Anyone with a kid who wasn't in AAP but was successful in High school honors/AP classes
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Anonymous
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but what is the upside then of AAP, if any? I have seen older grade AAP kids at our LLIV crying from stress, and our school theoretically has a no homework policy.
DC was accepted, breezes through math/science/social studies work, is in top reading group but not light years ahead like one student in class. His current GE teacher is really pushing kids to write and the volume of writing she wants is significant and he stays on top of it, but not sure he needs more. He rarely gets anything wrong on tests in other subjects, however, which indiciates to me he needs/could benefit from a greater challenge. Guess I am wondering at what cost? I have seen the recent FCPS report that noted almost all TJ acceptances were AAP kids, but we won't push him that way if he doesn't want it. |
Anonymous
| Elementary school will NOT BREAK YOUR CHILD’S FUTURE! Good lord, people! How much pressure do we put on 6 year olds????? If they aren’t in, THEY AREN’T IN. There is PLENTY of time to catch up! Also, kids’ skills and focus change over time! I have seen that with my child! HE is totally different from first/second grade than he is at 4th. They will all be fine! |
Anonymous
| Do Gen Ed or Non-AAP students get President's award even if they excel and get excellent grades in gen ed classes? |
Anonymous
PP, whose child is not stressed. For my child, she was really unhappy without having anything to occupy her brain. She was happier in AAP, because the acceleration in math kept her occupied for a bit, while she learned that maybe there are benefits to being able to cruise. I have no idea why you have seen kids cry from stress. If there is so much homework being assigned that it's causing kids distress, they should be at liberty to not do it. If I were the parent in that situation, I would 100% tell the teacher that a) there is too much work being assigned and b) that it is contrary to the school's no homework policy. It's elementary school, not HS or college, and these things really don't matter much. You always have the option of putting your kids back in gen ed if things don't work out. Don't overthink it; it's not the equivalent of sending a third grader to MIT. |
Anonymous
Didn't know this was a thing. Checked the criteria, and it says nothing about advanced academics, so I don't see why not. https://www2.ed.gov/programs/presedaward/eligibility.html |
Anonymous
YES! |
Anonymous
| This post is concerning that people might think In order to be successful in High School, you need to be in AAP when you are 8. It is all just a bit insane the way people think. It’s just a program, some kids will benefit from it, others won’t and some kids that were not in it will be more successful in life than some that were in it. 4-6 years from now you will read these posts and wonder what all the fuss was about. |
Anonymous
Yes |
Anonymous
My general ed kid is taking algebra honors in 8th grade with some AAP peers from his elementary school and getting A's every Qtr. My youngest is in AAP and it's nothing to brag about. |
Anonymous
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I've got two "success" stories. In my observation of watching three children and their peer group go through high school, motivation and hard work becomes more important in how successful a student will be.
Oldest was in Gen Ed. In 2nd grade, his teacher told me he didn't belong in AAP. I did a parent referral anyway, and he was not selected. In middle school, he wanted to take all honors. Continued that in high school and graduated with a full IB diploma. He's now a senior at W&M and will be graduating in 5 weeks. He most likely will graduate with a 3.5 GPA and has a fantastic job lined up. My oldest is a super motivated, hard worker but way back in 2nd grade, he was an average 7 year old little boy. My youngest is currently in high school. He's my third and also was in Gen Ed. I thought for sure that he would just take a few IB classes. He decided he wanted to pursue the full IB diploma as well. He's on track to complete it next year. He actually has higher grades than his older brother. I'll never forget when he came home in 3rd grade and realized that many of his friends were in AAP and he was the "dumb" kid in Gen Ed (our base school is a center school.) It broke my heart. My middle one was in AAP. He was an early reader and was super good at puzzles at a very early age. He's the "smartest" of my three kids. But he's the laziest of the three. In 8th grade, in his AAP English class, he was "flunking" English because he wasn't doing work in class. He turned it around but it was my first clue that he was the kid who was going to do the bare minimum to get by. His only honors classes were Math - he was in Gen Ed in high school in English, History and Science. He only took 3 years of Spanish. He's currently at a college for B+ students. He'll be fine - he's super liked by his peers and adults and is the type of person who will land a job based on his personality and connections. |
Anonymous
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Thanks for sharing - and congrats on your children’s accomplishments. Did your oldest and youngest take advanced math in elementary or honors math in middle?
Im not too familiar with how the IB program works for math but I assume it’s all advanced classes? |
Anonymous
IB is similar to AP. They are advanced classes but a part of a larger International Baccalaureate program. Kids take a specific set of course and exams in order to earn an IB diploma. It is meant to be more similar to the type of degree that European students earn when they finish secondary school (I think secondary is similar to high school in terms of age). Any way, IB students need to have 5 years of math, take specific courses in Junior and Senior year, and they write an independent paper. The program is supposed to be more writing intensive then traditional US classes and pretty demanding. Lots of kids at IB school will take some IB classes and specific IB tests without completing the full diploma. Advanced Placement classes, AP, are more flexible and offered in a larger number of subjects. They are not tied to a specific diploma. But most people think of AP and IB tests as being similar in terms of rigor. |
Anonymous
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My heart goes for your youngest and you… That’s my oldest and since third grade he switched off. My youngest is so bright, but I don’t want to put him in FCPS because I know the same will happen to him. Congratulations for them being motivated and thriving. The future is bleak in this house. I’m thinking about pulling them out from FCPS.
quote=Anonymous]I've got two "success" stories. In my observation of watching three children and their peer group go through high school, motivation and hard work becomes more important in how successful a student will be. Oldest was in Gen Ed. In 2nd grade, his teacher told me he didn't belong in AAP. I did a parent referral anyway, and he was not selected. In middle school, he wanted to take all honors. Continued that in high school and graduated with a full IB diploma. He's now a senior at W&M and will be graduating in 5 weeks. He most likely will graduate with a 3.5 GPA and has a fantastic job lined up. My oldest is a super motivated, hard worker but way back in 2nd grade, he was an average 7 year old little boy. My youngest is currently in high school. He's my third and also was in Gen Ed. I thought for sure that he would just take a few IB classes. He decided he wanted to pursue the full IB diploma as well. He's on track to complete it next year. He actually has higher grades than his older brother. I'll never forget when he came home in 3rd grade and realized that many of his friends were in AAP and he was the "dumb" kid in Gen Ed (our base school is a center school.) It broke my heart. My middle one was in AAP. He was an early reader and was super good at puzzles at a very early age. He's the "smartest" of my three kids. But he's the laziest of the three. In 8th grade, in his AAP English class, he was "flunking" English because he wasn't doing work in class. He turned it around but it was my first clue that he was the kid who was going to do the bare minimum to get by. His only honors classes were Math - he was in Gen Ed in high school in English, History and Science. He only took 3 years of Spanish. He's currently at a college for B+ students. He'll be fine - he's super liked by his peers and adults and is the type of person who will land a job based on his personality and connections. |
Anonymous
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My kid was never in AAP. Got 4s and 5s on her AP exams. Is very happy as a freshman at William & Mary.
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Anonymous
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My kid was in AAP, took rigorous APs (Calc BC, Physics C,...) got offers from UVA, Vtech, William & Mary,... into computer science major, but ended up taking offer from CMU.
My niece was not in AAP took easy APs (human geo, psychology...) got offers from Vtech, William & Mary, GMU, VCU,.... but into Business major |