What is the advantage of honors classes?

[Anonymous]

Honors is a way to select your student cohort and minimize students who are disinterested in school being in the classroom with your child. At times the honors teacher is a worse teacher than the non-honors teachers, but that is offset by fewer students who are just acting out and taking away learning time from your child. Honors classrooms have their own snotty behavior problems though. If your child is a brat this may enhance that problem behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors is more rigorous and more challenging. Your child should learn more and it helps develop study skills and the like for HS. If your child is ready for honors, have them take honors classes. Gen Ed classes are fine but less challenging for a kid who is capable of more.

+1

And you get a .5 bump for honors classes.

Thank you both for your reply! I’ll keep her in Honors! Thank you!

Is the .5 bump for middle school or high school? My child will be in AAP in middle - will they get a grade bump too?

. It is for any classes that are considered high school classes. In MS, basically that’s just algebra and Spanish/German/Chinese etc.

There is no honors language class so that bump would not apply. It's just algebre 1 honors and geometry honors where it does apply in MS.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, the advantage is cohort (kids who will care, which may not be the case in gen-ed) but also probably the difference is really - one class will push your child, the other probably won't.

If your kid is one of the ones coming home in ES crying that their brain is rotting from disuse (have seen this comment on this forum), just go all honors. Sure the workload is more but at least they're not bored out of their skulls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this site offered downvoting my post would get it - the truth isn't always pretty or nice. From a social side, you don't want your kid in a class with kids below the non-honors level. In HS, the best bet is AP classes or some DE. I sub in public schools, the difference between the class levels is astonishing. Behavior, attitude, desire to achieve, goals. . . The teachers can barely control the class let alone provide opportunities to grow. Not blaming the kids but it is what it is.

This is the fear of being in a Gen Ed class, but I think it's pushing it suggesting AP/DE classes as the only way to get an education-minded cohort. AP/DE are college level classes that are mostly taken by Jrs and Srs and many are very hard. Those should be taken based on a student's interest and ability, not to be placed with a certain set of peers.

As for Gen Ed/Honors - YMMV depending on the school. My kids have peppered some Gen Ed classes in during freshman and sophmore year, but by the time they're juniors they're taking all Honors or AP for the core subjects (except language which there is no Honors level, just 1-5 and AP depending on the language).