<p>My elder son took Mandarin for three years in HS. There were some native speakers in his class as well as students from families where Mandarin is the primary language used at home. For those kids, they could easily get an A without efforts. When S1 was in Chinese III, he was only one of two or three students of the entire class (25-30 students) who did not have any prior Mandarin advantage. It was not a good year for him as far as the Chinese class went. What so absurd was that the make up of students in the following year AP Chinese class. </p>
<p>Having said that, 3girls3cats, I find your HSs approach on the 4th year Chinese rather interesting.</p>
<p>Sorry to change topic… but any thoughts on today’s news from College Board re. remaking SAT? I think 2015 class will still take the current SAT but may affect the younger kids. I am not sure when they plan to roll-out the updated SAT.</p>
<p>sounds like they are trying to make it more like the ACT. My DD has taken a practice ACT and SAT. She did much better on the ACT without studying. She will study for the PSAT this summer and focus on the ACT after that(unless the SAT is needed for NM.</p>
<p>Seems to me that making the SAT similar to the ACT doesn’t make sense. students have two options where some do better with the SAT and others ACT. CB motivation is suspect to me. I think they want the change now because more people last year took the ACT than SAT.</p>
<p>My daughter had the PLAN test this year for the ACT. I think she will do practice tests this summer for both tests, get some tutoring, and try both tests in the fall. I am trying to figure out a schedule- right now all the test dates are up on my wall. My older one did much better on the ACT.</p>
<p>So far, D hasn’t really done any prep work for standardized tests, but I think she’ll try to do a little this summer after her CTY epidemiology course finishes up in July. </p>
<p>D decided to take the ACT in 8th grade in order to qualify for a CTY summer program. She was determined to take the “History of Disease” class in Lancaster and signed up on her own. It was at the last minute and the only studying she did was looking at sample tests the weekend before. She did much better than any of us expected her to (including herself). She also did quite well on the PLAN test in 8th grade. When she took the PSAT this year, though, her scores were fine, but not as good as the ACT and PLAN scores. I think her school has all the sophomores take the ACT in April for practice, so we’ll see if that pattern continues. </p>
<p>We’ve never put too much emphasis on prepping for standardized tests. Knowing how to approach the test and going in with a good attitude and enough sleep seems to work best for our kids. Both S (who graduated from high school in '05) and D have been taking standardized tests every year (lots of emphasis on ISATs in our elementary schools here) and they seem to do better when things are kept fairly low key. Their scores have pretty much reflected where they are academically with that approach, and both tend to develop test anxiety under pressure, which I think might ultimately backfire.</p>
<p>@twogirlsyou should be proud of daughter. It’s so important for kids to know how to make decisions that fit their own needs, and it sounds like she’s doing just that. Her schedule will still be pretty darn rigorous even if it’s not the full IB slate of courses. I’ll bet she’s pretty relieved, too. :)</p>
<p>Re. Concordia Language Villages, <a href=“http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/newsite/[/url]”>http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/newsite/</a> While all the personnel try to stay in the language, campers are never pressured to speak it. They can volunteer to take a language pledge and wear a “super camper” badge. Camp activities include drama, art Authentic food and sports. My S15 went for 4 weeks before 9th grade and LOVED it. There are 1-4 week sessions available for students of all levels. You can choose a more academic high school or college credit option but most just go for fun. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>@herandhismom, D totally enjoyed CTY Lancaster. </p>
<p>It was her first taste of being away from home and we all appreciated the somewhat paternalistic approach of CTY for her at that point. She was very anxious about fitting in before she went because she considers herself to be “smart…but not CTY smart” and she’s a little shy and introverted. She was fine socially, though, despite her stutter. While some of the kids fit the typical CTY stereotype, there were also kids who were more like her (sort of conventional, bright and hardworking, but not naturally brilliant). The staffers made everybody feel accepted, which was great. The primary reason she went was for the “History of Disease” class and she absolutely LOVED that part of it.</p>
<p>Last year she went to Summer@Brown for a course on the role of misfolded proteins in neurological disease. She actually enjoyed the fact that the students were allowed more freedom there. It was her first taste of what college might be like and she flourished. </p>
<p>Next summer she’s going to the CTY program for older kids (16 and up) at Princeton for an epidemiology course. She’s really focused on public health/epidemiology as a career and becomes more excited about it with every class she takes. </p>
<p>I’m not sure where she gets her focus…her 25 year-old brother is still trying to figure out what he wants to do when he “grows up.” Come to think of it, so am I. :)</p>
<p>D did a neuroscience class at Summer@Brown last summer too! Hers was Intro to Neuro, a 3 week course.</p>
<p>She LOVED it. I’ve encouraged her to apply to a couple of different programs for this summer but she’d really like to return to Brown. Other than having a curfew it’s about as much freedom as she’ll get in college.</p>
<p>@EllieMom, my D, who is also a lancaster CTYer, kept talking about “hisdis”. so your D. is one of those. She did several years of CTY Lan. This summer she will go to London (Cambridge) for a international studies summer camp. She doesn’t want to stop going to CTY. But she is really excited about London. </p>
<p>@Apollo, Thanks for your words about the language camp. We definitely will consider that next year.</p>
<p>My D will, most likely, stay home and get ready for the upcoming tests. Her PSAT score this year wasn’t as good as we hoped so she will work on that. She will also get some prep work done for upcoming Fall/Winter SAT/ACT. Not the most fun way to spend the summer…</p>
<p>Not quite so exciting here for summer either. S will take Econ and Gov at a local charter school. His district doesn’t offer AP for either of these and since they are state requirements, they tend to be pretty bad. This way he gets them over quickly and it will open up his senior schedule for dual credit classes or a mentorship. The plan is for him to do some PSAT studying also but the highlight of his summer will be attending a music camp devoted solely to marching band, followed by band camp for his hs. lol. STEMson has a strange idea of fun. Guess we will be looking at colleges based at least in part on their marching bands.</p>
<p>My daughter was a “Cty” kid in middle school but we just never continued beyond. The slew of email from them still continues. She will be working in a camp this summer followed by Driver’s Ed ( hopefully). Then she goes to the track afterwards ( by now it’s 7:30) to get ready for pre-season. She will also study for the SAT/ACT, begin tutoring, and practice Spanish with her friends in preparation for AP. So… During the week she will be busy from 7:30 am until 8:pm. Then she will study on the weekends. Busy!!!</p>
<p>Band camp! Thee band director at D’s school is leaving after spending 30 years there. But they’ve promised to go all out for her last band camp. It’s a 9:00am-9:00pm experience for the last two weeks of summer. According to D, playing and team building exercises are lots of fun…marching in Chicago’s August weather, not so much. </p>
<p>So band camp and epidemiology will be five weeks of her summer, but that leaves a little downtime. She’ll be doing some self-studying for AP stats and probably spending time looking over things for the PSAT. She also needs to get in some driving hours or she’ll have to start all over again to get her driver’s license. She really does NOT like driving, but we’ve told her it’s a life skill she has to learn. So, maybe a mom-and-daughter road trip might be in order.</p>
<p>I also think she’ll be having some downtime. She and her best friend since fourth grade are very (sometimes overly) serious for 16 year-olds. But she’s become friendly with one girl who is a little more lighthearted, which is a good thing from our POV. I may be the only mom who has to say, “You need to stop reading and go to mall for a couple of hours!”</p>
<p>I just realized that since ordering InStyle in Spanish, google has identified me as a young Spanish-speaking fashionista. I’m getting lots of ads on CC for trendy clothes…and they’re all in Spanish. :D</p>
She did several years of CTY Lan. This summer she will go to London (Cambridge) for a international studies summer camp. She doesn’t want to stop going to CTY. But she is really excited about London. </p>
Guess we will be looking at colleges based at least in part on their marching bands.</p>