<p>Very impressive synopsis of a thorough approach to skill development with ADD. Can you bottle this? </p>
<p>What I was going to mention, re the topic of gap year, is exchange programs. Your son may not have the GPA for Rotary, but there are others, AFS, etc. I’m not sure of their GPA requirements. They are in HS whereever they go, but in a sometimes very different context, some more educationally involved than others. It can be a way for a kid to regroup, and learn in other ways. This does presume the initiative, interest, and emotional maturity to apply for, be accepted, and go thru the challenges of living abroad.</p>
<p>I have a ADD-inattentive S, and he is an abysmal tester in large part because he lacks the stick-to-it-tive-ness to prep for tests. He is VERY smart, insightful, and creative. A+ on papers, C or D on tests kind of kid. I think a gap year could help, because my S actually gets a bit better every year.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone, for the continued flow of ideas. WestChesterMom, your comments are extensive, specific and potentially very valuable. I feel foolish in not recognizing that while I may not be able to argue one way or the other about the signing of the Magna Carta, I can at least read for “flow” and logical consistency.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I continue to look for productive, meaningful and, I hope, gratifying ways in which to spend such a year. I work in a math-related field and over the years, have found that “non-linear” (i.e. “non-traditional”) approaches often (not always) work well. </p>
<p>Clearly, before making a “decision”, I’d want to discuss the possibility with my S. In discussing the possibility, however, I think it would make sense to have concrete, specific options lined up rather than talking in amorphous, abstract terms.</p>
<p>I hope this thread is helpful to lots of others!</p>
<p>is it possible that his school environment is not meeting his needs? imo, i don’t think a gap year and then returning him to the same school environment is a good idea. as suggested here by others…getting an evaluation is a good starting point.</p>
<p>heydad, I was actually thinking of our whole family talking a Gap year. Like, all of us go to Italy and learn Italian. </p>
<p>I have two youngish-for-their-grade boys.</p>
<p>Corranged, </p>
<p>That may be true… but there is also a brain growth spurt in adolescence-- and of course in my family tree we are all late bloomers. I think my son at 15 almost 16 is finally having his.</p>
<p>condor30 - your post is an excellent example of non-linear thinking. While my son may be nowhere close to anybody’s definition of “giftedness”, it might also be the case that he’s not as dumb as a rock. “School environment” is not a variable I really considered since “everybody else” seems to be doing okay.</p>
<p>Your link is well worth reading and re-reading. </p>
<p>Thanks for forcing me to rethink my assumptions.</p>
<p>SBmom - any year is a good year to learn Italian! Bueno suerte ?</p>
<p>Have you looked at other schools? It was a very good point that school invironment could be a major factor. Also, if you discover through testing that your son is a different type of learner than the average school teaches to, a new school will be your answer. Do you live in a major city? Would finances allow a private school?</p>
<p>My second one is on gap at the moment. He is having the time of his life and never wants to come home. </p>
<p>Don’t send them on Gap too soon (before 17). They will spend all their time bumping into organizational and maturity issues. They will be a mass of insecurity and they won’t get any meanignful learning out of the travel.</p>
<p>By all means, get your son tested for LDs or processing issues, but don’t dismiss the idea that he will grow into his ambition and focus when he is a few years older. Says the mother of 18 and 21 year old boys who both did Gap years.</p>
<p>cheers and others: I realize I’ve unintentionally misused the term “gap year”. I realize it refers to a year after HS and before college, when kids typically roam the far corners of the globe, work as volunteers in Cambodia or whatever…Perhaps I should have used something like “off year” - a year in which a student can (if it’s legally permitted), take a year away from HS and do something other than history, biology, English, etc…
For example, working full time in a pastry shop - learning to serve customers etc…After one year “off”, the student returns to HS (though not necessarily the SAME HS) and completes the diploma.</p>
<p>It seems for some, the gap year between HS and college can be extremely valuable and result in a more mature, focused college freshman. I wonder, would an “off year” do the same for a HS sophomore?</p>
<p>Please let me reiterate: the game plan is NOT to somehow “fine-tune” his GPA so that he becomes a serious candidate for Harvard. Rather, it is to somehow restructure or re-sequence things so that the years in high school (and “off year”) are richer and more rewarding than what might otherwise evidenced by a string of C minuses.</p>
<p>I think you have to be careful about- I’ll call it an “alternative year”- since you’re not really talking about the traditional post HS graduate “gap year”, while at the same time, being flexible and creative about exploring opportunities. </p>
<p>When advocates of the year round school year argue their case, they frequently talk about how students quickly lose their gains during summer vacation, and that’s why so much of the fall must be devoted to review. The brain is like a muscle, and needs a constant workout. So I’m concerned that if you take your son out of an academic environment, it might be hard for him to re-enter after a year. Especially if he is a student who is uninspired by academics and who has difficulties. </p>
<p>I’m worried that the wrong experience might send him the message that it’s okay to give up. Right now, like a tortoise, he is plodding slowly towards a goal- an HS diploma- albeit with a 2.2 average- and you don’t want to jeopardize that. I don’t know how well he identifies with his high school class, but the right peers are a powerful motivating force in keeping a kid invested in school. One thing keeping him going may well be the thought that he’ll be graduating with his friends and taking part in all those school rituals- prom & ceremonies etc. </p>
<p>Remember- he does have time. He can always reinvent himself at a community college if he decides he does want to succeed at academics. But obtaining that H.S. diploma is crucial. </p>
<p>Your son is a kid who hasn’t tapped into his academic potential. Maybe he’s not academically inclined- in other words- the potential might not be there. But maybe there’s something that’s hindering him. I think any kind of “alternative” year should address his lack of academic progress. After all, he has the rest of his life to explore non-academic alternatives in terms of employment tracks and pursuits. </p>
<p>So (and take anything I say with a grain of salt) I would tend to take the following approach:
get him tested and try to figure out what his strengths and weaknesses are
explore academic alternatives such as putting him in a different school environment if you think that will help
maybe there is some kind of non-traditional homeschooling approach that would work better for him. Is he the kind of kid that learns better by going to a museum than studying the stuff that’s in the museum? However that approach is extremely time intensive from a parental perspective. </p>
<p>I don’t think a low level job experience is a good idea. It’s too close to what kids do when they drop out of school. I think you hit the nail on the head when you focus on the idea: “richer and more rewarding”.</p>
<p>Thanks for some more good thoughts, WCMom. </p>
<p>I pulled the bakery example out of my head without giving it too much thought. I certainly do not advocate spending a year in a “dead-end” job but upon a little reflection, I can see some value in something as simple as a bakery. Beyond the menial, he can think about things such as: a) how does the pastry shop owner decide how much of which pastries to make? b) what happens to the unsold pastries? c) what ingredients are ordered? how much? when? d) what kind of customers most frequent the shop? e) what are the busiest hours? f) how did the owner get started? g) is the current location the best one for the shop?</p>
<p>Admittedly, these are not “special relativity” type of questions but they are a way to provoke thought, to enrich an otherwise “dead-end” job.</p>
<p>More concretely, I’ve contacted his school counselor who will talk to his teachers. Some sort of diagnostic testing may well be in order and she has some recommendations.</p>
<p>Again, I remain grateful for the various posts. I’m very much in the data gathering stage and will update regularly.</p>
<p>I definitely think working in a business is a valuable experience. There are many non-traditional experiences and jobs that can be enriching for the alternative learner. Some kids are much more motivated by the entrepreneurial experience than the classroom. It’s something to think about. It’s also something your son could dip his toes into during the summer, if you find the right thing for him. </p>
<p>In the meantime, it’s great that you’ve spoken to the GC. Great first step!!!</p>
<p>Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)</p>
<p>Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery</p>
<p>google these for some more info. on them.</p>
<p>be sure that you put your testing requests in writing to the school administration.</p>
<p>also - pick up a copy of
“The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Life” at your local bookstore.
it’s well worth your time to read this book - goes into brain differences, etc.</p>
<p>I think that if you wanted to be an AFS student and go to Thailand for a year, it would be possible. There are many many kids from Thailand who want to come to the US for a year. There are fewer kids from the US who want to go to Thailand for a year. So I have heard it is not so hard to be accepted to go to Thailand.</p>
<p>It is of course possible to be an afs student for a year and not take a year longer to graduate but I think it is especially easy to be an afs student for a year and just come back and pick up where you left off - no worries about transfer credits or testing.</p>
<p>heydad - have you considered having your son transfer to a vocational high school?</p>
<p>Times have changed, and I know our local voc HS provides opportunities to prepare for college or noncollege vocations.</p>
<p>It may be a way for your son to work on some skills in addition to traditional academics. Success in a different area might spark drive for the academic side.</p>
<p>Here is the web site for our local school of that type:</p>
<p>{Just as an aside, one girl with an interest in biotech graduated from this high school and went on to study at a well-respected university in the Boston area…)</p>