<p>@dadotwoboys, I heard marching band requires lots time commitments and also count as required elective course for next 4 years in our HS. Which means students who take marching band as elective may need to take 0 period if they want to take other courses. My DD’18 will be in thar situation with her 4 year athletes (PE) as required course. But she doesn’t want to take 0 period. :(</p>
<p>No 0 period here and I believe marching band does take a lot of time. I think it could have the effect of limiting time spent on other ECs, but he will be able to play on the tennis team in the Spring when band is less busy.</p>
<p>That’s so cool! He is a busy boy. :)</p>
<p>No academic coursework for S18 in the summer. In fact, if I suggested it he would look at me like I had a horn growing out of the middle of my head! Summers for S18 are all about family vacations, grandparent “camp”, and his month at a camp in Tennessee where he will while away his days sailing and canoeing on the lake.</p>
<p>Thanks for the welcome GertrudeMcFuzz! </p>
<p>S18 did get into the high school he applied for! He plans to ‘shadow’ D16 next week to get a feel for the school. No academics for him this summer, Sea Base Bahamas with the Boy Scout and then art camp for flamework (glass blowing on a torch) in MA. </p>
<p>Here are the classes he is requesting:
Eng 1 (he doesn’t want to do pre-AP because of the summer assignments!)
Pre-AP Algebra 2
Pre-AP Biology
Art 1 sculptor
Chinese 1
AP Comp Sci
Comp Sci Principles (this is a dual credit class with credit from UT-Austin)</p>
<p>Hi, @3scoutsmom, congratulation to your DS get into the HS he wants. With AP and pre-AP courses coming up, I’m sure he will enjoy the boy scout and art camp during summer and get refreshed before school starts. </p>
<p>My DD starts her high school coming fall as well. She has three honors and will be taking Algebra 2 in Freshman year. She has Hindi as her foreign language. Used to swim in team. Not anymore 
Missing extra curricular.</p>
<p>Hi, @vermafam, there are many clubs in HS, hopefully our DDs will find something they interested, then we wont need to worry about the extra curricular. :)</p>
<p>Welcome Bigbossman1!</p>
<p>DD will be taking summer school after all. She starts Hon. Geometry on Tuesday. Cross country practice starts a week later. Hard to accept that high school is upon us just like that.</p>
<p>8th grade is nearly done here. Final band concert? check. 8th grade field trip? check 8th grade awards? check Yearbook signing? check HS band tryouts? check</p>
<p>Just a few days of school, then finals and on to HS.</p>
<p>Welcome to the new folks. Enjoy the long weekend everybody.</p>
<p>So, this morning was the first day of high school for our DD’18 - she started summer school Geometry! She was a little nervous when I dropped her off. It didn’t help that some upperclassmen told her that the math teacher she has is “really hard” and “mean.” Cross country practice starts next week . . . it begins!</p>
<p>@glido mean teachers take away so much from the learning experience. Ask your daughter to take a deep breath It’s only summer school. Possibly she will have a better teacher as her regular teacher. My daughter’s Junior high is in session till Mid June. She plans to take intro to Biology at a local community college during summer. Not sure whether she got her spot yet or not. This is beginning of stressful years.</p>
<p>My DD will graduate in mid June. I plan family East.coast vacation for sightseeing and visit some universities, knowing that she will be busy this summer for sports, summer school, summer camps and most likely will not have much chance for family vacation in the future (busy with high school life)… she didn’t commit to take MUN history honor class in the fall until she takes summer MUN introduction first. Like @glido DD, she was told that MUN teacher is very tough and its very time consuming class, hard to get an A. She was scared away fringe registering but agreed on taking short summer version first. Anyone has any opinions about MUN??</p>
<p>Turns out that Geometry teacher is not “mean” but is “boring” and “strict.” Just told DD to suck it up and get all her work done on time. XC practice started yesterday. About half the team takes a summer school class after practice - DD is getting folded into the H.S. scene pretty quickly.</p>
<p>Model United Nation… its like the debate team, but with lite research & reading involved.</p>
<p>My daughter just fight with me about summer plan. Basically she doesn’t want to go to 1 week long residential camp @ UCLA, I thought she will be so happy going there since its her dream school, spend $2400 for her to live in the dorm learning to excel in high school. But she doesn’t want to go now and cried… she wants me to withdraw which will cost me $695. she wants to plan her own summer with no summer school, volunteer, just doing English, Math, Biology workbook, and doing golf whenever she wants… should I let her? We have always able to plan her summer with activiies and summer school since we both work, and wanted her to have lots experiences. But since she is going to HS, she felt she can stay home alone now and go wherever she wants. Don’t give me wrong, my DD is a homy girl who loves stay home and not go out at all. I’m just really concerned that she will waste a precious 8 week long summer without accomplish much…:(</p>
<p>@jjkmom: It’s a difficult situation since you’ve already paid (in part?) for the camp. Was your daughter part of the decision making with regards to attending the camp? In our family, it tends to work much better if my kids have (within reason) the final decision as to how they spend their free time. I feel they are so busy with academics and activities during the school year, that summers should include a reasonable amount of downtime to dream, relax, read for pleasure, spend with friends, pursue THEIR interests, and have fun with family and friends. And the amount of time varies between kids–some go bonkers with too much free time, and others just crave that time in order to re-charge the batteries. </p>
<p>Could your daughter perhaps attend the camp as planned, and then have more free time to spend as she wishes both before and after? Maybe she’s just burnt out from exams and the end of school year and will end up looking forward to the camp after a bit of a break? Any way to cut back on the other obligations you’ve mentioned?</p>
<p>Balance is so important for all of us, and if your daughter feels like she has some input with regards to how she spends her time, she may be more cooperative with the things you’d prioritize as important. </p>
<p>Oh, and your description of your daughter as a girl who likes to be at home may mean she is an introvert. Speaking as an introvert, I MUST have time alone to be effective in my other obligations. The book “Quiet,” by Susan Cain may give you insight as to your daughter’s needs. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>We always put our kids in camps too, but pretty much let them pick what they would be. They never did anything academic. Theater camps were always their first pick & I think these were so good for both my extrovert and my introvert. (My introvert actually becomes an extrovert on a stage - it’s an interesting thing to watch!) And they always seemed to make some good friends through the process of rehearsing/performing a show. Also, a little boredom in the summer makes for a kid who is ready and even eager to get back to school in the fall! I really wouldn’t worry about “wasting” the summer as far as getting ahead academically. I might worry more about burn-out if she doesn’t get her re-charge time. I bet she would be willing to do the UCLA camp if she gets the rest of the summer to spend as she pleases. What do you think?</p>
<p>Thanks @bookgeek & @GertrudeMcFuzz, yes, my daughter was involved in decision making back in Marchnwhen I make the reservation of this camp. She never said no and now she said its because she doesn’t want to disappoint me. When we brought up this for discussion, DD’20 wants to go in her place. I came out few options, 1. Cancel and take lost (most liky wont do that). 2. Negociate with camp and switch to a different camp for DD2. 3. Enrolled DD2 and have them go together, force DD1 at this time, since she often says no to things but after experience she would change her mind. But we also plan to offer “free time summer” for her as Kong ss she goes. I really think she will like it!!</p>
<p>Glad I found this thread! I am new to CC but looking forward to the journey. My 8th grader graduates in a week and a half. He will attend a large comprehensive high school for his “academic” classes and then our excellent arts high school in the afternoon. His focus is visual arts and he is nervous but excited about the transition to high school since he has been at the same school since kindergarten.</p>