DS21 finished the school year last Thursday. He has a week off until orientation for the 3-year program he will be in at our natural history museum. I’m looking forward to learning more about that.
He got a B+ in AP Physics 1, A- in math, and the rest As. We feel like he worked hard and that was good for him. @yearstogo his teachers also failed to enter things that he had to contact them about. At least they get self-advocacy practice.
We are off to Vancouver to visit his granddad in the one open week he has.
DS17 has finals this week and starts a summer research program next week. So, he won’t be home between those.
So glad our kiddos are doing well. D finished in the top 1% of her freshman class. So proud of her. She is a nose to the grind stone type of kid. And most importantly she is also starting to socially branch out…still with baby steps…But she actually got SnapChat…That is H U G E for her…
@BingeWatcher Congrats to your daughter! That’s wonderful.
Regarding Snapchat - my two have been asking me to allow them to have it, but they already have Instagram. Any qualms about Snapchat, or am I being a fuddyduddy? Kids these days with social media…it’s a whole new world (and I am feeling very old).
@JanieWalker, Truthfully I am ignorant of social media apps. But her Academic competition class made a group account to keep each other in the loop when they were out town at competitions. It kinda branched from there. The thing is…D’s very small friend group are fellow introvert academically focused kids like her self. She has showed me her friend list but I am myself do not follow it. I don’t know what snapchat is or instagram or any other of them except fb. She has no interest in insta or fb.
@BingeWatcher I see. I appreciate how social media keeps friends together even when apart, and I see the great value in using social media for that purpose. As homeschoolers with friends in multiple states who do not get to see each other every day, my two kids keep in touch with many of their friends over Skype, Instagram, texting, etc. I definitely see the value in this kind of thing. I am just not sure where I should be regarding putting limits on apps. Tough to navigate this world I myself did not grow up in. Anyway, glad this is a positive thing for your daughter and that she is doing so well.
Be a little careful with SnapChat. My understanding is the messages can only be read for a short time and they then automatically delete. There are many horror stories of sexting, etc.
Hi,
I agree with @yearstogo , snapchat is linked to too many sexting stories… probably a good opportunity to talk about online safety…and remind the kids that nothing is private on the internet…behave as if everyone can see what you do…as one day they willl.
My D21 has snap chat and manages it well, but it comes with risk and trust. She’s had 3 different boys request she send ‘inappropriate pictures’. She A, trusts me and tells me B) slaps them down. This is 100% the truth. I let her keep it because I trust her. S18, just got snap this month because many if not all the kids on his colleges student page are using it to communicate. He hates it! Also, as an aside, the snaps don’t have to disappear, they can be screen shooted or saved. Tell your kids this and make sure they are aware!
S19 is going into senior year, so we’re almost done with this college craziness! I have the following books on college admission that I no longer need, free to a good home. PM me and let me know if you are interested in any of them. Good luck with the next 3 years!
A is for Admission by Michele A. Hernandez
Admission Matters 2nd Edition by Springer, Reider, Franck
The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg
The New Rules of College Admissions by Stephen Kramer and Michael London
What Colleges Don’t Tell You by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross
I’m thrilled to have found this thread! My friends tease me for thinking about college so early and I’m happy to be part of a group of like-minded parents on CC.
I read through several pages of this thread and I’m a bit concerned about D’s course load in comparison to what others are posting. My D goes to a small private school with a limited selection of courses. Honors courses are only offered in math and students have to be recommended by their teacher or test in. Junior and senior years are exclusively IB. There are no AP classes offered. Languages offered are Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
Next year (10th Grade) D will take:
Literary Analysis
American History
Algebra II Honors
Bio,Chem,Physics & Labs
Visual Art
Latin II (Independent study)
AP Psychology (Independent study)
*She will write AP exams for Psychology and APUSH at the end of 10th Grade.
Unfortunately my D will graduate with 2 years of Latin and 2 years of IB French even though I know it’s preferable to take 4 years of one language.
I’d appreciate any feedback on my D’s course load along with suggestions for Independent study.
Like several others have posted, my D also has ADHD. In addition, she has a less common form of dyslexia that affects retrieval. She’s “twice exceptional” in that she has a high IQ along with learning disability. My D has had extensive coaching for executive function deficits; I’m delighted to report that she’s now an extremely organized student.
My D21 is academically focused, she’s a bit on the quiet side socially but she’s an active participant in the classroom. She readily speaks up to defend the underdog or to comment on any injustice. She’s preppy, down-to-earth, and a bit of a social justice warrior. EC’s are a capella, photography, Model U.N., ASL and advocacy for the deaf.
Well, I think that’s it for my introduction! I look forward to getting to know the rest of you on this thread.
My D is experiencing some anxiety. She wishes she had some friends to do things with but she has trouble making friends. And she and the 2 friends she has are in different cities, countries, camps at different times. I don’t know she just really seems out of sorts and I just seem to make things worse. It seems what ever I say is the wrong thing… I feel helpless…I think she feels scared about the 3 week away camp that is coming up in 2 weeks. It takes her such a long time to make friends. I hope she does not hide away in her dorm room.
@BingeWatcher does she have to go to camp? Our kids are pretty social but have never wanted to go to camp. As S19 has gotten older, he’s a little more open to going to classes, etc, where he doesn’t know anyone. He took two week-long classes this summer where he commuted into the city by train each day and didn’t know a soul. But he was ready now and wasn’t last year. We decided to not push him before he was comfortable. I think most kids get there and making them go away earlier than they are ready could backfire.
@GoldPenn welcome! I think your D’s schedule looks great! I don’t know anything about self studying for APs but I will say that, even our S19 who took AP tests after very rigorous AP classes at school, thought the tests were challenging. We don’t have scores yet. According to our school’s profile, most kids get 4s and 5s.
As for D21’s schedule.
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
AP Euro
French 3 honors
English 2honors
Chemistry
Creative Writing
PE
@homerdog, this camp is not a camp I wanted for her. This is a camp she BEGGED and BEGGED for. It is a Debate camp at UT Austin. She wants to go but she is nervous. No she does not have to go at all. I have told her again and again that we can cancel, but she insist she wants to go.
Yea! Got to check her APHG score while she is sound asleep. She made a 5! She studied very hard it and she thought she would make a 5. So proud of this hard working girl!
Just found out that DS21 made 5s on Calc BC, Physics 1 and Comp Sci A!!!
He really needed to do well as he is applying to a residential boarding school, for 11th/12th grades, which has a heavy weighting on grades and unfortunately he blew off his last assignment in AP Comp Sci A and received a low B for the class. His grade was a very high A going into the assignment and he thought he would only drop to a mid to low A…The B will hurt his application for sure, but hopefully his AP scores and other computer science awards will at least get him the benefit of a second look.
BingeWatcher - after she returns, please let us know how debate camp went. My S21 will be going to debate camp this year, and I’m looking for a debate camp for him for next summer. What kind of debate does you D21 do?
Congrats to the children of @yearstogo and @BingeWatcher for their great AP results. At D’s school, AP starts in sophomore year so I’ll be where you sit a year from now.
It is called CX which stands for “Cross Examination” The camp is CX/Policy Skills Intensive ---- UTNIF (University of Texas National Institute in Forensics)
I will let you know how it goes! Hope your S learns alot and enjoys his camp too!
