Never conclude or make any decision about anything before you experience it first hand yourself. This is a lesson I learned recently.
We live in a highly competitive school district and until Adi started high school I was very confident that we have made the right decision about moving to this district and I don’t have to worry a bit about my kid’s education as they will graduate from the best reputed school.
Everything was hunky dory till middle school but high school was very different. We were told its the initial shock and kids will settle down eventually. Honestly, until middle school I have hardly seen Adi sit and focus to study at home. I had never seen her fret over home work or tests. But, in high school her time to go to bed has delayed considerably due to homework, tests and she is waking up one hour earlier in the morning. It is a struggle to wake her every single morning and push her out the door by 6:50am. One of us also stay up with her and that disturbs our morning routine as well. The high school change has disturbed the schedule of everyone at the household. Even LHB’s bedtime gets delayed on some days and I feel very guilty when he yawns in the Karate class.
Its challenging for me too to pack her dabba. We were like zombies during the first month of school. We are yearning for a day to wake up late and weekends were looked upon with eager. So many weekends have gone by but we are still sleep deprived.
Now I wonder if it was a right decision made to move to this district. Some say this rigor will prepare them for college but I am not able to buy it. Should we really prepare the kids for four whole years? What will happen to the high school social/fun life for kids like Adi who take it so serious?
I am totally confused and clueless. I am not able to tell her to not worry about grades as GPA (average grade of all 4 years) plays vital role for college admission and at the same can’t stand to see the girl go through so much stress for 9th grade. May be some kids adapt to this well. I don’t want Adi to feel lesser or demotivated because of this change. Her mental health should be stable and I want her to enjoy high school life.
And if this is the case with Adi, our little happy boy LHB is starting first grade in this school district next year. I am sure he will be squeezed and chucked out in elementary itself. All I can say is the majority asian population in this neighborhood has slowly and steadily spoiled the education system in this district. It is probably time for the township to revisit teacher:student ratio and teaching methods.
May be I should rename the title as “High school rant”
The happy part of this post is I am done with my post for 5th Jan 🙂
Between my littles and me 
I don’t know what to tell ya because I am that student who wakes up at 2 am and studies and still has loose motion in maths exams everytime. My mom used to just keep telling me in regular intervals that she was awake too when I was studying, not sure how much tension she had during my exams. But we survived. May be just make sure that she has some hobby or something to relieve her stress. That might help
yeah.. I used to do it too ss but that was in college or something, not in 9th grade itself right? I try to keep the situation at home light so she doesn’t feel stressed..
Hugs to Adi and to you too Ani. Don’t know what to say but I am sure you are having daily conversations with her, telling her that it’s okay to not live up to the expectations and it’s okay to give up sometimes, take a break and have fun. Hugs hugs
that is also part of the problem T, we can’t say this on daily basis to a teenager and they are also not ready to listen to us. When I try to start a conversation, she sometimes snaps with I don’t have much time, come to the point **rolls eyes** Also, I feel this is something in which first the parents should agree to play at a common ground **rolls eyes again**
We have been in almost a similar situation Ani since the beginning of this year. A moved to middle school and it’s a huge transition for her. I have been telling her to take things easy and her class teacher too has been giving similar advice. She seems to be slowly accepting things now. Give Adi some time, I think she will be fine soon. Don’t worry.
yeah we have some plans in place. hopefully things should get better soon..
The competition is scary in some of the districts here Ani … while I’m not in the same boat yet but I can very well see it coming up in the future … you’re so correct in pointing out that it’s the Asian community responsible for this … hugs to you and loads of good wishes to Adi !!
it is MTW.. very scary and I had no clue about this until I experienced it first hand!!!