Mark Jensen asks if IB is for everyone. Our eldest son just graduated from the arts program at South High School last year, a National Merit Scholar, and named "Best High School Editorial Writer" in the state, and he is thriving at NYU this year. The quality of education he received at South was top notch, and although it didn't carry the label "IB" I wonder if the curriculum wasn't as challenging?
Our second son is now doing well in the IB program at Southwest. I would point out, however, that the intensity and pressure of the IB program really knocked him for a loop his freshman year. Our second son was a straight A and occasional B student... went to the citywide spelling bee 4 times... and the 4th time was the only Minneapolis student, public or private, to make it to regionals. His first year of IB he had at least 2-3 hours of homework every night (still does). He became deeply depressed, had no social life, and his grades dropped way down. We offered to pull him out of the program, but he wanted to stick with it, and is now doing much better. He learned how to manage his time better, and seems to really enjoy learning. I think it was the shock of going from middle school "nice" to demanding IB. However, I am impressed with the quality of information he is learning... and the level of intellectual challenge. I've observed him reading books that I only read in college. We also know from kids who made it through IB that when they got to college it was a breeze because they were "up to speed" and used to studying and learning. My grandfather had his first full time job at age 13... certainly 15, 16, and 17 year old high school kids can benefit from challenge and "work", especially if they are learning such advanced topics as IB presents. But my son typically had very high grades, so the big question is... how do you pull someone who barely squeaked through middle school and reads at a low level into an IB program and get them to actually do the 3 hours of homework per night which might be 5-6 hours for a slow and faltering reader? As I understand it, European "high schools" do have more college-like curriculum... as the IB program does. It's an interesting idea... to challenge our young people to really learn, not just warehouse them. Wendy Introwitz Pareene So. Mpls REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
