Getting ready. I feel that is what this weekend is about. I've only been going at half-speed, but all that is about to change. Monday, S starts his Music Theory class. We are such bozos we forgot to get the textbooks and his class starts Monday at 9. So we were going to go in today and buy them in the bookstore, but then we looked on Amazon and could get them all a good bit cheaper and they were all available for Sunday delivery for free. So that's what we were doing last night! Ordering textbooks.
J went to his orientation yesterday. He kept forgetting to sign up for it and this was the very last one. Rick and I keep exchanging glances. Does procrastinating about going to orientation bode well? Hmmm. Anyway, he went and he came back all excited! But instead of signing up for the classes we thought he was going to sign up for, he's decided to work towards an AA in business management. Originally he was just going to take an Intro to Business and an Intro to Accounting to see if he liked the subject matter and then he'd decide. And we even said to him we don't think it is a good idea to start with a writing heavy course because that is what sunk him in his foray into college two years ago. But no, he came back and announced he's taking Pre-Calc and College Composition. Huh? But honestly he seems sincerely excited about it. He started talking about how a lot of the guys who work for a few years at the marina move over to work for the Park authority (the marina has a lot of interaction with the park adjacent to it). But you have to have a BA and experience. He'll get experience working at the marina and he'll get his BA or at least an AA. With the AA he can transfer to another 4 year college if he wants to. He likes the idea of working full time and just taking a few classes at a time. So this might take a while! But anyway, he's got a plan! He's also taking a college study skills class (1 credit). So his schedule is working at the marina Saturday through Wednesday, Wed night College Composition, 7:15 - 9:55, Thur night Pre-Calc 7:15 - 9:55, Fridays 11:00a.m. - 11:50a.m. a hybrid study skills course (only lasts for the 1st half of the semester).
I looked up the teachers on rate my professors. Happily the college composition teacher got rave reviews. I do hope this is when he gets over his mental block about writing. The truth is he is an average writer. He isn't terrible. It is just really, really painful for him to put words on paper. But he actually can write, if he's given a lot of time and isn't too overwhelmed. I know how his mind works and he thinks in bullet points. It is so hard for him to flesh out those bullet points into a smooth flowing paragraph. He just flounders. I told him the standards for writing at Christendom and writing at the community college were probably going to be two different things. At Christendom they expected a high quality and quantity of writing continually. Here he'll have time to write. The reviews said the teacher only assigns 5 essays over the course of the semester and she gives lots of guidance and time to rewrite. So that really sounds as ideal as you can get for J's particular issues with writing.
The reviews for the pre-calc teacher were very mixed. However, J is so good at math. The only reason he is still at the pre-calc level is that he went in to take the math placement test after three years of having no math. He did no prep or anything. He covered this stuff back in his junior year (at a high school level anyway). He should be way, way further in his math studies by now, if he were a motivated academic student, which he is not! Anyway, the point is I don't think he'll have any trouble with the pre-calc, even if the teacher is so-so.
So maybe this will work out! Hope springs eternal!
Anyway, I am using this weekend to get everything in place so that, so that we are all ready to launch come Monday morning.
I guess I better get moving!
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