<p>We’ve had no input there. Choate’s curriculum is very prescriptive, and I’ve been told that this is pretty much true at most BS with room for electives only in the later years (senior year really). We’ve only seen ChoatieKid’s schedule after it has been posted online via the parents portal. Kids work with their advisors to craft their curriculum; it’s not a parent-kid thing. The summer before DS left, he took assessment tests online that determined placement level in those first courses all incoming freshman are required to take. Kids move around the first week or two if the assessments did not land them in the right place, but they are all taking a prescribed set of courses. After first term, we weren’t even aware of when schedules were being formed for the next term.</p>
<p>Your BS may be different, but most schools seem to focus on the core areas (math, science, English, language, and a social science or art). Though the level is based on your child’s ability/aptitude, you don’t get to pick and choose among those “shiny” electives in the catalog. Our kiddo has been dying to take a particular course, but won’t be able to fit it in until late junior or senior year. Kids can opt for a sixth course, but it has to be approved and is not generally advised, especially in the first year or if your child plays a competitive sport.</p>
<p>Perhaps other parents can comment on how it works at their BS if different.</p>
<p>Fair point, Choatie. But I can still look at the courses and think about which ones I’d take if I were him when he’s older! And even for 9th grade, there will be a little bit of choosing, as he’ll have some decisions to make about which level of math, science, and language to go into (based on some advanced classes that he’s taken already).</p>
<p>soxmom, I’m with you on wishing I could take all those interesting classes and do it all over again. I’d be there in a heartbeat! :)</p>
<p>Our son was ready for pre-calc prior to entering BS (had the grades, courses, and tested at that level via the summer pre-assessment), but Choate strongly suggested he repeat algebra II because they preferred him to have taken their version of it as the best prep for continuing on to their upper level courses. DS was very annoyed, and the math dept. agreed that if he really wanted to press it, he could start at the higher level. He was glad he didn’t for two reasons: 1) the teaching method was so different from what he’d known, he was glad to be able to adjust while not under so much pressure and 2) it was the one class freshman year that he didn’t have to work too hard at. It gave him breathing room for other classes, other adjustments.</p>
<p>You and your child’s BS will know what’s best for your son. I’m continually amazed at how well they play this game and know my kid. If I’m giving any advice, it’s just to know that your DS is in good hands and that you can trust the process.</p>
<p>Thanks, ChoatieMom, that’s good advice. One the one hand, you want to see your kids move ahead in their studies as expeditiously as reasonable possible, but on the other hand, there’s something to be said for putting them in a position to know they’re going to succeed. Trick is just to find that balance so that they’re not bored, but still able to do well.</p>
<p>What ChoatieMom says about the math at Choate sounds similar to how they handled the languages at SPS. If a kid entering as a freshman doesn’t have fluency and/or a perfect grasp of the grammar in a language (based on the placement test), they put them in one of 3 levels of “first year” (at least for the popular languages like Spanish and French). I think they just want to even things out and make sure that kids are going into the higher-level classes with a known quantity of preparation. My D has felt that her language class is not very challenging given the amount of preparation she had, but I still feel like this approach makes sense.</p>
<p>One of the (many) things I really like about Hotchkiss was that they seem to put a lot of effort into making sure kids end up in the right level class. So when the kids do their placement tests in May for math and languages, the school tells you what class they think the kid should go into. But they also give feedback on what the kids weren’t strong on, and if a kid is close to the line of being able to place into a higher level class, they’ll identify for you what they need to work on. While there’s no pressure to do that, kids can choose to work on those particular aspects over the summer and then do the placement test again at the end of the summer to get placed into the higher level. I wouldn’t ever force my kid to do this, but I could see at least suggesting to him that it’s worth a little extra work over the summer if he could end up being a class that he’d find more interesting and challenging.</p>
<p>OK… so I have been thinking a lot about balance lately, especially as it relates to contact with the school. How can I stay involved from far away, and yet maintain an appropriate (non-helicopter) amount of contact? I realize we expect the kids to self-advocate, and to learn to be independent, but at the same time, they are our KIDS and are 13-14 when they go away. I am , however, assuming there will be times we are asked by the kids for advice an/or help with issues (whether they be social or academic in nature). So, has anyone found the “perfect” balance about staying involved? About keeping up with what is going on? Or is it really school-dependent?</p>