Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums High School Accelerate everything but PE?!

I agree it does negate but it does prevent conflicts in scheduling. I'm not sure kids or parents though would want to make the school day longer (high school here starts at 7:30)for a walking group. My daughter is in 7th grade and you get a letter grade for the class. A friend of hers got 6 A's and a B and the B was in PE.

There are a lot of driver's schools around that offer driver's ed during the summer or spring break. Can that be a solution? I went to a private school myself, in a state requiring driver's ed for a license at age 16. My spring break that year was awfully dull, but it got the job done.

I had no idea there were any states out there that required 4 years of PE...

I have a question in to the counselor about "early bird gym", starts at 7am. My older son took it when they forgot to register him for PE and his schedule had no other options.

Our 4-year PE requirement has been in place for 50 years at least, it's a state thing. You can take Drivers Ed in place of it one semester (our issue now) and you have to replace it with Health class one semester.

Our state (NY) also requires PE for all 4 high school years, no exemptions or summer school options. (As a matter of fact, kids have to make up any more than 2 absences by staying after for specific make-up PE.). I like that you all can substitute health; here, that is an additional requirement that clogs up the schedule, but that one is at least doable during the summer.

And don't get me started on the grading of PE- DD gets a numerical grade after each class, and despite earning a 94 last semester, it will bring down her overall GPA (true of many of her classmates as well). Actually, we were just laughing about PE grading- today she got the first 10/10 she has ever received in PE, and the specific unit was called "yoga relaxation." Good to know she excels at relaxing.

My son took PE online to meet his one credit PE requirement. To free up his schedule and to not have to do some sort of activity he doesn't like.

.....How? I mean, in all seriousness, how does one go about online PE? Mental practice?

I don't see the point of the restriction - a year isn't THAT big, and they shouldn't be doing anything dangerous enough a kid could be easily hurt by an older student - and if it's not dangerous, who cares what class he's in? It's gym.

I just realized that he was actually registered for this PE class last spring. And they only just realized he's 4 months too young? Sheesh. BTW, in 6.5 years association with this school, we have never started the year with a clean schedule. Ever. Finding a flaw mid-year is a new low. If we were to allow this, it would be DS's fourth schedule of the year.

Talked to DS after school, he wants to stay in CAD.

He is, he can, and he will.

Does anyone have a child who was grade-skipped or subject-accelerated and encountered this bias in high school?

I suggest taking Robotics/Engineering course and taking drivers ed it the summer of after school. If that is an option. In CA while classroom or online drivers ed & behind the wheel classes are required to get a license under 18. These classes are not offered at our public schools anymore because of cost. My son took online drivers ed this summer, and has just completed his behind the wheel and will hopefully be able to get his license in 6 weeks. The classroom drivers ed courses are really easy for and boring for gifted kid so unless he is motivated to learn to drive and WANTS to take this class. It's a poor substitute or a desired Robotics class.

Try talking to the principal or vice principal and see if an exception can be made. It's not as if he is significantly younger than other kids in the class. And it doesn't sound as if he has to take a class labeled PE for 10th graders.

cricket3 -- The good thing is the PE grade is often not included in the grade point average colleges look at. At least the state schools in CA don't care what you got in PE. In our school not dressing appropriately for PE counted as not attending. My daughter had a friend for failed PE for not changing for PE class. While the school encourages students to wear the PE uniform, any t-shirt, shorts (sweats in the winter) & gym shoes will do.

DD took hers at a state dept. of transportation/DMV approved course at a local community college. Summer was: a) the only time she could fit it in before college, and b) the only option anyway since she graduated from high school prior to being eligible for a learner's permit.

Just one of those wacky grade acceleration things. Our state also required proof of "exemption" from school attendance or a letter of enrollment form filled out by the secondary school. Yeah-- we didn't have that either since her diploma didn't get mailed for 6 weeks. It was weird. Luckily we saw that one coming and had the school post-date an enrollment form for her just prior to graduation-- the DMV didn't question it because it was dated just a few weeks prior.


At any rate-- there are a lot of ways to do driver's ed that don't involve one's secondary school.


And really, ITA with bluemagic-- my daughter finished the classroom portion of Driver's Ed with a 99% average and she spent most of each class session texting nonstop with her boyfriend, cruising through webcomics, and reading a novel. Often all at once.

Around here, for driver's ed, high school enrollment appears to be irrelevant, as all of the programs are run essentially privately (even the ones resident at high schools, and taught by faculty/staff, carefully point out that they really have nothing to do with the school; they're just there as a convenience to the students).

I took driver's ed in the summer (long, long ago!), at my local high school, with a bunch of my age peers, the summer between freshman and sophomore year of university. No one cared or noticed for a good while that I was anything other than some kid who must go to private school (not unusual in that community). I thought it was a fascinating cross-cultural experience, not having ever been in a chronological age-matched instructional setting.

I'm surprised that there are actually enrollment documentation requirements in some states. What in the world would that have to do with learning to drive?