Churchill APUSH

[Anonymous]

Wow. I’m getting ahead of myself reading this thread as my kids are a bit younger, but I can’t imagine taking APUSH in 9th grade. (And this is coming from someone who went on to do a PhD in history.) That’s not an easy exam and I don’t think many ninth graders are ready, but what do I know. I’m surprised to see APs are a thing in 9th grade at all, but government is certainly easier than US History.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Rockville HS also does the same. APUSH in 9th grade. No choice.

Yes, my kid is at RHS and in APUSH now as a 9th grader. Working hard, but not dying. Middle school was very easy, so I'm glad to see them being challenged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Not true. My kid is in 9th grade at Churchill. At the beginning of school year, the counselors told the freshmen parents that they did not recommend freshmen to take APUSH or other APs. There is honor US history and some students switched to that. My kid stayed at APUSH because his friends are staying. It is the most time consuming class so far, and grading is tough too.

OP is saying there is no choice in the order of social studies taken. US history is 9th grade; NSL is 10th grade. I'd imagine a very persistent parent could do something else but parents don't feel like they're given a choice and doing so would move the kid into classes with a different cohort, which isn't really desirable.

You can definitely choose between AP and honors-- that's what the thread is about!

Blair magnet has the same order but no APUSH only honors us history in 9th grade, then AP NSL in 10th, and AP World in 11th.

The order might be the MCPS thing, not just Churchill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Not true. My kid is in 9th grade at Churchill. At the beginning of school year, the counselors told the freshmen parents that they did not recommend freshmen to take APUSH or other APs. There is honor US history and some students switched to that. My kid stayed at APUSH because his friends are staying. It is the most time consuming class so far, and grading is tough too.

If they said that kids should really think about whether they are ready for AP classes, then it is good advice. But if they literally said what is in bold (they don't recommended APUSH), it is strange advice. When kids are seniors applying to college, not only will kids with APUSH have a (small) advantage over kids who didn't take it naturally in the eyes of admissions officers, but my understanding is that the counselors, themselves, tout this as the 'most advanced curriculum' and thus use it as a selling point promoting kids in their recommendation letters. (I spoke to parents of seniors who said they had no idea it would be important when they had their kid register for Honors level but they found out it was a limitation for them.) Either there is a disconnect between what the counseling staff is telling freshmen vs seniors, or there was more nuance to the advice they were giving.

The advice we got is taking the most rigorous classes the student can handle. It is better to have an A in honors than a C in AP. And they have the same weight in calculating weighted GPA. It is up to the parents and the students to decide whether to take AP or honors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Not true. My kid is in 9th grade at Churchill. At the beginning of school year, the counselors told the freshmen parents that they did not recommend freshmen to take APUSH or other APs. There is honor US history and some students switched to that. My kid stayed at APUSH because his friends are staying. It is the most time consuming class so far, and grading is tough too.

OP is saying there is no choice in the order of social studies taken. US history is 9th grade; NSL is 10th grade. I'd imagine a very persistent parent could do something else but parents don't feel like they're given a choice and doing so would move the kid into classes with a different cohort, which isn't really desirable.

You can definitely choose between AP and honors-- that's what the thread is about!

Blair magnet has the same order but no APUSH only honors us history in 9th grade, then AP NSL in 10th, and AP World in 11th.

The order might be the MCPS thing, not just Churchill.

The WJ way is AP Gov in 9th, APUSH 10th, AP Wprld 11th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I’m getting ahead of myself reading this thread as my kids are a bit younger, but I can’t imagine taking APUSH in 9th grade. (And this is coming from someone who went on to do a PhD in history.) That’s not an easy exam and I don’t think many ninth graders are ready, but what do I know. I’m surprised to see APs are a thing in 9th grade at all, but government is certainly easier than US History.

PP--You are absolutely correct. It's not that they can't study and pass the exam. It's that they aren't mature enough and ready enough to really think deeply about the concepts. My dd went through this, got an A all four quarters and a 4 on the exam. But you should have heard her naivete when discussing history. And at a lot of universities, a 4 or 5 on the AP exam will get you out of any more history. Forever. It's a real disservice to the kids (and the country).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Not true. My kid is in 9th grade at Churchill. At the beginning of school year, the counselors told the freshmen parents that they did not recommend freshmen to take APUSH or other APs. There is honor US history and some students switched to that. My kid stayed at APUSH because his friends are staying. It is the most time consuming class so far, and grading is tough too.

OP is saying there is no choice in the order of social studies taken. US history is 9th grade; NSL is 10th grade. I'd imagine a very persistent parent could do something else but parents don't feel like they're given a choice and doing so would move the kid into classes with a different cohort, which isn't really desirable.

You can definitely choose between AP and honors-- that's what the thread is about!

Blair magnet has the same order but no APUSH only honors us history in 9th grade, then AP NSL in 10th, and AP World in 11th.

The order might be the MCPS thing, not just Churchill.

It’s not an MCPS thing, because Einstein does AP Gov in 9th and APUSH in 10th. Although I think it’s a fairly recent change, because my 10th grade DD said she had 11th/12th grade friends who were surprised she was taking AP Gov as a freshman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Not true. My kid is in 9th grade at Churchill. At the beginning of school year, the counselors told the freshmen parents that they did not recommend freshmen to take APUSH or other APs. There is honor US history and some students switched to that. My kid stayed at APUSH because his friends are staying. It is the most time consuming class so far, and grading is tough too.

OP is saying there is no choice in the order of social studies taken. US history is 9th grade; NSL is 10th grade. I'd imagine a very persistent parent could do something else but parents don't feel like they're given a choice and doing so would move the kid into classes with a different cohort, which isn't really desirable.

You can definitely choose between AP and honors-- that's what the thread is about!

Blair magnet has the same order but no APUSH only honors us history in 9th grade, then AP NSL in 10th, and AP World in 11th.

The order might be the MCPS thing, not just Churchill.

It’s not an MCPS thing, because Einstein does AP Gov in 9th and APUSH in 10th. Although I think it’s a fairly recent change, because my 10th grade DD said she had 11th/12th grade friends who were surprised she was taking AP Gov as a freshman.

Blair used to have APUSH in 9th but magnet kids weren't allowed to take APs in addition to the magnet coursework in 9th. Maybe that's true for everyone now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I’m getting ahead of myself reading this thread as my kids are a bit younger, but I can’t imagine taking APUSH in 9th grade. (And this is coming from someone who went on to do a PhD in history.) That’s not an easy exam and I don’t think many ninth graders are ready, but what do I know. I’m surprised to see APs are a thing in 9th grade at all, but government is certainly easier than US History.

PP--You are absolutely correct. It's not that they can't study and pass the exam. It's that they aren't mature enough and ready enough to really think deeply about the concepts. My dd went through this, got an A all four quarters and a 4 on the exam. But you should have heard her naivete when discussing history. And at a lot of universities, a 4 or 5 on the AP exam will get you out of any more history. Forever. It's a real disservice to the kids (and the country).

I also have a PhD in history, and the thing I noticed about the modern AP exams is that they involve much less memorization of names and dates than when I took them in the early 90s. I got a 4 on APUSH back then, but my kids both got 5s without lots of cramming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why you would want your kids in APUSH in 9th. AP NSL is easier, and you have to take it eventually anyway.

That is why I said at Churchill HS. No choice. Their system is reverse from all the other schools in MCPS that I know of.

Not true. My kid is in 9th grade at Churchill. At the beginning of school year, the counselors told the freshmen parents that they did not recommend freshmen to take APUSH or other APs. There is honor US history and some students switched to that. My kid stayed at APUSH because his friends are staying. It is the most time consuming class so far, and grading is tough too.

OP is saying there is no choice in the order of social studies taken. US history is 9th grade; NSL is 10th grade. I'd imagine a very persistent parent could do something else but parents don't feel like they're given a choice and doing so would move the kid into classes with a different cohort, which isn't really desirable.

You can definitely choose between AP and honors-- that's what the thread is about!

Blair magnet has the same order but no APUSH only honors us history in 9th grade, then AP NSL in 10th, and AP World in 11th.

The order might be the MCPS thing, not just Churchill.

It’s not an MCPS thing, because Einstein does AP Gov in 9th and APUSH in 10th. Although I think it’s a fairly recent change, because my 10th grade DD said she had 11th/12th grade friends who were surprised she was taking AP Gov as a freshman.

Yes, Einstein re-did the order recently, I think when the new principal started. When my '21 grad was there it had been APUSH in 9th, AP Gov in 10th.

[Anonymous]

QO also does APUSH as an option in 9th.

Doing NSL in 9th makes way more sense. That’s what they do at Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I’m getting ahead of myself reading this thread as my kids are a bit younger, but I can’t imagine taking APUSH in 9th grade. (And this is coming from someone who went on to do a PhD in history.) That’s not an easy exam and I don’t think many ninth graders are ready, but what do I know. I’m surprised to see APs are a thing in 9th grade at all, but government is certainly easier than US History.

PP--You are absolutely correct. It's not that they can't study and pass the exam. It's that they aren't mature enough and ready enough to really think deeply about the concepts. My dd went through this, got an A all four quarters and a 4 on the exam. But you should have heard her naivete when discussing history. And at a lot of universities, a 4 or 5 on the AP exam will get you out of any more history. Forever. It's a real disservice to the kids (and the country).

I also have a PhD in history, and the thing I noticed about the modern AP exams is that they involve much less memorization of names and dates than when I took them in the early 90s. I got a 4 on APUSH back then, but my kids both got 5s without lots of cramming.

The exams were considered 'inequitable" due to demographic scoring differences and were re-designed in a similar fashion to the SAT, with multiple choice questions based on "stimulus" like reading passages. The College Board also eliminated the SAT Subject tests that were known for being about memorization of facts.

[Anonymous]

Yep, mine took this all got 5's. They didn't mind the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear that Churchill is one of the few schools that offer 9th graders APUSH. For those with kids at the school, are most taking the AP or the Honors version of US History? How are the kids finding APUSH? Is it manageable?

My son took APUSH in 9th grade at QO. It's a lot of writing but he learned how to manage it by the end of the first quarter. There's videos online that can help your kid learn. He did like history which helped. NSL he is taking now and doesn't care for it as much. It's less homework though.

[Anonymous]

Apush is supposed to be equivalent to six college credits (3 credits in fall, and 3 credits in spring). NSL is 3 credits for the whole year.