Has anyone sent their kid off to AAP without telling the kid what they're in?

[Anonymous]

I'm the one who you accussed of lying to my child. Obviously I talked with her about AAP over the summer to prepare her for the changes. What I meant is that I didn't tell her what the CogAt was for or tell her at the end of second grade how kids were selected. I didn't want her to brag or to give such advance notice that she started to worry.

Here's the important point though in my mind... I was telling the truth when I told her what her classmate said was wrong about it only bring for the smartest kids. I believe all kids have at least one area where the are exceptional. Kids who are quite "smart" often do not get in. One of my daughters friends is a very gifted piano player -I wanted my daughter to know other kids not in AAP also have gifts.

[Anonymous]

And yes, I saw my typos so you don't need to point them out.

Also, consider this... what do you do if you praise your first child so much for being "smart" enough to get in and then their younger sibling doesn't get accepted? You're setting your family up for trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying hard to understand the point in not telling them...

Because there are studies that show that children perform better academically when they are praised for effort, not intelligence. If you tell them they are smart, they don't feel they have to work as hard. In the end, though, they're smart kids and they figure it out.

Also, there is a whole thread on AAP'ers bullying Gen Ed'ers. ALthough I'm not sure I believe the thread, I would want to avoid the possibility of that situation.

There are AAPers that bully other AAPers. AAP Centers are not Lake Wobegon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yes, I saw my typos so you don't need to point them out.

Also, consider this... what do you do if you praise your first child so much for being "smart" enough to get in and then their younger sibling doesn't get accepted? You're setting your family up for trouble.

What if your other kid is good at art so you praise the kid "you are such an artist" when your other kid sucks at art.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved here after AAP had started, so we didn't have to go through the selection process. I explained that the schools used the testing information to decide which class would be the best fit for my child, which is true.

When my children were younger all the children knew about the program. They talked among themselves about who got in. I find it odd that these children are 8 and 9 years old and might not know they are in an AAP program. Or be unaware of this process.

[Anonymous]

They know they're in the program but why should they know about the process?

When I taught in FCPS a decade ago, first grade teachers had to admin a test that would be used to determine who got into AAP (not the NNAT). The test was over two days. One girl in my class had two older siblings already in AAP and was so stressed about the performance on the test that she threw up all over the test booklet on the first day! Even her mom admitted it was from stress, not illness. Because the county is uptight about procedures I had to put on gloves and go through the puke covered pages to transcribe her answers in a new booklet for the second day.

This stayed on my mind when I chose not to tell my kid about the process while she was in it.

[Anonymous]

Being cute about not telling your child about AAP is not going to accomplish anything. You might want to wait until the first few days of school. But she will know she is in a separate class and the other kids will tell her. Kids are not dumb. You can always turn it down.

[Anonymous]

Can't tell if these negative posters have kids in AAP and bragged about how great they are or if you hope to soon have a child in AAP and are looking forward to bragging.

If you've been all the way through the process you know that it's hard to give your kids a straight answer when some parents push their way into AAP. I ended up telling my kid it was for kids who learn quickly and kids who already read well and know a lot of math. (That's basically what it has become now that they let in such a big percentage.). But this didn't ring true for the boy in my daughter's class who she saw struggle all year in math AND reading and who I happen to know didn't test even close to the cut-off on either test. His parents did cartwheels during the appeals process to get him in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't tell if these negative posters have kids in AAP and bragged about how great they are or if you hope to soon have a child in AAP and are looking forward to bragging.

If you've been all the way through the process you know that it's hard to give your kids a straight answer when some parents push their way into AAP. I ended up telling my kid it was for kids who learn quickly and kids who already read well and know a lot of math. (That's basically what it has become now that they let in such a big percentage.). But this didn't ring true for the boy in my daughter's class who she saw struggle all year in math AND reading and who I happen to know didn't test even close to the cut-off on either test. His parents did cartwheels during the appeals process to get him in.

My kid got in on appeal and thriving.
142 WISC. Teacher didn't do well on GBRS assessment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They know they're in the program but why should they know about the process?

When I taught in FCPS a decade ago, first grade teachers had to admin a test that would be used to determine who got into AAP (not the NNAT). The test was over two days. One girl in my class had two older siblings already in AAP and was so stressed about the performance on the test that she threw up all over the test booklet on the first day! Even her mom admitted it was from stress, not illness. Because the county is uptight about procedures I had to put on gloves and go through the puke covered pages to transcribe her answers in a new booklet for the second day.

This stayed on my mind when I chose not to tell my kid about the process while she was in it.

As I posted mine knew they were in the program. The other children [and even staff and parents] divulge the purpose of the tests. When letters [pool and admission status] arrive there is babble in school. An unaware child hears about another getting in and another not. Then comes home and asks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying hard to understand the point in not telling them...

Because there are studies that show that children perform better academically when they are praised for effort, not intelligence. If you tell them they are smart, they don't feel they have to work as hard. In the end, though, they're smart kids and they figure it out.

Also, there is a whole thread on AAP'ers bullying Gen Ed'ers. ALthough I'm not sure I believe the thread, I would want to avoid the possibility of that situation.

There are AAPers that bully other AAPers. AAP Centers are not Lake Wobegon.

I'm the quoted poster. I'm well aware that AAP'ers bully other AAP'ers. My own child has been the subject of it. I just find it hard to believe that there is rampant bullying of kids for not getting into AAP. I can see kids talking about it or bragging, but bullying over getting into AAP? Not likely IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't tell if these negative posters have kids in AAP and bragged about how great they are or if you hope to soon have a child in AAP and are looking forward to bragging.

If you've been all the way through the process you know that it's hard to give your kids a straight answer when some parents push their way into AAP. I ended up telling my kid it was for kids who learn quickly and kids who already read well and know a lot of math. (That's basically what it has become now that they let in such a big percentage.). But this didn't ring true for the boy in my daughter's class who she saw struggle all year in math AND reading and who I happen to know didn't test even close to the cut-off on either test. His parents did cartwheels during the appeals process to get him in.

How the heck do you know so much about another child's performance? How do you know his scores weren't close to cut off and is parents "did cartwheels" to get him in? How do you know if he was struggling? You sound a little stalkerish.

[Anonymous]

I don't live in VA, and find the AAP posters insufferable for the most part. So caught up in how well they have parented their obviously very smart children who are somehow so much better than their peers.....

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine an AAP kid being so dumb that they don't know what AAP is. Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved here after AAP had started, so we didn't have to go through the selection process. I explained that the schools used the testing information to decide which class would be the best fit for my child, which is true.

When my children were younger all the children knew about the program. They talked among themselves about who got in. I find it odd that these children are 8 and 9 years old and might not know they are in an AAP program. Or be unaware of this process.

We were specifically instructed by our child's second grade teacher to not tell our children that AAP was a prize to be won or that it was "better" than gen ed. During the CogAT testing period, some children were discussing in class how "smart" they were and how the test was going to help them get into AAP - the class where all the "smart" kids learn. The teacher stressed that by telling our children that AAP was better, we were inherantly disparaging the gen ed classrooms and students. Our DC's teacher stressed that all children have strengths and weaknesses, and that were were sending the wrong message to our students if we were telling them that they were the "smart" kids. I felt for DC's teacher. It must be difficult to navigate the school environment if these little Einsteins really think they are better than other children. I would imagine it is difficult to teach and motivate the gen ed kids if they feel like they are not smart because the other students and the school keep telling them they are not the smart kids.

FWIW, the children do not really need to know about AAP being any different than gen ed. They start third grade with a new teacher, new class, and possibly a new school. So what. This is the same as every year. Most kids have no idea what is happening in the other classes. What or how other children are learning in comparison with your child is learning doesn't affect what or how your child is going to learn. My DC is pulled out for math enrichment. I don't tell DC that s/he is "smarter" than the rest of the students. I just tell DC that is how s/he is needs to learn math. I don't think telling DC that doing enrichment math is because DC is so smart that the standard curriculum doesn't challenge DC would be wise. I wouldn't be doing DC any favors by making DC think s/he is smarter than the rest of the kids in the class.