<p>Regarding Jewish summer camp. I think it’s fabulous. Something I never got to do and always wanted to. Both my D’s have been going to a Jewish sleep away camp since they were in elementary school. It is the highlight of the year for both of them. Luckily the camp that they go to has built in some of the things you have all mentioned. Going into 11th grade the kids are taken off camp for 5 days for leadership training. When they go back to camp they start learning what goes into making camp happen and participate in running some programs. Going into 12th grade the kids travel to do a week of community service, then they come back and serve as CIT’s. Both are 4 week programs, so they still have time to do other programs. Or this year, working on college applications!</p>
<p>However, we do have to pay for this, but it is at a reduced rate and for the years going into 11th & 12th grades. For the kids entering 12th grade the kids get a small paycheck at the end of the summer. I know, we pay them so they can pay the kids…hmmmm. But by participating in the 11th and 12th grade programs, when they return to camp as a counselor they get paid extra. </p>
<p>In our HS it is not unusual for kids to take an AP class in sophmore year. D1 did last year and D2 probably will next year as a sophmore. </p>
<p>D informed me last night that something she thought was due Monday isn’t due until Wed., so she has “time”. Seriously? You know it’s due, you have time to do it, just get it done! Nope, would rather goof off and then on Monday and Tuesday when slammed with work from school, try to fit this in. I bit my tongue as best as I could. </p>
<p>mom24boys - hope your son found his paper…I feel your pain!</p>
<p>mdcissp - Mazel Tov to your S on Binghamton. I don’t know enough about the differences between Binghmaton and Towson to give my opinion. But luckily, you have enough time to do all of your research to figure out which one will work best for him. Maybe visit them both again if they are his top choices. Good luck!</p>
<p>Congratulations to mdcissp’s son! One consideration may be how much support these colleges are able to offer to students with Asperger’s, what the social climate is like for students with Asperger’s, and whether living closer to home is preferable in light of the Asperger’s or whether it would be more beneficial to him to be further away and to develop more independently.</p>
<p>Regarding Jewish community service: two of my kids participated in Student Conservation Association in the summer. They did trailwork in national parks or land that was being conserved by other groups. I know that there is a kosher group and that the kids in that group do things like bake Challah over a campfire and conduct Shabbat services in the woods, etc (my kids did not choose to be part of the kosher group, as they wanted a more diverse group.) I think, though, that even though it is late to apply for this, the kosher group may still need members. The program is tuition-free, although the families must pay for transportation to the site and for camping equipment.
[National</a> Conservation Crews | The SCA - Student Conservation Association](<a href=“http://www.thesca.org/serve/national-crews]National”>http://www.thesca.org/serve/national-crews)</p>
<p>I think that Jewish camp is a phenomenal, often life-transforming experience, but it has become so costly that it has priced many people out of the experience. I believe that the camps could reach many more kids by offering shorter but less expensive alternatives. When I was in high school, my congregation fully funded me to attend a single three week session at a camp, predicated on my promise to teach in the religious school for the following year. This was a win/win situation. And, the three weeks was enough to solidify my identity.
An alternative is to approach your partnership for volunteer opportunities in Israel, especially for older teenagers. Our community partnership includes a town with a Children’s Village, and I know that some of the older teenagers in our community have volunteered there.</p>
<p>I agree with this. D started at a URJ camp the summer before 8th grade; S started the year before 7th grade. Neither wanted to go. Both now wish they had gone sooner. D did the machon program (a little less than half the cost of full-summer camp), the summer before senior year. It was a good growth experience for her and also provided leadership opportunities (which she never pursued at HS). She worked at camp last summer and just learned that she was hired back for next summer (counselor and sports staff). It’s a wonderful environment for her; we will see how this plays out as she gets more into her major and potential career oriented opps. For now, I am thrilled she will be at camp again. S talks about being in the machon program too, but that’s in two years. This summer, he is going on a NFTY Israel trip. We will see if machon is still what he wants to do at that point. Because of many factors dealing with religion in my family, I would never tell him he can’t do machon.</p>
<p>I still think sending my kids to a URJ camp was the best thing I’ve ever done. It is good preparation for life. And I want them to do things they enjoy, not just what will help their college app. As long as they aren’t sitting home all the time, watching tv, playing video games and on Facebook…</p>
<p>mdcissp: I can’t remember all the details about your S, but what a HUGE accomplishment to get accepted to Binghamton. Congratulations! In the Northeast (and especially here in NY), Binghamton is much more prestigious than Towson; students who are going to Towson just don’t get in to Binghamton. We visited both schools (D got in to Towson, waitlisted at Bing), D liked Towson better (she just had no interest in going to schools in NYS or anywhere that would get so much snow). Of course, you need to consider what’s best for your S (fit, programs, etc.). Plus there’s the cost, although the SUNY system is VERY kind to OOS. All my D’s friends who are at Bing are very happy there. If D had gotten accepted, we would have had to seriously consider…</p>
<p>Mdcissp: Mazel Tov on Binghamton. I am curious to hear your thoughts on your AS son going away from home, since mine would like to go as far as possible. And what kind of supports Binghamton has and if your son is open to using them.</p>
<p>Chocchipcookie: I agree taking an AP class soph. year is a reach esp for my son, but he likes pressure. Last year was his first year in public school since 3rd grade and first time ever in a mainstream classroom. From 3rd to 8th grade he attended 3 different special ed private schools. Since it was such a massive transition I insisted he take a double period of Englsih and a period of Tutorial (Study Hall for kids w/ IEPs) Freshman year so he did not take any Social Studies. He thinks it was the biggest waste of his time and talked his way into the AP class this year. He also added Latin and since he couldn’t fit his Fine Arts credit in to his schedule he added Computer Science an already heavy schedule. First quarter was his most sucessful quarter ever with grades (5 A’s, 2 B’s) and more importantly socially and organizationally.</p>
<p>MdmomfromLi: English assignment still not found, but he is relaxed, it’s not due till Tuesday - sounds like your daughter. He is on essay #3 of 5, so it may work out. Glad the quarter doesn’t end until the end of January. It is common in my county for kids to take AP Gov’t sophmore year.</p>
<p>Updating:
Vitrac: two daughters (Tulane '14 and high school '13)
Shawbridge: one son, one daughter
PRJ: two daughters (Brandeis '13 and high school '12)
Seiclan: two daughters (UF graduate '10 and UCF '12, one son - high school '12)
RVM: two sons, college at Wake Forest, high school junior
Umich: two sons, high school senior and freshman
spectrum: two sons
Yabe: one son, one daughter
momjr: two daughters, UPenn '12, HS senior–> BU
slitheytove: two daughters
Linymom: one daughter, one son, college freshman UDel, high school sophomore
college4three: two daughters, one son, Columbia
levirm: two daughters, two sons
mhc48: two daughers, one son
cherryhillmomto2: two sons
mdmomfromli: two daughters, high school junior and freshman
chocchip: two sons, high school senior, Tufts and freshman
Mom24boys: four sons, high school sophmore, 8th grade and twins in kindergarten</p>
<p>Mdcissp, Congrats on your son’s Binghamton acceptance! I agree with what Liny said about Bing and Towson. </p>
<p>My son also got into Bing. It’s not his top choice but I think it’s growing on him. He still has to visit and he’s still waiting to hear from 4 other schools so who knows.</p>
<p>Agreed that Bing has a really good reputation, even outside of NYS. Towson is great school, but Bing is a cut above. Lots of school spirit and the kids feel challenged by the classes.</p>
<p>Also updating:
Vitrac: two daughters (Tulane '14 and high school '13)
Shawbridge: one son, one daughter
PRJ: two daughters (Brandeis '13 and high school '12)
Seiclan: two daughters (UF graduate '10 and UCF '12, one son - high school '12)
RVM: two sons, college at Wake Forest, high school junior
Umich: two sons, high school senior and freshman
spectrum: two sons
Yabe: one son, one daughter
momjr: two daughters, UPenn '12, HS senior–> BU
slitheytove: two daughters
Linymom: one daughter, one son, college freshman UDel, high school sophomore
college4three: two daughters, one son, Columbia
levirm: two daughters, two sons
mhc48: two daughers, one son
cherryhillmomto2: two sons
mdmomfromli: two daughters, high school junior and freshman
chocchip: two sons, high school senior, Tufts and freshman
Mom24boys: four sons, high school sophomore, 8th grade and twins in kindergarten
peonies: two daughters (college and HS)</p>
<p>Also updating:
Vitrac: two daughters (Tulane '14 and high school '13)
Shawbridge: one son, one daughter
PRJ: two daughters (Brandeis '13 and high school '12)
Seiclan: two daughters (UF graduate '10 and UCF '12, one son - high school '12)
RVM: two sons, college at Wake Forest, high school junior
Umich: two sons, high school senior and freshman
spectrum: two sons
Yabe: one son, one daughter
momjr: two daughters, UPenn '12, HS senior–> BU
slitheytove: two daughters
Linymom: one daughter, one son, college freshman UDel, high school sophomore
college4three: two daughters, one son, Columbia
levirm: two daughters, two sons
mhc48: two daughers, one son
cherryhillmomto2: two sons
mdmomfromli: two daughters, high school junior and freshman
chocchip: two sons, high school senior, Tufts and freshman
Mom24boys: four sons, high school sophomore, 8th grade and twins in kindergarten
peonies: two daughters (college and HS)
collage1: three daughters, UPenn '13, HS senior, HS freshman</p>
<p>I finally had a chance to see this documentary today - and I urge you - if you have not seen it - try to find a screening in your area. It was sad - funny - thought-provoking and courageous. Like many who read and post on this thread - I have an “A” student and a “B” student - and surprisingly - it applies to both of them. It’s about the pressures of doing well in hs so that you can get into a good college so that you can…a lot of them didn’t seem to know what they were racing towards - hence the name of the film. It’s about how over scheduled our kids can be and the tremendous focus on getting good grades. Really - some of it hit home so hard I was moved to tears. So - if you have the opportunity - see this film.</p>
<p>^ I’ve been wanting to see this, but haven’t had the chance. I think it may freak me out a bit.
I know that it addresses so many of the issues that we struggle with, i.e. when to push, when to hold back… I will definitely make a point of seeing though, if only to remind myself of how to approach HS with my last child.</p>
<p>college4three- the film deals with some of the same issues as the book we discussed a few weeks back - “The Blessing of the B- Child” - in fact - that author also had a few moments in the film. One of the concepts mentioned was that we are raising a generation of children with no experience at failure - that failure is a learning experience - and how the moment there is a problem we are leaping in with tutors and so forth. Not that I want to experiment on my son by ignoring the situation if he was failing a class - but the point was that this generation has less resiliency and less coping skills as a result. So maybe bringing home a poor grade now and then is not the end of the world. Consider that an adult can fail the bar a few times before passing - or fail the CPA exam and then take it again - we seem to give more leniency to adults than to our kids!</p>
<p>Homework was discussed extensively - how there is little or no correlation between the amount of homework given and other measures of success - how countries that beat the US in math/science give far less homework - how homework turns kids off to school, etc. And the drama homework inflicts on the entire household - parents battling kids to get it done - spouses battling each other over how to manage the homework - really my household could have been featured in some of those scenes! </p>
<p>So - it served as a good reinforcement for me to STEP BACK and CHILL OUT - which I have been working on and doing much better the past 2 months. It was really painful to listen to these kids talk about disappointing their parents over their grades in school. Now - certainly not every kid is as stressed out as the kids featured in the film - but surely some are - and it has really given me a lot to think about.</p>
<p>RVM, how did you see the film? Did you go to a screening? How did you find out about the screening? There are only a few listed on the film’s website. I have wanted to see it, but do not seem to have access.
Amen to the homework section, though!</p>
<p>levirm - it was shown at the large public hs my sons attend a few weeks back - but I missed that screening. I saw it today at a work-related event. Your hs can hold a screening - suggest it to the school counselor or the principal. At my son’s school - they charged parents $10 admission to cover the cost of the film rental. I think it would have been even better to see it at our hs because after the conclusion of the film - they had a discussion for about an hour and from what I have heard it was very emotional and quite intense.</p>
<p>I would love to see this. Will look into having it shown here.</p>
<p>Had an interesting conversation this afternoon with my D (home from college with not a care in the world) and S, who had already finished his HW. They were working on a puzzle on the dining room table.</p>
<p>Me: D, can you believe S is done with his HW already? He gets to hang out and do the puzzle and go to Confirmation class and youth group tonight. You were never done so early. Wouldn’t it have been nice for us not to be yelling about HW all night?</p>
<p>D: I never really cared.</p>
<p>WHAT???</p>
<p>Talk about not reaching her potential in HS. Unbelievable. And THAT is why I am on this thread! At least I can be thankful that now, in college, she cares. Woo hoo!</p>
<p>Then, on the way to Confirmation class, S chatted about how easy school is. OMG. It’s like night and day. No wonder why some parents drink.</p>
<p>LINY - that is a terrific B student story. You are in the different situation from many of us with the younger one being the high achiever. The most wonderful thing is how your daughter has blossomed and is so happy now. If only you’d had a crystal ball a few years ago!</p>
<p>I had the jaw-dropping experience where my college senior (A student) and HS senior (B+ student) were chatting this week about 12th-grade Calculus class. They now have taken the same one, with the same teacher. They were remarking about how fun and easy the class was, although D1 was recalling how tripped up she was by the AP exam. It was nice seeing them acting a bit like “peers,” maybe for the first time. </p>
<p>A lot has been that D2 has finally “bloomed,” managed to equal her sister’s ACT score and is applying to a few reaches that D1 considered. But there’s also an element of their being just more mature in general. I must say though that D2 seems to enjoy hearing sometimes that her sister can be tripped up - for her college has been very challenging, as well as rewarding, and hearing all week that D1 hopes she didn’t get a C in a class this semester reminded D2 that no one has it easy all the time.</p>
<p>In our HS we are getting ready to pick next years schedules. The teachers are starting to talk about next years classes. D2 (freshman) came home today and said, “I want to take the most rigorous course load I can take next year, because it’s very competitive out there and I want to get into a really good college.” This came from school. They are being told this. Of course her interests are totally different than D1’s, so I feel like I am starting at ground zero.</p>