As a director and a parent, first semester of Challenge I kicked my butt.
I was NOT ready. Fully unprepared. I didn’t expect the changes that were facing us. We had struck up a good routine for Challenge A and B (which I had also directed with the same kids). But when Challenge I started, I realized it was no longer a routine, it was a rut. And it was NOT working for us in Challenge I. The first six or eight weeks were very bumpy as all of us, parents, students, and myself, tried to find a new normal in the workload, the expectations, and the class time.
The good news is, second semester has been the smoothest, easiest, absolute BEST semester I’ve ever had at CC. So here’s my advice for parents and students on what to do over the summer to be ready for each strand of Challenge I. If you don’t do school in the summer, I would still suggest getting back into schoolwork at least three weeks before CC starts back up. That’s reasonable–CC only covers 150 of your 180 days, so you’ve got to fit that other 30 days in somewhere. This is a way to get most of it.