<p>Congrats to PaperChaserPop and your daughter!</p>
<p>Whoohoos for all the amazing kids and their accomplishments! And, as a completely neurotic mom, kudos to all the crazy parents who have helped keep their kids on the right path.</p>
<p>We have SENIORS! </p>
<p>A long time ago, an old Amish lady told me, as I held my days old girl in my arms, that you will blink and they will be 18 years old. I silently scoffed and thought, no, that is almost two decades. But Esther was right. It did feel like a blink.</p>
<p>Congrats PCP - how exciting is that? She must have some amazing natural talent and interest to have progressed so far in so short a time!</p>
<p>We still have 4 weeks until the end of the school year, classes end June 10th for the high school and then NYS Regents begin until June 23rd. Gotta love NYS!</p>
<p>Older daughter comes home tomorrow night (hopefully won’t be delayed by thunder storms) and then leaves again on Saturday until August 28th. Oh well, at least she’s doing something she loves.</p>
<p>Some of the hoops the teachers at our school expect the kids to jump through seem more akin to hazing than to education. </p>
<p>In my D’s English class, there was a packet of poem analyses that was assigned at the beginning of the semester – 42 of them. The kids have known about it all semester, but it’s been a back-burner project. It has not been mentioned in class at all, and they were never given a definite due-date (they were merely told “before the end of the semester”). My D has been chipping away at it, and as of the end of Memorial Day weekend, she had ~2/3 of them done. She is way ahead of many (most?) of her peers. </p>
<p>Well, today in class the teacher announces that they will be due … tomorrow. </p>
<p>We still have two-and-a-half weeks left of school, so my D was completely blindsided. It is going to take her 4~6 hours of work this afternoon/evening to write up the analyses for the remaining 1/3 of the poems. It isn’t particularly difficult, as they’ve been given a fairly turn-the-crank procedure to follow. Mostly, it’s just a lot of writing. However, I really feel bad for her peers (no small number!) that have been procrastinating. I imagine that some of them are going to be up all night. Maybe most of them.</p>
<p>Honestly, would it have been too much for the teacher to tell the kids the deadline before the holiday weekend, and give them the heads-up to manage their workload? Springing it on them last-minute like this just seems cruel.</p>
<p>mihcal1, that is a lousy thing to do. It is not as if the teachers are “teaching” them about real life or preparing them for college. after all, at least in college, there would be a syllabus with due dates.
I hope she does well.</p>
<p>We had Honors Banquet tonight (the night before finals start). Ds won a math, community service, honor society and community service award, but is he happy? No, because he only got 2nd place for the science award…Sometimes I have to tell him that he needs to love himself more.</p>
<p>DS spent the last 30 plus hours doing something similar (a project, put on the back burner…and he didn’t attempt it until this weekend) for his AP Lang class. He went to bed at about 2 and woke up a little after 5 AM to “finish up”. He has NHS community service after school today (he procratinated on that too and is struggling to get the last of the 20 “in school” hours that is due by next week) and his SAT tutor is coming at 7 tonight. He is going to be so exhausted. I just hope and pray that he dosen’t get sick since the SAT is on Saturday!</p>
<p>I wonder about some of these assignments. Our D has spent a crazy amount of time on a “report” for English HL. She read Sense and Sensibility and now has to make a collage in monochrome illustrating the climax of the novel. Really, all the pics in one color? She can’t just write an essay? This is a huge black hole of time…and you know collage making is a key factor in SAT scores…</p>
<p>Good luck to all the sleepless kids doing these time intense projects!</p>
<p>Regarding crazy assignments: my D2 made up a rap song for her history class as the final exam. She explored the recent decade and included current events, political and pop culture. I thought this was a brilliant assignment from the teacher. D loved it! And she is my younger, typical underachiever with that wild, creative spark in her. She poured her heart into this and it was good. Not good through mom goggles but good that she got an A plus! It may not seem like it will help on act/sat but I think it is creating passion, critical thinking and just thinking beyond a linear framework. </p>
<p>Not all students are the same. My D1, the 4.0 would have struggled here and het final product would have been good but she would NEVER have chosen to write an original song, create a character and get up in front of the class. She would have asked ME for help. D2 did this on her own and I didn’t even know about the assignment until she excitedly pulled me into her room and rapped it! Lol.</p>
<p>She spent every night in the bathtub with zero prompting just singing away. But you know what? I will make a bet that she will never get a 440 on her sat math. I know I am bragging but this is one of the first times D2 seems interested in school. She was also selected for honors Spanish and as soon as she got home yesterday, started on her summer homework. She also called me into her room to demonstrate het proficiency in reading in Spanish and wanted me to read so she could teach me.</p>
<p>D1 received her summer ap English syllabus and immediately asked me to help her pick a book from the list. I dug through the house gathering up crime and punishment, madame Bovary and many others. I told her to pick from what we had in the house…gotta save $! It ended up a tie between madame Bovary and wide sargasso sea. She went with madame Bovary and it is the same copy I used 18 years ago when I was a Sr and it contains underlined passages and doodles. I am a poet so hopefully she will see those passages and really think about their symbolism. </p>
<p>But in response to what may appear as superfluous assignments. I think we need to open our minds to more than organizing the perfect essay, with stunning mla format and strewned sat words sitting like an old toad. </p>
<p>Most of all, I exhaled a sigh of relief to see D2 Excited about school these last few weeks. I almost weep when I recognize the artist inside her. Please excuse my histrionics, but she has lived in the shadow of big sis all,her,life. She is taking her own path, and it is self guided. I am not pushing or helicoptering. It is just there, an innate creativity finally manifesting itself. Very thrilling for me. I cried when D1 conquered the civil war test but this might mean more. I am witnessing a blossoming. It is beautiful like fireworks, or watching the white cottony remnants of the dandilion floating in the air.</p>
<p>I pulled an example from madame Bovary when writing an essay on my ap English exam Sr. Year. It was risky and new and probably not recommended to do in any study book. I was the only 5 in class. I see that in D2, and I cry for its absence in D1. I know I need to accept them for who they are and I do love both so much, but it sends a chill, or a giggle when i see that spark.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting me brag…:):):):)</p>
<p>mspearl - it is wonderful to see each of your children finding their own interests and gifts. Both of your girls sound wonderful. I do enjoy when one of my kids has an interest that clicks with my own - it’s a special bond. But it’s just as much fun to see the kids forging their own unique paths as well!</p>
<p>Mihcal1 wrote:
</p>
<p>Sorry that the teacher sprung this on you. It’s so hard (for me at least) to work on a project without a real deadline. Kudos to your daughter for doing what she already had on it.</p>
<p>Adding insult to injury, the Orchestra teacher added a public concert-in-the-park for this Friday evening (4-9pm, including setup & cleanup after). There is mandatory rehearsal for an hour before school every day this week. </p>
<p>There have been events scheduled at the school almost every evening – departmental awards, academics team banquets, sports & art/music banquets, and a college fair. My D has had to miss every single one, because of a big test or project due next day. At least the Latin club pool party is scheduled for the evening <em>after</em> the SAT so she can attend that one.</p>
<p>I was hoping that things would back off after the APs, so my D could prep for SAT. I was hoping she could get a solid 8 hours sleep each night to be well-rested for Saturday. Doesn’t look like that is going to happen.</p>
<p>Why why why do teachers do this? It’s like they’re setting the kids up for failure.</p>
<p>Kids are in their last final…we’re the last district out in our area. I think the other districts saved money not making up the snow days and going for the minimum required time. Now we’re on to summer programs and hopefully, thinking about the college essay. And of course, summer assignments.</p>
<p>Finals started today. DS has finals all week, SAT, final on Monday, then out on Tuesday. ACT the following Saturday, then summer school starts that Monday. Add a part-time job, internship, play, reading assignments and college essays, and I wonder when he will get a true break.</p>
<p>D2 gave her counselor a first cut of common app, without essays. I think once they have looked at all of her awards, ECs, they will decide on topic for the main essay. I have a meeting scheduled with her GC at school next week. I don´t think it will be a very meaningful meeting, but I just want to know how the class of 2011 did. At this point, D2 is pretty certain where she is going to ED. She is taking all of her finals next week, math II SAT this weekend, then it should be a good summer. D2 seem pretty relaxed about her finals and SAT, she was a lot more nervous about the Literature test.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the congrats, and the putting up of my bragging moment!</p>
<p>IJD - drawing is the just a side interest for D and she does not intend to major in art or related fields. I had suggested architecture to her, but after trying out a 1-day seminar, she told me she’s not interested. Her art teacher secretly suggested fashion design to us. I guess only time will tell. At the moment she’s very firm on studying economics. D even started an econ club at the school just so she can select and train a team to compete in one of the econ bowls.</p>
<p>lake42ks - I’m ashamed to say that although I knew she wasn’t bad at it, but I really didn’t know how good she is until her art teacher told us about it last winter. I became totally convinced after seeing her recent drawings.</p>
<p>texaspg - thanks for the suggestion. I certainly hope it would help her app. Do you think adcoms care about art porfolio from an econ major applicant?</p>
<p>paerchaserpop, I think the art portfolio would be a boost to an applicant, since it could be assumed that she would bring something unique to the campus. Who is to say that she won’t do art in some capacity while in school, if only to work the other side of her brain for a while? I think most adcoms would love to be able to admit someone that has talent and varied interests.</p>
<p>PCP - Depends on where you are applying. Several top 20 schools that have a supplement provide instructions on providing music, art, and other supplements with specific instructions on how to turn them in. It is not for going to the specific department but to show you are exceptional in a specific area that is not necessarily related to academics. Essentially when you turn those in, a professor in the art department provides feedback to adcom stating your daughter has abilities that will make her famous in future (I am guessing here!) that will bring fame to the school in the future.</p>
<p>Check page 3 for Harvard on how to turn it in. Most schools seem to have similar instructions. I have heard Harvard adcom say dont bother sending us anything that says you won a school award or state award with that but give us something which is at national or international level. I suspect you meet that kind of threshold if your D’s work is being displayed in DC.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/forms/supplement_1011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/forms/supplement_1011.pdf</a></p>
<p>MizzBee & texaspg - thanks for the response. We’ll definitely looking into submitting portfolio supplement. D won’t be looking at HYP level schools; her GPA pretty much ruled that out.</p>
<p>whew, grades came through what she hoped…keeping up the A’s was tough junior year. Lots of kids didn’t with the AP’s and hard teachers. A lot of sweat and tears…of course she decided to add AP bio now to senior year. More sweat…with college apps and visiting on top of auditions, dance classes, prep classes for auditions, shows- I will need many a Calgon moment</p>
<p>DS was notified today that he will be receiving the Harvard Book Award at the Senior Awards Night tomorrow night (only two awards given to juniors, the Smith Book Award is the other one). I know it is meaningless for college apps, but it’s a nice recognition by his school.</p>