Why do parents go through great lengths to get their children into AAP?

[Anonymous]

Why are parents so hel! bent on getting their children into AAP?

[Anonymous]

Because this area is crazy and AAP is the 2nd step to Harvard (the first being a play based preschool)

[Anonymous]

Why do you care?

[Anonymous]

It's an excellent question. This forum has been really eye-popping. I understand wanting differentiation for a genius kid, but don't quite get the lengths that people go to convince people that their normal but semi-bright kids are geniuses who require differentiation. It's odd.

[Anonymous]

My DC was accepted in 4th grade. I loved DC's 3rd grade teacher, but it's a world of difference between the pace of learning and the aptitude of the kids. They aren't all geniuses and there is, of course, some kookiness, but by and large, the kids are much more into the course work, innovative projects and lots of math. Everyone's baseline is much higher, so the class can move faster and go deeper. DC has had a much calmer year -- way, way less chaos of gen ed. We are a center school, so two full AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Not every parent goes through great lengths for AAP. DS was in pool, we filled out the parent questionnaire and spent maybe an hour pulling together some work samples. We spent maybe 2 hours on the process. We wanted to have options if there were options that are available. We spent the same amount of time deciding on language immersion, that included attending an informational meeting and applying for the lottery online.

DS is smart and ahead in school. We deferred AAP because we like the LI program. That said, we will enroll him in AAP in MS because we want him to be challenged in school.

I don't care if DS is gifted or not, I have no clue if he is, but I do care that school is a place where he can learn and grow. If the regular classroom is not challenging him, then I would like to do the best I can to move him to a more challenging environment. It really, is that simple.

It is no different then parents who are interested in their kids taking AP/IB classes when appropriate in high school. Appropriate to me means that my child is challenged and learning at an appropriate level. That might means that he does IB classes in the areas he is strongest and does Honors classes in other areas. we will see how things go when he gets to high school.

There are other parents who appear to be more invested in their kids being in the advanced group. Some of that is cultural, some of it is parents thinking that the best = highest level possible, some of it is parents who are worried about "prestige."

But if you don't care, then what is the point of even posting here?

DS attends supplemental math and enjoys math competitions because he likes math. He likes math a lot. (shrugs) I don't get it because I always struggled with math but he loves it. He enjoys being with other kids who like math and have fun solving math problems and puzzles. There are not that many in his class at school. It is nice for him to have a place to go where he doesn't feel out of place because he likes math. I can imagine that there are parents who like AAP because it means that their kid is in a class with other kids who might like or appreciate having more difficult work to do.

[Anonymous]

To keep my kids out of the general population and with kids whose families at least moderately care about academics and future success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an excellent question. This forum has been really eye-popping. I understand wanting differentiation for a genius kid, but don't quite get the lengths that people go to convince people that their normal but semi-bright kids are geniuses who require differentiation. It's odd.

Also blown away by what I read here. My kids are in LLIV, but only due to the nudging of our school's AART (and I am the first to admit that as much as I love them, they are bright but nothing exceptional). Perhaps I'm oblivious, but I've never picked up on any AAP frenzy at our school, so maybe it's more of a center thing?

As best I can tell, the intense parents think it is the track to TJ/Ivy. Neither of which I want for my kids, so not sure the appeal.

[Anonymous]

Segregation

[Anonymous]

They're all strivers, and absolutely panicked at the thought that some other families might get something "better."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're all strivers, and absolutely panicked at the thought that some other families might get something "better."

+1.

[Anonymous]

Most parents around here were top students themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To keep my kids out of the general population and with kids whose families at least moderately care about academics and future success.

Saying the quiet part out loud, I see. Thank you for being honest.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is smart and well above average, then AAP is great for them. It’s accelerated, so they learn more than gen ed kids. Sometimes it’s also a way to get your kid to a better/higher rated school. In our case, DC is very smart and definitely belongs to AAP, center school also offers extracurricular activities that our base school doesn’t have (no money). But otherwise our base school is still a good school with very nice staff, so if kid didnt get to AAP, i wouldn’t fuss about it

[Anonymous]

We didn't go to great lengths, but I'm glad both kids got in. Title I school, so gen ed tends to move very slowly. They needed some acceleration.