Welcome @MoHeron !!! You sound like you are getting your ducks in a row!
@mom23travelers what a great story and how validating for you and your S. I adore teachers that āgetā my kids, even if they donāt give easy grades just because they like them.
I hate group projects with a passion. I understand that the purpose is to foster team building and work well with others in a group . That said, then set the project up for success. DS19 is having to complete a group project in which the group has to perform a "modernized "skit from Oedipus Rex complete with costumes or masks, a script and playbill. They were supposed to have 3 days to work on the project as a group in class. That dropped to two days when the teacher decided to do a review for the test on one of the days. There was a late comer to the group in Fri which has caused a major shift in the skit which had to be rewritten. The group was given the option to perform live or video the skit. They now have to video the skit because the latecomer will not be at school on the day that they are scheduled to present . They were supposed to video at 1:00 today , but once again the plans have had to shift because of one group member. It is very frustrating. 2 of the group members are A students and trying very hard to get a good grade , while 2 others arenāt even doing the bare minimum. I canāt wait for this whole thing to be done. 
@carolinamom2boys You hit a hot button topic for me! Those group projects send me over the edge when they require work outside the classroom. Our S19 had to do a modernized film version of some act of Romeo and Juliet. His partners werenāt even in his section in school (same class but different periods) and the kids found it impossible to meet outside school even given two weeks. One plays travel soccer and was gone one entire weekend. The other plays waterpolo and was out the other weekend at a local tournament but for 10 hours each day. Our son had track after school each day. I nearly lost my mind on that project as they threw it together at 8:00 at night two days before it was due. It got a decent grade but the stress of it was ridiculous and affected all of his other studies for those two weeks.
Exactly @homerdog . He has quite a few other projects and tests that he needs to be working on and studying for. Iām getting ready to take him over to one of the studentās house now . Ugh!
@carolinamom2boys weāve had many a disastrous group project exactly along those lines. I canāt stand them. By in large they seem to decrease as the kids get older but UGH!
VERY relieved to see the first set of grades in for Honors chem. Aās across the board so far in all classes.
We had our Open House at school tonight. All of his teachers were very complimentary . Heās doing well in all of
his classes. We met the infamous AP World teacher . He was extremely complimentary , especially regarding his writing which was a shock. So was his current English teacher. Heās very motivated and excited this year. I see a real change from last year .
Due to the nature of the subject I teach (at the college level), a few of my classes have required group projects. Iāve learned by sad experience to always include a survey of group members afterward to gauge who was a proper contributor and who was a free rider, and adjust the grades each one gets accordingly.
My main issue with group projects is the logistics of coordinating a group of young adults outside the school setting . If more time was allowed in the classroom , it wouldnāt as much of a nightmare and would be easier to determine who was doing the work .
S19 told me yesterday that he thinks we made a mistake focusing on honors science instead of honors history. He still loves honors math (currently in Pre Calc H) but isnāt finding AP Comp Sci or Chem H very interesting. We had to pass on AP Euro in order for him to fit AP Comp Sci and his friends are all loving AP Euro to his dismay. I told him that we can learn something even from mistakes. If we find out that comp sci and science arenāt his āthingsā when heās 15 years old, thatās better than figuring it out when heās 20.
We can go back to honors history next year and take APUSH. He can back off science a bit and take Earth Science H next year and save the dreaded AP Physics for senior year. Or, who knows, not take Physics at all and take AP Environmental Science if he ends up liking Earth Science. Does anyone out there think that not taking Physics will matter to selective schools if he doesnāt intend to major in a science?
Itās so interesting to watch him get older and see him have opinions on subjects. Iāve been reading How to Raise an Adult by the Stanford freshman dean and she even allowed her high school son drop Spanish since he hated it and it was taking up time that he wanted to spend on his other subjects. Knowing that colleges want to see at least three years of language, she still let him drop.
@carolinamom2boys and @dfbdfb I agree about the logistics issue, with kids schedulesā¦figuring times to do live group project work (versus digitally working together remotely) is nightmarish at best.
Last year S19 had such a project for Honors Bio. Which happened to fall during the middle of a school band trip to IRELAND! I have interesting pictures of S19 and a classmate trying to work on this at Dulles during layover. Not to mention the logistics of packing the project supplies needed. Suffice to say, the end project was a bit āwrinkledā to say the least.
@homerdog it is interesting to watch perspectives and interests change, sometimes by the minute. S19 told me yesterday he was really interested in econ as a major (in addition to screenwriting lol) and wanted to know what kind of jobs he could get with that degree. This was followed by him informing me that if he gets a job this summer he wants to open and IRA and can he do that at our credit union.
LOL!
I too am interested to hear what people say about skipping physics, @homerdog. My D19 skipped history freshman year and science this year, so she can double up on languages and still take art. Looking ahead, history progression looks like it wonāt be a problem but it she might be stuck with sophomore physics when sheās a senior, which may feel awkward. Other option is environmental science. Going to check in with GC at some point on this.
@Momofmrb I will ask our GC this year too. S19 would still end up with four years math, four years science, four years French, four years English, and three years of social studies plus two years of art including AP studio art (and seven other APs in the rest of his classes). Boy, that seems like it should be enough for any college even if heās missing Physics. All four of his science classes will end up honors or AP. They just maybe wonāt include physics. Something tells me it will matter much less since he wonāt be applying as an engineering major anywhere.
@homerdog For us, itās just that physics seems like something everyone should take in HS. So Iād hate for her to miss it. I donāt know if Iām being silly or not. Sheāll end up with 4 English, 4 Math, 3 History, 3 Science. Plus a lot of language and art! Iām not terribly worried about the number of classes since she is hyper-interested in languages and art. Iām just an old fogie and feel like every HS student should take Calc and Physics if possible. 
Of course, it all depends on the individual circumstances. My physics teacher senior year of high school was in his last year before retirement, and he had already ceased caring. It shouldnāt have surprised me, then, when I nearly flunked first-semester physics at a college that assumed a rigorous science background for its incoming students. I still think Iādāve been better off curled up with a textbook on the subject than being stuck in that class, where the only things I actually learned were (a) thereās a non-linear relationship between the size of a capacitor and how long it takes it to explode when itās hooked up to a regular electrical outlet, and (b) when you have the choice in a chess game, an enfilade is usually better than a fork.
I think it depends on the child, what they want to study and where they apply. My SS11 did not take physics and did just fine. However, he was not a STEM major.
S17 is skipping Chemistry (but did take Physics) and will be applying as a STEM major, (though arguably STEM light, Environmental Science/Studies) and we will see if it is a factor or not, he will have 4 years of science and 1 honors, and 2 at the AP level, His GC at the time of registration didnāt seem to think it would be an issue at all.
I didnāt take Physics and did just fine
Glad to hear about your SS11 (and you) @eandesmom. Maybe then we donāt worry too much about it, since the focus here is humanities. Appreciate your response.
@Momofmrb S11 was a music technology major (business minor) and I was Poli Sci, if that helps at all. For a humanities major I wouldnāt be worried about it as long as they take science all 4 years and the rigor is decent.
Iāve only see it be a potential issue at 2 schools we have looked at over the 4 kids. You can look at individual school requirements. Usually it will be called out as a lab science requirement versus Physics specifically but occasionally they get specific. By way of example, the University of Vermont requires Physics and Chem specifically in HS for admittance as an Engineering major. However for admission to the school itself, non engineering specific, it only requires three years of a natural or physical science, including a laboratory science.
Many schools may only ārequireā 3 years of science but all 4 is always a far safer bet!
If, come spring registration time you are starting to have an inkling of schools you can look up their specific requirements.
@eandesmom Well, D19 is only going to finish 3 of science and 3 of history (and 4/4 math/English). We did look into some colleges we think sheāll apply to (based on those interests), and decided that since she strongly felt she wanted to take two languages as long as she could (while keeping art all 4 years), and since she is looking to study the same in college, weād let her go for it. Our thinking was that while an AO may look more favorably upon someone who did finish 4/4 science/history than our girl, maybe another would give her points for taking the extra language. Weāll find out in a few years.
@Momofmrb If you are applying for art programs, especially ones that require a portfolio I would think you reasoning is very sound., especially if she is taking higher level classes (AP etc) in those areas. Iād make sure to start collecting as many items as you can now so you have lots to pull from for a portfolio. Typically (at least itās my understanding) that art, music and theater applicants often have a very separate process and admission/application/audition process and AOās will be looking for different kinds of rigor.