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8th grade graduation gift suggestions?

post #1 of 17
6/2/06 at 1:26am
Thread Starter 
Clueless here! We'll be going to an 8th grade graduation for a boy in couple weeks.

What do you suggest for the proud soon-to-be freshman? We're not exactly close to him but we would like to get him something that says, 'Hey, good going.'

He doesn't have many interests that we know of, except playing video games and breathing.

So, any suggestions around the $25 mark would be most welcome. Extra bonus for being able to order online!
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post #2 of 17
6/2/06 at 1:41am
$25 may or may not be enough for a video game, depending on his system (X-Box, Game Cube, Nintendo DS, or other) and his interests, but as the mother of a gamer, I'd advise against "getting a video game" if you don't know what, specifically, he's interested in. Can you maybe get "store credit" or a gift certificate if you want to go that route?
post #3 of 17
6/2/06 at 1:56am
Thread Starter 
Gift certificate is a good idea.........actually I wasn't really planning on getting him a video game since I wouldn't have the first clue about what he'd like!
post #4 of 17
6/2/06 at 3:09am
gift certificate for him and a guest to see a movie at his local theatre?

I also second the idea of a gift card for video game.
post #5 of 17
6/2/06 at 1:20pm
A watch
post #6 of 17
6/2/06 at 1:23pm
A small USB pen drive for the computer. They're starting at about $18 now. He can use it in highschool to save all his projects on, and maybe some pictures...

It may not be super fun, but I guarentee it'll get used!
post #7 of 17
6/2/06 at 6:44pm
Thread Starter 
The USB pen drive sounds good.........not sure exactly what it is but from your description it sounds useful.
I guess I can't go wrong with a gift cert, maybe to Best Buy or something. I didn't want to get him something that will collect dust or that he can't use.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
post #8 of 17
6/2/06 at 10:37pm
A USB Pen drive is essentially the storage media that replaced CDs after they replaced floppy disks.

The nice thing about a USB drive is that he can open, change, and save his files on the drive with any computer, either at home, friend's house, school, or the library. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter whether the computer is a PC or a Mac. Some Linux distros also run from USB drive, sort of like a live CD except that you can save your files from one session to the next. It will DEFINITELY get used and used a lot.

I have a fairly large one (80GB) which I use instead of my internal hard drives for storing media. $18 would probably get you more around the lines of 256 or 512 MB, but that's plenty for running DSLinux or Puppy at least and storing a fair amount of pictures and MP3s as well as school papers.

It'd be a hit with my 14 year old boy for sure.
post #9 of 17
6/2/06 at 11:00pm
Is this an actual 8th grade graduation ceremony at the school? Or something the parents have cooked up? I guess it doesn't matter, but I've never heard of an 8th grade graduation celebration... I mean, don't all kids legally have to finish 8th grade anyway?

Here we had a field day on the last day, followed by a yearbook-signing party in the gym with music and a photo montage of the past year... and then we sent them all home. No "graduation", and the only parenst around were the stalwart volunteers...

dar
post #10 of 17
6/2/06 at 11:10pm
I think some schools do an actual ceremony (cap n gown?) for passing 8th grade and going onto high school. I have heard of them before, but the public schools around here don't (or didn't last I knew) do it.
post #11 of 17
6/3/06 at 12:14am
I went to a very moving 8th grade graduation ceremony for my friend's daughter in Santa Barbara back in the '80s, but I'm kind of out of the loop, since my kids are/were homeschooled.

It seems to be a huge developmental milestone in boys, and the curriculum is certainly different. Thirteen seems so young to me now and eighth grade was easy-peasy!

I don't think that compulsory attendance has anything to do with the child's grade level; they have to be in school until they're 18 or have a high school diploma (or CHSPE) in CA, but a developmentally delayed 17 year old child is entitled to an appropriate education and a 20 year old who never mastered Algebra I is certainly able to work a full time job.
post #12 of 17
6/3/06 at 12:40am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the confirmation/explanation of the USB pen drive.

Yeah, it's definitely a regular ceremony at the school. No cap and gown though, just shirts and ties, etc.
post #13 of 17
6/3/06 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by noordinaryspider
I don't think that compulsory attendance has anything to do with the child's grade level; they have to be in school until they're 18 or have a high school diploma (or CHSPE) in CA, but a developmentally delayed 17 year old child is entitled to an appropriate education and a 20 year old who never mastered Algebra I is certainly able to work a full time job.
Here a student can drop out at age 16, and I do know one student who is dropping out before high school (she will turn 16 this summer and just finished 8th grade). And somehow lots of kids in California are dropping out and not taking the CHSPE, whether it's against the law or not.

A developmentally delayed 17 year old will be in high school, not junior high, because as a special education student he's entitled to alternate assessment in order to "pass" to the next grade.

The algebra class I taught to 8th graders was identical to the algebra class that I taught to 9th graders, down to the same textbook... I guess I think a graduation ceremony should celebrate an achievement, not something that happens to everyone. YMMV,

dar
post #14 of 17
6/4/06 at 11:50am
We had a suit/tie/dress graduation when I was in 8th grade. They don't have any type of ceremony here where we live now though.
post #15 of 17
6/9/06 at 3:17pm
We have a ceremony to attend on Saturday that sounds great. The boy worked very hard for this and I am so proud of him! He's one of my son's friends who spends a lot of time at my house. He attends a Catholic school, which may be why they can afford to have a graduation ceremony.

The public schools are so sadly underfunded these days that I wouldn't be surprised if all of them had to cut the graduation ceremonies for 8th grade.
post #16 of 17
6/9/06 at 6:41pm
any other ideas? my son is graduating from 8th this year also and i really do not know what the heck to get him. i have usb drive, but i think he would lose one if i got him that.
i know it sounds horrible that im his mom and dont know what to get him, but ive been thinking about this for weeks.
post #17 of 17
6/9/06 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 
aisraeltax,
Don't feel bad. I haven't bought the gift either. :
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