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Nature_Girl posted 8/31/2013 13:30 PM

I've reached that time of life when I need to research middle school options. The regular middle school my kids' elementary feeds to is dismal at best as far as academic standards are concerned. One option available to my kids is an IB middle school that feeds to an IB high school.

My kids are very intelligent. They are bored to death in school. I need them to be challenged so they don't waste their intellect (which is why I had always homeschooled them until infidelity blew up our lives). My kids are already learning a foreign language in their spare time simply because they want to. I've always tried to raise them with an international perspective & appreciation because I believe that children of their generation will grow up in a truly global society.

Would an IB experience be the right way to go, I wonder?

Anyone here with IB experience to share?

Kajem posted 8/31/2013 15:30 PM

No experience with IB, we had he option to attend IB middle/high school or attend a middle school in the gifted and talented program. We chose gifted and talented because it fit my kids better. IB here is a LOT of extra work, the kids who love doing the extra work do well. My kids were busy enough outside of school with extracurricular activities that that loved. I didn't want them giving up what they loved in order to excel at IB. They had given up so much already. I don't regret the decision. The IB program ended three years ago-not enough participants. The high school has gone steadily downhill since then.

The middle school program was awesome. But the high school kids were choosing to take AP classes, dual enrollment classes to reduce college expenses. I feel that hurt the IB program here.

Really check out the high schools. They make the difference in preparing the kids for college.

Nature_Girl posted 8/31/2013 17:00 PM

The high school options here are horrible. Deplorable. Think "actually profiled on Nightline for neo-Nazi activity" horrible. Also, my kids have no extracurricular activities. I can't afford them. There's also no G&T or TAG middle school options. The IB school is as close as I think I can come to the kind of intellectual challenges I was providing my kids when we homeschooled.

I feel so angry about the lost educational opportunities for my kids because I chose so poorly in who would be their father.

hurtbs posted 8/31/2013 17:23 PM

IB is even more rigorous than an AP program. Keep in mind that in IB, "challenging" your students may mean that they will actually not do as well in their classes. A+++ students quickly become B or C students in IB.

However, it is exceptionally rigorous and means that they will be competitive on an international market - so they could go to schools like the London School of Economics. They can become truly fluent in a foreign language, etc.

jrc1963 posted 8/31/2013 21:17 PM

My DS entered the Pre-IB Middle School Program, which prepares him for the IB program in High School, last year. (6th grade) He is also identified as Gifted.

He was an A+ Student in Elementary School and was in the "gifted" program there, which in my opinion was crap... it was a 1/2 a day pull out once a week...

He excelled last year in the MS IB program finishing 6th grade with straight A's.

As I understand it the IB program in Middle School is designed to prepare them for the actual IB program in HS.

My son was challenged and had a lot of homework and I think he learned a lot, but he wasn't "overworked" and was still able to participate in Band and other activities.

All of the Middle Schools in our district offer the Pre-IB program and I would say that there really isn't a "Bad" Middle School... DS is attending the school we are zoned for where all his friends in the neighborhood attend.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the program. I would recommend the program to anyone whose child was intelligent and motivated. I highly recommend that you and your kids develop good organizational skills (if you don't already have them) in order to manage the amount of work.