What is the point of AAP? I am getting to the conclusion the only real benefit is to have my child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest did advanced math and LIII pull outs at the base school. My next child did AAP at the center. I didn't see much of a difference between anything they did academically. The biggest difference is that my oldest child's classroom was a bit rougher, had more behavior issues, and had a decent number of ESOL students, whereas my AAP child didn't have any of that. Both kids had a tremendous amount of free time and read a lot of books during the school day.

This is why parents push for AAP. They don't want their kids distracted by these elements in the classroom. Fairfax had so many ESOL kids dumped in the schools that parents with high performing students need an outlet where that wont hinder their kid's learning experience.

HAHAHA. My DC’s AAP cohort are the trouble makers at the center school. They’ve had to have special meeting level just with the AAP kids in that grade to address behavior.

The advantage is that’s AAP’s performance baseline is more on par with what standards were for everyone in regular when I was growing up. Expectations at the base school where my other DC went were lower. Level III activities were inconsistent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest difference is in math. AAP accelerates the math curriculum so that by 5th grade they are one full year ahead - 5th grade AAP teaches the 6th grade math content.

Other subjects, there's not really a difference in the basic content. AAP tends to go a bit deeper into each subject, have more self guided project work, more "application" than just basic memorization.

Ok, but is there a point/benefit to this approach?

There is a benefit only if your child finds it beneficial. Mine frequently found herself at loose ends, sitting around reading, doing busy work, "helping" the teacher, and so on, so this is a huge improvement in terms of how much engagement she gets. Even with the DL last year, her teachers were willing to extend themselves and teach material above their curriculum, for the kids that wanted it.

[Anonymous]

The AAP cohort is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an AAP teacher who also taught gen ed in the same grade level. Honestly my experiences as a teacher have been night and day. I feel I can do so much more in AAP and got my creativity back as a teacher. They content is the same but the way it is taught is different. There is a lot more critical thinking and a lot more flexibility in the schedule to teach grammar, word study and do fun projects. All of the kids are reading on or above grade level so it is easy to do book clubs. I honestly love it!

This was my experience too as an AAP teacher! I was absolutely able to use best practices and do really creative lessons/group work. My kids were motivated, polite, and on the whole well behaved. Parents were very involved. It was fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest did advanced math and LIII pull outs at the base school. My next child did AAP at the center. I didn't see much of a difference between anything they did academically. The biggest difference is that my oldest child's classroom was a bit rougher, had more behavior issues, and had a decent number of ESOL students, whereas my AAP child didn't have any of that. Both kids had a tremendous amount of free time and read a lot of books during the school day.

This is why parents push for AAP. They don't want their kids distracted by these elements in the classroom. Fairfax had so many ESOL kids dumped in the schools that parents with high performing students need an outlet where that wont hinder their kid's learning experience.

HAHAHA. My DC’s AAP cohort are the trouble makers at the center school. They’ve had to have special meeting level just with the AAP kids in that grade to address behavior.

The advantage is that’s AAP’s performance baseline is more on par with what standards were for everyone in regular when I was growing up. Expectations at the base school where my other DC went were lower. Level III activities were inconsistent.

eh, this anecdote doesn't reverse the idea parents have about general ED versus AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dd was in AAP at Haycock and Longfellow and is in college now. Honestly, if I could go back, I wouldn’t have done it. They were pushed ahead for what? So they could take the same exact classes in high school as the kids who weren’t in AAP (with the exception of some math classes)? So they can feel smarter/superior/more capable than the general public and struggle with the idea that some things are still difficult, even when your ES teachers always told you that you guys were smarter than the gen ed kids? (Two actually did this on a regular basis) It all seemed great at the time to be getting something others were not, and she was honestly very bright and scored extremely high on everything...but the outcome was no different than it would have been in a regular classroom.

Thank you for sharing this.

[Anonymous]

One small example from my kid at a LLIV: the AAP classroom taught the kids to write in cursive in 3rd-4th grades, even though it isn't technically required. The GenEd classrooms of the same grade were still focused on basic hand lettering and typing. The AAP teachers just seem to have extra time after getting through the basic curriculum to spend a little time on "extras" like this.

The AAP classroom also held kids to a much higher standard for neatness of written/typed work.

[Anonymous]

it's to get away from the normal kids and the poors

[Anonymous]

So they can feel smarter/superior/more capable than the general public and struggle with the idea that some things are still difficult, even when your ES teachers always told you that you guys were smarter than the gen ed kids?

This. And it's sickening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dd was in AAP at Haycock and Longfellow and is in college now. Honestly, if I could go back, I wouldn’t have done it. They were pushed ahead for what? So they could take the same exact classes in high school as the kids who weren’t in AAP (with the exception of some math classes)? So they can feel smarter/superior/more capable than the general public and struggle with the idea that some things are still difficult, even when your ES teachers always told you that you guys were smarter than the gen ed kids? (Two actually did this on a regular basis) It all seemed great at the time to be getting something others were not, and she was honestly very bright and scored extremely high on everything...but the outcome was no different than it would have been in a regular classroom.

Thanks for this perspective. I have a high schooler who was not in AAP, but had nearly all his HS classes with kids who were. My son received an IB diploma and attends a (even by DCUM standards) college. I am glad his early test scores didn't set him on the AAP track. Elementary school was low-stress and fun.

[Anonymous]

AAP isn't stressful for all. My kid has loved the experience. The work is definitely advanced but if you can learn at that level it isn't stressful at all. My kid balances AAP with a competitive travel sports team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP isn't stressful for all. My kid has loved the experience. The work is definitely advanced but if you can learn at that level it isn't stressful at all. My kid balances AAP with a competitive travel sports team

AAP is especially unstressful now that so many schools don't give homework. It's not exactly hard to balance any ES programs with time intensive ECs, especially when the schools give so little homework. My child actually found AAP very stressful, but only because it was not very advanced and he was bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP isn't stressful for all. My kid has loved the experience. The work is definitely advanced but if you can learn at that level it isn't stressful at all. My kid balances AAP with a competitive travel sports team

AAP is especially unstressful now that so many schools don't give homework. It's not exactly hard to balance any ES programs with time intensive ECs, especially when the schools give so little homework. My child actually found AAP very stressful, but only because it was not very advanced and he was bored.

PP here. Our school gave homework daily in AAP and moved at a swift pace.

Still not an issue.

The "my kid was bored in AAP" parents always make me chuckle so thanks for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP isn't stressful for all. My kid has loved the experience. The work is definitely advanced but if you can learn at that level it isn't stressful at all. My kid balances AAP with a competitive travel sports team

AAP is especially unstressful now that so many schools don't give homework. It's not exactly hard to balance any ES programs with time intensive ECs, especially when the schools give so little homework. My child actually found AAP very stressful, but only because it was not very advanced and he was bored.

PP here. Our school gave homework daily in AAP and moved at a swift pace.

Still not an issue.

The "my kid was bored in AAP" parents always make me chuckle so thanks for that.

Some centers are better than others. My kids' center focused on the bottom kids and ignored the top ones. The top kids were all bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So they can feel smarter/superior/more capable than the general public and struggle with the idea that some things are still difficult, even when your ES teachers always told you that you guys were smarter than the gen ed kids?

This. And it's sickening.

So, no. I need my kid in AAP so that he isn’t always the smartest kid in class and actually has to learn that some things are hard. That’s the point. It’s not good for kids to be with peers that they are always ahead of. It makes them little jerks. Years and years of not being challenged will do exactly what you’ve written PP. Kids have to learn to fail. A lot of the AAP kids won’t learn that in general ed.