Is there such a thing as an advanced academic program in Arlington public schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't some Arlington schools switch for classes based on ability?

That's different than gifted. Think of that switch as S M L, and the pull out is supposed to be for the XXL

AAP is not that advanced. Similar to L.

Disagree or maybe your school experience just sucked. DC is in 3rd grade AAP this year and I have no idea how general ed kids keep up. It's intense. Time consuming, difficult homework every single weeknight in several subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is off topic, but why does every Arlington thread devolve into people being mean to each other? Not sure whether I should read too much into this, but it does gives me the impression that egos are slightly inflated in that area...

A bunch of Type A people living there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't some Arlington schools switch for classes based on ability?

That's different than gifted. Think of that switch as S M L, and the pull out is supposed to be for the XXL

AAP is not that advanced. Similar to L.

Disagree or maybe your school experience just sucked. DC is in 3rd grade AAP this year and I have no idea how general ed kids keep up. It's intense. Time consuming, difficult homework every single weeknight in several subjects.

I agree with the first poster. AAP really isn't that advanced, and the overwhelming majority of the kids in it are bright and hardworking, but not gifted. AAP only works one year above grade level, and that's really not that impressive. I have one kid in AAP, and the other in Advanced Math + top reading group + Level III pullout at the base school. I honestly haven't seen that much of a difference in level between the two programs.

If your kid is finding the AAP experience this intense and tough early in 3rd grade, then either the teacher is loading them with entirely too much work, or perhaps your child is struggling more with the homework than other kids in the class. Both of my kids' math homework looks like a lot, but they breeze through it in 5-10 minutes per night. Other kids are requiring 30-60 minutes to complete the same work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't some Arlington schools switch for classes based on ability?

That's different than gifted. Think of that switch as S M L, and the pull out is supposed to be for the XXL

AAP is not that advanced. Similar to L.

Disagree or maybe your school experience just sucked. DC is in 3rd grade AAP this year and I have no idea how general ed kids keep up. It's intense. Time consuming, difficult homework every single weeknight in several subjects.

I agree with the first poster. AAP really isn't that advanced, and the overwhelming majority of the kids in it are bright and hardworking, but not gifted. AAP only works one year above grade level, and that's really not that impressive. I have one kid in AAP, and the other in Advanced Math + top reading group + Level III pullout at the base school. I honestly haven't seen that much of a difference in level between the two programs.

If your kid is finding the AAP experience this intense and tough early in 3rd grade, then either the teacher is loading them with entirely too much work, or perhaps your child is struggling more with the homework than other kids in the class. Both of my kids' math homework looks like a lot, but they breeze through it in 5-10 minutes per night. Other kids are requiring 30-60 minutes to complete the same work.

NP. DS is in 3rd grade AAP as well and I've been impressed with the math so far. Rigorous and engaging but not difficult for DS. Unfortunately, it seems they didn't mean it at BTS when they said that the kids didn't have to know all their multiplication facts before the year started. Is this a sign that DS is supposed to already know all of the math concepts in AAP before they are taught, or only multiplication?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't some Arlington schools switch for classes based on ability?

That's different than gifted. Think of that switch as S M L, and the pull out is supposed to be for the XXL

AAP is not that advanced. Similar to L.

Disagree or maybe your school experience just sucked. DC is in 3rd grade AAP this year and I have no idea how general ed kids keep up. It's intense. Time consuming, difficult homework every single weeknight in several subjects.

I agree with the first poster. AAP really isn't that advanced, and the overwhelming majority of the kids in it are bright and hardworking, but not gifted. AAP only works one year above grade level, and that's really not that impressive. I have one kid in AAP, and the other in Advanced Math + top reading group + Level III pullout at the base school. I honestly haven't seen that much of a difference in level between the two programs.

If your kid is finding the AAP experience this intense and tough early in 3rd grade, then either the teacher is loading them with entirely too much work, or perhaps your child is struggling more with the homework than other kids in the class. Both of my kids' math homework looks like a lot, but they breeze through it in 5-10 minutes per night. Other kids are requiring 30-60 minutes to complete the same work.

P.P here. DC isn't having trouble with the AAP work but there is a lot of it a since the first week. There is a big difference between one homework worksheet to be completed over the course of the week in second grade to the amount required now. It's a lot but it's what we signed up for. There seems to be a big difference across schools in what is required from students. If your kid is getting their homework done in 10 minutes then its not a rigorous as it should be.

[Anonymous]

Even within the same school, AAP homework can vary a great deal just by teacher. When DC was in 4th grade, one of the AAP classes had about twice as much work as the other two - same classes, all AAP, different teacher. Some parents complained about it, other parents were happy because they wanted the additional work/enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is off topic, but why does every Arlington thread devolve into people being mean to each other? Not sure whether I should read too much into this, but it does gives me the impression that egos are slightly inflated in that area...

A bunch of Type A people living there

The AAP discussions suggest that the really type-A move to Fairfax so their elementary schoolers can have intense, time-consuming homework every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is off topic, but why does every Arlington thread devolve into people being mean to each other? Not sure whether I should read too much into this, but it does gives me the impression that egos are slightly inflated in that area...

A bunch of Type A people living there

The AAP discussions suggest that the really type-A move to Fairfax so their elementary schoolers can have intense, time-consuming homework every night.

Oh yeah? Take a look at the school redistricting threads. Arlington parents don't really show well in those.

-signed an AAP parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
P.P here. DC isn't having trouble with the AAP work but there is a lot of it a since the first week. There is a big difference between one homework worksheet to be completed over the course of the week in second grade to the amount required now. It's a lot but it's what we signed up for. There seems to be a big difference across schools in what is required from students. If your kid is getting their homework done in 10 minutes then its not a rigorous as it should be.

Why would AAP kids need more homework than anyone else? The kids who are behind are the ones who need more repetitions to grasp concepts. If AAP kids are learning all of the content quickly, what's the point in bogging them down with a ton of busywork? Also, homework times are relative. My kid might finish perfectly in 10 minutes what your kid needs an hour to complete. Mine has likewise spent all of 5 minutes total per week on his spelling work, since he has always known how to spell all of the words on his spelling list. Kids who don't already know how to spell the words could conceivably need an hour of practice each week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
P.P here. DC isn't having trouble with the AAP work but there is a lot of it a since the first week. There is a big difference between one homework worksheet to be completed over the course of the week in second grade to the amount required now. It's a lot but it's what we signed up for. There seems to be a big difference across schools in what is required from students. If your kid is getting their homework done in 10 minutes then its not a rigorous as it should be.

Why would AAP kids need more homework than anyone else? The kids who are behind are the ones who need more repetitions to grasp concepts. If AAP kids are learning all of the content quickly, what's the point in bogging them down with a ton of busywork? Also, homework times are relative. My kid might finish perfectly in 10 minutes what your kid needs an hour to complete. Mine has likewise spent all of 5 minutes total per week on his spelling work, since he has always known how to spell all of the words on his spelling list. Kids who don't already know how to spell the words could conceivably need an hour of practice each week.

It is impossible to compare homework completion times since our children don't have the same homework. And by your definition, no kids need homework unless they need remedial help (which is silly). DC's homework this far has not been as simple as practicing spelling words (that was second grade level homework). If spelling is the hardest or largest part of your kid's homework, no wonder they are zipping through it.

[Anonymous]

Maan this thread is intense... we are now quibbling over spelling and other line items on elementary school homework.

[Anonymous]

^It’s considered developmentally appropriate to give 10 minutes of homework per night per grade level. AAP kids are less in need of homework, so there’s no real reason to exceed the developmental guidelines.

For most AAP kids, the largest part of their homework is the math. Math is also where kids might have the greatest variability in the time they need to understand the concepts and complete their homework. In math, it can easily be the case that one child’s 10 minutes of homework might be another child’s hour of homework.

[Anonymous]

Stop with all the AAP of you are going to get this moved to the other forum. This isn't about AAP. It's about Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maan this thread is intense... we are now quibbling over spelling and other line items on elementary school homework.

Heh. I’m mostly quibbling that more homework is somehow a sign that the school is superior. There is very little benefit to elementary school homework, aside from reading each night and perhaps a bit of math review.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop with all the AAP of you are going to get this moved to the other forum. This isn't about AAP. It's about Arlington.

Fair enough. As someone with kids in FCPS AAP, I would imagine that any kid in Arlington will get every bit as solid of an education as those in FCPS, providing that the kid is grouped in the compacted math sequence and the highest groups for other subjects. It's really not that big of a deal to be in a self-contained gifted program when that program is moving at about the same pace as compacted math and advanced groupings in regular schools.