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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

“Oh, my kids are AAP Level IV, but that’s because the teachers nagged and nagged about it. I mean, I don’t understand the appeal, I’m not some crazy intense parent, my kids are just geniuses on their own..”, very humbly bragged yet another Dcum poster on AAP forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I was very appreciative of your response, but why question why I wanted to know? Clearly it’s something I wanted to better understand and to see if there are benefits that I might be missing. Parents hire tutors etc. to increase the chances of their children into the program. I too want what’s best for my children. Therefore I want to better understand why parents are doing this. I’m also curious to know if these parents who in some ways game the system—- do their children struggle once in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care?

Well since I have time to be petty today.

To answer your question (since you don’t understand the purpose of a question, so here you are). I asked because I wanted to know.

Why are you in this forum? Clearly you were never in such a program. Maybe you’re still hurt for those reasons or maybe you have children who you know would never get into the program on their own so you hire the best tutors you can afford starting when they’re in preschool. So for those reasons my question triggers you.

So if you do pay for tutors, please take some of those funds and get yourself a therapist. With meds and therapy maybe one day you too can contribute to society. Instead of trolling forums.

[Anonymous]

There's a reason this separate forum was created, that discussion of AAP was removed from the FCPS Forum (then the VA School Forum).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care?

Well since I have time to be petty today.

To answer your question (since you don’t understand the purpose of a question, so here you are). I asked because I wanted to know.

Why are you in this forum? Clearly you were never in such a program. Maybe you’re still hurt for those reasons or maybe you have children who you know would never get into the program on their own so you hire the best tutors you can afford starting when they’re in preschool. So for those reasons my question triggers you.

So if you do pay for tutors, please take some of those funds and get yourself a therapist. With meds and therapy maybe one day you too can contribute to society. Instead of trolling forums.

My kids are all in AAP. But I can’t answer your title question because we didn’t go to great lengths for it. No tutors, meds, feelings of being triggered or therapy needed here. I think the parents that go to great lengths likely have issues, but I think the people all worked up over those parents likely also have some issues as well. Some kids enjoy travel or elite level sports, audition for higher level musical performance groups, etc. and some enjoy advanced academics. Plenty of us are just parenting the kids we have.

[Anonymous]

Because over 20% of the class was at least two grade levels behind. Also, there was no Advanced Math at our base until 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I was very appreciative of your response, but why question why I wanted to know? Clearly it’s something I wanted to better understand and to see if there are benefits that I might be missing. Parents hire tutors etc. to increase the chances of their children into the program. I too want what’s best for my children. Therefore I want to better understand why parents are doing this. I’m also curious to know if these parents who in some ways game the system—- do their children struggle once in the program.

Answering the last first, yes there are kids who struggle in AAP. I have no idea if the kids who struggle are kids who went through prep programs or are kids who had lower test scores or why they struggle. But yes, there are kids who struggle in AAP. Those parents have to make a choice to keep their kids in the AAP class or move them back to Gen Ed or do tutoring to keep their kids in the class. Ds is in Advanced Math and he finds it slow. He has classmates who are struggling with it. We supplement with RSM because we want DS to be challenged in math and he enjoys the class and competitions. We deferred AAP in favor of the language program. We don't think that the Center math would do much more for him and he does not think that the reading and writing in his current classroom is easy. I suspect he would do fine with the additional reading and writing at the Center but it is not so important to us that we are willing to give up the language.

As to why I asked,

First, there is a similar question that was posted an hour or so before this post.

Second, most people posting these questions seem to want to feel superior then the "striver parents" who are interested in AAP. The posts immediately following the OP fall pretty clearly into this category.

Third, the idea that parents are "gaming" the system is insulting. Parents are using the guidelines and procedures that they are allowed to use. Some parents might not be worried about their kid being in AAP but others are for whatever their reason. If they are using the rules in place, then why do you care?

As with all programs, there are a variety of reasons why people are interested in AAP. For some it is about finding a class that is more challenging for their kid. But if you should happen to think that your kid is smart or ahead you are bragging. The reason this board exists if for parents to be able to discuss programs for kids who are smart and/or ahead. And still, the parents posting here are belittled for their interest in the program. It is kind of annoying. It would be nice to have a place where I can discuss programs for my kid without feeling like I have to defend why he needs those programs or why he is in those programs. I don't have to justify his need for speech therapy on the board, every one is ok with that, but the fact that he is advanced in math and reading is somehow or other not important and it is ok for him to sit in the regular classroom bored. If I advocate for him to be in AAP or supplement what he is learning, I am a striver parent.

Most parents are interested in helping their kids succeed. They are doing their best for their individual kid.

The thing is, the kids who are accepted into AAP or TJ or whatever are accepted because someone agrees with the parents assessment of the child's ability. The people making that choice could careless why the parents care about AAP or why the kid is applying to TJ, they only care about if the kid meets whatever the standard is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care?

Well since I have time to be petty today.

To answer your question (since you don’t understand the purpose of a question, so here you are). I asked because I wanted to know.

Why are you in this forum? Clearly you were never in such a program. Maybe you’re still hurt for those reasons or maybe you have children who you know would never get into the program on their own so you hire the best tutors you can afford starting when they’re in preschool. So for those reasons my question triggers you.

So if you do pay for tutors, please take some of those funds and get yourself a therapist. With meds and therapy maybe one day you too can contribute to society. Instead of trolling forums.

My kids are all in AAP. But I can’t answer your title question because we didn’t go to great lengths for it. No tutors, meds, feelings of being triggered or therapy needed here. I think the parents that go to great lengths likely have issues, but I think the people all worked up over those parents likely also have some issues as well. Some kids enjoy travel or elite level sports, audition for higher level musical performance groups, etc. and some enjoy advanced academics. Plenty of us are just parenting the kids we have.

Well no one is worked up here but you buddy. IF your children are indeed smart, thank God they didn’t get your genes when it came to intelligence. I think the assumptions you make are quite a reach. But since I have time today why not engage? I simply wanted to know if I was missing something. I have nothing against people who go to great lengths. I just want to know why. A bit of advice, if you’re in a forum and you can’t answer the question just keep scrolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care?

Well since I have time to be petty today.

To answer your question (since you don’t understand the purpose of a question, so here you are). I asked because I wanted to know.

Why are you in this forum? Clearly you were never in such a program. Maybe you’re still hurt for those reasons or maybe you have children who you know would never get into the program on their own so you hire the best tutors you can afford starting when they’re in preschool. So for those reasons my question triggers you.

So if you do pay for tutors, please take some of those funds and get yourself a therapist. With meds and therapy maybe one day you too can contribute to society. Instead of trolling forums.

My kids are all in AAP. But I can’t answer your title question because we didn’t go to great lengths for it. No tutors, meds, feelings of being triggered or therapy needed here. I think the parents that go to great lengths likely have issues, but I think the people all worked up over those parents likely also have some issues as well. Some kids enjoy travel or elite level sports, audition for higher level musical performance groups, etc. and some enjoy advanced academics. Plenty of us are just parenting the kids we have.

Well no one is worked up here but you buddy. IF your children are indeed smart, thank God they didn’t get your genes when it came to intelligence. I think the assumptions you make are quite a reach. But since I have time today why not engage? I simply wanted to know if I was missing something. I have nothing against people who go to great lengths. I just want to know why. A bit of advice, if you’re in a forum and you can’t answer the question just keep scrolling.

Are you the thread police? Telling posters what do do, when you disapprove?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I was very appreciative of your response, but why question why I wanted to know? Clearly it’s something I wanted to better understand and to see if there are benefits that I might be missing. Parents hire tutors etc. to increase the chances of their children into the program. I too want what’s best for my children. Therefore I want to better understand why parents are doing this. I’m also curious to know if these parents who in some ways game the system—- do their children struggle once in the program.

Answering the last first, yes there are kids who struggle in AAP. I have no idea if the kids who struggle are kids who went through prep programs or are kids who had lower test scores or why they struggle. But yes, there are kids who struggle in AAP. Those parents have to make a choice to keep their kids in the AAP class or move them back to Gen Ed or do tutoring to keep their kids in the class. Ds is in Advanced Math and he finds it slow. He has classmates who are struggling with it. We supplement with RSM because we want DS to be challenged in math and he enjoys the class and competitions. We deferred AAP in favor of the language program. We don't think that the Center math would do much more for him and he does not think that the reading and writing in his current classroom is easy. I suspect he would do fine with the additional reading and writing at the Center but it is not so important to us that we are willing to give up the language.

As to why I asked,

First, there is a similar question that was posted an hour or so before this post.

Second, most people posting these questions seem to want to feel superior then the "striver parents" who are interested in AAP. The posts immediately following the OP fall pretty clearly into this category.

Third, the idea that parents are "gaming" the system is insulting. Parents are using the guidelines and procedures that they are allowed to use. Some parents might not be worried about their kid being in AAP but others are for whatever their reason. If they are using the rules in place, then why do you care?

As with all programs, there are a variety of reasons why people are interested in AAP. For some it is about finding a class that is more challenging for their kid. But if you should happen to think that your kid is smart or ahead you are bragging. The reason this board exists if for parents to be able to discuss programs for kids who are smart and/or ahead. And still, the parents posting here are belittled for their interest in the program. It is kind of annoying. It would be nice to have a place where I can discuss programs for my kid without feeling like I have to defend why he needs those programs or why he is in those programs. I don't have to justify his need for speech therapy on the board, every one is ok with that, but the fact that he is advanced in math and reading is somehow or other not important and it is ok for him to sit in the regular classroom bored. If I advocate for him to be in AAP or supplement what he is learning, I am a striver parent.

Most parents are interested in helping their kids succeed. They are doing their best for their individual kid.

The thing is, the kids who are accepted into AAP or TJ or whatever are accepted because someone agrees with the parents assessment of the child's ability. The people making that choice could careless why the parents care about AAP or why the kid is applying to TJ, they only care about if the kid meets whatever the standard is.

Well I think a lot of assumptions were made here. I asked because my child was accepted into AAP. Definitely not judging anyone who did whatever to get their child into the program. I genuinely wanted to understand the why. Why go through hoops vs just allowing things to play out without interference? Again, not judging but really wanting to understand. Ultimately, I want to understand why AAP is so important. I want to know why parents want their child in the program so badly. I want to know why parents appeal when their child doesn’t get in. I want to honestly want to understand why it’s so important. What are the consequences they fear if their child doesn’t get in?

[Anonymous]

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

This is your first post and you wonder why people are questioning your interest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is your first post and you wonder why people are questioning your interest?

Why not just answer the question? I literally asked a question because I wanted to better understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is your first post and you wonder why people are questioning your interest?

My first post? How would you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is your first post and you wonder why people are questioning your interest?

Why not just answer the question? I literally asked a question because I wanted to better understand.

The answer is, most don't. Look objectively at the numbers of students in FCPS, in the pool (or at least, as it used to be), the number of students referred, the number of students admitted, the number of appeals, and the number of individual posters on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is your first post and you wonder why people are questioning your interest?

My first post? How would you know?

That's the OP. The first post.

There's no way you'll be getting useful responses to a question like that. If that's what you actually want.