harvard15

Haha! It'd irk me too. If he says it's not possible for him to do that you should ask if they will give him credit for the online class. Your son's schedule could be pretty hectic too so if he'd be taking an elective just for the sake of filling up his school schedule to their satisfaction ask if he could drop an elective in place of an online class. Good luck!

fairy_dreams

33k. Yikes! In public schools, parent involvement almost always works. With persistence and in-person meetings, I'm pretty sure that there will be no problem. Although from what I've heard, private schools are more stringent on their students' courses...

harvard15

Private schools can be more flexible on where they will accept credit from though so hopefully that'll work in your favour.

Browniebaker

The upper-school head called me back by the end of the day. He said that a boy *could*, if the schedule allowed, have permission to take two languages but they advise against it freshman year because six courses would be a "huge courseload" at a time when the boy is adjusting to the longer school day (8:00 to 6:30 p.m.) and would allow him no "free period" for doing homework or meeting with teachers during their office hours before athletics, which other boys with only five courses have.

He said that my son could add Latin in sophomore year, (again) if the schedule allowed. He advised waiting until sophomore year so that my son will have a better idea of the upper-school courseload and could make a more informed decision.

He informed me that the summer school courses are not replacements for the term-time courses. French II, for example is remedial for boys who did poorly in French II or had French II at another school and need a refresher.

Well, I'm feeling mixed about all this: relieved that the school is receptive to my son's adding Latin at least by sophomore year, yet concerned about starting Latin relatively late in high school.

I did float the question of online courses, to which the school is receptive, but I decided not to press the issue of course credit in this initial phone call.

I guess it comes down to how motivated my son is and whether he really believes he could handle six courses next year. He says he wants to do it. We'll see. The upper-school head was receptive to the idea of my son's taking Latin I this summer just to see whether he likes it first, but I KNOW my son will like it (for years he's been reading the Latin dictionary for fun, especially for Harry-Potter-like spells, weird kid), so I don't see the point of spending $1000+ for a Latin I summer course when he'd have to take Latin I in term-time any way.

I should have raised a dog instead; I hear they are much easier.

harvard15

At least some good news came out of it, Browniebaker!

If he decides to wait until 10th grade, there's always the possibility of a tutor for an hour or so per week and then seeing if the school will let him test into Latin II in his Sophomore year? At least then, he's not commited to it if his schedule is too heavy and it'll be more flexible for him.

And I'd have gone with a cat - much more independent.

Browniebaker

Is taking six courses at a time really that extraordinary? Seems like you students here on CC are all taking heavy courseloads, but the again you are a select group.

Related to your question of pypassing Latin I, yesterday I did ask a few questions about bypassing French II, and I got the sense (actually always get this sense from this school) that they have a program they believe in for the boys and they want you to stick to it. We knew when we chose this school that it offered a very structured program, which is what my son likes about it, but the flipside is less flexibility for individual requirements.

But let me ask any high-schoolers here: is taking six courses really that extraordinary?

harvard15

I don't know what the norm is for school days since I'm homeschooled but it sounds like your son will be very busy assuming he wants to get some sleep in somewhere. 8.00 'til 6.30 then 3-4 hours homework is a fourteen or fifteen hour day, after all. What's the rest of his schedule going to be like? Are the courses he's going to be taking very rigorous?

Schokolade

Six courses isn’t that extraordinary--my junior daughter has 7 including double-blocked AP Calculus (resulting in 8 class periods) and my freshman son 7 plus a last-period study hall (helpful for frequent doctor appointments and some tennis tournaments). However, their class day is shorter; my children are done with classes plus their school sport at 5:30, and have a 50-minute break between classes and sports. Also, all students at their school take either 7 or 8 courses, one more that at many schools because Bible is a required course. Another consideration for you and your son in thinking about taking 5 or 6 courses is whether he does well in his other courses, and whether he would be able to complete his homework after 6:30 if he doesn’t have a study hall.

I would be encouraged by your talk with the upper school head. He didn’t seem to rule anything out completely, but provided some helpful additional information. Given your situation and the level of your son’s interest in Latin, I wouldn’t pay $1000 for the introductory Latin course. I’d save my money to take a trip to France!

I wonder if the upper school head knows that you speak French, among other languages, at home? Also, will your son’s school next year be a new school to him, or the upper school of the school he’s attending now?

When we moved back to America, my daughter was accepted by both excellent schools to which she applied. One told her it was just not possible to take two languages plus chamber orchestra. The school’s apparent unwillingness to consider this was one factor in her choosing the other school. The other school, her current school, has been very flexible in working with us on scheduling. As it turned out, she didn’t take two languages because this school doesn’t offer her other language (German)—but it has been very helpful to be able to work with the administration to have her scheduling needs met in other areas.

harvard15

I missed the part where you said you & your husband could speak french. Maybe you could read up on immersion learning and your son could learn french that way? It would be good to have a second language that your whole family shares, I agree.

Browniebaker

@ harvard15: My husband and I do speak French but we don't speak it at home because (1) our French language skills are rusty and (2) my husband speaks his family's natve language with our two children, and I do the same with a different native language. The children are fluent in the two different languages (not romance languages, so not related to French or Latin) because we have followed the one-parent-one-language concept for raising bilingual/trilingual children. Even if my husband and I felt comfortable speaking French at home, I would not want to add French to the mix because we'd be shortchanging the training the children have been getting in my husband's family's and my family's respective native languages.

@Schokolade: My son's school doesn't build in a break between classes and athletics as your daughter's school does. The question you asked is exactly the upper-school head's concern; that is, whether without a free sixth period (typically used as study hall for doing homework or asking teachers any questions) a boy could handle having ALL his homework to do after leaving school at 6:30, arriving home at 7:00, and finsihing dinner at 7:30. Facing 4 hours of homework at 7:30 means probably no time for clarinet practice (he's in city orchestra) before what would already be a very late bedtime at 11:30. When I think about it, I shudder and am just glad I'm not a student anymore. I don't remember working going for so many hours in a day during high school.


Yet my son, when we discussed this last night, was confident he could do it and said he wants to do it. If it's relevant, and I think it is, he gets straight A's and maintains a 99+% average in French. But I wonder whether he's too young to be afraid, and I wonder whether that fearlessness is a good or bad thing.

He thinks he could to go bed at 1:00 a.m. and wake at 6:45 a.m. every weekday. Don't tell me all high-achieving high-schoolers keep such hours! (I have a feeling many do.)

fairy_dreams

If he feels that he can't handle the workload (after a couple of weeks), I suppose he could always drop his sixth class?

High school students normally have to become nocturnal :/ haha. It depends on what your course load is and how effectively you manage your time.

Sometimes I come home at 9 and I stay up until 2am. I average 5-6.5 hours of sleep every night, but I'm getting better and trying to get at least 7 in. During volleyball season I came home everyday at 6am, and it wasn't a very big deal if I buckled down and did all my homework. I don't know about your particular school (Harker?), but a lot of teachers assign busywork that takes 10 minutes. He'll really only have certain days where the workload will be big for all of his classes.

Your son sounds very motivated and I don't see why he shouldn't take on this challenge :] It'll help him test his limits and freshman year is considered the easiest year, so I would recommend starting early.

One more thing, how long is a class? If he didn't have that extra sixth period, how much time would he have to do homework?

Browniebaker

@fairy_dreams: Wow, that's quite a schedule you have. You obviously have learned how to manage your time. My son's still learning, and he's been getting much more efficient, I can tell.

You're right that he could drop Latin I in the first few weeks of the year if it turned out to be too much.

The school day has six 50-minute periods with 5 minutes in between the periods; a 45-minute lunch served family-style at tables headed by teachers (such that he could not just go off by himself and do homework); 90 minutes each day for chapel, clubs, or music (varies by day of the week) except on Tuesdays it's 75 minutes and on Wednesdays it's 60 minutes; and 3 hours of athletics (ouch) to finish the day.

I see a 15-minute gap of free time on Tuesday and a 30 minute gap on Wednesday, but other than that the days are packed tight with activity.

I'm glad to know that high-schoolers are okay getting just 6 hours a night. You *seem* happy and well-adjusted.

fairy_dreams

Hmm...I think an extra period will not pose too much of a problem. Although his schedule seems extremely packed :/

I think the main worry that the head director has is that the transition won't sit well with your son. It's quite a jump and you really don't want to burn out your first year of high school.

However, I think most schools try to lighten up the freshman course load. During my freshman year, I took seven classes, two of which were honors (the only ones available), and did two sports. I think I slept every day at 9 or 10 and my friends would get mad at me for not answering their late night calls. haha

The first year of high school will consist of introductory classes and mainly busywork for homework. However, I did have days where I would stay up until 3am finishing an essay or a big project that I procrastinated on.

Sophomore year was a huge contrast and although I only have 5 classes, the workload and amount of time available (due to more clubs etc) got harder :/ I fare better than some of my classmates who get only 4 to 5 hours, but everyone adjusts. My New Years resolution was to not procrastinate and it's actually made a difference. It all depends on how well you manage your time and how efficiently you use it. There will be days when you get 4 hours, and there will be days when you have almost no homework.

Studies show that teenagers should get at least 8 hours of sleep though...

I wish your son luck, and if he decides that he would like a more "relaxed" schedule, accredited online classes are always a nice option. Maybe you could ask the school if they will accept the credit next time?

Browniebaker

Great comments and ideas from all of you. Much thanks. There's a lot for my son, his father, and me consider in the next few weeks before making freshman course selections. One of the great things about CC is how much I learn from this community of high-schoolers who are high-flyers. You all are super!