PS is finishing up her final year of elementary school and will be heading off to middle school next year. I can't believe that my curly-topped chubby baby isn't a baby anymore--or that I am old enough to have a child in 7th grade.
Last week her school sent home packets of information about scheduling and elective selection for next year, and Thursday evening PS and I toured the school. They are in a brand-new school with every amenity (including a $13 million natatorium right next door) and all of the kids are issued laptops. This school district is the reason I have a 45-minute commute to work.
We met her GT English teacher for next year, and the class sounds like it will be lots of fun. As soon as we walked in, we saw that the kids were assigned "The Giver" to read over the summer. I exclaimed, "Oh, look, we already read 'The Giver' trilogy, so you'll be a step ahead," and was quickly admonished and told that I should review the published suggested reading lists for schools in my state and avoid those books. Umm, ok, whatever. So I'm not supposed to let my kids read great books because she might read them later in school? I received a similar lecture from PS's second grade teacher because she had already read all of the Ramona Quimby books.
Overall, I was quite impressed with the middle school course options. Pre-AP courses are available in all core classes, and electives included the standards like band, art and theater, but also some that sounded more like high school courses like "Aerospace Career Portal."
Our only hang-up for choosing electives is the PE credit. PS wanted to take soccer, but it is not offered for credit. Her athletics choices are basketball, volleyball and gymnastics, cheer and drill team. Basketball, volleyball and gymnastics require try-outs and it seems unlikely that PS would make the teams without experience. Of course she could just take PE, but none of the "cool" kids ever take PE. Which leaves her with the choice of cheer or drill team. Neither is especially appealing to PS, but I think she is going to go with cheer.
I don't usually care what the cool kids are doing, but PS is a bit socially awkward and I'll do whatever I can to give her a boost through the tough middle school years. I hope joining a team will help her make a core group of friends, because I'm afraid she'll end up a loner if she only takes classes and electives that don't require a lot of group involvement. Now is when I question my decision to accelerate her in kindergarten. She is the youngest and shortest in her class. I wouldn't say that she is immature, but she's the nerdy smart kid who just isn't interested in the same things as her peers. I know that she'll come in to her own eventually (probably in college), but I fear the middle school years will be really, really hard on her.
So I'll continue to push her academically (I've already informed her that all of the pre-AP courses are non-negotiable), but I'll also encourage her to do cheer and theater and other classes that will help her make friends and give her confidence.
3 comments:
That thing about the books is super stupid. Who is anal enough to snatch books away from her kids because they MIGHT read them in class later?
Is PS in a full GT program with other smart but awkward kids? I say that because I went to GT programs from grade 1-8 and was also young for my year (bday in Sept), but I was saved by the fact that many of my classmates were also bookish and dorky and we bonded over that. Every time we had classes outside the program I was slightly traumatized by realizing how tragically uncool we were.
Everyone's socially awkward in middle school, it's a truly horrible time in one's social development. But since it's such a great school district, I'm sure she'll find other nerdy kids to bond with. We had a lot of (old horse) money in our school district, and those were the kids who were pushed by their parents to always excel, but who also had social status. There was an odd combination of nerdom and popularity, because of it (like, our prom king is now a doctor).
No full-time GT program. She is in a once-a-week pull-out program now and the only GT class in middle school is English. I wish a full-time program were available. I was in a full-time GT program as a kid, and it was awesome!
Unfortunately, her awkwardness extends beyond the age-related kind. The good news is that she is a true independent who isn't likely to fall for peer pressure. But her independence my hurt her socially at an age when most kids just want to conform to the norm.
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