What do all parents have in common? They want success for their children. It is no secret that a large part of success stems from playing to one’s individual strengths. In the world of education, not all classes are created equal when it comes to student aptitudes. But parents are in luck because most public and private schools offer a variety of academic rigor levels for every core class. Typically, rigor is classified from the General Education Level to the Advanced Level to the Gifted/Honors Level. There are also Advanced Placement (AP) courses and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses which are nationally and internationally standardized curricula, respectively. Before a child can truly benefit from the differing levels of rigor, he or she must know their strengths in the classroom. One way to do so is by reviewing all of your child’s progress reports and report cards. The classes in which they scored highest are potential rigor areas, particularly if they are earning in the 94-100 percentiles. Another area is pre-test benchmark scores. If your child earns top marks on pre-tests (which measure subject knowledge prior to instruction), this may be an indicator that they are ready to be exposed to more challenging material. Finally, we recommend that you have a discussion with your young one about what school subjects interest them most, and why. Often people work harder on things that fascinate them. The same logic rings true for growth areas. If your child is demonstrating lags or struggles in a given subject area, perhaps they need to drop a rigor level in order to continue to learn without harming their confidence in that area. Once you have identified your child’s strength and growth areas, contact their school to discuss the corresponding levels of rigor they offer. Be sure to ask about how each rigor level will impact classwork, pacing and homework assignments. Often there will be an adjustment period, so anticipate and allow time for that transition. Ideally, your child is able to construct a class schedule that allows them to remain challenged and engaged. Taking the time to coordinate rigor with aptitudes is something colleges take note of during the admissions process. They seek out candidates who are self-aware of their abilities and who are committed to growing academically. This does not necessarily mean that colleges only want students who enroll in AP or Honors across the board. In fact, many institutions would rather a pupil who has earned high B’s and A’s in a mix of varied rigor courses than to see a transcript of all C’s in high-rigor courses or all A’s in General Level courses. So as the school year revs into full swing, make sure to build a schedule for your child that will hone their abilities and make them an attractive candidate to universities.
A music streaming gift subscription. Pandora Radio and Spotify offer one-year subscriptions of their ad-free streaming services, which means 365 days of virtually unlimited tunes! Every time your graduate turns on their sound system, they’ll have you to thank. A Movie Pass. This service allows users to view one movie per day in theaters. It’s a $9.99 monthly fee, for endless cinematic bliss. With summer on thehorizon, make their post-grad lives kick off with moviegoing bliss. Amazon Prime. Think about it: graduating from school means embarking on adulthood. Recent grads will head across globe to jobs, internships, fellowships and service missions. Having free shipping on Amazon’s entire inventory is the gift that will keep on giving. A Lyft gift card. Most of us cannot gift a car for graduation. But a Lyft gift card might be the next best thing. Purchasing a ride-sharegift card increases mobility for recent grads, relieving high school grads of the need to beg for parental carpools and eliminating the risks of drunk-driving with older grads. You won’t miss the mark with this one! Portable Smartphone Battery. It is no secret that millennials love their gadgets. Spare them the horror of a dead phone battery by gifting them a portable phone battery. No matter if their post-grad plans take them abroad, to the beach or to the office, knowing they have a battery backup brings ample peace of mind. Nice headphones or earphones. With the omniscient presence of technology in most recent graduates’ lives, having access to quality headphones is a no-brainer. The best part is that with bluetooth headphones, wireless sets and the classic earphones, the options are plentiful, yet equally valuable.
