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Post by slp on Jan 29, 2009 15:03:05 GMT -6
My oldest is going to be a freshman next year. We have to select his courses in a couple of days. The easy course selections are the main subjects as they have been basically selected/suggested for him by his current teachers at Scullen.
My question to those experienced parents out there who may have some life lessons to share is what do you recommend as electives for a kid who doesn't know what he wants to major in in college let alone be when he grows up but is college bound (he has no choice!). I certainly don't expect a 14 year old to know this info but want to be sure he leaves alot of options open.
I have heard 2 years of a language is a must for college entrance. What else would you suggest and why?
He is going to play freshman football in the fall so it was suggested to me by another parent to only chose 1 elective first semester and a study hall so that he can ease into high school and have time for football practice and get his homework done/started in study hall. Any thoughts on that?
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Post by casey on Jan 29, 2009 15:29:07 GMT -6
My oldest is going to be a freshman next year. We have to select his courses in a couple of days. The easy course selections are the main subjects as they have been basically selected/suggested for him by his current teachers at Scullen. My question to those experienced parents out there who may have some life lessons to share is what do you recommend as electives for a kid who doesn't know what he wants to major in in college let alone be when he grows up but is college bound (he has no choice!). I certainly don't expect a 14 year old to know this info but want to be sure he leaves alot of options open. I have heard 2 years of a language is a must for college entrance. What else would you suggest and why? He is going to play freshman football in the fall so it was suggested to me by another parent to only chose 1 elective first semester and a study hall so that he can ease into high school and have time for football practice and get his homework done/started in study hall. Any thoughts on that? I would definitely have him enroll in foreign language for next year. Most of the better schools require at least 2 years (many 3 years) and you don't want him to come up short. In addition, I would definitely NOT have him waste a period by doing a study hall. I asked my HS kids and they both made the comment that you want to "save" that for senior year so you can get out early. My sophomore's exact words were "that would be the dumbest thing because no one takes study hall so you'd be sitting there by yourself". Please note this is my child's opinion only (not mine as I don't know enough to share). Both kids recommend that your child take business or computers as an elective. That's what mine both did and it's been a good intro to other courses. Also, FWIW, the general rule of thumb is to never take more than 3 honors classes at a time. My child took 2 and it was definitely enough of a challenge. You want your kid to have a little bit of time to be a kid. Hope this helps. |
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Post by doctorwho on Jan 29, 2009 15:37:59 GMT -6
My oldest is going to be a freshman next year. We have to select his courses in a couple of days. The easy course selections are the main subjects as they have been basically selected/suggested for him by his current teachers at Scullen. My question to those experienced parents out there who may have some life lessons to share is what do you recommend as electives for a kid who doesn't know what he wants to major in in college let alone be when he grows up but is college bound (he has no choice!). I certainly don't expect a 14 year old to know this info but want to be sure he leaves alot of options open. I have heard 2 years of a language is a must for college entrance. What else would you suggest and why? He is going to play freshman football in the fall so it was suggested to me by another parent to only chose 1 elective first semester and a study hall so that he can ease into high school and have time for football practice and get his homework done/started in study hall. Any thoughts on that? I would definitely have him enroll in foreign language for next year. Most of the better schools require at least 2 years (many 3 years) and you don't want him to come up short. In addition, I would definitely NOT have him waste a period by doing a study hall. I asked my HS kids and they both made the comment that you want to "save" that for senior year so you can get out early. My sophomore's exact words were "that would be the dumbest thing because no one takes study hall so you'd be sitting there by yourself". Please note this is my child's opinion only (not mine as I don't know enough to share). Both kids recommend that your child take business or computers as an elective. That's what mine both did and it's been a good intro to other courses. Also, FWIW, the general rule of thumb is to never take more than 3 honors classes at a time. My child took 2 and it was definitely enough of a challenge. You want your kid to have a little bit of time to be a kid. Hope this helps. I'm going to agree on both counts -- study hall works for those who actually use it- depends on your child-- or else it is wasted opportunity to add more academic skills. Also honors classes always end up with more 'independent' learning than regular classes. Less instruction and direct assignments and much more, learn the lessons from class and then do independent work to expand that learning for things that will be on the exams - but not necessarily covered in class. 2 MAX is advisable. If ones student is not an out of the box thinker- they will struggle in these classes. Also be aware theusually classes like World History- may not show as honors but has a rep as a tougher than average class. Min 2 years language, I know mine is taking 4. I believe most colleges require 3 min to avoid having to take it again in college ( depending on major) as far as other electives- be aware there are restrictions on how many electives a potential NCAA athlete can add into their GPA to be considered for elgibilty and entered into the NCAA clearing house. Also if potential college athlete - check that site and cross reference because we found not all classes at all HS's are eligible period. Do your homework in this area. |
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Post by casey on Jan 29, 2009 15:47:46 GMT -6
as far as other electives- be aware there are restrictions on how many electives a potential NCAA athlete can add into their GPA to be considered for elgibilty and entered into the NCAA clearing house. I never heard that before. I had looked up clearinghouse info but don't remember seeing a thing about that. I guess I'd better go back and do more homework. Thanks for your advice. |
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Post by doctorwho on Jan 29, 2009 16:01:52 GMT -6
as far as other electives- be aware there are restrictions on how many electives a potential NCAA athlete can add into their GPA to be considered for elgibilty and entered into the NCAA clearing house. I never heard that before. I had looked up clearinghouse info but don't remember seeing a thing about that. I guess I'd better go back and do more homework. Thanks for your advice. yes there are exact formulas and very important is to load up on core classes... my daughter took 4 year math 4yrs science and 3 years language but took a fair number of arts classes - some of which we had to call on because they weren't counting them . The answer to one was getting the NCAA and school on the same page after a name change for a class- because the NCAA didn't have the paperwork on that class- it was considered not eligible for the GPA calc. |
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Post by slp on Jan 30, 2009 7:38:05 GMT -6
Dr. and Casey,
Thanks very much for the info. We are turning the form in today and did NOT select a study hall . Your advice made alot of sense.
We did select Computers and Spanish as his electives for his freshman year.
Thanks again.
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Post by blankcheck on Jan 30, 2009 8:12:21 GMT -6
Got into the conversation late. slp - I think you made good choices (especially the foreign language). We have gone through the college app. processes this year and every college we looked at required at least 2 yrs. - some more. My child took 4yrs so that if they wanted to minor in it in college they would clep out of those beginning classes.
Computers is another really good choice because that is where the future is going. Don't worry about the study hall. Kids will get their work done. Better to use that time in a productive manner.
As for honors classes - I have heard that world history is VERY difficult. a lot of reading. I agree - 2 max. Your child will know if they want to take these courses. Make sure they get a good teacher and stay involved in what they are doing so that if they do start to struggle, you are ontop of it.
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Post by al on Jan 30, 2009 8:34:54 GMT -6
^ "Make sure they get a good teacher "
Hate to be pessimistic, but easier said than done. No teacher choice that I am aware of. There are many great teachers at Neuqua, but on the occasion where we have had an incompetent (or green) one, there's not much that the school is willing to do about it. We know from experience that a bad Honors English teacher can really kill the whole track esp. with the extra work needed to try and keep up a grade at the expense of other classes. Conversely, for the first time kiddo has had two very experienced Math teachers, and it has made all the difference in the world.
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Post by Arch on Jan 30, 2009 8:36:05 GMT -6
As for honors classes - I have heard that world history is VERY difficult. a lot of reading. I agree - 2 max. Your child will know if they want to take these courses. Make sure they get a good teacher and stay involved in what they are doing so that if they do start to struggle, you are ontop of it. Back in 9th grade, my current senior took 2 (English and Bio) and my freshman this year is taking 4 (History, English, Math {alg2/trig} and Bio)... she's also taking French and Chinese. I would not recommend any more than 2 unless your child is a very very driven and independent learner. The workload is enormous. |
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Post by researching on Jan 30, 2009 14:30:44 GMT -6
^ "Make sure they get a good teacher " Hate to be pessimistic, but easier said than done. No teacher choice that I am aware of. There are many great teachers at Neuqua, but on the occasion where we have had an incompetent (or green) one, there's not much that the school is willing to do about it. We know from experience that a bad Honors English teacher can really kill the whole track esp. with the extra work needed to try and keep up a grade at the expense of other classes. Conversely, for the first time kiddo has had two very experienced Math teachers, and it has made all the difference in the world. I totally agree! This is the case at every grade level. We have had a couple of teachers that didn't really teach anything as my child basically learned everything at home. Luckily my spouse is a wiz at tutoring but it was almost like home schooling. If we wanted to take the home schooling route we certainly wouldn't be living here and paying these taxes. ;D |
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