picking subjects...

[MamaRuthie]

does your teens school let them pick their own subjects??
did you get a say in what they did??

ellie is doing her subject selections from next year at the moment and shes going into year 9 which is when they get to pick everything the only subjects they have to do are english and maths and LOTE like she has guidelines like she has to pick two SOSE units and three science units and stuff like that but she doesn't know what to pick last night she was just sitting on the couch with the sheet going "mum I don't know"

she has to pick
3 sciences
2 sose
1 performing arts
1 visual arts
1 technology
1 extra english (like literature or debating)
3 from any of the above

 

[MamaRuthie]

also there are things I would really love for her to do but she doesn't want to do them like there is an astronomy unit for science and shes not interested and a dance subjects for performing arts but shes not interested, but she doesn't want to do music or drama either and its like, she has to pick one

 

[cybele]

Let me guess, year 9?
Year 9 has the most ridiculous fuddy-duddy subjects, at my kid's school it's known as 'bludge year'.

On the plus side though all the funny little subjects can peak interests, my 17yr old is doing VCE and he's doing two history subjects, Classical Societies and Revolutions, thanks to obscure year 9 subjects.

I stayed out of their selections, well, so far, but then my older two were pretty set on what they wanted to do.

Does your daughter have a little explanation of each class? Maybe read through them with her and think about what could be interesting about them?

 

[IADad]

We haven't gotten there yet. What's SOSE? I'd encourage her to do anything she has the least little interest in. You knever know what will spark an interest.

I'd also encourage her to do things that can fit into college well. I think there's huge value in being able to pass out of college courses or at least test up to higher level courses. Nothing I hated more than being in a class with a bunch of people who didn't want to be there. Higher level classes don't have that as much.

This is a great time to explore and learn so anything that opens up something she's not familiar with would be great.

 

[cybele]

Studies of society and environment

Fancy term for history and geography.

 

[MamaRuthie]

oooh cybele can I ask you about vce stuff?? does the subjects they choose now really reflect on what they can pick later?? Ellie is so scared that she might regret some of her choices, she's normally pretty high strung which is why but this is proving to be quite an intense exercise for her, her form isn't due till Thursday but she is very stressed out
did your son do anything in VCE that he didn't do anything for in earlier years?? I think that's her main worry that if she doesn't pick something now that she wants to do in years 11 and 12 she wont be able to and I don't know enough about the whole VCE thing to answer it for her

 

[cybele]

Aye.

Okay.

I don't know.

Okay, that's a cop out. I do know what my kids school does and I know what is generally required, and that is that there are no prerequisites for unit 1 and 2 subjects, and for some subjects none for unit 3 (as in, you don't <I>technically</I> have to complete units 1 and 2, even though it's preferred) but different schools may enforce their own prerequisites.

Does her school have a careers councillor? They should be able to answer any major questions for her, as well as her year level co-ordinator or the VCE co-ordinator.

Try and calm her down, it's only year 9, my older two did all sorts in year 9, from agriculture to dance to sewing. They both 'did VCE' differently too. My oldest did the two subjects that she needed for university (English, obviously and Food Technology) then just did other subjects that she enjoyed, but my son is doing the whole 'subjects stream' thing where all his subjects (bar English and Math) are performing arts/humanities.

As long as, when the time comes to pick her unit 3 and 4's, she isn't picking things that have nothing to do with an intended career, (such as wanting to be a doctor and doing all arts subjects, or wanting to be a fashion designer and doing all sciences) she will be fine. For year 9, just have fun with it. It's not worth stressing about now.

 

[Xero]

Well, as far as school goes, I only have a Kindergartener haha, but when I was in high school we were given a list of "electives" that we had to choose from as our classes as well that probably resembled what you're looking at. It wasn't always easy to choose, but my siblings and I were allowed to choose them ourselves. We also had a specific counselor that would help us choose if we needed it. The main thing was getting our decisions in as fast as possible though (while still thinking it out properly, of course), because the "good" classes fill up super fast and then you get stuck with what's left and in particular you might not get something you <U>really</U> wanted to take because you couldn't decide on the other two.

 

[MamaRuthie]

with ellies school yu couldn't submit them early which I think was good

she finally got it done took her ages though and there were actually tears which I couldn't believe I think sometimes shes too dramatic for her own good

 

[mom2many]

Mine picked their own classes with the help of a guidance counselor. The rules changed from year to year so I just stayed out of it.