Tonight we had not one, but two, orientations. Each of our three youngest are transitioning to new schools this year. Gage is a Freshman, Drake is in 6th and his first year in the middle school, and Cora is going into a secondary elementary school. Sometimes it's hard to believe that those tiny little babies that I gave birth to 14, nearly 11 and nearly 9 years ago are already turning into these amazing, young people. They aren't babies anymore (although they will always be my babies)...they aren't toddlers (although there are days I miss this pacifier sucking, fuzzy blanket snuggling little ones)...they are intelligent, handsome/beautiful, interesting, hilarious, talented creatures and I absolutely adore each of them.
Tonight was Drake and Gage's orientations I'm so excited for them. Each starting this scary new chapter in their lives. They'll be successful...I know they will.
Magical Realms Birthday Party
2 years ago
What is a freshman? My son goes to P-12 Independent School (not government). This means Prep (4-5 yrs olds) to Year 12 (17-18 yr olds). Within this location there is a junior (Prep-Yr4), a middle (Yr5-Yr9) and a senior school (Yr10-Yr12). All on the one site. Govt schools mostly have a Primary School P to 6 and then a High School 7 - 12, usually on two sites. After all that you go off to University (which is not a boarding situation unless you come from the country). If you are not academically minded and do not intend to go to Uni then you can study trades as part of your schooling and you spend one day a week working for a tradesperson. Or, you could (with parents permission) opt out after Year 10 and go do an apprenticeship with a firm. Is this confusing? At the moment my Aspie son (whose obsessive about military) is planning to join the Army as a cook. They advertise that they only need 17 yrs with Year 9 English and Maths but he can think again. His goal is to fly helicopters so he will need Year 12. We will see, at the moment Im just trying to keep him attending school regularly (very hard socially for Aspies). I cant imagine him living in close quarters with anyone yet alone a platoon. He cant get on the school bus at the moment - too many faces and loud noises in small face. ?????
ReplyDeleteIt's similar in the US - just different wording. We typically have Elementary School - which is Kindergarten (age 5) to 5th grade (around age 10)...although our school district splits that into K-2 grade and 3-5 grade (Cora is starting 3rd). Then we have Middle School - which is grades 6-8 (Drake is starting 6th) and then there is High School (Grades 9-12 - also called Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior years) - Gage is in 9th grade/Freshman. Usually, kids are in 12th grade around the time they are 17 and graduate at age 18 - which then they are an adult. They can choose to go to college - if they are close enough, they can commute from home - if they choose a college farther from home, many universities/colleges have housing ("dorms") on campus. Military here (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) - you can choose to go into at age 18 (male or female can join the military). Some areas offer trade type classes in high school too.
ReplyDeleteBoth our older daughters started college and then stopped - one has gone back to get her degree in Mathematics and the other is still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up :-) She's also working on saving money and paying some debt and then she'll go back.
I understand wanting your son to stay in school as long as possible. It's good that if he wants to do helicopters that he'll need to stay in to year 12...keep reminding him of that. My mother's cousin flew helicopters in the military - for a bit, his job was to fly the President of the United States - I even got to go on the Presidential Fleet of helicopters. PRETTY AWESOME!
Wait till I tell Tom that! He has a big thing for Air Force One.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty awesome!!!!
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