I promised DD that if she kept her grades up, she didn’t have to do any summer school /Khan Acadamy/ Math Tutoring…Nothing. It’ll be the first summer for this. We’re going on a pretty swanky family holiday in June (France, Italy, Switzerland) and summer practice (7am - 5pm) for the dance team starts July 28 through the whole of August.
She’s super excited about the idea of having the summer to herself for the first time. She seems burnt out already from the school year - partially due to ongoing health issues that have raised their ugly heads again. She can easily spend 4 weeks playing Minecraft until 2 am…
Sounds like a great trip (and summer too), @2019hope. Please share some details with us!
This summer, my D19 has a special trip planned with her dad, visiting London and Ireland for a full month. My husband got his MFA at Trinity in Dublin and also lived in London for a time so they will stay with friends for part of it and airBnB the rest. So she had no “activities” as such except trying to see all the theater they can afford. She may be able to squeeze in drivers ed at the end of the summer but she’s young for her grade so there is no urgency. (Oh, and he’s a teacher so although it’s a financial stretch, he has the time off and we are making it happen!)
Freshman year has been a bit of a slog for her so I’m thrilled that she gets to do this.
With my D16 working full time+ this summer, that will leave me time for mom’s “boot camp” of healthy eating and gardening extravaganza, fit in around work!
Only big plan for my D19 is to sign her up for on-line driver’s ed. Only thing I’m worried about is that she will need to submit a Verification of Enrollment and Attendance, to prove she’s going to school. Problem is, I don’t know if her school will sign it. She’s moving schools, so hopefully her new school will sign it based on her transcript.
Other than that, her big plans are her move and her sports camp/tryout for the volleyball team. Oh, and one last tournament for her current club team, but only because it is in Vegas. She took summer school last year, but we aren’t going to do that this year. We thought she’d get a head start by getting English out of the way in the summer and fill her freshman year with electives.But the result was that her freshman year was way too easy for her. And the other downside is that her sophomore and junior years will be more difficult because she won’t be taking any electives at all. Though her senior year should be a bit of a break for her.
S19 was invited to attend a summer pre-professional dance intensive - 6 weeks I think - out of state. S19 told me a couple of weeks ago that someone was coming to his school to teach a master class and audition students for the program. He was so sick that day, but went to school anyway. He didn’t think he had a shot. It was certainly a nice ego boost that he was invited! Unfortunately, his summer plans are already locked up. Next summer he’ll audition for SI’s and hopefully he’ll get a scholarship!
Just attended Freshman Awards Day. So proud of DS19. He received a certificate for “Distinguished Honors” given to students with a GPA of 4.0-4.499. Quite an honor given our rocky start in Geometry and English this year.
I need to find something for my son19 to do over the summer in addition to him spending endless hours playing soccer and video games. I tried to sign him up for an engineering class/camp at WPI but it was sold out.
He likes engineering stuff, not just robotics. He’s too young to work, he’s still 14 until August. He says he just wants to work out,run, play soccer and have fun. Big goal is to make varsity soccer at the end of summer. I am somewhat tempted to let him just have some fun and relax one more summer, he works really hard all year long- very little downtime between sports/robotics.
I’m in the minority , but I see nothing wrong with letting him have a summer to focus on making the varsity soccer team. The next few years will be stressful and hard enough , give him one more summer. That being said, it’s truly a personal decision .
^^^
I kind of agree. I think it’s good for the kids to have some downtime to just do kids stuff. I wouldn’t mind finding something for him to do to use his brain “once in a awhile” during the summer. Maybe some sort of online learning thing or something. No pressure to get a grade, just learn something. Last summer he studied to be a soccer ref, that was good. Now he has a job of some sort, but no ref jobs in the summer unfortunately.
Maybe summer reading? Do you have a local science center near you? Sometimes they have short sessions. Volunteer at day camp or soccer camp?
@Undercovermom1 and @carolinamom2boys what great news for your kids! Congratulations
@RightCoaster since he has the soccer, and not just video games, for me personally I wouldn’t sweat it. Let him be a kid and enjoy summer. If there is something that comes up and seems to fit, spark his interest then go for it but there is nothing worse than forcing an educational opportunity on a kid that just wants some time off.
He will be doing more than my S is scheduled for at the moment which is just running club and one 50 miler hike. He is busy building his own PC and trying to start a radio station. I’d love more in there (as there is a lot of gaming too) but I know there will be some AP summer work and right now…that’s enough.
Seeing what faces him summer after junior year essay and other prep wise…I say enjoy this time.
Thanks @eandesmom . I worry about him sometimes because his brother who graduates this year is a high achiever and I know that can be hard on a kid. He’s very easy going which is a blessing and a curse at times .
@carolinamom2boys 4.0-4.99 sounds pretty high achieving to me! I can only hope my S19 gets his act together with the missing assignments as his GPA is killing me. He is capable of a 4.0.
Conference track meet…so proud of D19. She placed 6th in the 3200m in the conference as a freshman. I think only 1 other freshman placed ahead of her.
Congrats @ChicagoSportsFn . Quite an accomplishment .
Congrats @ChicagoSportsFn! I didn’t even know the 3200 was an event until this year! My S had a very different result in that same event. DLF and got lapped. 
And still felt ok about it. I believe there was only one other freshman in the event but still…lapped is not fun and I celebrate the fact that he doesn’t let it get to him and just focuses on improving his time, each time. Which he did. Granted, by maybe 2 seconds but a PR is a PR.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone.
I’m guessing at least some of you are seeing your kid’s finishing up their first year in high school? I know some are done by mid May. Mine goes until mid/late June so we are almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s been a good year, but my D19er does tend towards some anxiety so it will be nice to finish up. I think next school year will be a bit less nerve wracking since she will have a better idea of expectations. Overall, she’s had good experiences in her classes and is mostly happy with the courses and their difficulty level. Except Spanish 2 H which will probably be the yardstick for which all classes that come after will be measured, forever, lol. She still loves tech/math/science but over the year has really grown to appreciate social studies and English as well.
Good luck to all of your kids with finals and end of the year projects and grades!
Looking forward to the end of dealing with a subpar English teacher
we go until late June as well. Still an ugly amount of missing assignments tanking the gpa. I’ve done all I can do in that area. Big Bio Expo is Monday, S is one of 3 freshman on the 20 member team, hopefully he does well. Other than that he’s got a monster honors English essay to write and Algebra 2 EOC exam to study for as official “big” tests. I’m far more concerned with the French 3 final than and him turning in assignments in World History. It’s the easy stuff he drops the ball on, sigh.