Year 12 #2: Carols, commutes & a few stocking fillers

[Stickerrocks]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/3410431-year-12-1-gcses-are-sooo-last-year

Sostenueto I love the sound of your treasure chest - and delighted to hear about dgd's prize-giving. Ouch! To the cost of psychology book - I've got a couple of paperbacks in law for DS!
My dcs love opening 'little' presents on Christmas Day - Book, socks, chocolate, T-shirt, toiletries - or snuggly PJs still go down very well!

On law - not in law!

I am with sos here.
DD is saving for something specific so she has asked for money. For 'proper' things to open she has several books that relate to her subject and a DVD. She also has a stocking filled with tat (a large part bought from the £ shop!). She has a yo-yo, a tamogichi, sweets, Xmas chocolate Santa, fake nails with Santa on, deodorant, face wipes, hairbands, pens, some socks, a fiddle thing, a rubicks cube etc. Nothing expensive but fun to open....which is what Xmas is all about!

When we have bought driving lessons/ tickets etc as presents we try and wrap them up in an interesting way. I think it helps them to see that they are actual presents and not just something to be taken for granted. Definitely nice to have some surprises too though (well DD loves the Christmas tat - not DS so much though!)

Yes, well done sost's dgd.

DD will be getting very little for Christmas as we have already bought her a new laptop this term. She likes to choose her own clothes, and we pay for her hobby - 7 different disciplines of dancing a week! Could give her cash for clothes shopping, but I would like a surprise for her to open. She knows what relatives are buying her, as they outright ask for ideas, and I have to pass on her very few requests to them.

I was also wistfully remembering birthdays and Christmasses full of Brio, lego, craft kits, pretty dresses chosen by mum, Airfix models etc. DS turned 19 earlier in the week, he had nothing to.open but a trip to the shopping centre to choose a dinner suit, which is needed for formal at university. He spent his birthday money from GPS on a smart coat to go over a suit - I was sad I couldn't think of a frivolous little treat for him.

Sorry to ask a GCSE question but did anyone's DC use memrise for MFL? Or any other languages app? DS needs something that reaches him French little and often and I'm looking for ideas...?

Ds used Memrise for Spanish in Year 7 & 8. It was set up by his previous school. He really enjoyed using it and got quite competitive.

He tried Duolingo for German when he changed school but didn;t get on with it but I think that was more due to him being thrown in at the deep end in year 9 when others had studied the language for 2 years.

DS used Memrise for German gcse too

I also recommend Memrise. DD used it for Spanish and it must have helped her get her grade 6. her teacher also got them a subscription to a Spanish mag for teenagers. Is DS into football or anything similar which could feasibly have a magazine available?

Dd used duolingo from around March until a few weeks after her exams. She got obsessed with keeping her daily streak and didn't want to stop

It's a really good app and definitely helped her but wasn't linked to GCSE specifically so memrise might well be better.

Third clarinet practice of the evening taking place.

His sight-reading skills are good and his aural is usually OK. He has worked hard on the pieces and they are mostly secure. It has suddenly dawned on him that he needs to practise his scales and arpeggios; better late than never.

I'm going to buy the neighbours something to thank them for their understanding and forbearance. We live in a semi-detached house and DS2's room (where he practises) shares a wall with their bedroom. They have never once complained.

We also live in a semi and had our first new neighbours in 19 years last week. Our old neighbours hadn't used the living room adjoining our house, but the new ones are. We can hear them, which means they must be able to hear us too. I hadn't realised before. Hope G8 goes well.

Good luck TheFirstOHN's DS2!! Sounds like he's got it in the bag.

We used to live in a semi- and the neighbours requested no piano practice before 10am. Glad we are not living there anymore. Listening to some lovely Debussy now as DS1 practises.

Gosh, DS3 always practises before school, so 7.30, 8am. Luckily the neighbours have a school aged child so are up by then. The flute is quite a mellow sound, or so I keep telling myself.

Oops, posted too soon. Good luck, TheFirst’s DS! 🍀

Good luck from me too. I don’t think I would mind a bit to have grade 8 ptlractise next door. I didn’t realise how loud the saxophone was until I was walking up the road to my house one summer and could hear DS right down the street. It hasn’t come home from school in the last two years though - quite missing it.

Good luck TheFirst DS! I'm sure he'll be fine!

Well, report finally here and first tentative predictions of most likely A level outcomes are a range of As and Bs so v pleased. Means he s still on track for post 18 apprenticeships and if he changes tack to uni route he should be ok for anything outside the top tier. Also came back with a silver certificate for the maths challenge which is a first for him and a nice surprise (not that he d bothered to tell me about it 😂) . Now just got to keep it up for 5 more terms !!

I will definitely try and enjoy the relative calm at the moment with two good uni terms behind us as well - I know I am very lucky at the moment and know from post s on here and past experience it is not always so.

Good Luck TheFirst (probably all over now!).IMHO it's usually the sight reading and aural that tip the balance in a music exam - for ds it was definately what tipped him to a Distinction so I'm sure your ds did well.

Thank you all for the good luck wishes for DS2. Haven't seen him yet to ask how the exam went, but I did see on Twitter that he won the school's Christmas Maths competition, so he'll be happy about that.

I know some of you enjoy a Maths puzzle, so here is the question:

How many ways are there for 10 people to organise a secret santa?

He's back. Piece A, piece B, sight reading and aural all went fine. In piece C (the study) he made several mistakes but kept going.

The scales & arpeggios didn't go well because he didn't listen carefully to what was being asked. Several times he started the wrong thing (correct key but wrong form) realised once he'd started, and then played the correct one.

Well done oratory!
It will be fine theFirstJohn when I did my grade 8 s ( one after the other for cornet and trumpet) I came out feeling like I really messed up especially scales and aural but ended up with 2 distinctions!

Thanks to all for messages and congrats
Xmas is nearly here and we will all blink and it will be gone.
I will be back on before Xmas and I start baking after the weekend. Xmas cake has had it's last drink and will be iced at weekend. Just veg and salad stuff and odds and ends then done. 6 for Xmas dinner, 2 prawn cocktails, 2 sushi, I garlic mushrooms and one soup. That's the starters, followed by lemon sorbet, then the traditional roast, but not turkey its beef and/or lamb. And finally 3 Xmas pudds and 3 homemade chocolate fudge cake followed by cheeseboard! And they said they didn't want much!

Getting ready for Christmas here too x