<p>DD fell asleep on her way to practice tonight. I parked the car and let her sleep an extra 10 minutes. Remember those days when you didn’t want to take the sleeping baby out of the car. She’s back from practice and now studying for an AP Psych quiz.</p>
<p>Thank you. All good advice, and nice to feel that I’m not alone with this (although sorry that your kids are stressed out too). :)</p>
<p>Oh 4CookieMonster, I do remember those days of them sleeping in their car seats and just letting them stay there for awhile. It’s a good reminder that time is fleeting, and that we just need to nurture them as best we can and enjoy them.</p>
<p>I think we’ll wait on the big tests for S. D didn’t take hers until June end of junior year and it worked out fine. Friends were incredulous. “You haven’t taken ACT yet?? I already took it 3 times!” D picked up on the anxiety, was afraid she’d have to do that too, would put her head on table and just moan thinking of it. SAT was first. Waiting outside the school at 1:30 pm and they STILL weren’t done. Kids have to be so tough to last all those hours. She emerged completely wiped out and declared that no matter how she did she was finished with SAT forever. And she was. ACT the next week wasn’t quite so awful. Fewer sections so not so many interruptions and more time to settle to concentrate. My kids aren’t bothered by the AP or SAT subject tests. But that SAT, yoiza! Every minute it’s something. 45 minutes to get kids organized into proper rooms. Ejecting someone for having a cell phone. Instructions and reprimands and more instructions and just can’t relax and concentrate. Kids tapping pencils, shuffling feet, chewing their nails. Whole HS jammed with nervous kids. I don’t envy them. I don’t remember it being like that when I was a kid. Was it? Probably I didn’t have the sense that so much was riding on that test.</p>
<p>As long as there is no chewing during the SAT I think she will be ok… But pencil tapping may also put her over the edge. My kid may be the only one kicked out of the test for getting up and yelling at somebody to please be quiet!! I have to remind her not to do that.</p>
<p>I think June is also a good time to take the test because school will basically be over. If she needs to take the ACT a 3rd time then maybe she will do June. I really hope that it does not come to that!</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the math tutor where I can proudly tell him that her score went down from the first practice test to the second. Honestly I am not concerned because she has only been doing this for for less than 2 weeks. I think the problem was that she completed his work at 10:30 pm after getting up at 6 and working all day and after school as well. 3girls my kid is now walking around saying that she is good at CR/writing but math- not so much. Ugh it’s not true! She is a great math student who just needs to practice. </p>
<p>I told her that starting this weekend I am giving her one ACT section per week, timed. I will continue with this until mid November and then I will sit her down and give her a full test. I am sure she will agree with me and eagerly sit down and take the test!! She needs to practice the timing. I keep reminding her that if she cooperates with me then maybe- just maybe- she will be done by December 14. </p>
<p>3girls your daughter’a practice tests ( minus the essay) are outstanding. You are right to tell her that these tests are just a piece of the overall package. Maybe if she develops an “I don’t care” attitude ( another ha) then she won’t freeze. Maybe guidance can write something about this in his LOR because it seems as though your daughter is a brilliant writer and a perfectionist and that is contributing to the problem. I am trying to figure out if there is some type of relaxation technique that may work during the test to unfreeze her brain. I understand how frustrating this must be.</p>
<p>When my daughter was in pre-school I have fond memories of her sitting on a blanket in front of the tv watching Dragon Tales ( her favorite show) and eating a grilled cheese sandwich. Now she won’t go near the tv because she has no time and it’s a distraction. She watches the news while eating breakfast and occasionally watches Spanish tv for homework.</p>
<p>I get up extra early and write on this thread. It’s very therapeutic! Wishing everyone a stress free day with their kids…</p>
<p>Back in the day when we were studying for the Bar exam, they suggested ear plugs. But you have to practice with them in so you are used to them when test day comes. It really helps with pencil tapping and gum chewing. I was so thankful I had practiced with them in bc my assigned seat for the Bar exam was in the 2nd row right in front of the speakers. Now I’m talking the test was in the Javitz Center with thousands of seats lol. When the guy spoke into the microphone I was like that old commercial where your hair blows from the noise and vibration!! Thank God I had practiced with ear plugs :))</p>
<p>twogirls, you’re becoming my early morning read.</p>
<p>3girls, only one mistake? wow, that’s a great SAT test. Given my screen name, of course, I would tell D that the Writing section doesn’t really count - much. Swarthmore said they didn’t look at the Writing section; they rather take the essays in the application as a better example of writing skill.</p>
<p>D is so different. She works hard but nothing like what I see here, and she often thinks she’ll kill the exam. Then she doesn’t, so meltdowns occur later rather than sooner. That’s why I had her take the exams early; not because she would be one and done, but so she could see how her baseline score compares to colleges she thinks she wants to attend.</p>
<p>I have a question about AP calculus. D is currently in precalc. Next year she plans to take AP calc but she tells me she plans to take both AB and BC concurrently. several students are taking both this year, same teacher, so they have calc every day. IS THIS INSANE? (sorry lost control there)</p>
<p>I always thought AB was one semester of calculus taught over one school year while BC was one year of calculus taught over one school year. What is the difference?</p>
<p>The juniors who are doing this want to take Linear Algebra as high school seniors. I don’t know why but they do. D, is a good math student but she’s not talented in math (no AIME, AMC) and she isn’t looking to major in math physics, engineering, not even finance or chemistry. I don’t see the need for the double calc other than “colleges want to see the most challenging schedule”.</p>
<p>I think I talked her into agreeing to the following: if she scores over 95 all year in precalc, maybe both classes (still insane); if she gets between 90 and 95, just BC; If she gets scores in the 80s, then take AB.
.
I an so glad I went to college 30 years ago. Things were easier.</p>
<p>Slacker mom, that’s silly. Either calculus at your HS is set up for 2 years, first AB and then BC, or it’s set up so that BC covers everything AB does, plus the additional topics (and moves faster). But the BC material builds on the AB material do taking them concurrently is just silly. Or completely undoable. I can’t tell you which.</p>
<p>IJDrive, thank you. That’s my thought as well. All I can say is there are about five juniors this year who are killing themselves by doubling up. Unfortunately one of them is D’s best friend, so D thinks this is a good idea.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if the teacher needed people to sign up for the BC class.</p>
<p>Wow, Slacker mom - it sounds unusual to me, too. All schools do it differently - at our school, students either take AB or BC, because BC is supposed to include AB (although some kids do take AB one year and BC the next). You might ask the BC teacher if the BC class is set up to be all inclusive - in other words, can a student go straight into BC from Pre-Calc. If most kids are doubling up as you described, it sounds like the BC class at your school isn’t designed to be independent of the AB class. </p>
<p>To sum it up, I don’t love the idea of a kid doubling up in a subject senior year that isn’t her strengths just to look good to colleges. I can’t imagine a single college (even very select ones) tsk-tskign over the fact that she only took one AP Calc class senior year. </p>
<p>Other than that, I’m not sure I’d tie it into directly with the Pre Calc grade. I don’t always think those grades reflect deep understanding, so it seems more carrot and stick than assessing whether or not she can handle the load. </p>
<p>If she’s dying to take Calc BC senior year, what about taking Calc I over the summer through somewhere like Art of Problem Solving. Would her school let her go straight into BC if she’d done AB on her own over the summer?</p>
<p>PN, I’m not even as ambitious as you suggested. :-)</p>
<p>I really want D to just take AB. I think it will be a good class for her and the colleges she likes are more than fine with that. </p>
<p>No AOPS, D hates AOPS. She took their algebra I course and promptly failed it. Not because she couldn’t do the work (she later got an A), she said the class was geared toward the competition kids, not ordinary students. My sister (son did a lot of competitions) confirmedD’s impression. That site is great for the student who does AMC and AIME (and Mathcounts in middle school) but it’s pretty intense for non-competitors.</p>
<p>That makes no sense. If she wants to double up next year, why not double up with AP AB (or BC) and AP Stat? D’s in AP BC this year and it doesn’t seem too bad so far.</p>
<p>Is it the same group of kids in both classes? We are on block schedule, students take AB this semester and then BC next. Must take AB before BC. It is 2 separate classes on the transcript, but really one year long class. Administrations way of offering a year long BC class.</p>
<p>FromMD, no argument from me. </p>
<p>Sally22, this year’s juniors? It’s the same group of juniors taking both classes. It seems there is this group of overachieving students who have competed with each other since middle school. This is the latest in what they “need” to do. Don’t get me wrong, they are all very smart and very capable but they go overboard. And the parents approve. </p>
<p>In 9th grade, her friend’s mom told me that D was “behind” in math. Eh, I couldn’t get excited over that. The high school doesn’t offer anything much beyond AP Calc BC so there isn’t a need to rush through high school math. </p>
<p>I don’t have any problems with D being friends with a couple of them. (I’m hoping their study skills rub off on her) but sometimes she gets weird ideas from them - like this calculus thing. If they want to go nuts (her friend is complaining about the workload), that’s fine with me. But I don’t want my daughter doing insane things that don’t really provide any benefit. Who knew I had to worry about the effects of top students on my own child?</p>
<p>Usually D is good about making her own path but I think even she is getting affected by this. I need to tell her SOG’s race tale.</p>
<p>^^ like button</p>
<p>Slackermom, I think your caution in this situation is a good thing. “But I don’t want my daughter doing insane things that don’t really provide any benefit.”—very wise, in my opinion.</p>
<p>thanks momsings. I just wanted to make sure that this AB/BC concurrent thing was as insane as it sounded to me. I never heard of it being done. I was a tad worried that people would say “it’s done in our school. go for it”</p>
<p>My D is taking AP calc AB this year. Her school doesn’t offer good math courses. I wanted her to go to a local college to take calc I, but she refused to do it because her school gives 5 for AP (even though it’s a low quality AP math course) in her school, but 4.5 for a college course, even if she takes the AP exam and passes it. I feel bad about this. I think for her education it’s better to take it in the college. But she wants that GPA. Her school has NOBODY ever passed AP calc AB. She will pass it for sure because she’ll get help from home. I wish she took take it in the college so I wouldn’t need to help her much at home. I wish they’d not even offer AP math in her school. I wonder if CB has a policy about that - say if a school offered a certain AP for 5 years, 100% students fail the national exam, they should not be allowed to offer it. does it make sense?</p>
<p>I don’t know anybody who takes AB and BC at the same time. Sounds crazy to me. In our school AB is a semester college class spread out over the whole year, while BC is a one year college class taken over a full year. We went to Back to School Night where the teacher explained how it is decided whether to do AB or BC ( current class is pre calc). She meets with each student one at a time and asks them about their interests and possible major. If it’s an English, pre-law, foreign language etc major then she recommends AB. If it’s a math/science kid she recommends BC. Taking both together creates way too much stress.</p>
<p>Slacker I love how you arrived at your name!</p>
<p>Anyone else notice a huge increase in confidence and maturity this year in your child? Thinking back to my own experience, I remember being much more comfortable acdemically as a HS junior. I had learned how to get good grades, had my routine down, etc… I think D is feeling the same way now. Plus, she is driving herself to school, has a part time job and so has some of her own money, and is expanding her social circle. A world of difference from soph year. I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up!</p>