 16 until the start of her junior year. She’ll really need to start driving just to cut down on all the back and forthing H and I do, but we still have a couple of years.</p>
<p>Yes I thought it was pretty funny when we moved here too. But they have over 90 miles of golf cart paths, most families own at least one golf cart and use it instead of having a second car and you should see the high school there are hundreds of golf carts parked in the parking lot at school. But he has to pass the test first. So we shall see.</p>
<p>It really helped when my oldest turned 15 because I no longer had to pick him up from all the after school things. With 2 other kids it was awesome. Although I have to say that even this summer DS who starts college today would rather meet his friends driving the golf cart than the car. I do not understand that because I’d rather drive a car myself.:)</p>
<p>Latin, Arabic, and intro to engineering sound like interesting electives as well. I have been wanting D to try engineering as she is good at math but no luck yet. It’s great that they have the opportunity to try different things. The down side to having 8 classes each day is the extra HW. </p>
<p>I agree with your thoughts on a job as an EC. They are using their time constructively and demonstrating commitment and responsibility, etc. it is certainly another option. We will see what happens.</p>
<p>My D would love the independence of getting around with a golf cart. Good luck to your son on permit test.</p>
<p>M/G: I read about your town in a magazine and have been fascinated ever since. I think golf carts are a fabulous idea and am very jealous. </p>
<p>It’s somewhere in Georgia, right? I’m so enamored with golf carts that we are researching one for my 91 year old mother who has had her license revoked. Long story, but she had a stroke and couldn’t pass the reading portion. She decided to drive anyway and was picked up by the police! Did I mention she was 90 at the time. Oy.</p>
<p>Here in Oregon one doesn’t need a license to drive a golf cart so she could drive it around town to the grocery store, post office and the doctor. </p>
<p>Our drive to school is 45 minutes on a highway, freeways and over a bridge. No golf carts allowed :(.</p>
<p>Back on topic… we still have two weeks before school starts and DS is concentrating on making the very selective soccer team. He’ll know on Thursday. Most of his summer work is completed and I think he’s excited about school this year. We went shopping yesterday and he was open to his sister’s suggestions and now has a wardrobe that consists more than just jeans and t-shirts. He actually chose a few polos and a button down.</p>
<p>We just got back from a final shopping trip and D is all set with both new clothes and school supplies. I love that D is willing to shop at discount stores, off-brand stores, consignment shops and thrift stores. She sold an old pair of shoes at Plato’s Closet for $10 and got a $20 jacket, with an extra 10% off. I like paying less out of my own pocket! And she was entirely too happy about the thriftshop camo jacket for $7. But I’m sure she’ll make it all look good! </p>
<p>Good luck to Spykid on the soccer team. We don’t have school sports, the kids get access to teams at the closest comprehensive HS if they want to play. One of our seniors was on the cheer team there last year and another is on the dance team. Several boys play football or soccer.</p>
<p>An engineering or technology class is a graduation requirement here, so not exactly an elective. There are 3 choices they can take and 2 of them have “engineering” in the name. He’s thrilled that they have Arabic, and I hear the teacher is really good.</p>
<p>CuriousKid just casually mentioned that they’ve been having him practice as the starting right tackle. As I said, football is NOT big here at all, so there are lots of kids on the team who have never played, but still exciting for a freshman. We’ll see if he holds on to the role. He played 2 years in middle school, and generally played the league minimum plays per game, but his last year’s team went to the state championship, so he’s used to comparing himself to very strong teammates, so this is definitely a confidence boost.</p>
<p>I’m not going to tell him about the golf carts. He’d be so jealous. He’s always wanted to ride on one, but the opportunity has never presented itself. If I tell him there are 9th graders who get to drive one, he’ll be pressuring me to move to Georgia!</p>
<p>Agentninetynine - Yes it’s in Georgia. A golf cart would be a good idea for your mom. My grandmother had a place down in Florida when she was alive and she was able to drive one around down there. It really helps give them the freedom to not be stuck waiting for someone to drive them places.</p>
<p>Hello, everyone. This is my very first post in CC and I really appreciate all the information I get from this thread. My son is a freshman this year and he is planning to take percussion as his college major. The followings are the classes that he has selected for his freshman year.</p>
<p>PAP Geometry
PAP Biology
PAP English 1
AP Human Geography
Chinese 1
Debate 1
Percussion Year 1
Wind Symphony Yr 1
Communication Applications (0.5 credit + 8th grade 0.5 redit for teen leadership)</p>
<p>Total: 9 credits</p>
<p>He picked all his classes and I have no idea whether this is good enough to accumulate his credit.</p>
<p>Hi, youngwang99-welcome!! We are a nice bunch, if I do say so myself. Not sure what you mean by “is this good enough to accumulate his credit”, though–could you elaborate? Are you meaning credits towards graduation or for his major?</p>
<p>Just got back from CA where my D17 and I did the last lightning round of college visits (4 in 3.5 days). I am so glad to be done with that! I will say that having vegaskid watch his sister go through the college app process has been a real eye-opener. Nothing like seeing how a good (or bad) grade in a few pivotal courses makes a difference in the cum GPA come college app time!</p>
<p>Need some advise, please. He’s been trying to juggle cross country and lacrosse this entire summer, and it’s not pretty. Is anyone else invloved in 2 sports out there? If so, how on earth do you manage, and does it become a “one or the other” proposition?</p>
<p>One is a fall sport, and the other in spring, but practices really do seem to make both turn into a 6-month to all-year commitment. It seems like he’s having to apologize to either one coach or the other if a practice or scrimmage overlaps. This is not how he wants to start HS. He really likes both sports, and doesn’t want to have to give one up. I have 3 older brothers who all played at least 2 sports yearly, and I don’t remember anything like this crazy schedule with overlapping practices. True, they’re all in their late 40’s/early 50’s, so maybe the world has just changed that much for HS sports.</p>
<p>School starts Monday. Kids will be driving together to the same place at the same time, so for the first time ever, I.am.free. What will I do with myself??</p>
<p>@vegasmom - DS who just started college wasn’t in 2 sports but did have EC’s that took up a ton of time. and yes things have changed a lot since I was in High school back in the late 70’s.lol For DS there came a point where one EC became more important and took over. It was either that or the GPA was going to suffer. Good luck, some kids can juggle it all.</p>
<p>My kid is hoping to do 2 school sports this year – fall football, and spring crew. </p>
<p>Both programs have given pretty clear expectations about how they expect to be prioritized. For example, the spring football practices were open to 8th graders, and the coaches pretty clearly stated that players who played a spring sport were exempt. Similarly, there’s are a few weeks of rowing practice in the fall, but in all the crew paperwork it says clearly that athletes who play fall sports are exempt. His school seems to put a lot of emphasis on grooming the kids for college applications, so it doesn’t surprise me that they go out of their way to make sure that kids can play multiple sports.</p>
<p>I’m a little more worried about how he’ll juggle sports and arts. I’m pretty sure that if it comes down to a choice he’ll choose football over theater/chorus/dance, but I’m less sure what choice he’ll make in the spring.</p>
<p>Hello everyone, just found this thread. My younger daughter is class of '17… I remember when she was born, how far away that sounded…
She is looking forward to high school, we have a new building, only two years old. Her older sister was the last class in the old building and had to put up with construction noise for her junior and senior year.
Her schedule won’t be up on the computer until next week and she is chomping at the bit to compare schedules with her friends so they can see what classes they will have together.
It will be fun going through these next four years with all of you.</p>
<p>hi vegasmom23, I am concerned that he is taking too many classes. And he is afraid that if he does not take enough classes, he won’t be able to have high ranking in school. He wants to go for percussion for college. </p>
<p>Currently I am struggling with Debate. Some parents said that it will take a lot of time, which means he won’t be able to spend enough time on his music practice.</p>
<p>I’m far from an expert, but I’ve looked into some arts options for my goddaughter who is a senior this year. As far as I understand, most arts admissions are based largely on the audition or portfolio. It might make sense to prioritize practice time over an extra course.</p>
<p>HS sports have changed dramatically especially for those athletes who are trying to be recruited to play in college. Swimgirl is a one sport athlete and it would be difficult for her to achieve a high level of success if she played more than one sport. Over the years HS and club coaches have increased training intensities and these training programs often rely on the athlete resting between practices for optimal results. I would have your S talk to both coaches and try to work out a practice schedule that accommodates both sports.</p>
<p>Vegas mom, isn’t Lacrosse a club sport at your school? It was my understanding that it was not a ccsd school sanctioned sport. That being said, it would seem to me that he should be able to do both since cross county is a fairly short season and deals with individual goals, so missing a few practices is fairly well tolerated. and Lacrosse practice at most schools is scheduled in the late afternoon. Maybe I am wrong, or maybe your HS has a different type of schedule.</p>
<p>Our school encourages multi sport athletes. My son has been a 3 sport athlete in middle school (football, wrestling, lacrosse). Coaches have to release their athletes in order for them to start the next sport. If football playoffs run into the beginning of wrestling season, the wrestling coach has to wait until football is over to get the football players who wrestle. The same goes for lacrosse.</p>
<p>The conflicts frequently arise when club sports interfere with school sports. In lacrosse players are not really recruited off of the HS team. They are recruited off of their club (travel) teams and through camps/showcases. The problem I anticipate is that club lacrosse will eventually interfere with HS football. If/When that happens my son will have to make a decision about whether to stick with football or lacrosse. Until then we will keep him in all three.</p>
<p>My pediatrician told me that there are more overuse injuries now than there used to be when it was more common for kids to cross train. He advocates kids playing multiple sports for as long as they can because he feels it lessens serious injuries.</p>
Not sure what you mean by “is this good enough to accumulate his credit”, though–could you elaborate? Are you meaning credits towards graduation or for his major?</p>