Eyes twitching - ME TOO.
OMG, we should all have therapy and marathon spa sessions by the end of this journey.
A neighbor who has a senior attended a college fair at their high school and an AO from Villanova was there who indicated that Nova has changed to ED and that those with high stats should apply ED to maximize their odds of acceptance, and then indicated that Nova does not take interest into consideration. Okay, so clearly they are trying to protect their yield, which okay, thatās the game the colleges play so canāt ding them on that approach. But I do have to call this AO out on the interest statement. Villanovaās own CDS indicates that they consider interest as a factor for admissions decisions. Why misrepresent that to the families? Ugh, this entire process makes me ill at times. Sorry for the rant.
@4MyKidz @Gatormama Hereās to twitching eyes and trouble sleeping! Menopause plus teenagers is not the the greatest combo!
I ended up taking a couple of hours of sick leave this morning because of bad insomnia last night. Iām pretty sure it was from residual guilt. I sat with the kid and tried to do a math SAT test together, talking through the problems. We got through two before the waterworks started. I really donāt have the money for tutors, but I may have to find it somewhere just to save my sanity. He cries and I get mad. And then I get guilty and donāt sleep.
Hugs to you @ninakatarina. Youāre braver than I am to try to work through a practice test with your kid. With mine it wouldāve been a quick road to conflict. Personally, I think itās a bit early to be taking SATās unless your kid is a strong test taker, as my D15 was. Has he tried Khan Academy for test prep help? Also you can probably find a group prep class that is less costly than an individual tutor. For my D19 Iām so worried about the 2 Fās and the D showing in the online gradebook right now (itās week 6 of school here), that I canāt spare any worries for SAT prep. Fortunately, taking the SAT/ACT is optional for our in state universities although scores are needed for the honors college or merit scholarships. At the moment, weāre prioritizing getting her on top of her coursework and keeping her GPA in the B range,
@ninakatarina If there is crying after two math problems, itās just not time yet and thatās ok!!! Out of the 750 kids in S19ās class, I think only 50 or so took an ACT or SAT this fall already. Itās much more ānormalā to wait until spring.
S19 went to his first college presentation at his high school today. Only four kids showed up for the University of Richmond presentation and the other three were seniors. They all got lot of personal time with the rep. S19 liked everything about it - a little bit bigger than your typical LAC (more like 3000 not 2000), near the capital city of Richmond, lots of nature, and heard about a major called PPEL (politics, philosophy, econ, law) that interested him. We are planning a visit for spring break so Iām glad he liked it!
Yeah, kid was doing Khan SAT math prep all summer. I would nag him to do Khan, half an hour later I would see that he had watched a video and then stopped. I donāt know how to tell whether itās doing any good. Iām pushing the SAT prep because the PSAT is looming. NMSF and NMF could mean so much. If PSAT was just reading and essay he would have it with no problem, but heās gotten 540 on math in both practice PSATs.
@homerdog I had a high school friend who went to U of R, he loved it.
@ninakatarina there is no way I could help with the math or really any of it and keep my sanity and relationship with my child. Kahn academy, yay math and one of study guides are very good resources.
The prep classes are pricey and unless the child is invested, actually doing the sections and practice tests on their own in addition to what happens at the sessions, they may not be worth the investment. There is a wide variety of prep help out there and you can spend almost nothing, or a small fortune so show around.
As I think a lot of us have discovered, until and unless the kid shows the motivation, all the nagging in the world wonāt help. I think my kid is starting to get motivated - just starting - and sheās internalizing the cause and effect of bad score = fewer choices/bad grade = fewer choices.
But she has years of NOT focusing to combat, and I despair, I really do, watching her āstudy.ā Sheās got the phone with the texts and sheās got the playlist that she actually freaking DJs while āstudyingā ā¦ I donāt know how she retains a thing.
Taking away the phone and the music during the short hours that she and I are both home at the same time is not going to change a thing - itās a habit and I swear she twitches when she doesnāt have those appendages.
@Gatormama I hear you. The phone is definitely a distraction. Is there really no way to take it away? Our kids put their phones in the kitchen while they do their homework but they take breaks every 30 min or so to check them, see if anyone is looking for homework help, etc. Most of the silly Snapchats, etc, can wait until homework is over. They may respond to a few. Itās good to take breaks while they work anyway.
We forced S19 to go to our local library to study for his first set of finals freshman year without his phone and now heās hooked. Knows he does WAY better work without it and work gets done faster. He returns to a boat load of nonsense on his phone and usually doesnāt end up looking at all of it. Almost all of his friends are up until 1:00 doing homework. Heās usually done by 11. I think itās because his friends are with their phones. Playing video games, Snapchatting, etc.
That being said, our kids are heads down looking at their phones all during breakfast and on the ride to school. And on the weekends I feel like itās an appendage for sure.
@Gatormama My S19 is the same with the phone. When he finally decides that itās time to buckle down, heāll usually put it aside, but he doesnāt want me dictating when he should do his HW. Heās pretty stubborn about doing school stuff on his own terms, even if those terms seem crazy. He actually can do hiw work while doing two other things at the same time. He goes crazy trying to sit quietly at a table!
So he woke up with a 103 degree fever today and missed the first two tests of the school year! Had him checked for strep but it seems to be a non-bacterial something or other. Iām trying to get him to do some HW while the ibuprofen is working, but heās decided it would be more productive to practice for the jazz band audition that is 6 weeks away than to do homework for tomorrow. Heāll probably be home again anyway, but I can already predict another frustrating Sunday night coming up!
Just ordered DS19ās HS ring. It really hit me that he is now a Jr and will be waiting in line this time next year to order his cap and gown.
Both my kids also home sick. Something going around. Much hacking at work also.
I just got over the hacking bug - somehow was able to not pass it to either dd or dh. My work is ramping up in frantic dysfunction. Main reason I dont have time for freaking out about dds lack of prep for any psat sat act whatever. I found prep with my other 3 nonexistant. ds (hs '11) had small class prepā¦that was a waste of $ since class ended up teaching to the lowest denominator but ok whatever. Dd (hs '13) got some college board online tool they had - she barely touched it. Dd (hs '15) got nothing but āhey theres an app, theres a book, khan academy has a thing - good luck!ā. As said before, raised by wolves.
D19 is my first, and as has been the case all her life, she is the experiment. The poor kid.
@Gatormama Same here - D19 is our test child. 
I am starting to get nervous about SAT prep again. She blew it off this summer so I moved her to the October date and signed her up for a prep course at her school. It was supposed to start last Thursday and they would have already had three classes and one practice test by now. Due to school being closed for the hurricane they have had no classes. She is already missing class this Thursday and the āsecondā practice test this weekend because we will be away for college visits. The class ends just before the October test date so Iām hoping they send us a new schedule soon that has make up classes!
D also does her homework with her phone by her side. Drives me crazy! Better than my D21- Iāve seen her doing homework while watching Netflix on her laptop!!
I should have taken a photo of D19 prepping for the ACT. She was sitting in front of the TV, with it playing Netlix, while simultaneously watching an ACT prep video and doing sample problems. Of course, her phone was in front of her the whole time. But her practice ACT went up 2 points, so she must be doing something right.
My kid generally stays after school for rehearsals, and gets homework done while waiting for his turn on stage. Iāve walked in to see him at it - heās amazingly focused in a room full of chaos. So Iām a lot more forgiving of him for studying with headphones on and phone at the ready.
Unless the grades slip, then taking away the phone is fair game. Havenāt had to yet, but he hasnāt taken incredibly challenging courses to date.
@gusmahler You may be onto something here. My D19 wonāt start prepping for the ACT until January but she watches enough Netflix that if we can count as a way to improve her eventual score, Iāll feel more comfy with her lackadaisical approach to the whole process!
just wrapped up 3rd week of school. It has been pretty busy just as expected. Soccer is taking up a lot of time, Robotics gets going again tonight. Son is a soccer referee for his job, and he does 3 games tomorrow. Hopefully he can rest Sat afternoon thru Sunday, and get some homework done. He says heās doing fine so far with his classes.
He is hoping to either play soccer or run track in college and so he has been sending notes out to schools of interest and filling in all of their questionnaires, which takes up a bunch of time. But he has to get the ball rolling with that, now is the time.
Next week there is a school college fair and heās going to meet with some of the reps of a few schools heās interested in. Hopefully that goes well for him.
No sat/psat prep work being done, not much time. Heās talking the next available PSAT though.