I'm a new poster on this forum, though I've enjoyed gleaning some information already from reading casually from time to time in the past few months.
Disclaimer: my daughter is only entering 8th grade. (Thank goodness, because I want her around for a looong time yet.) OK, call me overeager to envision her future possibilities, but I don't discuss any of this with her. I am simply enjoying the process and want to be ready when the time comes. I admit I would be thrilled for her to go to a selective school but I will not be pushing or pressuring her to apply for an elite school unless that school is a "fit" in every way for HER.
My main question for those of you who are completing this process: How much continuity in grades have you seen in your children (and in your children's peers, if you happen to know that) in the transition from middle school to/through high school, if study habits remain fairly consistent. I know that's a very big "if", and that all answers will just be anecdotal. I guess I'm wanting to know if it becomes a much steeper climb to maintain top grades as the years progress. Obviously, the material becomes harder, but does it become harder relative to the ability to master it at a given age?
So far my daughter has made straight "A"s throughout most of elementary school and all of middle school, while being active five-six days per week with ballet and practicing two musical instruments (she will have to choose her priorities soon.) Any struggles she has keeping her grades high have involved juggling the time-management of her activities, not the challenge of the material itself. The school honor role is posted, so I estimate she is in the top ten percent of her peers academically, so far. Our small-town public school system is average in a state ranked fairly high in education . My daughter is quite bright, a voracious reader of good fiction, but not really gifted. She is competent and conscientious but not driven. She loves her activities but is not passionate, and is reasonably social but not a strong leader. ( And that is OK with me...she is healthy, happy, kind and balanced.) I guess I just want to project a little into the future and envision whether those straight "A"s/honors courses will be likely a part of her high school future, or whether she will more likely be an A/B or B kid if her life keeps the same basic trajectory. Any comments on the middle school/high school transition?
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