@dfbdfb you should check out Artofproblemsolving for python classes. It’s not free but reasonable price for a structured class that will make sure she gets the theory behind the coding. Also as an IT person I’d recommend Java after python instead of C.
@2boysmom84 AoPS could also benefit your child. Even just the problem solving community area (free).
My son’s school is opening 2 days late due to construction so he’s won’t start till Thursday. His sister D17 doesn’t go back until next Saturday so they get more time together.
@flyawayx2 I wish the HS in our area still had gymnastics, as I think she would have went that route if available. We talked track also, but she doesn’t like any type of distance running either. My understating is that HS gymnastics is no where near as competitive and time consuming as the club. As a Level 8 this year she was looking at ~28hrs a week of practice during the school year.
Jumping into this thread. I’m currently grinding through the application process with our S20. Our S23 started his freshman year a couple of weeks ago. He’s a three sport athlete (baseball, ice hockey and tennis) with baseball being one where he has a strong possibility of being a recruited athlete. Our HS doesn’t allow 9th graders to enroll in AP, however they do have quite a few AP offerings.
He currently doesn’t have a interest in STEM, but he is very strong in math and science…UGH!! Who knows what he wants to do, and I’m not pushing it too much right now. We have talked about aeronautical school, as commercial pilot does align with many of his interests. Luckily we have one of the top programs in state!!
I’ll be lurking around and contributing when appropriate.
First H.S. dance after the football game this Friday . . . should be interesting!
S23 finally started school today. It was delayed an extra 3 days due to construction.
Just got an email from our DS’23 counselor saying that mid-term grades are coming in a couple of weeks and that we (parents) should talk to our student and check the parent web page for progress in the classroom - do your students’ schools put classroom assignments and grades up on a webpage for parents? I have never looked at it. We ask our kid how things are going and he answers . . . usually. Is this on-line access for parents pretty common now?
@glido our school district uses Canvas…parents can “pair” to their kids Canvas account and see every single assignment/lesson plan, due dates and grades as they are entered. We also have Skyward which is for grades/progress reports/report cards and all school communication basically.
I’d say it’s pretty common now. I have my online access to my kids grades set up to where I’m notified if they have any missing assignments or there grade falls below a certain threshold I’ve set
I’m a 2023 parent! Excited that my daughter is finally in high school. I have no idea what the next four years at the large, public high school will bring. She is playing field hockey and pre-season started almost a month before school. I thought it was great that she was able to meet a lot of new people and I think it made the first day of school a little less intimidating. Right now she is a solid student with no honors/AP classes. She is dyslexic and has an IEP. She gets A’s and B’s in all of her classes, works hard, has GREAT organizational skills and drive. That will either serve her really well in high school or everything will fall apart. @glido - we have an app called powerschool that the district made available in middle school. I don’t check it every day but it is useful, especially around midterm and finals. We’ve used it mostly to make sure that grades are accurate and updated, that any missing home works were real-have had some instances where the work was done and the grade was just not entered. It’s been a good tool for daughter to use as she learns to advocate for herself.
@glido, our school district uses “Q Parent Connection”, which is a platform sold by Aequitas Solutions. It does show assignments and such, but only after they’re graded—no way to see what’s coming up.
(It’s also an incredibly smooth-looking but actually clunky and unintuitive interface. I’m not a fan.)
We have a parent portal called SchoolTool that’s specific to NYS schools. We also can only see stuff once it’s been graded.
@glido our school system uses INOW for parents and students to log in and check grades (it also shows current ‘unofficial’ transcript, fees owed, attendance) and they encourage parents to check it often so no big surprises on Report Card day. I like it and the kids do too… they check their grades OFTEN!! It is their responsibility to question their teacher if a grade is wrong or missing. If fact most teachers (for 7-12th) will not discuss a grade with parents until the student asks about it - trying to encourage them to take charge of and be involved in their education.
@glido our school uses PowerSchool for both parents and students. Grades are up to date, but the assignments are only as good as the information teacher are putting in.
Zoiks, I haven’t been here in a while since we run a seasonal summer business so it’s my crazy time which is just starting to wind down now.
D23 began last week and so far so good! We just had “back to school night” where the parents get to walk their kid’s schedule and meet all the teachers in their various rooms and get an overview of each course. We had the same 4 minutes the kids have to to get from one room to the next (a couple of the transitions were a little challenging haha) but we only sat with the teachers for 10 minutes instead of a whole class. I was quite pleased with all D23’s teachers. A couple were ones I remembered D17 having what seems like six shockingly short years ago, but most were new to me.
Her favorite teacher so far is her coding (Python) teacher, which is great, because he’s also the mentor for the girls technology club which D23 is looking forward to joining. Once they start tackling stuff with Raspberry Pi, I fear for my small home appliances. :lol:
@stencils we have SchoolTool for our parent portal as well. I’m more likely to check in on the portal that lets me see what D23 is ordering from the cafeteria for lunch to make sure she’s not just eating junk!
One week in for S23, he’s TIRED! He’s in all honors classes, 2 with all sophomores (geometry, French 2) and one mixed class (freshman - senior) video game design and still says its easy. Doubt that will last 2 long. We also have a parent portal to check grades, etc but I don’t hover and only check very occasionally. He’s also a member of jv x country and making new friends. All good so far!
Hello! I haven’t posted on here for a while but my D23 is doing great. We finally resolved the issue with Algebra - the school allowed her to complete two modules of the online class this summer in the areas where she fell short on the placement exam. This has allowed her to bypass Algebra I Honors and we are SO glad because that teacher assigns gobs and gobs of homework, way beyond what is reasonable or standard for other honors classes. Her friends in there are struggling.
Instead, D23 has a great schedule. We are on modified block so she currently has Honors English, Civics and Econ, Band, Chorus, Spanish II and Health. She’s finishing up an online PE class as well. In the spring she will swap English and Civics for Honors Geometry and Honors Earth Science, and Health will change to Intro to Theatre.
She’s had a great first few weeks - she ran for Class Council and won a seat as Class Rep. They are now busy building a float for the Homecoming parade. She also tried out for the fall musical and she was one of two freshmen cast in a role plus she made dance corps so she was beyond excited for that. She’s at the HS now getting ready for the band’s first halftime performance tonight so we will head to that soon.
So glad we got the math issue resolved. I also have an S27 and we will handle everything VERY differently for him in order to avoid this whole mess again. It really messed with my D’s confidence in her math abilities which is beyond frustrating for me.
To respond to a query upthread - our district uses PowerSchool beginning in Middle School. My D23 and I review it together. She’s a good student but often has issues remembering to turn things in so we check frequently for missing assignments
Wow - some of y’all got on early! My S23 is the youngest of my 3 kids. My older two are in college now so I have been through the wringer and then some. My oldest, D17, is a junior (by major hours)/senior (by total hours) at Texas A&M College Station. My middle, S19, is a freshman at Texas A&M Corpus Christi - he hopes to transfer to College Station campus Fall 2020 (that is so weird to type that out). Anyway, my youngest son is completely different from his siblings so it should be an interesting ride. My older two have ambitions towards medicine whereas S23 wants to be an engineer. However, we are already off to a bumpy start with missing assignments and such (he is ADD and has executive functioning issues). We are trying HARD to let him be and figure things out for himself but I am still monitoring grades and giving him nudges (pushes in some cases). He KNOWS how much establishing a good foundation NOW means…and I know he really does care. This week, he has lost phone privileges after school (one less distraction) so he only gets his phone for school (which he needs to take pictures of assignments and for the alarm (he had an apple watch that he already lost so not going there again)). ANYWAY, he is taking all pre-AP classes in Biology, English, Algebra 2, Spanish 3, and Geography - his remaining classes are Track and Band. He hopes to drop Spanish 3 and take something more geared towards his STEM discipline.
Anyhow, we met with a college planning/career readiness adviser last week for a preliminary rundown on what he offers. Needless to say, it’s out of our budget to use him. After going through this with my older two, I really feel like I know so much more now BUT guess what? I may know what my son needs to do, but it still rests solely on his shoulders. I hate that for him but it’s true. I remember when I was in HS (over 30 years ago groan), college was the furthest thing from my mind until spring of my senior year. Add to this stress, the knowledge of how much it costs now! My husband and I help where we can but we cannot foot the bill for all 3 kids. Going to stop rambling - I hope to be apart of this group for the next 4 years - praying for insights and prayers!! 
Welcome, JaceyK! My kids are the same ages as yours, plus a D25—it may be interesting to compare notes down the line on how things have changed over the 6 years between our first and third children.
OK I’m just curious… how many of you on here have used a paid-for College Counselor (outside of the school - not your Guidance Counselor (GC)? We didn’t use one for D18 (currently college sophomore) and she had really good success IMO with acceptances; so I didn’t even second guess just doing the same (our own research and such), but is that a thing? We are small southern town (but not rural, more resort, suburban) public school with IB Program offered (S23 is participating in pre-IB classes, you start ‘real’ IB as a Jr; D18 graduated and got the diploma) and and several AP classes offered so an A+ school as far as curriculum offered. I just haven’t considered using a College Counselor since all the info is just available on the internet. Am I missing something?
@ASKMother - we did not use one for our first three. Part of the issue is cost, plus I think we have learned enough from CC and experience - we know enough to figure it out.