Week 1 of High School is over! DD14 has showed major improvements in areas of organization as she has already had many assignments and has started them before they were due. She has also had to learn to keep track of time and to make sacrifices as she now has to wake up the earliest she ever has, at 6:00, in order to make it to marching band in time. The strange thing? She mentioned that she feels really happy and doesn't know why. I've been telling her for years that getting organized is a mood improver, and she never believed me....
Also, I kind of have to brag about her challenging courseload, 3 Honors, 2 AP, Band, and Speech. 2 of the 3 Honors classes will be very easy (for her at least), but rumor has it that Honors Biology is the hardest course available at the school and that majority of kids drop down to regulars around the end of the first semester. Science is her strength, so it shouldn't be *that* hard, especially if her organization skills continue throughout the year. AP Geography will be hard, as it's an AP course, but I think she will manage just fine, as she told me that the syllabus looked like stuff she mostly already knew, and the textbook was interesting despite being, well... a college textbook. The other AP will be probably the hardest of her courses, as it is a part english, part humanities, part world history type course. She's starting band with 3 years less experience than the rest of the students on her instrument (she switched from Orch to Band at the end of 8th grade), and said that she is already about as good as some of the people in her class. (granted that she is in the lowest of the 5 bands, but still, I think that is an accomplishment) Marching is early in the morning, plus games and other things after school certain days. And Speech, well, public speaking isn't her thing... So she has a difficult course load. Yes, she may struggle keeping up with the work at points, yes she still might not be as good as the other band students by the end of the year, but... wow! I get the feeling this is going to be a *good* year. (not to mention that she is combining with 2 other schools that are about all the children of engineers and such, and there are a large number of highly gifted+ kids for her to hang out with.
Nan
