High School Class of 2016/College Class 2020

[MomofKatie]

DD's school does block scheduling, so she has 4 classes each semester. Her freshman schedule:

Fall-
Honors English 1
PE
Latin 1
Webpage Design

Spring-
Computer Programming
Honors American History
Honors Geometry
Honors Biology

Fall semester will ease her into HS, then spring will be the killer! She is also going out for the school soccer team in the spring- she will be busy the second half of the year.

 

[indimom]

My oldest (DD) started High School two weeks ago. It was an interesting beginning. She was nervous and distracted when we arrived at the high school for freshman orientation and proceeded to slam the car door on her thumb and broke it (finally lost the nail this week, boy is it pretty). Then, one day before school started she came down with poison ivy ON HER FACE! You could almost see the hand-shaped print where she must have spread the oils from her hand to her cheek and neck. She had a little mroe on her nose and forehead. I think she took care of any shyness/embarassment all on the first day. Luckily, it's a lot better now.

DD's school also has what they call block scheduling, but it's seven classes. They just have longer periods on T/Th and W/F. They go to all the classes on M. She's not a huge fan. She says its harder to keep track of her homework even with writing it down. And she doesn't like that the "boring" classes are so long.

Other than that, all is well. She realized pretty quickly that it's not much different than middle school, even though she has some older students in some of her classes.

 

[Goofy'slady]

We attended my DD's freshmen orientation last night and it was a huge turn out. There was lots of info packed into the evening about everything from classes to team sports and organizations. They administraion played games with the audience and gave a way prizes and all. My daughter was even able to catch up with friends she hadn't seen over the summer. It was a fun evening. Her official first day is this coming Monday the 27th.

 

[hereyago]

Dd13 received her postcard invitation for freshman orientation today, also I received a hi new high schooler parent and student welcome to our school with a lst of sports and another list of clubs and organizations. Then I should be gettting my postcard for the parent orientation. Hope all of our 9th graders have a successful year!

 

[RunningGirl]

My oldest (DD) started High School two weeks ago. It was an interesting beginning. She was nervous and distracted when we arrived at the high school for freshman orientation and proceeded to slam the car door on her thumb and broke it (finally lost the nail this week, boy is it pretty). Then, one day before school started she came down with poison ivy ON HER FACE! You could almost see the hand-shaped print where she must have spread the oils from her hand to her cheek and neck. She had a little mroe on her nose and forehead. I think she took care of any shyness/embarassment all on the first day. Luckily, it's a lot better now.

DD's school also has what they call block scheduling, but it's seven classes. They just have longer periods on T/Th and W/F. They go to all the classes on M. She's not a huge fan. She says its harder to keep track of her homework even with writing it down. And she doesn't like that the "boring" classes are so long.

Other than that, all is well. She realized pretty quickly that it's not much different than middle school, even though she has some older students in some of her classes.

Poor thing!

DS starts HS Monday. We went today and walked his schedule, so he's feeling pretty comfortable. He made varsity soccer which has been a big boost for him in feeling like he belongs.

We also have block scheduling with 4 classes per semester. The drawback I saw with DD was when she had an AP class in the fall as AP exams are in May.

Good luck to all the freshies!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

My DD just finished her first week of HS today. So far so good I guess. She seems to like her classes and everything. We just ended what was a good week with a little bit of drama, which I could do without, but that's what you get sometimes. Plus she has poison oak on her legs and we have no idea how she got it. Poor baby had a rough day.

I am hoping next week will be even better. We have our first football game so it wil be fun to watch her cheer for HS for the first time. .

I have to tell you though, I got a little choked up on Monday when I dropped her off. I have already had one to graduate so I know how fast it goes by. I plan to slow down and enjoy every minute.

 

[tasha99]

DS14 finished his second week today. So far so good--he is seeming much more responsible. He started taking ADD medicine, and it has definitely made a difference. He's going to votech high school, and so far it seems great. It's much smaller than the regular schools and all the kids there had to apply (application, essay, and interview). I don't think they were super selective--I think most kids who turned their applications in on the first day of the application window got in--but all the kids there wanted to go badly enough to jump through a few hoops. He has to wear a tie on Wednesdays, which is kind of hilarious since he spends most of his time in grungy sweats and t-shirts.

 

[luvsJack]

My oldest (DD) started High School two weeks ago. It was an interesting beginning. She was nervous and distracted when we arrived at the high school for freshman orientation and proceeded to slam the car door on her thumb and broke it (finally lost the nail this week, boy is it pretty). Then, one day before school started she came down with poison ivy ON HER FACE! You could almost see the hand-shaped print where she must have spread the oils from her hand to her cheek and neck. She had a little mroe on her nose and forehead. I think she took care of any shyness/embarassment all on the first day. Luckily, it's a lot better now.

DD's school also has what they call block scheduling, but it's seven classes. They just have longer periods on T/Th and W/F. They go to all the classes on M. She's not a huge fan. She says its harder to keep track of her homework even with writing it down. And she doesn't like that the "boring" classes are so long.

Other than that, all is well. She realized pretty quickly that it's not much different than middle school, even though she has some older students in some of her classes.

When older ds started the block schedule they did had some classes on MWF and some on TT, for whatever reason, they decided that didn't work and went back to a traditional schedule by the time younger ds got there. So, I was worried when I first figured out dd would have a block schedule. It just really made it tough if they missed for some reason or if they got behind at all.

But now its 4 classes a semester and she is loving it! She is already seeing that it gives her so much more study time for her classes.

 

[punkin]

1st day of school today. DD13 was so nervous and excited she hardly slept last night. She also couldn't eat breakfast. I hope everything goes well.

 

[HannaBelle]

DS14 finished his second week today. So far so good--he is seeming much more responsible. He started taking ADD medicine, and it has definitely made a difference. He's going to votech high school, and so far it seems great. It's much smaller than the regular schools and all the kids there had to apply (application, essay, and interview). I don't think they were super selective--I think most kids who turned their applications in on the first day of the application window got in--but all the kids there wanted to go badly enough to jump through a few hoops. He has to wear a tie on Wednesdays, which is kind of hilarious since he spends most of his time in grungy sweats and t-shirts.

Sounds very cool! I love that he has to wear a tie. I get so tired of cargo shorts, t-shirts and flip flops at my house!

Today was the 1st day for DD14. She looked so grown-up, it is breaking my heart. She is my headstrong one and I loved her to death, but she might actually cause me to have a mental breakdown.

She wanted to try sock curls in her hair overnight, of course she did not want to practice this last week so we could perfect it BEFORE the 1st day of school. Silly mom, what does she know about a bad hair day?

They did not turn out 100% perfect, but a couple touch ups with the curling iron and she was good to go. We used some of DS19's athletic socks and they were just too bulky. Her hair is super think and they were not 100% dry this am either. I hope she wants to try it again and we might just use some old t-shirt strips.

I am very anxious about her 1st day. She does not have classes with any of her close friends and she was sure she was going to get lost looking for her classes! ehehe

 

[punkin]

Well, despite orientation going well when they tried out the schedule, guidance managed to screw up DD's class schedule today anyway. DD went to complain and they admitted it was their fault, BUT now she missed English today AND she has to go tomorrow to guidance again before classes start to make sure everything is fine.

 

[MomofKatie]

DD came home from her first day upset and already wanting to drop a class. She is in Latin I with only 3 other freshmen and no real friends. Her year older ex boyfriend from 7th grade is in the class, as well as his older brother and older brother's girlfriend. DD thinks they don't like her (don't know if this is true or not), so is really uncomfortable with the idea of having to speak in class in front of them. She also says the class seems hard.

I would be OK with her switching classes (after another day or 2 of seeing how everything goes), with the understanding that she will need to take the class eventually. DH, however, is adamant she not "be a quitter".

I think the real problem is that 2 of her best friends switched out of classes they were assigned but weren't thrilled with and got into really fun electives like Theater and Art. Katie asked to get in Art, but got Latin and Software Development instead. She saw how easy it was for others to get exactly what they wanted by complaining, and wants us to let her do the same.

High school drama is going to kill me...

 

[jetskigrl]

Well, we just got back from registration. Everything looks good with DD's schedule and we only had one minor mishap, they gave her the wrong book for biology. Luckily she was comparing schedules with her friend and realized that he had a different book than she did even though they were in the same class.

We got it swapped for the right one, so one less thing for her to have to deal with on the first day. She also has a locker pretty close to her BFF, which is good since that is the lockers they will have for the next 4 years.

Now she has orientation tomorrow and then starts a week from Thursday.
I'm officially the Mom of a high school student now

 

[punkin]

So how do you deal with a child who is the polar opposite of her sister? DD13 came home with a grade of "B" on a re-takeable quiz (barely below an "A"). I asked if she was going to take it over and she said "Why? It's a good grade." Her sister would have been studying like crazy just to raise it that one or two points. I am not sure if I should make her re-take it. It is not a parenting issue I've ever had to deal with.

 

[HannaBelle]

So how do you deal with a child who is the polar opposite of her sister? DD13 came home with a grade of "B" on a re-takeable quiz (barely below an "A"). I asked if she was going to take it over and she said "Why? It's a good grade." Her sister would have been studying like crazy just to raise it that one or two points. I am not sure if I should make her re-take it. It is not a parenting issue I've ever had to deal with.

We are pretty "Nazi-ish" at our house and if it is not a 96 or better, they must take advantage of the retake. DH and I are both middle children and literally skated through school under our parents radar. We did not live up to our full potential academically and are now pushing our kids to do better. Their job in life is to do well in school.

 

[Pikester]

Hi! Mom of a Freshman who has been in school for about a week now. Seems to be going well for him so far. In one of his classes there are only two freshman so it should be interesting. He also decided to join Cross Country and this is the first school related sport that he has done. Class schedule was chosen last year at the end of the school year and no orientation. Our high school and middle school are in the same building so the kids pretty much know where everything is.

 

[jetskigrl]

So how do you deal with a child who is the polar opposite of her sister? DD13 came home with a grade of "B" on a re-takeable quiz (barely below an "A"). I asked if she was going to take it over and she said "Why? It's a good grade." Her sister would have been studying like crazy just to raise it that one or two points. I am not sure if I should make her re-take it. It is not a parenting issue I've ever had to deal with.

For me, it would depend on which kid it was as to how much I pushed them. DD is very smart and with a minimum amount of effort can get 100% on a test. If it was her, I would push her to retake the test. I also remind her that every point counts and retaking that test could be the difference between an A and a B at the end of the term (if she doesn't do as well on another test). But she is also on the lazy side so she needs a little pushing.
Case in point, 8th grade Algebra. She worked hard for her A's all year. But the last quarter, she had a couple of lower grades. Then when it came time for the final (2-part, 2-day final), she decided not to study. She ended up getting her only B for the entire year because of it. So having extra points earlier in the quarter could have helped her.

My DS on the other hand is academically challenged. It takes twice as much effort for him to study as it did my DD (at that time). So if he came home with a B on a re-takeable test, I would leave the decision up to him (how much other work needs to be done in the same time, etc). I would not let him take study time away from other subjects to retake that particular test. But if he had the time, I would still encourage him for the same reason as my DD...it is extra points that may be the difference between grades at the end of the term.

 

[luvsJack]

So how do you deal with a child who is the polar opposite of her sister? DD13 came home with a grade of "B" on a re-takeable quiz (barely below an "A"). I asked if she was going to take it over and she said "Why? It's a good grade." Her sister would have been studying like crazy just to raise it that one or two points. I am not sure if I should make her re-take it. It is not a parenting issue I've ever had to deal with.

All three of my kids have been very different in something like this.

With dd, I tend to leave it up to her. She makes good grades and knows what she has to do to keep those grades up to the expected level.

I tend not to be too concerned over individual test/assignment grades; just the end product with progress report and then report cards.

 

[tasha99]

So how do you deal with a child who is the polar opposite of her sister? DD13 came home with a grade of "B" on a re-takeable quiz (barely below an "A"). I asked if she was going to take it over and she said "Why? It's a good grade." Her sister would have been studying like crazy just to raise it that one or two points. I am not sure if I should make her re-take it. It is not a parenting issue I've ever had to deal with.

That's a tough one, because on the one hand, she could improve her grade. On the other hand, kudos to her sense of balance and not sweating the small stuff.

 

[punkin]

Thank you for your opinions. DD13 is extremely bright but academically uninterested (classic under-achiever). I think I am leaning towards letting her make her own mistakes. I will recommend she re-take but won't force the issue.