Parent Reportcards...whats your grade?

[Ginger]

wow, those are small schools!

My son's elementary has about 470 kids (K-7). Kelsey's high school almost 1800 (8-12).

[SunKneeMarie]

our school is too big... Ryan's class alone (10th grade) has 794 students in it. The 4 year high school he is in (9-12 grade) has about 2800 students. If I had known how his personality was going to develop I probably would have opted for a smaller school... he tends to get lost in the shuffle at this big school. We'll be reassessing before Riley G hits school.

[farmgirl]

Originally Posted by Ginger

wow, those are small schools!

My son's elementary has about 470 kids (K-7). Kelsey's high school almost 1800 (8-12).

Those are big schools!! Our area is quite big too, we have kids that get on the bus by 7am for high school. Some live and hours drive with out any stops. My kids are very lucky in that we live 8 minutes from the small school and my high school kids get on the buy by 7:45, which is really good. Joys of living in the middle of no-where!

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Ginger

wow, those are small schools!

My son's elementary has about 470 kids (K-7). Kelsey's high school almost 1800 (8-12).

That's big.
There was 18 of us in grade 12.

[NorthMinnesota]

Our local HS has approximately 2,000 students give or take a few hundred each year. (9-12) Our school district has 4 1/2 high schools, all within 5 or so miles of each other. The 1/2 is a school for environmental studies grades 11 and 12, approximately 400 students on the grounds of the Minnesota Zoo. Cool concept. I don't think our schools are large because I had approximately 1,000 kids in my graduating class over thirty years ago.

With schools this size, however, it is very competitive. You really have to be good to make a sports team, speech/debate, band, choir, etc. Academics is also very tough to excel in as there are so many good students.

[farmgirl]

Originally Posted by NorthMinnesota

Our local HS has approximately 2,000 students give or take a few hundred each year. (9-12) Our school district has 4 1/2 high schools, all within 5 or so miles of each other. The 1/2 is a school for environmental studies grades 11 and 12, approximately 400 students on the grounds of the Minnesota Zoo. Cool concept. I don't think our schools are large because I had approximately 1,000 kids in my graduating class over thirty years ago.

With schools this size, however, it is very competitive. You really have to be good to make a sports team, speech/debate, band, choir, etc. Academics is also very tough to excel in as there are so many good students.

Schools the size of ours don't have the competition, but we don't have the options either. My smaller kids have no choice but to play volleyball and basketball because without them there is no team. The other sports the can do are badmington and track. Sadly though it is usually the same coach for all of them, so no real good skill learning.
Come high school, there is a bit more comptetion, but still a spot for pretty much everyone that wants to play because they usually have a senior and junior team. Still the same sports though with sometimes curling and baseball depending on the year. We have no band, choir, speech or debate. They just started a book club, not sure how that is going. Our kids do get an optional Europe trip in either grade 11 or 12. The courses they can choose from are limited although they can take corespondance. No second languages are offered. Pretty much your basic sciences, math, social, english, computer/business, shop, homec and gym.
Our school division spreads out over a 200km area, so pretty large but not many schools. Sadly there are schools closing all the time, we just lost one this year and ours is next on the chopping block.
I graduated in Provost, Alberta and we had about 40 in my grad class and there were 2 schools (public and catholic). I think things are pretty much the same around there now, just not alot of population around here. I can't imagine why no one wants to farm!

[Seakony]

wow...the city of Dallas are building more schools....though there really isn't any expansion in new housing.....they had to build new ones for all the new immigrants moving into all the existant apartments. My city which is a suburb has 6 high schools..may be another one built sinc I last checked.

[MaripositaII]

Originally Posted by SunKneeMarie

I think time management is one of the most needed skills for a child, and it's one of the last skills to develop in a kid's brain. That last big study on teen brains revealed that. Made total sense to me. They just don't have a great concept for how long something is going to take, or how to break down a big project into manageable parts.

As a parent, I have tried to help my kids learn that, which is a HUGE part of homework management. I do not do their homework for them, but have asked how much they have, how long they think it will take... reminded them to make time allowances for soccer and piano, etc. Find out if any major projects are coming up.

At 16, Ryan is just now mastering the art of breaking down his assignments into manageable pieces and giving himself enough time to do things. He still messes up, as one "quick thing" for Chemistry took almost 2 hours the other night. And he still hands me things to quiz him on, as he is more of an auditory learned and likes to be quizzed. I remember handing my mom vocab sheets to quiz me on.

So that's been my involvement with homework. Knowing that they have it and helping them get it done in a manageable time frame. It's a microcosm of the Time Management Big Picture---a life skill that they will need.

You're right about time management. I have been doing exactly as you have with my kids. What an awesome parent you are! As a teacher, I'd love to come across more parents like you. Way to go.