I think it will be hard on S19 and he has no clue. He still has another year. They fight like cats and dogs, are apples and oranges, and will miss each other terribly.
@carolinamom2boys, it was hard for everyone when DS13 left for college. All our kids are close, and DS13 is part of the reason they are close because he has always been good to his younger sibs.
I had purchased a house plant at Trader Joeās a few weeks before he left, and his space at the end of the table felt so empty that I put the plant there. It was a tropical plant, so not really great for our climate, but I have kept that plant alive. When he is home, it gets moved, and when he goes back to school, it goes back to the table. Our other kids call it āPlant DS13.ā When DS13 first saw it, he laughed and said that he could see DH and me sitting around in ten years with four plants at the table. DD16 is now talking about what kind of plant she is going to choose for her spot at the table.
DS13 calls home a lot, and all the kids like to talk to him. I know that for a few years, DS19 would call him randomly to talk about Pokemon, which DS13 thought very funny (DS19 never knew he thought it was funny, however).
I have to say that the worst was last summer, when we went on our first ābigā family vacation without DS13. All my pictures felt empty with 3 instead of 4āthey still do. It was strange to create family memories without him.
I donāt have any really thoughtful insights. We found it hardāand when heās been gone for a few months, the other kids still mention how much they miss him. I am glad for DS13. He is finding his way in the world and has been happy and successful at college. Of course, launching a child successfully is what we all want here on CC. Still, there is no getting around that it is a major changeāI would call it a major lossāfor the family.
Hug those 19ers a little tighter tonight, even when theyāre talking smack back to you.
Its tough to adjust to a sibling going off to college. When D15 left in the fall D 16 missed her but I can see where having a year of being the oldest at home has been really good for her. D15 complains a lot about the fact that S19 doesnāt respond to her texts very often and if she calls home he doesnāt have much to say to her. I think he is a bit worried about being an only next year.
We just did the first family vacation with 4 instead of 5 for spring break this year. It was especially tough as we went somewhere D15 would have loved. But we had a couple of really long phone conversations with her during the drive to and from that were just awesome. We put her through the speaker system in the car and it was one of our best whole family conversations in a long time.
It is an adjustment when they leave, then an adjustment when they come back for a visit, and then an adjustment when they leave again.
I have a HS Freshmen class of 2019 , wanted to join in the forum.
Welcome! Weāre all in the early stages here, but obviously thinking itās time to at least get to know each other 
My daughter has a lacrosse+theater fixation thatās making life busy. Thatās about all I know for sure at this point.
Welcome, @rtharuv!
Welcome @rtharuv.
We need to turn in AP/ Honors class requests this week for next year. DS attends an arts conservatory type school, so school administrators put the fear of living G*d into us about signing up for two many. Classes cannot be dropped once they are scheduled. The school day is long because of the added arts component and most students (mine included) have a very long commute to/from school. I think we are going to be conservative.
Huh, @Undercovermom1 ā DD says they donāt pick their classes until āthe end of the year.ā She has only one elective option, I think, and sheās going with Acting. Dear God, this is not the direction I see helping create a stable future. lolā¦
Oh, just went and looked at the course curriculum for 10th grade
English
World Languages
World History II
Arts Elective (the acting course is what she wants to take)
Algebra II(H) or Geometry (H) or PreCalculus(H)
Health
Chemistry or Chem (H)
PE
So not too many honors options. No AP courses until 11th grade; is that the norm?
@Gatormama We have one option for AP in 9 th grade, 2-3 in 10th and 4-5 from then on.
My son will take
Pre-calc honors
AP world history
English honors
Chemistry honors
Latin 2
Band
PE
It is pretty much the most challenging course you can take which makes me nervous because he is the classic bright kid who hates doing homework unless it interests him. Thankfully he finds many things interesting. Unfortunately he also struggles to actually turn in work. But he came up with this game plan not me. He really strongly prefers to be in class with the most motivated classmates.
@Gatormama it really varies from school to school. DS can take AP World History next year. There were no AP options for 9th grade.
Acting for your DD will be fun and a nice break from academics.
There is only one AP option open to sophomores at our high school - AP US History. There are none allowed in 9th grade.
My S next year will take:
Chemistry Honors
Geometry Honors
US History Honors
English 2
Spanish 3
Gym (semester long course, required and impossible to get out of)
This is all standard at our school. He also requested a few semester long electives but we wonāt know until the last day of school what he will get. I tried to talk him into doubling up on math, taking Algebra 2 in addition to geometry so that he could be on track to take calculus senior year, but he didnāt want to do that. So he picked a couple history related electives and one fun one - video production. I hope he gets what he wants.
DDā19 sat down with her GC in a small group before spring break to fill out the class request sheet. Unfortunately the counselor is new to high school and told DD at least 2 wrong things to select. Now we have to try to fix the errors.
At our school, course recommendation by teachers happens during Februrary and the course/elective selections were submitted mid March. We have access to Naviance account since freshman year and Naviance shows the (potential) curricular path through 9-12th grade for DS. DS17 is following basically what had been planned in 9th grade for core curriculum. I was surprised to learn that 6th grade math track determines the 12th grade math and science placement. It is ture.
@me29034 Although finishing high school math with PreCalculus (Sr year, after Algebra II in Jr year) is fine for some kids and were fine in the past, there will be consequences in college and major choices as well as in science class.
Standardized tests such as SAT and ACT cover up to Algebra II and include some PreCalculus topics. When your S takes those tests in Junior spring or Junior fall (PSAT) he wonāt have learned those topics. He may have difficulty working with equations in Honors Chemistry class.
I am a scientist and my kids are advanced in math but I do not believe much in math acceleration in public high school setting. Some kids do excel and rush through math curriculum through Calculus before Junior year, but I think that most kids are well-served by PreCalculus in Jr year and some Calculus in Sr year.
Having said that, I also think that majority of kids, with encouragement and help, are capable of completing PreCal and then some Calculus in high school career. This will prepare them better for college. We tend to ask too little of our kids in math and lack in supporting them.
@payn4ward Thanks for your insight. Unfortunately our school system is not set up to make calc in high school an easy thing. The standard track, even for honors kids, puts them in precalc senior year. You have to jump through hoops to get calculus in our system. According to my D16, there are 2 classes of calc - AB has about 20 kids and BC has about 10. So only 30 kids out of a class of about 400 take calc in high school here. The vast majority of kids who are in Honors Chemistry will also be in Honors Geometry. This is our standard Honors level path.
I have to admit, that I didnāt think this was a problem before I first started coming to this site. I am an engineer and I didnāt take any calculus until I got to college. My high school didnāt offer it. So when I saw the set up of the math tracks, it didnāt occur to me that it was a problem. As to how much it affects college admissions - D16, who is now taking regular pre-calc as a senior, has been accepted at every school she applied to. So Iām not sure it matters as much as people make it out to. I do agree that she probably would have done better on her SAT if she had had precalc before taking it.
I agree. If S is not considering highly selective colleges for STEM majors, it probably does not matter.
My kids will take AP Calc BC in Junior year and are interested in taking Calculus based AP Phyics C class in Sr year and majoring Science or Engineering.
Their math/science track was set during a placement test in 5th grade.
After the placement test, the secondary school teacher said, DS will be in Algebra 1 honors in 6th grade middle school (not PreAlgebra), this math and that math, ā¦ , Calculus in 11th, and then multivariate calc/differential equations in his 12th grade.
I was like, ā¦ but, ā¦hold on, he is only 10 years old and only in 5th grade! (You said Differential equations?!)
@me29034 - the math track at your school is fine. The ACT covers Algebra and Geometry with a couple of Trig problems thrown in for good measure so taking Alg2 in Jr. year should not affect his ability on the math section of the ACT. And I agree that the ultra competitive nature of many of the CCāers around here makes it āfeelā like everyone is or should be taking Calculus but the fact is most kids only get to pre-calc and that is usually just fine for the majority.
D chose her classes at the beginning of March so we are all set for next year:
Honors English 2
Honors Alg 2
Honors Chem
Spanish 2
Theology 2
Choir
Gym/First Aid
We also have only 1 AP class for sophomores - APWH and it is a very difficult class from what Iāve been told.
@ILMom13579 My D19ās school only offers AP WH for sophomores. My D16 didnāt enjoy it at all and didnāt learn anything so D19 is taking Honors World History 2. Heāll likely take two APs junior year and two senior year - probably Physics 1 & 2, Calc AB and maybe Chem or Computer Science. I used to worry about this stuff until D16 was accepted to pretty good schools with 2 APs, a 3.4 GPA and a couple of Cs on her transcript.
He has ADHD and he is just not disciplined enough to take the really tough classes in subjects he has no interest in. I donāt see any reason to force it.