Disastrous Freshman Year
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Anonymous
| No other way to describe it. DC was put into advanced classes and they just did not go well -- grades were up and down, so I don't know if it was study habits, focus or simply too difficult a course load. Trying not to dwell on it, we are re-grouping and looking forward to getting back on track. Any suggestions as to how to use the summer wisely in this situation? Would really appreciate it. |
Anonymous
Honestly, that doesn't sound "disastrous." Rocky, maybe, but if "disastrous" is indicative of how you're framing it to your kid, I would be careful about that. "Challenging" is probably a better way to frame it for your child, and lots of kids find freshman year of HS challenging. It's often a lot more responsibility, a lot more potential distractions from class work, sometimes being placed in classes with older students, being the youngest in school again, lots potentially going on. I would use the summer to try to find out some of the answers to the "I don't know if it was study habits, focus or simply too difficult of a course load" so that you can strategize with your child for the following year. What did your child like about school? What didn't he/she like? What was the favorite class? Least favorite? Did your child master the math content for the course they took? How do the next year's classes build on/require mastery of the prior year's class? Is it a mastery issue, or a grade issue (a child can have great grades but not solid mastery of a topic, a child can have solid mastery but inconsistent grades from not turning in work, etc.)? Try to figure some of that out, and also let your kid relax, have fun, and pursue their individual interests. |
Anonymous
|
Be more specific about what was disastrous, maybe we can help you brainstorm ideas or put it into perspective.
How is your DC doing and feeling about it? What do they think went wrong? |
Anonymous
| Thank you -- that's really helpful. Actually, DC used the word disastrous (although I didn't counter it and should have -- thank you). I think DC is disappointed so we are trying to look forward and stay positive. Thanks again for the response. |
Anonymous
| Talk to the teacher, and agree with PP about working with your DC on what can be done better this year. Sometimes, it's just maturity, or lack thereof, including lacking organizational skills. |
Anonymous
| Maybe check out "The Organized Student" by Donna Goldberg. The book is for parents, but I gave it to DD to read, as she is more likely to take advice from a book than from me. She got a lot out of it. |
Anonymous
It wasn't good grade-wise (C's and B's). DC is disappointed, but is convinced that he's going to be able to really make it up -- very convinced that he's got this and can do well next year. We are not so convinced, without some change in approach. Again, not sure what went wrong and why grades dropped. Was thinking maybe there is a course or some way to get DC thinking about high school and how to focus and handle work load. I guess just looking for any ideas to start the next year confident and ready. |
Anonymous
Thank you! We just feel we should do something this summer. This sounds good! |
Anonymous
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Different thought does your kid naturally gravitate towards the humanities or sciences?
Contrary to DCUM belief most kids are like this Consider dropping a level of difficulty in the non strength classes |
Anonymous
| Which school is this? Is it the magnet school? |
Anonymous
| Our school (Churchill) has summer prep courses to get ready for the next school year. They are non credit, but intended to get kids on solid ground for tough math and science (and maybe other?) courses. Look for something like that at your school (and if you don't have it, maybe they allow outside registration at the schools that do have it?) |
Anonymous
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I'm confused. After a year, surely you have an idea of if your son's load was too much, or if some courses require too much of him?
Can you mentally go through the courses he took this past year and break them out into categories? Which classes did he like, which didn't he like? Which courses did he put effort into, and how much? Was your perception that the effort he was putting in was effective? It's not at all uncommon for 9th grade to be an adjustment year. I'm confused that apparently neither you nor your son know, for example, if advanced history was too challenging, or if he doesn't like the subject matter enough to be willing to put in extra work, or if he struggled with figuring out how to study or manage his time to get enough time for studying. If math is a subject he struggled with, I'd plan on spending some time shoring up concepts over the summer. Math builds on itself too much, you can't let a weakness go and hope it gets fixed next time it's discovered. Other than that, is there anything he thinks he needs to work on? Vocab review for foreign language? Read a book and then chat with you about main characters or concepts? Watch some science videos to make sense of something that stumped him about this year's course? For next year, you should make a plan for more regular checkins. That after an entire academic year you're not sure why it didn't go as expected is a red flag. Check in early, and often. Even if you're not getting regular grades back, ask your son how a class is going. Does he feel like he's on the right track? Does he need some help figuring out how to study? Would he like you to help him set a schedule so he can get all his work done? After each grading period, next year, figure out what worked and what didn't. In preparation for that, spend some time this summer sorting things out. Does he have a place where he does homework? Is it organized? Does he have access to things he needs? There are some kids who can do all this stuff on their own and rock it. Other kids need a bit more explicit guidance. It can be really, really hard when you were of the former type and your kid is of the latter type. |
Anonymous
| Thank you all for the replies. They are really helpful. I also really appreciate your help putting this in perspective -- seeing these kinds of grades was just kind of jarring. Also, DC really likes school (it is magnet) and classes -- and seemed in control (a lot of "I got this"). DC wants to continue and we'll definitely take your advice this summer (just got the book recommended above). Thank you for the feedback. |
Anonymous
test-in or opt-in magnet? |
Anonymous
OP, my kid also got poorer than expected grades at a magnet. He says he is happy at the school but I think we need to get to the bottom of why he got These grades (several factors are at play) and we are trying to figure out if we should encourage him to switch schools even though he is happy. |