<p>OP, I sent you a PM.</p>
<p>A gap year might be helpful. We did not consider a gap year for our stuggling daughter for a few reasons. I’ll list them, in case it get ideas flowing for other families. </p>
<p>1) I had read that 90% of students that take a gap year never really go to college. But looking back, that stat probably included lots of kids that were not serious college material. </p>
<p>2) She would have been dropped from our health coverage. With newer laws, that is usually not a concern.</p>
<p>3) We thought she’d benefit from independence and a new social setting. And she did! Alas, she was unable to overcome academics / organization issues. </p>
<p>4) Gap years work best when there is a “plan” for how to use the time (and maybe even keep up some of the academic skills). A job could work, but it is hard for an uninspired teen to land a job.</p>
<p>Parents feel DS13 would benefit more from continuity and daily structure of school academic obligations than from a “gap year” for work experience. (Read elsewhere that “gap year” disruption can result in academic proficiency losses for many students, particularly in math-related subject-work). </p>
<p>Foreign travel-based gap year plan unlikely for both financial reasons as well as maturity issues previously noted. HS guidance counselor pre-emptively nixed its own foreign travel trip for DS, citing concerns about DS’ “anxiety”, which further perplexed parents.</p>
<p>Thank you CountingDown for PM too.</p>