THREE math classes???!!!????

[Dmmetler]

M, my BK15, went back to a traditional school this year for various reasons, none of which were her choice. The school placed her in 10th grade, but seems to have only given her credit for biology and Englisn last year. As a result, her schedule is: Algebra I, Geometry, College Prep Math, English 10, Spanish 1, and Physical Science. 

 

Poor kid is freaking out.  Her mom doesn't know what to do to straighten this out, her dad is useless, and I doubt the school will talk to me.

 

I almost think it would be better to call her a 9th grader, give her the same classes, but only one math class, and let her take a couple of things that might be a little less stressful. She had really hoped to be able to do music. 

[Not_a_Number]

Eeep. That doesn't seem right!! 

[SKL]

If she is 15, they should listen to her if she speaks to them.  It is ridiculous, but don't they choose their own classes in 10th?  What even is "college prep math" if it isn't Algebra/geometry/etc?

I know some kids take 2 math classes in order to accelerate themselves, but I have never heard of anyone doing 3.

[EKS]

Has she actually taken the other math classes?  Our public high school has a placement test.

[Dmmetler]

Ok...apparently algebra 1 from 8th grade, with me, did not get on her high school transcript when she started at the virtual school, and last year's math class was not marked as completed. So, she got stuck with Algebra because she needs the credit, and the third class because she is now marked as "at risk" due to not passing math last year.  From what BK said, last year's math class was essentially "Khan academy, but not as good"-watch videos, do assignments. However, she tested into Geometry. So, I'm going to resubmit her 8th grade transcript in the hopes of getting rid of Algebra 1, along with a letter from me stating that I taught this class, that it was at a high school level, and giving my credentials. 

 

I don't know if we can do anything about the virtual school. Although it seems like if she placed into Geometry, that's a pretty good sign that she passed 9th grade math (even if she did it in 8th grade, and mostly treaded water in 9th). 

[Lecka]

I hope they will give her the Algebra I credit!

So much depends on the teacher and the kid.  

To have a class that is easy with a cool teacher is not the end of the world.  To have a class that is easy in a boring way with a teacher that is finicky is totally different.  

My son was in 10th grade last year, and he had some *less than ideal* classes (we moved, things were not set up the same way).  

In the best case -- he got along with the teacher and could do homework for other classes, or spend time reading. 

In the worst case -- he thought there was total busywork and the teacher thought he was a smart aleck.  

He is someone where he either gets along with the teacher, or he doesn't. 

I think for the "College Prep Math" class ------- first, is this taking up space that could go to a class she would really like and be interested in?  I think that would be a Big Deal, if it cut out a very positive class or activity.  If not, if she goes to the first day and gets along with the teacher, it may be fine.  If she goes to the first day and doesn't get along with the teacher, not so much.

My son is a rising Junior, and he did do an "add/drop" form with the counselor last year.  The system at his current school is -- you complete an add/drop form and submit it to the counselor, and maybe meet with the counselor.  

My son changed a class 2nd semester last year, on his own, by submitting and add/drop form and talking to the counselor.  That was the system in place for him to follow.

He had a really garbage 1st semester in various ways (many ways very related to coronavirus) and he talked to other kids and heard about how to do the add/drop thing.  

I also get e-mails about it, that will say "here is the process."  

He is at a large high school right now, where they have a process and want students to do the process.  

Where we lived before, it was a smaller high school and I think it was more based on talking to the counselor.  

I think ideally you would be able to prep her for what to ask for, after she has gone to the first day and seen -- maybe it's not the end of the world to have an easy/repeat class with a cool teacher.  But if it seems like a teacher is not a good fit or there is going to be horrible busy work, then maybe there is a process she can do to try to advocate for herself.

I would say where we used to live -- it seemed like it was more up to parents.  Where we live now, they really seem to prefer for students to deal with things like this.  

Good luck!  I hope it will work out!  

It is hard to know if this is definitely a bad schedule because some teachers will just help with other homework or allow a class to be a study hall, if they see that would be appropriate for a given student.  And then other classes are inappropriate with no flexibility.  

I think repeating the Algebra class might be -- a kick in the face, since she already did it!  But if she could have an easy time in this class, it's not the end of the world.

If it's preventing her from pursuing an interest/activity/connection then I think that is very different and I think she needs to really try to get into that however it might be possible.  

I hope there is a path -- maybe there is guidance given to the student, or sent to the parent.  Or maybe you just have to figure out -- talk to the counselor, or whatever. 

I think you are definitely able to help her self-advocate.  You are definitely able to help her write an email to the counselor.  And then if there is still a problem you are able to help her write an email to the principal.  

Even if you can't go with her -- you can do a lot by helping her write emails and practicing what to say.  

[Lecka]

I feel bad about his first semester last year, because I talked to the counselor with him on speaker phone.  

In my defense -- a year ago he planned to apply for carpentry at vo-tech this past Christmas, and do a half-day program his Junior and Senior year.  

Over 1st semester he decided he didn't want to do that, didn't apply for it, and decided he actually wants to take a "math/science kid" kind of schedule.  Sigh.  

[Lecka]

I also think you might look at high graduation requirements, and fill out a possible schedule with her.  Maybe it would be to her advantage to take another graduation requirement (I notice she is not enrolled in any history or social studies class!).  

Good luck!  

 

[Dmmetler]

She had really wanted to be able to take music. This is a school that offers three levels of band and four of choir, and a kid who, while she hopes to be a veterinarian, really loves music. 

 

I am surprised she's not in a history course, especially since it looks like they didn't give her credit for a history class in 9th, either. Which is one reason why I'm questioning them listing her as a 10th grader vs a 9th grader. If she really only completed two classes last year, that puts her at a similar level as kids who did, say, Algebra 1 and Spanish 1 in 8th. I think it would be less painful to be considered a 9th grader coming into school than to not graduate at the end of 12th. 

[Lecka]

Well, ideally, she can get credit for Algebra, get out of the college prep math, get a music class, and get a history class that's a graduation requirement.  

I think if her parents aren't going to be able to advocate, you can help her to self-advocate -- and that could be the best bet.  

I don't know if there is a point in the school year where they will say "it's too late to change classes now, unless you already asked."  

I think ideally -- have a record (like an email) that she was asking for the changes early, so if it takes time, she can say "look, I was asking since this date."  

Good luck!  

[Lecka]

I agree with you about the 9th grader thing, but I think that is 2nd priority to having a good schedule this year.  

Do you think, overall, she should do an extra year?  Is she likely to graduate from public school? 

Overall -- I think it's a better bet to say -- let's get this kid graduated in 4 years, to be less likely to drop off, than to say -- let's make them do an extra year and hope they will stay for the extra year, and we don't have to tell them they are taking an extra year that way.  

I agree -- but I think that's a lower priority.

Unless she *really wants* to call this 9th grade, and is *very likely* to have major parental support for a "5th year" in high school.  

I think without those -- graduating at all has to be the priority.  

It's not from not agreeing that would make more sense, though, I just think -- anybody who is getting behind is at risk for not graduating, and her parents might not be as supportive as could be hoped for, if they are all going to think of it as her taking a "5th year."  

[Lecka]

I think she does really need to take some history class if there are history classes needed for graduation, that are normally taken by a sophomore -- otherwise it's just kicking the can down the road, and putting her in classes with kids younger than her down the road, which is often not great for morale.  

I also agree -- yes, there are kids who took those classes in 8th grade.  Here it is about 30%.  So while it's true there is that 30% of kids, 70% of kids aren't doing it.  

My son took Physical Science as a 10th grader, where here it is taken by 8th graders 30% of the time and otherwise a freshman class.  It honestly worked out great -- his teacher loved him and was extremely encouraging, and influenced him to take more science classes.  My son was on track at his previous school where Biology is the usual 9th grade class.  

But -- yeah, it can be demoralizing, too.  

But I would not get too hung up on the 30% of students (if it is similar numbers where you are) who do take "9th grade classes in 8th grade."  

I think they will have some guideline for what classes they want kids to take to call them a certain grade -- and go by that -- and maybe you can look that up online.

Also they often don't *want* to have kids spend a "5th year" for high school without an IEP.  They would rather have them do some worthless credit recovery and push them through.  I think partly because they don't want to bother, and partly because they do want kids to graduate, and it does get less likely for kids who feel like they should already be out of there and they are 19 and able to drop out if they want to, nobody can stop them.  

Edited August 11, 2021 by Lecka

[Lecka]

Really there is a big gap between what is ideal, and what is most likely to lead to graduating at the end.  

I think as close as you are now, and as much as you think she might be fine to do a 5th year, if the circumstances aren't really there for it, it could be safer to try to get to graduation in 4 years.

I also think -- getting into a music class would be HUGE.  HUGE.  I really hope she can get into a music class.  

Putting off Spanish I could be an option for that, too, depending on what the graduation requirements and/or college admission requirements are going to be.   

[Lecka]

They might spell this out somewhere online, that to be a "sophomore" you have completed such-and-such credits and will be enrolled in such-and-such classes.  They may have "first year foreign language" tied to "sophomore" and "history class" tied to another grade level.  

That is for default -- they may be fine to change that, too, with a parent signature or with a request.  

[Dmmetler]

I think she is at risk of not graduating either way. She's a bright kid-very bright. She also is not at all willing/able to push herself through anything that is not of immediate interest to her, and does not have family support to do so. Which is why I took over a good part of her homeschooling starting in 5th grade. She had a tendency, both with mom and with me, to shut down when she is frustrated OR when she's bored. And bored often leads to frustration, because bored means shutting down, not getting the material learned, and then, when the next topic builds, frustration. I can manage that when I'm homeschooling, and did, but for a classroom teacher. So, I'm not at all surprised that, when COVID meant they couldn't safely see me and spend a couple of days a week homeschooling at my house, that she did the stuff she enjoyed and largely skipped the rest, and for her life science and reading novels are the two things she will always do preferentially. 

 

I think three math classes will lead to total and complete shutdown, and a high likelihood that she'll fail them. And in April, she'll be legally able to drop out-and if she's failing and frustrated in half her classes and has nothing interesting at school, it's likely she'll do so.  (I would not be surprised if she succeeds in English, Physical Science, and maybe Spanish, but fails all three math courses, including the Algebra I she tested out of, just due to not completing work).  If we'd been able to continue homeschooling, my goal had been to try to get her ready for DE ASAP, because I think she will likely do much better in college classes than in high school ones, both because the pace is faster and because there is much less busy work, and could have been more focused on her goal of being a vet. We might not have been able to avoid frustration, but we could have avoided boredom. 

 

Add that going to school full time, without the flexibility of homeschooling and mom's new job likely means that she can't volunteer at the vet's clinic except maybe on weekends, and that it's still up in the air whether she'll be able to take piano this fall (I'll happily teach her tuition free, but afternoons/evenings are my peak time, and frankly, I only have a few slots left in my schedule for fall, even going from three days a week to 5 since I'm no longer homeschooling. I have LOTS of time for homeschoolers, but starting at 4:00, my schedule gets busy), and we don't know what her homework load is likely to be yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lecka]

Boo 😞. 
 

Well — that math schedule sounds so bad!

 

Do you think a half day might be possible?  
 

Would she be able to do online with her level of support?

 

Maybe she is someone who could graduate early?

Maybe you can inquire about testing out of math classes with a test?

 

I have gotten emails about that here, but they wanted parents to sign up for the placement test by early August to take the placement test — last week or so.  
 

I think if she placed into Geometry on a placement test — that seems like maybe it can go well with some advocacy!  And some information that she has taken it!

 

Good luck!!!!!!!!!

 

Well — so she needs to graduate from public high school you think?  Or maybe her mom will graduate her?

 

If her mom might graduate her — I think you have more options.

 

If you think she needs to do public high school and she is at risk — I think she needs to get some more graduation requirements!

 

I do still think — you never know what teacher will be awesome or she will click with……. It’s okay for her to start school and get a vibe that way.

 

But I think it would also be good to have an email into the counselor now asking for a music class and bringing up the math issues.
 

Good luck!!!!!!!

 

One of my son’s best friends has gotten behind during coronavirus, and apparently he didn’t get credit for last year because of lapses of his parents.  
 

Ugh, it is just horrible.  It is so upsetting.  
 

I hope you are able to help her advocate and she can get a better schedule!  And really that she can graduate!  And really that she can also benefit from music, piano lessons, and volunteering at the vet office.  
 

But really I hope she doesn’t close off future paths, even if she does miss out on what would seem the best for her.  
 

Do you know if she can network with other students?  With us moving — I don’t know anyone to network with (other than my sister, and her kids are in another school).  My son has found out more from talking to classmates than I have been able to find out — I think a lot bc coronavirus, honestly, so much has been cancelled bc of that. 

[Lecka]

A lot can depend on how much homework is weighted, honestly.  She may be able to get by with missing work.

Or maybe a few zeros on homework will seriously harm her grade.

I have dealt with a lot with trying to get my son to take care of zeros and avoid zeros — it’s a big enough job for an involved parent, sigh.  
 

She might be old enough that you can really talk to her about not getting zeros.  
 

I have told my son — it’s better to turn in half-done work than risk losing track of it and getting a zero, it’s better to get partial credit.

 

 

[Lecka]

It is not same-same, but my son has another friend whose parents are pretty uninvolved, and his other friends are mostly pretty-good students (my son is in the middle).  
 

He had to do credit recovery between 8th and 9th grade, and he was embarrassed and came out of that with an attitude of “I will do my homework to avoid credit recovery.”

 

I don’t know how that works with an older student (who could choose to drop out).  
 

Credit recovery was pretty garbage in our previous district, from what I heard.

I also wonder what she needs to do to start DE, if that would be desirable for her?

 

 

[Dmmetler]

Frankly, I wish she had been zoned into a different school. Her zoned high school is one of the more affluent suburbs here, and has a good reputation, but it is also a pressure cooker, and one where there is a lot of competition. I think in many ways, she would have been better off in a school that might have been more understanding about a kid who did all of last year home, most of the time with only little brother there, and let some things fall through the cracks. 

I'm not sure how likely it is that mom will be able to pull her and homeschool again due to work-and, frankly, due to this kid's lack of motivation. It's possible that mom could pull her and I could homeschool her, but not under current COVID situations, particularly since Dad has been blocking vaccination for his kids, and while it's legal to vaccinate a 15 yr old without a parent present, none of the close places will do it. And, legally, I cannot be the teacher of record for EVERYTHING unless I set myself up as a cover school, something I could do with my credentials, but was loathe to do even for my own child because it's such a pain in the tail. 

[Drama Llama]

In the schools that I know, "College Prep Math" would probably be a class that supports Algebra 1.  So, it wouldn't be more content, it would be additional practice on the content from Algebra 1, and would be on the proposed schedule for any kid who was in danger of not graduating on time due to not passing Algebra 1.  It also doesn't count as a math class, meaning it can't be counted towards the 4 credits needed for graduation.  

In our schools, a kid would be able to go to guidance and point out that they have the skills and not the credit due to a technicality, and see if maybe they could demonstrate that they don't need this particular class. If the kid can self advocate, would Dad sign the course change form, or is he too disengaged for that.  It would leave her in 2 periods of math, but allow for at least one elective or a history class.  

[Dmmetler]

We've sent a new transcript that includes 8th grade (the homeschool one from before enrolling in the virtual school) and letter of explanation. I am hoping that this will be enough to get credit for Algebra 1 (along with the placement exam scores) which would also hopefully get her out of the "College Prep" class, and into a couple of other classes. Even if they can't get her into concert choir (or beginning band-since she plays piano, but not winds, she wouldn't be able to do a higher level band, but she'd enjoy playing another instrument), even getting her into, say PE (which does have a requirement at some point during high school), or history, or Art, or even the required personal finance class would likely be more enjoyable and more useful than taking Algebra 1 for the third time.

 

I do kind of wish we'd caught that they hadn't given her credit for Algebra 1 last year, but I didn't see what she was working on, and she never bothered to tell anyone that she'd already done all of this-she just didn't do it. If she'd been placed out of Algebra 1 last year, that likely would have carried over even if she had spaced out on Algebra 2 or Geometry. And maybe she wouldn't have spaced out and failed the class last year. 

[vonfirmath]

On 8/11/2021 at 11:14 AM, Lecka said:

Well, ideally, she can get credit for Algebra, get out of the college prep math, get a music class, and get a history class that's a graduation requirement.  

I think if her parents aren't going to be able to advocate, you can help her to self-advocate -- and that could be the best bet.  

I don't know if there is a point in the school year where they will say "it's too late to change classes now, unless you already asked."  

I think ideally -- have a record (like an email) that she was asking for the changes early, so if it takes time, she can say "look, I was asking since this date."  

Good luck!  

THIS

My son could not get into band last year. And I sometimes wonder if part of the problem was we waited to say anything until the virtual time was almost over -- so about 3 weeks in.  I didn't want to stress the administrators when the world was already topsy turvy. But I think my son definitely suffered for that.

 

[SKL]

If she's 15, I think that statistically, putting her back in 9th grade would increase her likelihood of dropping out of school.  Especially if she is bright.  In fact, I'd be starting to talk to her about dual-entry for some classes in 11th grade.

Good luck.  I can't imagine any counselor trying to force this kid to take 2 or 3 math classes at the same time.  I hope they respect that she already learned Algebra I based on both test scores and 8th grade transcript.  (Here, if you took/passed Alg I in 8th, it counts toward high school credits.)

Another thought - is there any option, other than completing these math classes, written into the state graduation requirements?  Our state allows people to meet state graduation competency requirements in more than one way, recognizing that we are not all good at the same things.

[Dmmetler]

2 hours ago, SKL said:

If she's 15, I think that statistically, putting her back in 9th grade would increase her likelihood of dropping out of school.  Especially if she is bright.  In fact, I'd be starting to talk to her about dual-entry for some classes in 11th grade.

Good luck.  I can't imagine any counselor trying to force this kid to take 2 or 3 math classes at the same time.  I hope they respect that she already learned Algebra I based on both test scores and 8th grade transcript.  (Here, if you took/passed Alg I in 8th, it counts toward high school credits.)

Another thought - is there any option, other than completing these math classes, written into the state graduation requirements?  Our state allows people to meet state graduation competency requirements in more than one way, recognizing that we are not all good at the same things.

TN has an EOC for algebra, and Algebra is required to be on the high school transcript for graduation, even in most private schools (including homeschool cover programs). 8th grade Algebra can be brought up, but apparently the virtual school didn't do that last fall, so now we're trying to get a different high school to evaluate a transcript for a 10th grade. 

 

If she were still homeschooling, we absolutely would be looking at DEing classes starting next fall, and possibly sooner. I'm not sure that she'll be eligible given the classes they have her in. She's in no honors or pre-AP at all, and usually the kids DEing would be coming from those programs, not the general track (and given her low performance last year, I can't really complain about them NOT putting her in honors this year, although I think that it's very likely that honors would be a better fit). In general, on campus DE doesn't typically happen for public school students. It's either online or a special DE in high school program. And DE requires approval of the high school even if you're enrolling in a night/evening or self-paced online class, unless you can qualify to apply for regular admission-and while I normally would have had M do an ACT last year as a baseline and for possible DE, it was just plain too hard to get a test site unless you were a high school senior (and sometimes even then). 

 

I'm just really frustrated. If it hadn't been for COVID, this would have been SO different.

[SKL]

2 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

TN has an EOC for algebra, and Algebra is required to be on the high school transcript for graduation, even in most private schools (including homeschool cover programs). 8th grade Algebra can be brought up, but apparently the virtual school didn't do that last fall, so now we're trying to get a different high school to evaluate a transcript for a 10th grade. 

 

If she were still homeschooling, we absolutely would be looking at DEing classes starting next fall, and possibly sooner. I'm not sure that she'll be eligible given the classes they have her in. She's in no honors or pre-AP at all, and usually the kids DEing would be coming from those programs, not the general track (and given her low performance last year, I can't really complain about them NOT putting her in honors this year, although I think that it's very likely that honors would be a better fit). In general, on campus DE doesn't typically happen for public school students. It's either online or a special DE in high school program. And DE requires approval of the high school even if you're enrolling in a night/evening or self-paced online class, unless you can qualify to apply for regular admission-and while I normally would have had M do an ACT last year as a baseline and for possible DE, it was just plain too hard to get a test site unless you were a high school senior (and sometimes even then). 

 

I'm just really frustrated. If it hadn't been for COVID, this would have been SO different.

OK ... I really don't know how it works, but I was looking into it here for my girls' future.  I think they can do DE here based on test scores, though I'm not sure exactly what tests they are talking about.

I agree that Covid screwed this up for your BK.  I am sure she's not alone, and wonder if there is any grace that recognizes that.

In our state, they had just enacted higher graduation requirements right before the shutdown.  One of the requirements was a minimum score on the state test for Algebra.  I was really worried about that, since last year was such a mess educationally for so many.  My kids got sufficient scores (one just barely), but I'll bet many otherwise decent students missed the threshold. 😞

[Dmmetler]

Just now, SKL said:

OK ... I really don't know how it works, but I was looking into it here for my girls' future.  I think they can do DE here based on test scores, though I'm not sure exactly what tests they are talking about.

I agree that Covid screwed this up for your BK.  I am sure she's not alone, and wonder if there is any grace that recognizes that.

In our state, they had just enacted higher graduation requirements right before the shutdown.  One of the requirements was a minimum score on the state test for Algebra.  I was really worried about that, since last year was such a mess educationally for so many.  My kids got sufficient scores (one just barely), but I'll bet many otherwise decent students missed the threshold. 😞

I think if she were in the county school system, vs the municipal school district, she might get more grace, because they were completely online until April, and from what I've heard from teachers, a lot of kids, especially teens, struggled in the same way, where if they didn't have someone at home to support, cajole, prod, and threaten them into doing their work, it was just really easy to not do it, to log in and then walk away, to play video games, watch TV, or read while the class went on without paying attention, and so on.  And they have a much higher percentage of at risk, struggling students than the municipal school does. Sometimes a "better" school isn't. I think this is one of those times. 

 

Her brother has, so far, missed two classes at the middle school because no one bothered to explain to new students what A and B days meant-and apparently the office's response was "sit on that bench and we'll get to you later"-which meant a period or more later. At least his schedule seems pretty typical for his grade level and includes some more fun classes, like PE, band, and a STEM class.  

[Terabith]

Despite me spending literally all summer rearranging our schedule so that my kid could take and complete 10th grade health and PE (which she did), the school has put my kid in both 10th grade PE/ Health and 9th grade PE, because for some reason, they don't think she took PE last year at the virtual school.  Which she did.  She hates PE passionately, and this means she gets no electives.  They also will not put her in Pre-AP World History, despite my begging them all summer.  They seem to believe it is completely impossible.  

I hate this school.  They completely broke and destroyed my oldest child, and I am desperately afraid they are going to break my youngest.  But she does not want to be pulled, and nobody at school is willing to talk to me.  No guidance counselor, no administrator, not her special ed case manager.  They have a system, and they MIGHT fix her schedule three weeks in, but she needs an accurate schedule before school starts and to practice finding the locations.  

But.....they won't fix it.

[Dmmetler]

Ugh....I really hope they work it out. What is it about 10th grade??!! Two PE classes would have been my idea of someplace very, very hot in high school.  Unfortunately, we can't put all these extra classes in one Hopper and redistribute them (I'm pretty sure M would happily take PE in exchange for a math class. Maybe even two in exchange for two of them...

 

 

[Lecka]

I got my middle schoolers' schedules this morning.  They are so messed up!!!!!!!!

Well -- maybe my daughter's is fine for this semester.  Maybe.  Maybe it will work out.  I am going to investigate and have an open mind.  

But -- it is so frustrating!

The truth is -- I have twins, and their names start with the same first two letters.  Sometimes with the computer system, I can see that they are just "Last Name, E" and it is hard to tell them apart.  It really looks like they have mixed up classes between my two kids.  Ugh.  

I am sure it will be fixed (as I am totally willing to be a PIA to the principal -- I doubt it will come to this, but -- I am willing) and they will be okay if they are in the wrong classes for a few days. 

My  son with autism has half his classes with his same special ed teacher from last year -- and he likes her 🙂 She will look out for him.    

Edit:  Second semester is really the part that looks REALLY messed up, but I have got tons of time to deal with that 😉

Edited August 16, 2021 by Lecka

[Lecka]

Really -- this semester, my daughter's schedule might be fine.  

I strongly suspect I am going to have to try to get both of my son's electives changed, though, ugh.  Ugh.  

My son is put into my daughter's first-choice elective, and she is not in it.  It is possible it conflicts with band.  

Tonight is back-to-school night, and I am also very curious how many people will be wearing masks.  We will be wearing masks, sigh.  But there is not a mandate here.  (Edit:  and all my kids are vaccinated, so up until the past month we were planning on them not wearing masks, but we are being flexible.)  

Edited August 16, 2021 by Lecka

[SKL]

Happy to say that the counselor made a change I requested for my 10th grader.  🙂  The original schedule gave her no study halls in the first semester, but in the second semester, study halls 2nd & 3rd period followed by 4th period lunch.  There had been emails to the effect that they would not make changes except for specific cases (none of which fit us exactly), but thankfully they did it anyway.

Not sure why school things have to be so hard.  On the positive side, we have only 2 more years to fuss over high school schedules.  🙂

(I would have liked my kids to have some classes together.  6.5 periods are classes they have in common, but at different times and usually different teachers. 😕 But they won't make changes for that kind of thing.)

[Lecka]

We went to Open House and it turns out I am

happy with the schedules for 1st semester.  
 

I liked the teachers. 

[Janeway]

Doubling up with college prep math is stupid. Our public schools do that here. If a homeschooler tries to go to the public school, they will give the worst classes possible. And that continues all through high school. So we are talking a child who already took Algebra 2 and French 2 at a charter school (and earned high grades) and the public school finds out that the child once home schooled, so they give the student "math models" and "flower arranging" for classes. Math models is for students who need remedial math and barely passed algebra 1.

[kiwik]

I am a bit confused.  Maybe it is different in the US but here vet is one of the hardest courses to get in to.  She would need to be in the top 10℅ academically with really solid sciences to have a hope.  It seems to me slack of internal drive is incompatible with what she wants to do.  But if you can get them to accept algebra 1 it would make most of the scheduling problems to away?

[Dmmetler]

10 hours ago, kiwik said:

I am a bit confused.  Maybe it is different in the US but here vet is one of the hardest courses to get in to.  She would need to be in the top 10℅ academically with really solid sciences to have a hope.  It seems to me slack of internal drive is incompatible with what she wants to do.  But if you can get them to accept algebra 1 it would make most of the scheduling problems to away?

Vet med is one of the hardest programs to get into here, too, but it's a grad course, so she's got some time. And she may well end up as a vet tech or something a little less rigorous. 

Two weeks in and they still haven't gotten her schedule straightened out. She's actually enjoying it because it's easy. Sigh....

[ElizabethB]

5 hours ago, Dmmetler said:

Vet med is one of the hardest programs to get into here, too, but it's a grad course, so she's got some time. And she may well end up as a vet tech or something a little less rigorous. 

Two weeks in and they still haven't gotten her schedule straightened out. She's actually enjoying it because it's easy. Sigh....

Well, if it leads to her staying in high school long term, that could be good, right? 

Band is good for making friends, though.

[Lecka]

Sometimes when things are easy, kids get their confidence up.  It really depends on if it's easy but also engaging, or if its just that not much is going on.  

[Roadrunner]

We got super lucky - my child got every class he wanted and good fortunes brought us some of the better teachers at school. 
Our district also treats homeschoolers as ignorant idiots who can’t add two and two, so I had my boy take a CC math course over the summer, where he managed to score a 100. That 100 has opened all the doors. No questions were asked and red carpet rolled out for him. I can’t believe how much that paper changed.

Now the bad news - he finds all school work easy and at the same time insanely tiresome. The volume of work is nuts, but the quality isn’t what we had hoped. He is so tired but the end of the day, he is in bed snoring by 9. I hope he adjusts to this schedule and not crush. 
Also making friends seems very hard since established groups move and sit and socialize and seem impenetrable to newcomers. 

[Dmmetler]

20% on the first Algebra 1 test...so much for it being easy!

[Not_a_Number]

11 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

20% on the first Algebra 1 test...so much for it being easy!

Oh goodness 😞 . Is this lack of knowledge or lack of interest? 

[Dmmetler]

2 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh goodness 😞 . Is this lack of knowledge or lack of interest? 

It almost has to be lack of interest. This kid has had algebra 1 twice, and while I can imagine not having mastered all the content at the end, since the school year with me ended in March, I cannot see any reason that there would be any struggle whatsoever in the first month of school, where it's likely all Pre-Algebra review. 

[Not_a_Number]

5 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

It almost has to be lack of interest. This kid has had algebra 1 twice, and while I can imagine not having mastered all the content at the end, since the school year with me ended in March, I cannot see any reason that there would be any struggle whatsoever in the first month of school, where it's likely all Pre-Algebra review. 

Ugh.

My kiddo is kind of like this. It's really hard to get her to put in the work when she's bored. 

I take it your BK doesn't get motivated by bad grades?

[Dmmetler]

Just now, Not_a_Number said:

Ugh.

My kiddo is kind of like this. It's really hard to get her to put in the work when she's bored. 

I take it your BK doesn't get motivated by bad grades?

Nope. Realistically, she hasn't had much experience with non-mastery grading, except for the online school last year, and I don't think it really sank in that those grades mattered.  Right now, she's more interested in organizing pro-masking protests than anything else at school. And math is always the first thing to go. 

[Not_a_Number]

4 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Nope. Realistically, she hasn't had much experience with non-mastery grading, except for the online school last year, and I don't think it really sank in that those grades mattered.  Right now, she's more interested in organizing pro-masking protests than anything else at school. And math is always the first thing to go. 

Maybe the grades will help eventually? Screwing up 10th grade isn't the worst thing possible. 

I don't blame her about the pro-masking protests... 

[Dmmetler]

5 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Maybe the grades will help eventually? Screwing up 10th grade isn't the worst thing possible. 

I don't blame her about the pro-masking protests... 

I hope so. My biggest concern now is that she turns 16 in April-and while that opens up some options (like the fact that that's when the state starts paying for DE), it also opens up the option to drop out.  And I'd hate to see her do so. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Dmmetler said:

I hope so. My biggest concern now is that she turns 16 in April-and while that opens up some options (like the fact that that's when the state starts paying for DE), it also opens up the option to drop out.  And I'd hate to see her do so. 

I hope she doesn't. There's still time until April... I hope she gets things sorted out. This all sounds like a mess. 

[Terabith]

I am livid that they kept her in Algebra 1 despite her passing the placement test.  I assume she is still in three math classes and bored out of her skull?  If she was in something she put value in, she'd be less likely to be failing.  

[Dmmetler]

I am assuming so. She has a definite history of ignoring things she finds unpleasant. It takes an adult who is willing to out stubborn her and break through, and that's hard to do when the bell rings after 50 minutes-she can easily sit there, space out, and do nothing. It would not surprise me to discover that she did one question. Or got 20 points for putting her name on the paper. Truthfully, I don't think she sees any benefit in putting in effort. She doesn't have any activities that are predicated on passing classes. 

[Dmmetler]

I finally saw my BK's in person last night for the first time since school started. 

 

M says that she's failing both her "real" math classes, but it's OK because she got moved out of the "mean math lady's" class and has learned that "I actually need to hand in stuff". Ok, then. She seems to be enjoying school, and is taking credit for the courts ruling in favor of the health department to require masks in schools. (I personally think that this likely had more to do with the county health department, the infectious disease folks at the state medical school, multiple hospitals, including the top children's research hospital in the country, and the largest school district in the state all filing briefs in said suit, but if it makes a group of teens at a suburban high school feel happy to claim the win, yeah, they were part of it, too). She doesn't seem to see any problems with failing classes, and to be enjoying school for social reasons. 

 

C is loving band and his STEM class. Not so much math and English. He's at least passing everything.

 

[Not_a_Number]

28 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

She doesn't seem to see any problems with failing classes, and to be enjoying school for social reasons. 

That seems kind of... problematic. Has anyone pointed out to her that failing classes might be a problem later in life?