standballdad posted:CaCO3Girl posted:9and7dad posted:CaCO3Girl posted:I said AP Biology is only helpful if you plan on pursing biology, if you want to be a Dr. then by all means take AP bio, take honors government, take Calc II because you have the type of brain that needs to be challenged.
BUT, what if you don't want to go to Harvard? What if you want to stay close to home and go to the local college that admits people with a 2.0? What if you want to be a gym teacher? What if you want to be a cop? What if you want to pursue a career and path in life where AP Bio will have no relevance.
Why can't parents in this generation accept that not all of our children are "special"? Honors and AP classes were created for the kids who wanted to explore particular subjects more in depth. Created for students that had a passion about a particular subject, they were not created for the masses. Do ALL of our children have to be so special they ALL must take honors and AP courses?
I think it's as simple as how you, and your child, define success. The problem is that by not striving to maximize opportunity while still in high school, doors start to close and the definition of success is defined for you, not by you.
What's the opportunity?
So many times on this site people who have kids that have graduated from high school and college come back on here and say to enjoy the moment because it goes by fast. They say you can't buy athleticism with all the lessons, and some kids just aren't D1 material, and to embrace who your kid is as a person, regardless of their baseball. Why can't we turn that advice into academics?
I have heard the baseball arguments and they sound the same as the AP/honors academic arguments. He has to take AP classes so he doesn't fall behind his peers on the race to college. He has to take AP classes when he is 14 and 15 so he can be challenged? He needs 3 hours a week on his tutoring to maintain his skill level.
Why can't we accept our kids natural skill level in baseball and academics? What is the point in loading up a kid who wants to be a gym teacher with AP Calc, AP Bio, AP Government? Should he take an ACT prep course, sure, should he sacrifice hundreds of hours in his high school time, where he should be enjoying his last days of being a kid, to keep up with the Jones'es, nope!
Every child is different. I think the point here is why limit what your child from being the best he can be, regardless if its sports or academics. I know many kids that did all the above and some, and had a terrific HS experience. I feel it is the parents job to motivate and nudge their children if required to excel. You are right that there is a balance in HS but you need to know what the right balance is for your child. Unless the child is pushed to or beyond his limits how would you ever know. I have two sons that took different paths in HS as well as college. One did not need any nudging at all and worked extremely hard in HS but also loved every minute of HS. The other needed to be nudged a bit more but we did not force anything on him. The balance of academics and sports was different but without at least exploring we would not have known.
My son's school does a very good job at introducing various topics/activities/books/clubs/games on a wide variety on cleverly hidden academic items. If my kid was fascinated in CSI shows, doing extra math problems for fun, maybe bringing home books on Presidents and their terms; I would nudge him into any one of those AP/Honors directions. However, he would have to have an interest in learning more on a particular topic, or show that he has an innate understanding. If a kids math tests were 98, 92, 100; I would ask he be moved up, but if his test scores are 59, 87, 72..etc, I would not arbitrarily put him in AP Math because I thought it was what was best for him. How is that different than that 15 year old playing baseball because dad wants him to play, not because he enjoys it?