Serious AAP Question about academic expectations
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Anonymous
| I know it's only week 4 but I'm wondering where is the "advanced" in advanced academics? My DC has been given same Reg Ed work as other 3rd graders. Is the "advanced" part more in discussions at school, therefore parents wouldn't necessarily see it? I was expecting her to skip third grade math or gloss over it, but they seem to be sticking to the third grade curriculum to the letter. Just wondering other people's specific take on things from experience. Please don't just complain about AAP, I already know half of you hate it. As for the other half can you give me some idea what to expect that is different from General Education? |
Anonymous
| What school are you at? We are at Haycock for AAP and what my kid is doing is dramatically different than what my friend's third graders are doing at our base school. |
Anonymous
| Is this at an AAP center? |
Anonymous
| It is an AAP center school in Springfield. This is not our base school. We made the decision to go to the center school based on very high expectations. I don't want to give up on it but DC has not been challenged at all yet. I don't say that lightly. My child is very bright but not a genius. All we are looking for is somewhat above grade level work. DC has only had two class worksheets come home. No math classwork has come home and no math homework. No mention of tests. My niece in general ed at different school, same grade, has had more work come home. And from what I've seen there is no difference in what she's learning from my DC. |
Anonymous
| It might be that your child is completing all her work at school so none needs to come home. Also, the beginning of the year tends to involve some review before moving forward to new material. Could you email the teacher and raise your concerns with her? |
Anonymous
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Every AAP center is different.
My 3rd grade ds has had homework since the third day. A reading log that requires writing responses each night, word study assignments, and math. He has already had 2 math quizzes and two word study quizzes. They skipped all the review nonsense and dove right in. Have you had back to school night yet? That might be a good time to find out more about curriculum and pacing. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for your input everyone. I thought I would see something in the Tuesday folder but nothing yet, maybe tomorrow. If not I will email the teacher. I just wanted to check in to see if this was what other AAP centers are doing first quarter. |
Anonymous
This is what my child has in gen. ed (with advanced math). We are in a base school that feeds into a Springfield AAP Center. I was told by the principal that advanced math (at base school) just means they teach the lesson once and move on. They don't spend two or three weeks on a topic, they spend one week and then they go to the next topic. You either get it or you don't. So, in the beginning of 3rd grade advanced math, the topics are going to be similar to gen. ed. topics.... but advanced math will be moving on to the next topic before gen. ed. does. That's how advanced math covers 3rd and 4th grade math in one year. They don't skip 3rd grade math. |
Anonymous
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You mention the key factor yourself -- it's only week four. You also mention that your expectations were extremely high. Please take a deep breath and step back. Your child has had less than one month of AAP center classes and is in third grade, so she will have four whole years of AAP center at elementary level. In the first month many teachers are still working on pulling together a classroom of kids who did not all go to the same school together since kindergarten and who are adjusting to a totally new school as well as to losing friends they'd had for what the kids think is forever. Remember that AAP centers are full of young grade schoolers, and they are still learning the ropes.
Math is "compacted." They do not skip third grade math but will move through it more quickly. The teacher likely is dealing with some students who are very advanced in math and others who haven't fully learned their multiplication tables yet (yes, even AAP students). Be aware that placement in AAP is about the ABILITY to learn, not what the student has already learned. So not all kids are coming into third grade AAP ready to skip the entire third grade math curriculum. Don't expect it. But DO be involved in your child's homework, especially math, because the teacher will not know what your child's individual weaknesses are -- there are too many kids for that, and I've found that if we do not stay on top of math with our child, she does not always catch things fast enough and the teacher does not intimately know her issues in math. Been like that all three years so far and it's just a function of large classes and a very fast pace on math, I think. In general, don't go just by amounts of homework. Smart teachers don't give tons of it just for its own sake. If you see thoughtful project assignments coming home, that is a good sign, but you should not see projects too frequently. I found that AAP classes do a lot of teamwork and individually the kids often do a lot of work in the school day so there is sometimes less homework than you would think. Don't just e-mail the teacher, talk to her or him. If you have not had back to school night, that is the best time to ask about expectations and homework. I hope you can relax a bit and let your child focus on th social side of a new school and new classmates for a while. |
Anonymous
| Our AAP kid is doing M3 math, a unit specifically designed for gifted kids. I thought all AAP centers used it, but I guess I was wrong. |
Anonymous
My daughter is in 5th grade and has been in AAP since 3rd (in first try, no appeals, excellent GBRS and test scores). She gets great report cards and excellent marks, but still struggles with learning the multiplication tables. It is a constant struggle. Things would go much faster for her if she'd just get them down, but she struggles with it. Just goes to show, not all AAP kids are perfect in every way, and know everything when they come in. 
OP, my child didn't have homework in 3rd grade AAP for the first month or two. She never had a ton of it when it started. It seemed to follow the standard 10 minutes for grade level that I've read about. However, by the end of the year, she was doing WAY different math than her non-AAP friends. Hang in there.
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Anonymous
My 5th grader (AAP) also struggles with multiplication tables. She knows them, but not quickly, so the timed tests are a nightmare. Give her a logic problem, though, and she'll knock your socks off. they are all kind of uneven, I think. |
Anonymous
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Springfield Estates?
Wish they had equal expectations for all the AAP centers! My kid breezed through without a challenge - pretty sure most do there. |
Anonymous
Different center. I'm not looking for anything to change, just trying to understand AAP better. |
Anonymous
OP, our experience with the center school's math program is that they go through the grade level curriculum first quarter, then move into the next grade level math. Additionally, at the two years we have been there, the teachers at Open House specifically say they send very little homework with the kids. The complete as much as they can in school so that the work is completely the child's work, with minimal parent intervention. Last year, the only consistent homework my AAP child brought home was Caesars English and studying for tests. There were a few other assignments, but most of those were completing assignments not finished at school. I assume that even though I was not seeing homework, whatever they were doing worked because my child scored very high on all SOL categories, including math. You can check blackboard to find what is being covered in class. That might give you some insight as to what they are learning. |