<p>We just returned from DD’s public high school report card night…pick up the report card, tour the new science building to talk to the teachers (about 3 to 5 minutes per teacher). Nice chance to have a short face to face with each teacher. DD is doing well, nice feedback from her teachers.
We will start to talk more about colleges after we see the PSATs</p>
<p>Just had D2 conference this Tue. D2 always claimed herself to be more of a humanities student, but looking at her report card she would had me fooled. She got an A+ in Trig with comments from her teacher as “outstanding math student.” She got a B+ in English. But her advisor told me that her English teacher is a hard grader, and B+ was the highest for the interim grade.</p>
<p>SAT test can be studied for. It just takes practice, doing them over and over again. It is no surprise that so many Asian students get such high scores, they spend their life taking those practice tests. At the end of day, same questions are on those exams. We are not into it 100% yet, but D2 has been taking practice tests whenever time permits. Math section is her weak area. When she sees some problems she is repeatedly getting wrong, she asks her math teacher for help. Also, by doing a lot of practice takes away the fear or nervousness. One thing to be aware of is - at some point the student should take a few complete tests from beginning to end in one sitting. The test is very long because of 3 sections now. A lot of kids get tired and become sloppy. When doing it at home, some kids would do one section and take a huge break, and that’s not a real test scenario.</p>
<p>PRJ - glad your daughter is getting her mono. She needs to be careful not to get too run down. D1, who had mono, is in the front for getting her H1N! shot.</p>
<p>Lighter note, D2 just started dating. Very nice boy, very polite, but he is a senior. Ugh…But this is my second time around, so I am better prepared.</p>
<p>Oldfort, interesting comment about your DD seeing herself as a humanities student, our D has always claimed to be a science kid, but her English teacher/Mock Trial coach says she’s an absolute natural at Mock Trial, one of the top students in the English honors class. Great grades in both areas, I guess it just opens the door to more options.</p>
<p>re SAT. In our case I am not (at the moment) willing to put the effort into pushing her to study if she resists, she can go to the state school where it would cost a whole lot less. But I think she will come around and “get religion” and buckle down more than her 75% effort we see now (good most of the time, but times where she coasts) I also think there are some test optional schools that would be ok for her, so I don’t know if this is a battle we’d have to fight. I’d rather her put her effort into the grades.</p>
<p>She had a boyfriend for a few months last year, didn’t get the details of the breakup. now she is just happy in a good mixed gender group of friends, fine with me. At least we didn’t have to deal with the driving thing at that stage, the BF had just gotten his license and his parents and us both agreed that he wouldn’t drive her anywhere, luckily there is a movie theater close to our house and he came over a few times. </p>
<p>I think both my kids will be jumping for joy when they get out today and have next week off and the term will be over.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! Guests just left last night and I’m sitting here surfing the net - finally- some time to myself!<br>
DD got her PSAT scores a few weeks ago. She did very well in math, as expected, and very poorly in reading and writing, as expected. Anyone have tips on how to prepare for these two sections? She says she ran out time on both.</p>
<p>DS is in the midst of his winter sport training schedule and eating more than I’ve ever seen him eat, even on his off days. </p>
<p>He also received his PSAT scores a few weeks ago. He’s close enough to the usual National Merit cutoffs for our state that I will have him do some prep. I’m debating between pulling out his sister’s book of actual SAT tests from her prep or having him do some practice PSATs next summer. The timing is a bit different on the PSAT from what DD says. I think if timing is the issue, the best practice is practice tests.</p>
<p>Not going to lie, but D2 has been practicing SAT tests for a while. She seemto have flatlined on her math score. Today I said to her, “could it be you just don’t know how to do some of those problems, and you are just making the same mistake over and over again. Your older sister is home(who is a math major in college), maybe she could help you out.” D1 immediately chimed in, “Oh no, I am a math major in college, we do not deal with real numbers, everything is theoretical.” But nevertheless she spent half an hour with her sister to go over few problems she didn’t know how to do. D2 took another math test right after that and went up 80 points.</p>
<p>D2 is really enjoying her 2 weeks break. She doesn’t have any midterms when she goes back, so she is quite relaxed. We are planning our college visits this spring. We are thinking about hitting NE this spring, then do some southern school next fall, then midwest for a long weekend. At this time, we are not sure if we are going to look at CA schools.</p>
<p>oldfort, that was my next question - Is anyone making plans to visit schools? DD and DH may be out east this spring. DH’s friend lives in North Carolina and has invited her to see Duke and some other schools there. In the summer, we’re going to NYC again and plan to drive north. We’re here in socal, so she’s seen schools here. </p>
<p>I’ll have to break out DS’s study guides for PSAT and SAT. He was the exact opposite and scored very well in writing and reading.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh. You and your children are so organized and motivated! My '12 daughter hasn’t given college more than a passing thought. To her it feels quite remote and distant. Her PLAN (pre-ACT) test scores were exceptional and her grades are very strong. She doesn’t view herself as scholarly in the least. Her ultimate career goal is to be a singer/drummer in a rock band!! Or perhaps an artist of some sort. </p>
<p>I’m staying out of it, letting her chart her own course. If she wants help or guidance she knows I stand ready and able. </p>
<p>I hope the rest of you don’t mind having a slacker tagging along. My fun-loving, laid-back daughter will make your high achieving kids look great!</p>
<p>We are not that organized, we just like to think we are.</p>
<p>Not organized here either and I am following D2’s lead (mostly ;)). Like rrah’s S, her PSAT score was close to the usual state NMSF cutoff so I will encourage her to do some prep over the summer. And by “close” I really mean about 15 points or so lower but that is where D1 was too in 10th grade and the combination of a little practice and another year of math put her above the cutoff.</p>
<p>She had finals before break so she is pretty relaxed. Her grades this quarter will be down a little, reflecting her bout of mono. She’s not stressing about it so neither am I.</p>
<p>Some the posts here are enough to throw me into a full scale panic attack. Guess I should have expected that, being a CC member since 2005. Ah CC, home of the type A micromanagers and their brilliant, driven offspring. I am working very hard to try to not internalize what some of the posters write, since my son is going through “something” right now and I am learning that my best intentions for his academic future are not necessarily his high priority at this point. </p>
<p>Lilmom- my son did similarly on the PSAT to your child (high math, low reading and writing). English is not his subject. He HATES reading anything and writing is a chore for him but he has little difficulty in his honors Precalculus class. When I mentioned to him not worry, I would find him a good tutor for the real deal he rolled his eyes at me and grunted (his now usual form of communication) that he doesn’t believe in SAT prep. OK, “he just is not that into this”. He is 15, turning 16 in a few months. Hopefully, he will gain some interest or at least not discount everything that I say (for his academic benefit) before it is too late for college admissions but he may not. I have to love “the kid on the couch”.</p>
<p>I hope what I am writing is not throwing anyone into panic attack…What we are trying to do is prevent stress and panic come junior/senior year. There are pros and cons of letting a kid take the lead. Most teenagers I know tend to procrastinate, they don’t do anything until they see the posted mark then they scramble. I am hoping by getting D2 more prepared for testing, she’ll need to take it fewer times. By doing some college visits this spring would mean less time off junior year when there is heavier work load and testing.</p>
<p>D2 is very high strung, whereas D1 could take pressure better. D2 will listen/discuss with us more when she is more relaxed. Once she gets herself worked up to a frenzy then there is no reasoning with her. In her case, we are going to try not to pile it on her in a short period of time.</p>
<p>Lighter note - boyfriend is gone after 3 weeks. Good while it lasted. I am not too sorry about it. She had a wonderful Nutcracker performance.</p>
<p>Congrats on the Nutcracker performance. This was the first year my daughter hasn’t danced the Nutcracker since she was 6. </p>
<p>My daughter’s school didn’t distribute PSAT scores before break, so we’re still impatiently waiting for them. It’s worse for her because she has friends at other schools who already have theirs.</p>
<p>She’s taking an online math class, though, and got behind in the fall while she was sick. She’ll spend some of the next week getting back on track with it.</p>
<p>She’s already done one college visit (Rice) and we’re talking about more. It won’t be spring break, though, because she’s going on a mission trip to the Texas-Mexico border. Maybe we’ll fit something in around mathcamp this summer.</p>
<p>Hm. I don’t think our school district has administered the PSAT yet. If so, we are even more behind the curve than I knew! A regional talented/gifted program which works with our district recommended our daughter take the SAT starting in about 7th grade but she opted not to. </p>
<p>How do your kids react when you suggest studying/preparing for the PSAT/SAT? If I were to mention such a thing I am positive my daughter would give me at least a pained look, and maybe even a groan or two. My husband would definitely accuse me of “pushing” her and probably say I am the only one concerned about college, so I should back off. </p>
<p>My older daughter required little prompting or prodding when it came to college. Attending a challenging, intellectually-dense school had been her dream for many years. All I had to do was explain the basic process and remind her to be aware of deadlines. </p>
<p>My second daughter couldn’t be more different so it feels as though it’s the first time around.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading oldfort’s post describing her two different children and why the parents’ approach had to be individualized. </p>
<p>Congrats to all the ballerinas, past and present, too!!</p>
<p>We are also waiting for the PSAT scores…distribution is January 7th. Somewhat frustrating for me, since I know the school has had them for weeks, but with the limited number of guidance couselors they have to prioritize. DD is fine with the wait…she’s had a busy fall with mock trial, Girl Scouts (troop and coucil event planning) and a knee injury that requires significant physical therapy each week. She had hoped the physical therapy would be over by now, but it will be continuing for at least another 6 weeks.</p>
<p>I asked my S who did well on the CR/W part of SAT how his sister could study for it, he said, “You can’t. Just read and read, I guess.” Ok, this is coming from someone who didn’t really study for SAT but pulled a 1920 (low math score.) Coulda, shoulda, wouldas…if he studied, could he have scored over 2000? Yes, but that’s not him. Like Je Ne Sais qois’s D, he would rather get in art and music. </p>
<p>So, now comes along DD, stellar grades, honors, high math, the opposite. She wants to play her sport in college, got to a selective school, etc, etc. Her instructor says not to worry about grades so much and that she should be out practicing and playing her sport yr round. I disagree and here we are on cc. The one thing I did learn w/S is it is important that they are informed going into jr. yr. What they do with the information is up to them.</p>
<p>S finally got his PSAT score today. He met the NMS cutoff for our state which was exciting to see. </p>
<p>He is so low-key about school that I wasn’t sure he would be in that range. I guess he will have some good options ahead of him, but I’ll try not to shift into college mode until next year. Maybe a few informal visits to local campuses just to give him a feel for different sizes and types of colleges. Older D didn’t start thinking about it until her junior year and it all worked out for her.</p>
<p>Congrats to you S Northernwoods!</p>
<p>To answer je<em>ne</em>sais_quoi’s question about S’s reaction to my suggestion of some practice next summer: he didn’t react except to say “hmm.” “Next summer” is too far away for him to protest much right now :)</p>
<p>DS mentioned that he received his form for junior year scheduling today. His older S is still home from college and had very little sympathy for him when he complained that next year was going to be tough. He’ll take AP Calc, AP USH, AP Language and Comp, 5th year Spanish, Honors Physics, and Journalism. Junior year is so stressful for them.</p>
<p>My D has not bothered to even pick up her scores.</p>