How to help child succeed at BASIS

[Anonymous]

Our child will be attending BASIS next fall because our middle school is not good. How do we help our child be successful at BASIS?

[Anonymous]

Depends on your child, but in our experience, the challenge wasn't the academics in general, but the organizational skills - keeping track of assignments, etc. There's a summer program for incoming 5th graders that's helpful but not necessary.

Also, experiences vary a lot, depending on both the child's abilities and the child and parents' standards. I literally have never seen my sixth grader do a minute of homework; he does it all in school. His grades are all over the place but average out to a B+. Reasonably smart kid, low standards=not much work. Some kids and parents report spending large amounts of time on homework; they probably have higher standards and the academics might not come as naturally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your child, but in our experience, the challenge wasn't the academics in general, but the organizational skills - keeping track of assignments, etc. There's a summer program for incoming 5th graders that's helpful but not necessary.

Also, experiences vary a lot, depending on both the child's abilities and the child and parents' standards. I literally have never seen my sixth grader do a minute of homework; he does it all in school. His grades are all over the place but average out to a B+. Reasonably smart kid, low standards=not much work. Some kids and parents report spending large amounts of time on homework; they probably have higher standards and the academics might not come as naturally.

+1. 5th grade is mostly organizational skills, learning how to ask teachers for help. It's not like elementary where parents do much of the handholding. They expect students to speak up for themselves if they need help. Help your kid learn how to advocate for themselves, take on responsibility, etc.

[Anonymous]

All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

You've got to be kidding. Do you really have nothing better to do with your time?

[Anonymous]

OP, you don't need to do anything as yet. The one thing to do is, as a PP wrote, work with your kid to get the idea across that they need to speak up, ask the teacher etc. They need to self advocate.

But really, that is about it. Let things unfold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

I love how in your mind "first-aid training", "gardening club" or "cooking classes" are necessary to achieve a "full-fledged" education! You should get together with the poster who complains about the lack of library or "computer labs"; I bet you two would get along great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

I love how in your mind "first-aid training", "gardening club" or "cooking classes" are necessary to achieve a "full-fledged" education! You should get together with the poster who complains about the lack of library or "computer labs"; I bet you two would get along great!

It's the same person.

[Anonymous]

You know what kind of school Basis is. They are very clear about curriculum and expectations.

You know what kind of student your child is.

Are the two a good fit? That's how you will succeed at Basis. Don't put a square peg in a circular slot & all will be well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

Don’t forget the library and computer lab! 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

I love how in your mind "first-aid training", "gardening club" or "cooking classes" are necessary to achieve a "full-fledged" education! You should get together with the poster who complains about the lack of library or "computer labs"; I bet you two would get along great!

It's the same person.

Not. It's me. I don't post about computer labs or libraries. I post about how BASIS is run by amateurs. The "management team" doesn't impress. They're young and somewhat dumb (look at the colleges and grad schools they attended).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you don't need to do anything as yet. The one thing to do is, as a PP wrote, work with your kid to get the idea across that they need to speak up, ask the teacher etc. They need to self advocate.

But really, that is about it. Let things unfold.

This.

[Anonymous]

Also, PP, prepare yourself to ignore the BASIS haters.

[Anonymous]

Problem is, they’re not all wrong. Easy to ignore their views in 5th grade, maybe 6th. Later on, BASIS doesn’t work well for far too many bright hard-working students. It’s a narrow-minded place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Problem is, they’re not all wrong. Easy to ignore their views in 5th grade, maybe 6th. Later on, BASIS doesn’t work well for far too many bright hard-working students. It’s a narrow-minded place.

This is super vague. What does this mean?