My advice is make sure your smart cheerleader diversifies and make sure that she learns now the importance of getting her school work done early and to read ahead if she knows the syllabus.
My D’18 is an all star cheerleader and HS cheerleader and did advanced theater until this year (10th grade). She also takes all Honors and AP classes. Know that eventually it will be practically impossible to keep up the all star schedule/academic schedule/extra-curricular schedule (Particularly if she chooses to do HS sideline cheer).
D’18 had to give up band/flute, because the high school requires all band kids to participate in marching band and you are not allowed to cheer AND march. She had to give up theater this year after having auditioned and been selected for an advanced acting class. (She was one of only 2 sophomores selected) because the class conflicted with Honors Latin II. She could have dropped done to regular Latin but that class met the same time as HS Cheer class. I am finding that D’18’s resume is overly cheer heavy. But, it is incredibly difficult to be involved with other HS extra curricular due to mandatory after school practices and cheering at games and all star practice. We are scrambling right now to figure out how to diversify.
Be prepared for your D to face some very difficult decisions. Honestly it may come down to choosing between cheer and academics. And don’t be surprised if your D, who may never have suffered a mental block at cheer, hits the wall. I find that stress (academic/social/family) can be a stumbling block.
I just don’t think college should even be on your kids radar until 9th grade at the earliest & that’s only because you have to be aware of taking certain classes in high school for college. Mainly for scheduling purposes in high school. My D is taking the PSAT today as a jr. She dreads the test as do many of her friends. All are pretty smart kids in general and not slackers by any means. I asked her about it & her response was " it’s all a game Mom. We have to play the game and try to score well and then on the SAT too" this is what your kids are thinking folks…that education isn’t about learning anymore but a game to be played for college admissions etc. the pressure is too much for them I fear these days.
@theaterworks. You hit the nail on the head! It does seem like a game. But how do you not “play the game”? It is like we are all rushing around to make sure all the boxes are checked and there is time to actually absorb what is being learned or enjoy the EC activity.
I don’t know the answer @labegg . I know it made me sad to hear that from her. Her friends & her are all stressed out from AP classes & keeping up grades. She used to love school but I would say other then her arts classes, she doesn’t like it anymore. She talks about how great elem school was. I know adult life is pressure but we need to strike a balance btwn taking away our kids childhood joy & trying to maintain an academic vigilance. It’s a struggle for me and many. My daughters school is eliminating paper report cards this yr and you have to get grades from the online system. This is convenient for sure but it just makes parents check grades all the time and ride their kids -ss about bad grades. More hyper parenting. I know the game must be played regardless…I urge parents of younger children to strive for a balance and it’s ok. Really . It’s ok. My kid has 1 AP class this year. That’s not much compared w/ others but I don’t care. Next yr she’s not taking any and I’m ok with that. She’ll get into a school somewhere without them. She said " I want to enjoy my last year of being a kid…"
Get writing practice. It’s at this stage that kids usually decide they either like writing or don’t like it and it colors the rest of their academic career.
Kids usually know which classes require lots of writing and often make the bad decision to avoid them. What you need to do is embrace them.
If she likes reading, she could keep a blog about the books she reads in order to work on writing.
Is she finding pre-algebra super easy or not? In many schools, it’s not that advanced since it means Algebra1 in the 8th grade, Geometry in 9th, Algebra2 in 10th, precalc in 11th, and calc in 12th.
She probably won’t be able to do much in ACT math - this is okay, she “only” needs an 18 to qualify, but she still needs to get half the answers right, whereas she’s only studied about 1/3 of the total test content. (She shouldn’t even attempt the last 10 questions and just bubble in “C” the whole time for these).
If she can start a foreign language this Spring or next year, she should. She could take a language other than Spanish (French, German, Chinese, Arabic…). She will need to reach Level 4 or AP for selective schools and starting in middle school allows
Make sure she takes as many Honors classes as she can handle, and look into the AP offerings at her future high school.
In high school, she’ll need to have:
-4 years each of English , Social Science/History, and Science +Foreign Language up to Level 4 or AP+ Math up to Calculus or Precalculus
-“personal choice” classes (classes that interest her personally, could be CS, could be photography…) and no study hall unless no class is possible; taking a “gut” class is better than a study hall; however, an exception can be made if the student has an “insane” schedule with 5 APs or the study hall leads to early release for an internship or job
-an art can be an entrance requirement at some universities so taking one art class is always a good thing
-science should be biology, chemistry, and physics; she may want to add anatomy and/or physiology and/or AP biology and/or AP Chemistry. If you take these two classes, do not “take” the credits unless you’re absolutely certain you have complete mastery of the material - keep in mind that in a competitive (nursing) program, many freshmen will take Bio1 after taking AP Bio, too.
If she wants to try and see what HS classes are like, you could register her for a non required class like sociology, in the summer.
It isn’t a game or college prep for middle schoolers to participate in talent searches. It is tough for a really high IQ kid to find peers – the opportunities opened up for them through the talent search programs to spend time with other kids like themselves are really important. It was life changing for my D2.
^I agree. Life can be very isolating for high IQ kids. How do you think a kid who wants to discuss London’s St Paul’s architecture vs. French romanesque fits in kindergarten? (true story - fortunately this kid also likes Dinotrux.) Duke TIP may be the way for them to “meet their people”.
On the other hand, the test should be considered low-stakes for OP’s daughter. There should be no stress and no prep. OP can show her an ACT booklet, so that she knows what to expect, check her calculator’s authorized, knows to pick first the question with a line number in Reading, to skip all last 10 questions and mark them with her favorite letter (whichever one it is, it should always be the same she uses). A good night’s sleep, a good meal planned for after the test with a favorite dessert (because she’ll be exhausted!) And then, no more talk about it.
Thank you @MYOS1634 ! It was never going to be a high-stakes test for her. I plan on just reviewing what you said above with her before test day. We also have an appointment with her guidance counselour to address if the high school attached to the middle school can provide her an education that fits her wants and needs. Now what is this I hear about skipping all of the last ten questions?
Sorry, I should have added “in math”. She can’t possibly do them since they deal with advanced Algebra 2 and precalculus. She should spend the time she needs on the first 30 questions, and do whatever looks like something she might be able to figure out for the rest.
And by “skipping”, I mean “Bubble in your favorite letter without reading the question”.
There are no penalties for wrong answers on the ACT so she should always always bubble in something - her “chosen ahead of time favorite letter”.
