@SoccaMomma i agree with you on the GC…it’s next to impossible for our students to even get an Appt with their GC, let alone parents for 2.5 hours!!! We also rely on upperclassmen or other parents for advice lol.
On my S23 Twins is applying to a summer STEM camp at the US Naval Academy, I wish his twin would do it too, would my life so much easier logistically lol. It’s the first week of June, and my S21 will be away at a summer program as well in our state;!I’m trying to figure out how to handle the travel logistics of delivering one kid to Maryland and one kid to Austin in the same week, possibly the same day!!
No vacay plans yet, my husband is an FO with United Airlines so we’ll probably sneak in a last minute standby getaway somewhere. This summer is going to be dedicated to S21 working on his college essays, wrapping up testing and starting his apps…Apply Texas opens up July 1!!
@Graphitemovermom - Thanks for the update! It is great to have that type of productive conversation with the person who will likely write your daughter’s most impactful recommendation. It’s great to know they are on the ball!
@Momof3B Best of luck to your S23 with admission to the USNA summer STEM program! My D23 wanted to apply to that so badly but the dates fall while she’s still in school. ? Ah good old New York dragging the school year out to the bitter end of June…
So great to have such a long meeting with the GC! Our kids do have an annual “academic planning” meeting with their GC and additional meeting as juniors re: more college planning but the parents are not involved in those meetings. My S21 has a 504 plan because of ADHD but doesn’t really need anything in it anymore. I mainly find it useful because it does give me one long meeting each year with the GC and a teacher.
Still finalizing summer plans for D23. S21 will work again as a camp counselor for the whole summer, except for 1 week family vacation – we’re doing a vacation house with my siblings and parents in CA. D23 will do 2 weeks of sleepaway camp, along with her 2 BFFs. WIll be a bit bittersweet as this is the last year she can be a camper and she’s been going since she was 9. She wants to volunteer for a week or two in July at a local nature camp that she’s gone to for years and just emailed the director about that last week. Then she’ll spend all of August in Marching Band camp.
My S23 is going to meet with his GC today. He has a 504 in place for ADD with executive functioning issues. We had a meeting last Fall and all was well, but now he’s carrying Cs in his core classes (English, World Geography (!!!) and Spanish 3) because of missing work. He is having trouble retaining what he’s supposed to complete AND also missing the cues for what is important vs not important. They are not allowed to use phones in classes (he used to snap pics of white board and also plug in alarms for assignments) so he’s at a loss for what to do (writing it down doesn’t work for him - I have no idea why but I am hoping the GC helps him work this out). I have asked him to talk to teachers, but he would rather talk to the GC. It’s so frustrating - I am sitting on my hands with mouth taped shut because I truly want him to figure this out on his own - he has to learn his path and stand on his own two feet. However, I have expressed to him that if he fails at handling himself, I will have to step in…
@JaceyK just wanted to say that I understand. My S21 has similar challenges. Freshman year he needed a lot of support. Sophomore year was better…he had made a lot of progress with study skills and organizational skills…still needed some support, but things seemed to be headed in a good direction. Junior year I thought was going well even with APUSH on his plate…then I found out he was having similar issues to what your S23 is facing - I think the APUSH workload threw him off the trajectory of progress he had been on and has needed support again. It’s a tricky balance to figure out how to help him learn the skills and coping mechanisms needed while still getting through everything in the available time (he has slow processing speed as well, and that definitely has a big impact). It can be a bit demoralizing - smart kid, works so hard, cares a lot, has interesting insights and makes wonderful interdisciplinary connections but is held back so much by the learning challenges…the struggle he faces in comparison to D23 is incredible…but looking back and comparing to freshman year, it is also easy to see so much growth.
I guess one of the biggest advantages of D23 staying at her current high school is that it’s small enough that a meeting with the GC for that long is possible. GC never looked at the clock (my daughter did because she missed half a class and was missing lunch, so GC told her she could have her lunch as we talked and if she needed to buy lunch she could go get it and come back.) Having that kind of personal attention might be worth staying.
@JESmom@JaceyK My S20 also had learning challenges. He was diagnosed with ADHD at age 4 and was recommended for preschool disabled. But, due to an amazing preschool teacher and a lot of consistent learning at home (I hired her to evaluate home situations weekly over the summer before entering Kindergarten), he was mainstreamed by 1st grade. He had a 504 plan. All worked well until the middle school years. Fifth through seventh grades were tough. Everything always came easy for him before then because he was a sponge. But those middle school courses were a lot harder, so he had to learn study habits and writing things down and remembering to look at his agenda. Fortunately for us, the teachers are all required now to put all assignments on Google Classroom, and many allow for assignments to be submitted through Google, too. He has an alarm set to remind him to look at Google every day to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything. But there are still F’s from late or missing homework occasionally. It will always be a struggle for him. But there is progress. He has taken AP and Honors classes, and though they tend to be the hardest classes for him, he hasn’t shied from them and he gets at least a B from those courses. Most of his 504 accommodations have been removed, except for extended time for standardized testing because his brain gets fried from focusing for a long time without a break. This past year was extremely challenging for him because he had to take art classes to put together an art portfolio (he decided in summer of 2018 that he wanted to go to art school), work on his Eagle Scout rank, and apply to college. There was a lot of “budgeting” with his time. Marching band and Scouts were his only two extracurricular activities, beyond a couple of art clubs at school because that was about all he could handle on his plate, but he’s been doing those for many years, so I think colleges forgives the lack of multiple ECs.
He did not get any extra long meetings with GC at his school for his 504, though. He is a class of 150 and they meet with GC annually for about 15 minutes for class scheduling, and in Junior year, I asked to meet with GC for about 20 min to discuss his sudden college plans for art schools, however, she was not as knowledgeable in that field.
I am applying my knowledge and experience from S20 to D23, but like @nichols51 , my D23 is so different and incredibly self-sufficient academically that I have to remind myself to stop hovering. LOL
Update from upthread: My D23 was recommended for AP World History (as are about half the students in the advanced 9th grade social studies track—which is a semester of state studies, a semester of ancient civ—and a much lower percentage of those in the regular track). She’s still not entirely convinced she’s up for it—the imposter syndrome is strong with this one?—but she’s willing to believe the judgment of her teachers for now.
I also just had contact with my D23’s guidance counselor, about our upcoming IEP meeting and the math track for the next few years, which was freaking me out. D23 is having a very tough time with algebra 1. I had her IEP and middle school all sewn up, but the high school is big and new and hard to understand. Lots of new people to navigate. She needs less in the way of modifications now, but I think choosing the right classes/course level is more important, and stressful because I am not so confident now that I know what the right thing to do is…drop down a level and get an A? Stay where she is and get C’s? This kid is not going to be an engineer, but she is going to have to get through Algebra 2.
Other than algebra, it’s been a pretty good year! She has a nice group of friends. Field Hockey in the beginning of the year was a good way to meet people. She joined the ski club, and seems to have made some friends in her classes that are new to me. Summer plans so far include a 3 night field field hockey camp at a local college, and will hopefully go off for two weeks to her regular camp in the Catskills. She’s waitlisted now, we signed up late - and maybe being a mother’s helper a few days a week for the family she’s been babysitting for all year.
My oldest has a LD in math so he did algebra, geometry, then tech math. We let him tap out at his required 3 years of math for graduation and allowed him his own path which was to a tech school with a dorm 3 hours from home.
My S23 summer plans include 2 summer school classes, weightlifting 4 days a week, football camps, and a week of marching band camp. He wants to take a few guitar and voice lessons as well. And we wants to get a job.
The kids do week on week off with their dad in summer so our family time is limited as my work schedule is not flexible at all. We are hoping to get some time up at the family lake cabin at least.
@Lennon not sure if this perspective is at all helpful but just in case…For my kids in terms of math, what I generally think is that it’s better for my kid to understand things well. My kids aren’t going to be engineers either, so it’s not as if I’m trying to get them through multivariable calculus in high school…so I think a little less about showing as much rigor for them in math (if they’re continually struggling, that is) and more about them actually getting the concepts. I think we all use algebra in our regular lives (often without realizing we’re doing so), and Algebra I is the foundation for so much other math that they do have to get through even if they’re not going to be engineers… so I tend to think it’s important to get Algebra 1 down pretty well. If the C is indicative of a general unease with the content, maybe it’s possible for her to get enough extra help to solidify the concepts? It sounds as if your D has found some friends and activities that work well for her and is adjusting well in terms of the overall transition to high school!
Is Covid-19 impacting any of your kid’s schools or EC? Yesterday one twin found out that All State Band scheduled to start Thursday afternoon was canceled. Today the school system canceled all out of state field trips which means no chance of regionals or nationals for FIRST robotics, no National Econ Challenge. Middle school bands always finish the year at Hershey Park and every other year HS bands go to Disney, it was not our year.
I’m conflicted, I feel really bad for all the kids and won’t be surprised if more things are shut down. However, having a husband with all sorts of medical issues I am very grateful for anything that can be done to slow down Covid-19. Wishing everyone good health.
No cancellations as of yet but we have minimal cases in our state. I do know some healthcare facilities here have discussed canceling health care students to reduce exposure to both students and patients. However nobody has canceled anything yet.
No cancellations in our district. Our marching band is still scheduled to leave for Disney World this Friday for Spring Break Trip. I believe our choir is going to Disney as well the same time.
…so yea. I am now 1000% A-OK with my average stat kids…they are brilliant in my eyes and I know they will flourish and excel wherever they end up…even if it’s at the public state college that’s 18 minutes up the highway from our house
Yep. S23 has already had events canceled. The jazz bands in our district all pulled out of the UHN Jazz Festival, which is a favorite. (We are in a neighboring state.) NE FIRST robotics canceled all events in the state though March, and will reevaluate on a week-by-week basis. They’re not sure what will happen with the NE District Championship.
I feel worse for D20. She won regionals and placed in the top 3 in the state for her DECA category this year. She was headed to TN for Nationals late April/early May, but the school has canceled the trip for now. She has been in DECA throughout high school and was so excited to finally place top 3 in States and make it to Nationals. She is crushed because this was her last chance to go before graduating.
My oldest is at tech school and is doing great. However, this next kid has such lofty goals for himself and keeps talking about very selective majors and such that I worry. I know he will do fine eventually and there’s many kids who will have less options.
All 3 of my kids are so different in regards to academics and life goals. This kid is more of my “reach for the Stars but prepare for rejections” kid.
My S23 twins are higher stats then their S21 brother, so I get the parenting differently part. But even with the twins, I’m taking a step back now and am letting them guide their own paths. If they decide to be big fishes in little ponds and not pursue the reaches I’ll be okay with that.
However, having 3 kids in college at the same time, with the twins it’s all going to be about chasing merit aid (both in state and OOS) and they know that!!!
S19 has LD and IEP since age 3 so I was thrilled with tech school choice!
S23 is talking engineering or music, maybe music production or business. Of course I’m his biggest fan but he isn’t quite Broadway material. His grades aren’t stellar so no scholarships there. TE could be a possibility but who knows where his grades will end up. He won’t get financial aid based on mine and ex’s salaries.
As this kid has the most options, he’s going to be the hardest to guide and will deal with the biggest disappointments I think. Time will tell where he chooses to put in more effort.
