staying in private until 3rd grade or enrolling in public school in 1st grade, which has a better chance for AAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop with the race & gender comments, OP. It’s not a good look.

Hi, I saw a lot of parents here mentioned it matters. I'm sorry for being straightforward. I just want enough information for me to understand how the whole process works. Parents and school officials can have different opinions over AAP standards, but it is not something I would want to discuss. I need to form an objective view from different individuals, and make the best movement.

I think 2nd grade standardized testing at public and grades are most important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also you can select whatever race you want at registration

What??

You fill out the forms!!!

[Anonymous]

I reccomend transferring to public for 2nd grade so they can do the in pool process for 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear parents,

My child is an Asian boy in this grade K (just in case race and gender matter in AAP decision). I keep him in private school this year but eventually he would go to public school due to financial reason. He is very happy in private school, and he is in "advanced program" in private school in both literacy and math. His teacher told me he was advanced academically but on average socially. He is lovely and well-behaved, but not too patient.

Eventually our goal is to put him into AAP in public school. There are two approaches: 1, put him to first grade in public school, and keep giving him advanced academic classes outside of school. 2,keep him in private school for another two years and put him in public school directly in third grade.

So my question is for all of the experienced and knowledgeable parents here, which approach may have a better chance? I hear the FCPS AAP now is very complicated and very dependent on the teacher's review. I'm not sure if a private school teacher is a good reference for AAP. However, I don't want my son to fall back in these two years.

Thanks a lot in advance. Any suggestion is very appreciated.

If he's doing very well in private, you need to rethink your finances and obviously prioritize his education. Shoving him into public education would be a shame for everyone. There is no shortcut to AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear parents,

My child is an Asian boy in this grade K (just in case race and gender matter in AAP decision). I keep him in private school this year but eventually he would go to public school due to financial reason. He is very happy in private school, and he is in "advanced program" in private school in both literacy and math. His teacher told me he was advanced academically but on average socially. He is lovely and well-behaved, but not too patient.

Eventually our goal is to put him into AAP in public school. There are two approaches: 1, put him to first grade in public school, and keep giving him advanced academic classes outside of school. 2,keep him in private school for another two years and put him in public school directly in third grade.

So my question is for all of the experienced and knowledgeable parents here, which approach may have a better chance? I hear the FCPS AAP now is very complicated and very dependent on the teacher's review. I'm not sure if a private school teacher is a good reference for AAP. However, I don't want my son to fall back in these two years.

Thanks a lot in advance. Any suggestion is very appreciated.

If he's doing very well in private, you need to rethink your finances and obviously prioritize his education. Shoving him into public education would be a shame for everyone. There is no shortcut to AAP.

This is a kindergartner. Honestly I would go public. Save that money. Use some for supplementation if necessary or for later education. First and second seems like a waste of private school tuition if you're going to go public anyways.

[Anonymous]

You are over sensationalizing AAP. It hasn’t been anything sensational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on what elementary school you will register your child for. Higher SES (richer) elementary schools are much harder to get into than lower SES schools. You can have your son evaluated at George Mason and take the NNAT and CoGat on the same day. This past fall the cost was $200. AAP makes a huge difference at some elementary schools. Our elementary school in the Langley pyramid has a huge difference between the level of education in the AAP class and the non AAP classes. My children didn’t learn a lot in 1st and 2nd grade before AAP, even with AAP pullouts. Math was a little better than the other subjects because they teach “slightly” advanced math in 2nd grade. If you move to public school, definitely do outside enrichment for math/english. If you aren’t happy with your sons test scores, you can have him retake the tests.

First and Second grade are not going to challenge a kid who comes from a home where parents have been reading to them, teaching math through play, and exposing them to academic concepts in fun ways who is nuerotypical. First and Second grade are challenging for kids who came from purely play based preschools and/or had parents who did not spend much time reading to their kids or exposing them to basic academic concepts. Those kids are learning material that is grade level appropriate that they have minimal level of exposure to.

Third grade things start to pick up. Kids should be on a more even footing and the class starts to be divided more on ability because it is easier to see everyones strengths and weaknesses. First and Second grade reinforces and strengthens the foundational skills that some kids have already established but they learn how to approach math using different techniques.

There are kids whose parents didn’t do a ton at home prior to starting K who will catch up to the kids whose parents were reading and teaching math. But first and second grade are not meant to be intense.