Parents of the Class of 2019

[Gumbo4x4]

A decent number of my kids' friends waited to get their licenses because their parents did not want to pay the additional insurance costs.

We let ours decide for themselves. Our second son got his on his birthday (15 for permit, 16 for license). Our oldest got his 2 days before starting a daily commute into the city when he started college. Our daughter gives me a daily update on how many days before she can get her permit.

The price of that insurance is the price of freedom - not the child's freedom, OURS! LOL

 

[Colleen27]

A decent number of my kids' friends waited to get their licenses because their parents did not want to pay the additional insurance costs.

That's the big thing here too. And a lot of parents simply can't absorb the increase (we've been warned to expect $5000+/yr just for legal minimum liability ins. once DS starts driving - it is already almost $2000/yr for DH & I, two middle aged folks with clean records) so the kids get a choice - get your license and a job to pay for the costs or wait until you actually need to be driving to get a license. There aren't many jobs for teens around here and the few that do exist don't tend to be very accommodating of sports/dances/school functions because there's so much competition to get hired, so a lot of kids don't see driving as worth the trade-offs that come with working to pay for insurance & gas. Especially kids like mine who live in town, within easy biking distance of pretty much everything they do.

 

[Kenny1113]

Joining! DS started HS this week. He is in swimming and water polo. The swimming season has already started. He also enjoys theater. So between swimming practice, water polo practice and lessons for theater, this week has been rough!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

That's the big thing here too. And a lot of parents simply can't absorb the increase (we've been warned to expect $5000+/yr just for legal minimum liability ins. once DS starts driving - it is already almost $2000/yr for DH & I, two middle aged folks with clean records) so the kids get a choice - get your license and a job to pay for the costs or wait until you actually need to be driving to get a license. There aren't many jobs for teens around here and the few that do exist don't tend to be very accommodating of sports/dances/school functions because there's so much competition to get hired, so a lot of kids don't see driving as worth the trade-offs that come with working to pay for insurance & gas. Especially kids like mine who live in town, within easy biking distance of pretty much everything they do.

We have intentionally kept an older car here that doesn't get driven much for the express purpose of insuring one of the kids. We carry liability only. Adding our second son at age 16 with good student discount and safe driver program at State Farm he was only $22/month extra. Any time we consider selling that car we have to factor in the cost of what it will run to put him on a new car with full coverage.

When our older son finally got his license right before starting college (as a commuter student) I did second guess letting him wait (cost was not our issue, it was his hesitation to get behind the wheel). I really wished then that we had pushed him to get the license earlier so he had more experience behind the wheel before starting that daily commute.

 

[deedeetoo]

I guess I will also join this thread. My youngest will be starting high school next week. He's been going to soccer tryouts this week. Hopefully he'll make the team. They had 30 boys trying out for the freshman soccer team this year.

Drivers license in MA is permit at 16, license at 16.5. Then you can only drive family for 6 months after that. Dd17 who is going to be a senior just finished the 6 month wait so now she can drive friends. Just in time for senior year.

 

[Colleen27]

We have intentionally kept an older car here that doesn't get driven much for the express purpose of insuring one of the kids. We carry liability only. Adding our second son at age 16 with good student discount and safe driver program at State Farm he was only $22/month extra. Any time we consider selling that car we have to factor in the cost of what it will run to put him on a new car with full coverage.

When our older son finally got his license right before starting college (as a commuter student) I did second guess letting him wait (cost was not our issue, it was his hesitation to get behind the wheel). I really wished then that we had pushed him to get the license earlier so he had more experience behind the wheel before starting that daily commute.

I'm jealous. We only have older cars (2004 minivan & 2001 pickup) and carry liability only. Our rates are still ridiculous. Michigan is one of the worst states in the country for insurance and since companies are allowed to "redline" by zip code living in a lower income/blue collar community guarantees absurd rates. It is an evil cycle - low income areas have higher uninsured rates, so rates go up for those of us who have insurance, so more people drop their insurance because they can't afford it, so the uninsured rate goes up, so insurance rates go up, and on and on.

I am a bit nervous about the fact that DS won't start driving until 18, not all that long before he starts commuting to college, but it is what it is. At first I wouldn't let him take drivers ed until he got his grades up, then he just wasn't interested. Now I'm sort of forcing the issue so that he does have drivers ed and some practice time before turning 18 and having no restrictions at all, but it still won't give him a lot of time before the wheel before college.

I doubt I'll have the same issue with DD. She'll be going away to college and probably won't have a car on campus but she's chomping at the bit to start drivers' ed. She won't be old enough for another 8 months and then she'll have to wait until it fits into her schedule, though, so it'll probably be this time next year before she's actually taking the class.

 

[dotfurio]

I wish marching band counted as PE here.

With all the required courses for the college path (along with band) she's going to have to take 2 classes over summer school. I've been asking around co-workers and friends and from other parents I've talked to around here it's pretty much the norm I guess. All her friends took summer school this last summer, but DD didn't because we were at Disneyland She'll be taking PE next summer, and probably health the summer after that, but that's only 3 weeks. Foreign language isn't an elective at her school, it's required for graduation. Plus all the usual core classes. It's crazy, we looked over all the required courses and it's impossible to do it all without summer school when you're in band ( or really any 4 year elective).

I remember when I was in high school I had band plus other electives and still only had to go half time my senior year to meet graduation requirements. Sigh.

 

[mjkacmom]

I wish marching band counted as PE here.

With all the required courses for the college path (along with band) she's going to have to take 2 classes over summer school. I've been asking around co-workers and friends and from other parents I've talked to around here it's pretty much the norm I guess. All her friends took summer school this last summer, but DD didn't because we were at Disneyland She'll be taking PE next summer, and probably health the summer after that, but that's only 3 weeks. Foreign language isn't an elective at her school, it's required for graduation. Plus all the usual core classes. It's crazy, we looked over all the required courses and it's impossible to do it all without summer school when you're in band ( or really any 4 year elective).

I remember when I was in high school I had band plus other electives and still only had to go half time my senior year to meet graduation requirements. Sigh.

Our state requires four years of PE, and school sports do not count. I believe they are required to start taking a foreign language in 7th grade. Colleges want to see at least 2 years of a HS foreign language anyway. Dd19 and ds17 have 4 years of HS Spanish.

 

[mom2rtk]

A lot of kids around here take summer school too. Most will take PE as one of their classes to get it over with. Our kids have never done summer school and I don't push them too. We like to take a family vacation in early June anyway. She's playing on the tennis team so her days are very long right now. I'm glad she had summer to just chill out.

The down side is that since her friends aren't taking PE now, she doesn't know anyone she's in class with. She said she's fine with the trade-off though.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We've gone to an 8 period day to squeeze it all in.

 

[deedeetoo]

Our schools have 7 periods. I'm not aware of anyone going to summer school here other than those who needed it because they failed something. It is possible to meet requirements without it though there is virtually no flexibility for kids who do music. My DD is is in orchestra and didn't get her first elective until junior year. Here kids are required to take one semester of gym every year with no exceptions. Being on a sports team doesn't get you out of it.

 

[mom2rtk]

We've gone to an 8 period day to squeeze it all in.

We have too. But one of those hours is for this academy system they are starting that I am not fond of. They have taken time off each of her other classes (including core classes) to carve out this additional hour. She was all excited to come home yesterday and tell me they got to listen to music on their phones the entire hour in freshman academy. (Not while they were doing something else either).

So how much do you suppose an almost 15 year old would hate her mom if she were to call up and complain about them not working hard enough in class?

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm jealous. We only have older cars (2004 minivan & 2001 pickup) and carry liability only. Our rates are still ridiculous. Michigan is one of the worst states in the country for insurance and since companies are allowed to "redline" by zip code living in a lower income/blue collar community guarantees absurd rates. It is an evil cycle - low income areas have higher uninsured rates, so rates go up for those of us who have insurance, so more people drop their insurance because they can't afford it, so the uninsured rate goes up, so insurance rates go up, and on and on.

I am a bit nervous about the fact that DS won't start driving until 18, not all that long before he starts commuting to college, but it is what it is. At first I wouldn't let him take drivers ed until he got his grades up, then he just wasn't interested. Now I'm sort of forcing the issue so that he does have drivers ed and some practice time before turning 18 and having no restrictions at all, but it still won't give him a lot of time before the wheel before college.

I doubt I'll have the same issue with DD. She'll be going away to college and probably won't have a car on campus but she's chomping at the bit to start drivers' ed. She won't be old enough for another 8 months and then she'll have to wait until it fits into her schedule, though, so it'll probably be this time next year before she's actually taking the class.

Sounds like you have some crazy high rates. Not sure if it matters, but our "old" car is even older, as in 1986. It's an old convertible Mustang my MIL bought nearly new back in the day. It's well past the point of being worth anything, but they like to take it out every now and then and toodle about town. It's just a nice bonus that it also allows us to insure at least one kid inexpensively.

While it was stressful having our oldest wait so long to start driving, and I advise against it if possible, we did all survive it. He graduated in May.

 

[stsomewhere]

We hosted the first Freshmen float party a few nights ago. My daughter's best guy friend was told by the school that he was in charge of the float since he was voted Most Likely to be Class president at the 8th grade mock election. He is not really interested it ,so my daughter is helping him out. He only wanted to invite about 10 kids. They got into a huge fight about needing to invite the entire class. There will be an announcement at school but my daughter wanted to get started planning it. She posted on facebook. She is friends with about 75% of the class. My daughter is really outgoing and everyone knows her.

The theme for Homecoming is The Wizard of Oz. My daughter thought it would be great to have a bonfire and watch the movie for some ideas. We had about 25 kids over. It was great. They arrived in groups of 2 or 3 kids that hung out together. It was sort of awkward at first since they did not know each other. But, by the end of the evening , they left as friends.They wanted to see my daughter twirl fire: which lead to a baton lesson for everyone. ( she owns about 12 batons), She said it was a great ice breaker. the cheerleaders were showing people how to stunt, people were showing off other skills and dancing and singing. They were all sitting around the fire talking , singing, play a game and having a great time.They did not watch the movie but did talk about some ideas.

They had such a great time. We are having another float party here on Wed. There are probably going to be more people here. The first party was only two day notice. There were was an away varsity game that night and kids were at band camp.

My daughter informed me that she is probably going to take over being responsible for the float and it will be built here. Plus, we have the fun house.

 

[deedeetoo]

Schools are so different. Here homecoming is nothing. There is a dance but most kids don't go. They are thinking about canceling it all together. But you guys are building floats! And there was another thread about buying homecoming dresses as if it were an event like a prom! Here it's jeans and t-shirts.

I'm also wondering about the sizes of everyone's school. How can your DD know 75% of the class? My kids go to a regional high school so multiple towns feed into it. There are about 400 kids per class and we are the smallest town feeding in. I'm just hoping that when classes start DS knows at least a couple kids in each class.

 

[mom2rtk]

@Colleen27, My understanding when your DD goes away to school without a car is that you can notify your insurance company and they can lower the rate on her. Since our son (the other one who is away) was so cheap already, we didn't even bother with it.

Schools are so different. Here homecoming is nothing. There is a dance but most kids don't go. They are thinking about canceling it all together. But you guys are building floats! And there was another thread about buying homecoming dresses as if it were an event like a prom! Here it's jeans and t-shirts.

I'm also wondering about the sizes of everyone's school. How can your DD know 75% of the class? My kids go to a regional high school so multiple towns feed into it. There are about 400 kids per class and we are the smallest town feeding in. I'm just hoping that when classes start DS knows at least a couple kids in each class.

We have 3 high schools in town. The one my DD attends has about 1700 students. By the time she graduates her class size will likely be down in the low 300's. They have a lot of drop-outs.

 

[jen73]

we are the smallest of 7 high schools here in the Dallas suburbs and our particular class has roughly 525. We have a HUGE class in my opinion. I thought for sure with us being at the smallest hs, we'd have less and we only had one middle school feeding into our hs, a second ms opened just last week.

Our homecoming is mid Oct and already twin B is wanting to do something special in order to ask his gf. Twin A is having friends help him find a date. Girls will wear dresses, boys khakis and dress shirts, maybe a tie. We have a neighborhood pep rally the week of and the dance is in one of our gyms. In 9th grade, the norm is to have a date.

 

[stsomewhere]

My daughters grade is about 400 people. A lot of people know her. But, if you ask her, she does not know everyone. Everyone friends her on facebook. She is high profile.

She decided to switch to our local public school in the middle of 7th grade from a charter school.( she knew all 400 people in the school. only 50 in her grade there) In 8th grade, she was the feature twirler for the middle school. The only one in the history of the middle school and high school. Plus,She got the lead in the spring musical musical.Again-another first.

Homecoming is a big deal here. My daughter got her dress a few weeks ago. She does not know who she is going to go with. She talked about just going with her best friends. My son said that she will not have a problem getting a date because a lot of high school guys want to date her. The problem is that she will probably not want to date them. She is very particular about what kind of guy she likes. My kids joke that she will end up going to homecoming with my son's best friend. Because she likes him a s a person and he is fun to hang around.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

IIRC, there are about 250 kids in DD's class. The largest HS in the area (where I went) is about 350 per class now (275-300 when I was there).

 

[bjscheel]

DD14 has her homecoming dress already. It is the Cinderella one from Hot Topic. She is concerned about a date because she feels like most of her friends will have one. There is a boy who is just kind of in their group she might go with, or just on her own.

There are 70 in her grade and they are a big class. Most of the grades here have 50 kids.