And why not? I invite Dopers to jump in here and brag about their kids. We need a thread that’s nothing but really upbeat good things now and then, and writing good stuff about our kids is a good way to accomplish it.
My son was accepted into the National Technical Honor Society. He’s taking computer science classes 1/2 of every day for the 11th grade year he’s in. He’s struggled for the last 3 or 4 years in school and yet this choice has lit a fire inside of him. He’s completely immersed in I.T. things, and is planning to study it for his Bachelor’s. He’s sitting for the first two segments of his Cisco Certification in a few months, and aims to complete it by graduation a year from now.
HOW COOL. I’m bustin’. A serious huzzaahh for The Man-Cub.
My kids had a good week last week. The Boy got perfect scores on his 3rd grade FCAT*s (which is not as tough as it sounds, but still). The Girl got invited to attend some Junior Leader conference in Washington, D.C. this summer, and she had her last soccer coach ask her to “play up” next year with the U-14s (she’s 11). She was the youngest player on her team last season, and also chosen as one of the two team captains.
*Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test(?) - what they have to pass to get promoted as part of NCLB.
My son’s kindergarten teacher tried her damnedest to get him labelled as ADHD and then, when we refused to have him psychologized, tried to conspire with his first grade teacher to get it done. At the beginning of first grade, the teacher was moaning about how he was barely scraping by in reading and math.
This year he got a teacher who actually understands boys and he’s reading at the top of his class and doing just fine in math. This “ADHD” kid also just scored in the 98th percentile on the Raven Progressive Matrices test, qualifying him for the gifted and talented program.
So there.
(Note: No offense intended to anyone who has a legitimate diagnosis of ADHD. We just felt she was jumping the gun. They like to talk about how each kid matures at different rates and learns things in their own time, but woe to any kid that actually tries it.)
Woot! Cartooniverse, it must be such a relief to have him so dedicated to a solid career path already - no mooning about trying to be a theater major for a semester, eh?
ShibbOleth, quite a pair of overacheivers you’ve got there! Give yourself a pat on the back for instilling a great work ethic.
cher3, good for you for sticking to your guns! It can be so frustrating when a teacher just doesn’t get your kid, can’t it? Glad he’s doing better now.
This weekend, my daughter overcame her fear of grass! Little city girl thinks grass is what grows between the curb and the sidewalk and is Not To Be Touched. She went camping for the first time this year, and actually got brave enough to retrieve a ball out of the grass with her bare hands! Is this a look of triumph or what? She’s also putting three words together now in little proto-sentences. Go her!
Is she adorable, or what? Does she like younger men?
I’m impressed - smart and talented kids in this group!
My little guy - 8 1/2 months - is working on saying ‘kitty’ - he loves the cats and absolutely FLIES after them when they’re around, but I didn’t expect him to say ‘kitty’ for awhile!
He’s also learned how to do so big!. He’s very proud of himself.
I got divorced in 2002, when my oldest was 11. She didn’t take it well, and I was petrified that she would have trouble in middle and high school. She’s now a couple of weeks away from 16, holds a 4.2 GPA, plays P1 soccer (soccer moms will know what that means) and led her high school team to their first ever league championship last week, alongside a squadron of sophomores that she’s been best bud’s with since they were eight years old.
I’d link to pictures in the local paper, but she’s identified by name, and I don’t want to do that.
Most of you know what Queen Bruin has acheived, which is awesome! But I also wanted to post that my oldest daughter has held the same job for two whole years, and has supported herself and her two kids in her own apartment for over one year! The mind, it boggles at the achievement. You have no idea how great this is!
These are great stories. I especially like hearing about the success of kids who had a rocky time of it for a while, but are finding their groove and getting recognition for their efforts.
This one recently wrote his school’s official Earth Day poem. It is a page and a half of free verse – more than I’d post here – but the last line is “A pup looks into new light.”
My 5-year old is one of only 3 kids who have 2 lines to recite in his Pre-K graduation ceremony. He memorized them weeks ago. The teachers tell us that they rely on him to help the other kids with their lines too. He woke up very early one morning last week and his dad told him to play quietly in his room until a more human hour, so he sat at his table and wrote, without help, “I see a dog. I see a pig. I see a cow.” Then he gave it to the teacher who’s been teaching him to read. She was very proud. Me too.
The almost 3-year old has a decidedly odd sense of humor, does a near-perfect imitation of his older brother, and gave me a completely serious lecture yesterday about water temperature. Ben: I like warm water. (Takes a drink.) This is not warm water. (Takes a drink). This is cold water. (Takes a drink). I don’t like cold water. (Drinks some more. Hands me the empty cup.) He was so serious. It was pretty hilarious.
Ivyboy has to take some online entrance exams for his college. He’s already been accepted to the school, he has to take them by May 31, and he’s allowed to take all the practice exams he wants.
Communications was a cinch, but calculus has been kicking his butt. Routinely 13/20, then once he got 14/20. He’d been struggling with this for weeks. Math is not his strong suit.
Then he mentioned that he’d been trying to do the problems in his head, since the practice exam said “no notes.”
:smack:
Sweetie babe, says I, I’m sure you’re allowed some scratch paper to noodle out the problems. Call the college and ask. His father mentioned he may even be able to use a calculator.
So Honest Ivyboy calls his college, they say no calculator but yes scratch paper, and the next time he takes the practice exam he gets 18/20.
My oldest gets straight A’s in math & science, but he’s very sensitive and quiet.
My youngest is Category 4 (turns Category 5 in September) in every sense of the word. His best friend was just expelled from Daycare. When I asked what happened to Justin, he explained it this way.
“He was kicked out of school 'cause he was bad every day.”
“Well, I sure hope you’re not bad every day.”
“Nope. I’m bad every other day. And Tuesdays. Always on Tuesdays.”
Honest to Og, I don’t know if I’m saving up for Tuition or Bail…
my oldest is playing the clarinet for her first year in band. Just for fun she decided to figure out how to play Happy Birthday on the clarinet to be able to play it for a classmate. She did it in about five minutes.
Maybe this is more funny story than achievement, but I still think it’s great. My niece is in 4th grade, and knows that the Tooth Fairy is really my sister. The going rate for teeth in their house is $1. She lost a tooth yesterday and put in an envelope when she went to bed. When my sister got in there, she found a note that said:
Dear “Tooth Fairy”,
This is one of my favorite teeth, and it’s worth at least $1.50.
Sincerely,
[Niece’s Name]
My sister was quite amused and niece her $1.50, but then this morning she wrote another note telling the tooth fairy that she was just kidding and tried to give back the .50!
She’s also putting three words together now in little proto-sentences. Go her!