@3scoutsmom I was all shock and awed, then it was over so quickly! It was like watching the trailer for Fight Club (my fav movie).
Actually, I hope for the best for Ethan. He could have a tough time, but is obviously an accomplished kid. Oh, to be a fly on the wall…,
My DD’20 wasn’t so interested in maintaining high stats in middle school, her reason is those don’t count. She was not doing so well in 7th grade (don’t do her homework), but after my nagging, she improved her 8th grade by doing homework and getting most As and couple Bs, she even get an award for most improved (presidential academic award) from Obama. How funny, she said, she ends up with 3.4, improve by at least .5 to a full point. I didn’t pay too much attention on my DD’20 because she is the type of kids who will only do certain things if she “feels like” or she "thinks it proves a point ". I shared before that she is interested in playing basketball for college, so she will rather focus on her ball skills then study. I told her colleges will also look at the grade, the higher grade you have, the more colleges available for her to play and the lesser competition! Many top players don’t have time to focus on their academic achievements, so if she has both, she will be valuable. I think she somehow believed me and told me she will work hard. She is now setting goals for the next 4 years and tell me to trust her. Her next year schedule has:
English I Honor
Math 2 plus Honor (common core for Algebra 2 Honor, highest for Math, most Freshman starts with Math 1.)
Chinese 2 Honor
Biology Honor
PE- Athletes (basketball varsity)
We are not early birds so we will not be taken any zero period class which starts at 6:45am (my DD’18 HS zero period starts at 6:30!)
She needs her sleep to grow tall for basketball!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, interesting your HS allows you DD to take physics! Both my daughters school don’t allow freshman to take any science classes other than Biology, 10th grade will be Chemistry; 11th grade either AP Bio or AP Chem or Physics, and can only take AP physics in senior year if you have Physics and completed AP Cal AB in 11th grade and received at least a B for both.
Hi all, newbie here! DS20 is my oldest and so this will be new to me. Look forward to getting to know all of you. DS20’s high school science department follows P-C-B curriculum so that means physics 9th, chemistry 10th, biology 11th. I think most American high schools follow B-C-P curriculum but for some reason ours is P-C-B.
@jjkmom We homeschool, so my kids can take whatever subjects they want whenever they have the necessary skill set.
Fwiw, I am not sure why biology is taught first. Most bio classes today are biochem oriented. Physics helps to understand chem and chem is vital to understanding biochem. For kids who have already taken alg, there really is no reason to not take an alg based physics.
This Dd thinks she wants to study meteorology. If so, she will need to take a lot of physics, her older brother plans on being a physicist, so I have been down this path before. He was just way ahead of her.
S’20 will be going to a magnet HS instead of the local HS. Magnet will be all honor and above class with more emphasis on science and technology. So each year there will be an extra science component and a tech component added into the schedule. He will be doing following in freshmen year,
World literature
World history
Spanish 2
Biology
Math analysis
Science component
Tech component
Health and fitness
At our high school you can pretty much take whatever you want as long as you have the required prerequisites. Most Freshman take bio because there are no prerequisites.
Geometry is a pre req for physical sciences (Chem & Physics) at our school so most kids take Bio first. Alg 2 is a suggested pre-req for Physics so most kids do:
9th Geo & Bio
10th Alg2 & Chem
11th Pre Calc & Physics
12h Calc & Whatever you want (Physics 2 AP, Chem AP, Bio AP (if not taken as an extra class earlier) etc.)
Although lacking algebra 2 is a problem for some kids, our school and many in the area here do physics, biology, chemistry; and for math, geometry, algebra 2, precalc.
Welcome @jinhui! We are all learning from each other, but there are many parents with older DC who always being so helpful to share their experiences! I love CC group so much, those parents are amazing!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, nice that homeschool kids can take whatever and whenever they want, your explanation makes perfect sense but how come our school district is so strict with B-C-P curriculum? There are gaps between Biology and AP Bio, Chem and AP Chem, and they need to even get a waiver if they want to do 2 science classes in one year. In California, we now following common core which is not helping advancing math either.
Welcome @whataboutcollege! Sounds like your DS HS is following the B-C-P science curriculum but very interesting that school add Science and Technology components, what does that mean and what skills will he learn? Just curious…
It is a pretty lame excuse that kids need alg 2 for alg-based physics. A quick review of simple trig concepts is all that is necessary.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek your dd might look into joining the American Meteorological Society (www.ametsoc.org) student membership is very cheap and they have some great publications. My D16 will be a meteorology major at OU in the Fall and really enjoyed the AMS publications while she was in high school. They also offer a two year freshman/sophomore scholarship that your dd might keep in mind:-)
@3scoutmom Thanks for the info! She would love that. (We are not field trip people, but I am taking her to the NWS in Aug and she is beside herself!)
The tour of the NWS is amazing! When in August? We’ll be in Norman late afternoon of the 17th through the morning of the 20th. If our paths cross, maybe meet up at the Flying Cow for coffee? (http://www.ou.edu/nwc/visit/flying_cow.html)
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Yay! Another homeschooler. My S16 went to public school, and S20 is using a public funded charter where we get funding to choose our own Curriculum and enrichment. This year we get $3200 to use for homeschooling! I may ask you for advice from time to time. We only started homeschooling last year when I yanked him from public school. What a difference it made.
@3scoutsmom That would have been fun, but that is not the NWS location we are visiting. 
@LKnomad Sure. Ask away. I have been homeschooling a long time. Our oldest is a chemE and a dad of 3. My 2020 D is our 6th high schooler, so we have been through this a few times now.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’m not supporting nor challenging the public school pre reqs, just stating what they are in our district.
@jjkmom There are pretty long descriptions for S20’s Tech and Science extra components. So I will try to summarize. The tech piece is to introduce students to computer architecture for both hardware and software then to an advanced level software programs or applications covering operating system, internet browser, word processor, spreadsheets, desktop publishing and note taking. CADD is also introduced and used for freehand sketching etc. The science component is an interdisciplinary class. It will introduce core concepts of physics, chemistry and use of mathematic models and techniques. Students will also do an independent research project as part of the class. They sounds pretty interesting. My D17 decided against going to Magnet, so this will be our first time experiencing what this HS has to offer.
Perhaps @demonsamurai has a very low EFC (expected financial contribution) and therefore Ethan would qualify for loads of need-based aid at those top tier schools. It is possible! But still, I see no reason not to recommend he also have three of four solid matches (or at least over 25% acceptance rate) known for generous National Merit Scholarships. I have personally known two top notch students end up at their safety when none of their lottery schools came through. If they had applied to a few mid-tier schools they would at least have had a choice.
The school districts are pretty rigid about enforcing their rules once they have been placed. Some counselors waive or sign off some of the prereqs and allow students to take the subjects they want but most of the counselors try to follow the rules as written.
Physics is one subject which does not seem to have good teachers and so it does take maturity on students’ part to self study or get outside help if they start out in 9th grade and get stuck with a bad teacher. Most kds are better off waiting until 11th for AP physics unless their school has good physics teachers and they can get into their classes.