Chantilly HS Honors classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think the point of honors is?? These are the same complaints parents are now making with AP. They are advanced classes *with a GPA bump* for a reason. If your kids can’t manage that, that’s what academic level is for. The solution isn’t dumb down and make advanced classes easier - then the kids who need and deserve to be challenged won’t be so you and your kids can claim they take honors/AP.

THIS. Please stop complaining about this and instead have your kid take classes that match their abilities. My 9th grade DC is so happy that at least some of her classes are finally moving at a pace that she's not bored out of her mind and is actually learning some things. She doesn't waste time on her computer or phone in school and uses any free time to get work done. She has max of an hour of HW remaining at home each night and has all As. Please don't ask the schools to water down honors and AP classes, just move your kid down a level or accept that they're not an A student. FWIW, I'm not bragging about my A student, I have another who is not like this, and he takes Honors/AP where he has strengths (math and science), but doesn't in classes that are harder for him like English or he takes Honors but accepts that he's going to be striving for a B -- and we are fine with that.

OP here. Why do you assume my kid doesn’t have As? My kid has all As actually, close to 100% in all classes. But I feel like my child spends too much time doing work for the classes. Is that a reason to drop down? I don’t know.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING HARD FOR AN A. That’s the entire point of learning! What do you expect? He goes to honors and gets handed an A and a .50 GPA bump for coloring in a map?

Yeah but spending all weekend working on school work with no time for activities doesn’t seem right. Kid is working on school work 7 days a week, including Fridays. Just to stay afloat?

Honestly, it sounds like your child is a stretch for an honors class. Either they should drop a level or accept that this is the amount of work needed to get As based on their time management and skills levels. I have both in my classes--those who decide they want a more balanced high school experience and drop for an easier class because honors is too much stress, and those who want the A in honors more than they want to play a sport and are okay with giving up ECs. I also have plenty who can get As/Bs without a ton of added stress, because honors is the "just right" fit for them.

None of these are bad things, they are just the reality of kids at different ability levels taking the same course.

Do you see improvement in time management and efficiency by some of your students by the end of the year?

Rarely. The vast majority actually get worse as the material gets harder throughout the year.

Interesting. I know in the past we felt that our child would have this issue no matter what class they were in. We’d rather have a stronger peer group. I’ve talked to my child and they do not want to move. Maybe they see it as a failure to drop down, I don’t know. I will support my child as best as I can. They currently do have very high As in all classes but do have to work very hard to keep up. I’m definitely going to advise them not to do AP World next year, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think the point of honors is?? These are the same complaints parents are now making with AP. They are advanced classes *with a GPA bump* for a reason. If your kids can’t manage that, that’s what academic level is for. The solution isn’t dumb down and make advanced classes easier - then the kids who need and deserve to be challenged won’t be so you and your kids can claim they take honors/AP.

THIS. Please stop complaining about this and instead have your kid take classes that match their abilities. My 9th grade DC is so happy that at least some of her classes are finally moving at a pace that she's not bored out of her mind and is actually learning some things. She doesn't waste time on her computer or phone in school and uses any free time to get work done. She has max of an hour of HW remaining at home each night and has all As. Please don't ask the schools to water down honors and AP classes, just move your kid down a level or accept that they're not an A student. FWIW, I'm not bragging about my A student, I have another who is not like this, and he takes Honors/AP where he has strengths (math and science), but doesn't in classes that are harder for him like English or he takes Honors but accepts that he's going to be striving for a B -- and we are fine with that.

OP here. Why do you assume my kid doesn’t have As? My kid has all As actually, close to 100% in all classes. But I feel like my child spends too much time doing work for the classes. Is that a reason to drop down? I don’t know.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING HARD FOR AN A. That’s the entire point of learning! What do you expect? He goes to honors and gets handed an A and a .50 GPA bump for coloring in a map?

Yeah but spending all weekend working on school work with no time for activities doesn’t seem right. Kid is working on school work 7 days a week, including Fridays. Just to stay afloat?

Honestly, it sounds like your child is a stretch for an honors class. Either they should drop a level or accept that this is the amount of work needed to get As based on their time management and skills levels. I have both in my classes--those who decide they want a more balanced high school experience and drop for an easier class because honors is too much stress, and those who want the A in honors more than they want to play a sport and are okay with giving up ECs. I also have plenty who can get As/Bs without a ton of added stress, because honors is the "just right" fit for them.

None of these are bad things, they are just the reality of kids at different ability levels taking the same course.

Do you see improvement in time management and efficiency by some of your students by the end of the year?

Rarely. The vast majority actually get worse as the material gets harder throughout the year.

Interesting. I know in the past we felt that our child would have this issue no matter what class they were in. We’d rather have a stronger peer group. I’ve talked to my child and they do not want to move. Maybe they see it as a failure to drop down, I don’t know. I will support my child as best as I can. They currently do have very high As in all classes but do have to work very hard to keep up. I’m definitely going to advise them not to do AP World next year, though.

:shock:

So it actually has nothing to do with the honors classes and everything to do with this child’s ability to use time efficiently/effectively. Seems like some support there might be useful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think the point of honors is?? These are the same complaints parents are now making with AP. They are advanced classes *with a GPA bump* for a reason. If your kids can’t manage that, that’s what academic level is for. The solution isn’t dumb down and make advanced classes easier - then the kids who need and deserve to be challenged won’t be so you and your kids can claim they take honors/AP.

THIS. Please stop complaining about this and instead have your kid take classes that match their abilities. My 9th grade DC is so happy that at least some of her classes are finally moving at a pace that she's not bored out of her mind and is actually learning some things. She doesn't waste time on her computer or phone in school and uses any free time to get work done. She has max of an hour of HW remaining at home each night and has all As. Please don't ask the schools to water down honors and AP classes, just move your kid down a level or accept that they're not an A student. FWIW, I'm not bragging about my A student, I have another who is not like this, and he takes Honors/AP where he has strengths (math and science), but doesn't in classes that are harder for him like English or he takes Honors but accepts that he's going to be striving for a B -- and we are fine with that.

OP here. Why do you assume my kid doesn’t have As? My kid has all As actually, close to 100% in all classes. But I feel like my child spends too much time doing work for the classes. Is that a reason to drop down? I don’t know.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING HARD FOR AN A. That’s the entire point of learning! What do you expect? He goes to honors and gets handed an A and a .50 GPA bump for coloring in a map?

Yeah but spending all weekend working on school work with no time for activities doesn’t seem right. Kid is working on school work 7 days a week, including Fridays. Just to stay afloat?

Honestly, it sounds like your child is a stretch for an honors class. Either they should drop a level or accept that this is the amount of work needed to get As based on their time management and skills levels. I have both in my classes--those who decide they want a more balanced high school experience and drop for an easier class because honors is too much stress, and those who want the A in honors more than they want to play a sport and are okay with giving up ECs. I also have plenty who can get As/Bs without a ton of added stress, because honors is the "just right" fit for them.

None of these are bad things, they are just the reality of kids at different ability levels taking the same course.

Do you see improvement in time management and efficiency by some of your students by the end of the year?

Rarely. The vast majority actually get worse as the material gets harder throughout the year.

Interesting. I know in the past we felt that our child would have this issue no matter what class they were in. We’d rather have a stronger peer group. I’ve talked to my child and they do not want to move. Maybe they see it as a failure to drop down, I don’t know. I will support my child as best as I can. They currently do have very high As in all classes but do have to work very hard to keep up. I’m definitely going to advise them not to do AP World next year, though.

:shock:

So it actually has nothing to do with the honors classes and everything to do with this child’s ability to use time efficiently/effectively. Seems like some support there might be useful!

There is quite a bit of support in regard to time management. However, regular classes may not have as much work to begin with. The honors classes seem to have constant assignments every class period, and the assignments aren’t necessarily easy. They require a lot more time/effort/writing than say the ones given in middle school, even in AAP. That was surprising to me. I wish middle school AAP had stepped things up. I have friends with kids in regular classes in high school who literally have no homework. I’m jealous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think the point of honors is?? These are the same complaints parents are now making with AP. They are advanced classes *with a GPA bump* for a reason. If your kids can’t manage that, that’s what academic level is for. The solution isn’t dumb down and make advanced classes easier - then the kids who need and deserve to be challenged won’t be so you and your kids can claim they take honors/AP.

THIS. Please stop complaining about this and instead have your kid take classes that match their abilities. My 9th grade DC is so happy that at least some of her classes are finally moving at a pace that she's not bored out of her mind and is actually learning some things. She doesn't waste time on her computer or phone in school and uses any free time to get work done. She has max of an hour of HW remaining at home each night and has all As. Please don't ask the schools to water down honors and AP classes, just move your kid down a level or accept that they're not an A student. FWIW, I'm not bragging about my A student, I have another who is not like this, and he takes Honors/AP where he has strengths (math and science), but doesn't in classes that are harder for him like English or he takes Honors but accepts that he's going to be striving for a B -- and we are fine with that.

OP here. Why do you assume my kid doesn’t have As? My kid has all As actually, close to 100% in all classes. But I feel like my child spends too much time doing work for the classes. Is that a reason to drop down? I don’t know.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING HARD FOR AN A. That’s the entire point of learning! What do you expect? He goes to honors and gets handed an A and a .50 GPA bump for coloring in a map?

Yeah but spending all weekend working on school work with no time for activities doesn’t seem right. Kid is working on school work 7 days a week, including Fridays. Just to stay afloat?

Honestly, it sounds like your child is a stretch for an honors class. Either they should drop a level or accept that this is the amount of work needed to get As based on their time management and skills levels. I have both in my classes--those who decide they want a more balanced high school experience and drop for an easier class because honors is too much stress, and those who want the A in honors more than they want to play a sport and are okay with giving up ECs. I also have plenty who can get As/Bs without a ton of added stress, because honors is the "just right" fit for them.

None of these are bad things, they are just the reality of kids at different ability levels taking the same course.

Do you see improvement in time management and efficiency by some of your students by the end of the year?

Rarely. The vast majority actually get worse as the material gets harder throughout the year.

Interesting. I know in the past we felt that our child would have this issue no matter what class they were in. We’d rather have a stronger peer group. I’ve talked to my child and they do not want to move. Maybe they see it as a failure to drop down, I don’t know. I will support my child as best as I can. They currently do have very high As in all classes but do have to work very hard to keep up. I’m definitely going to advise them not to do AP World next year, though.

:shock:

So it actually has nothing to do with the honors classes and everything to do with this child’s ability to use time efficiently/effectively. Seems like some support there might be useful!

There is quite a bit of support in regard to time management. However, regular classes may not have as much work to begin with. The honors classes seem to have constant assignments every class period, and the assignments aren’t necessarily easy. They require a lot more time/effort/writing than say the ones given in middle school, even in AAP. That was surprising to me. I wish middle school AAP had stepped things up. I have friends with kids in regular classes in high school who literally have no homework. I’m jealous!

Your kid would’ve struggled to manage that too. I feel like you are not understanding your child’s academic profile. He is a kid who isn’t necessarily an efficient or fast worker and will need to work extra hard to stay on top of assignments and get an A. It’s possible, but it won’t come as easily to him as others. That’s not the class’s fault, that’s a function of how he is as a student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think the point of honors is?? These are the same complaints parents are now making with AP. They are advanced classes *with a GPA bump* for a reason. If your kids can’t manage that, that’s what academic level is for. The solution isn’t dumb down and make advanced classes easier - then the kids who need and deserve to be challenged won’t be so you and your kids can claim they take honors/AP.

THIS. Please stop complaining about this and instead have your kid take classes that match their abilities. My 9th grade DC is so happy that at least some of her classes are finally moving at a pace that she's not bored out of her mind and is actually learning some things. She doesn't waste time on her computer or phone in school and uses any free time to get work done. She has max of an hour of HW remaining at home each night and has all As. Please don't ask the schools to water down honors and AP classes, just move your kid down a level or accept that they're not an A student. FWIW, I'm not bragging about my A student, I have another who is not like this, and he takes Honors/AP where he has strengths (math and science), but doesn't in classes that are harder for him like English or he takes Honors but accepts that he's going to be striving for a B -- and we are fine with that.

OP here. Why do you assume my kid doesn’t have As? My kid has all As actually, close to 100% in all classes. But I feel like my child spends too much time doing work for the classes. Is that a reason to drop down? I don’t know.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING HARD FOR AN A. That’s the entire point of learning! What do you expect? He goes to honors and gets handed an A and a .50 GPA bump for coloring in a map?

Yeah but spending all weekend working on school work with no time for activities doesn’t seem right. Kid is working on school work 7 days a week, including Fridays. Just to stay afloat?

Honestly, it sounds like your child is a stretch for an honors class. Either they should drop a level or accept that this is the amount of work needed to get As based on their time management and skills levels. I have both in my classes--those who decide they want a more balanced high school experience and drop for an easier class because honors is too much stress, and those who want the A in honors more than they want to play a sport and are okay with giving up ECs. I also have plenty who can get As/Bs without a ton of added stress, because honors is the "just right" fit for them.

None of these are bad things, they are just the reality of kids at different ability levels taking the same course.

Do you see improvement in time management and efficiency by some of your students by the end of the year?

Rarely. The vast majority actually get worse as the material gets harder throughout the year.

Interesting. I know in the past we felt that our child would have this issue no matter what class they were in. We’d rather have a stronger peer group. I’ve talked to my child and they do not want to move. Maybe they see it as a failure to drop down, I don’t know. I will support my child as best as I can. They currently do have very high As in all classes but do have to work very hard to keep up. I’m definitely going to advise them not to do AP World next year, though.

:shock:

So it actually has nothing to do with the honors classes and everything to do with this child’s ability to use time efficiently/effectively. Seems like some support there might be useful!

There is quite a bit of support in regard to time management. However, regular classes may not have as much work to begin with. The honors classes seem to have constant assignments every class period, and the assignments aren’t necessarily easy. They require a lot more time/effort/writing than say the ones given in middle school, even in AAP. That was surprising to me. I wish middle school AAP had stepped things up. I have friends with kids in regular classes in high school who literally have no homework. I’m jealous!

Your kid would’ve struggled to manage that too. I feel like you are not understanding your child’s academic profile. He is a kid who isn’t necessarily an efficient or fast worker and will need to work extra hard to stay on top of assignments and get an A. It’s possible, but it won’t come as easily to him as others. That’s not the class’s fault, that’s a function of how he is as a student.

No, I definitely understand this. But he’s also incredibly smart. So knowing all this, how do we know if honors is the right fit? It is clear that regular classes have less work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you guys think the point of honors is?? These are the same complaints parents are now making with AP. They are advanced classes *with a GPA bump* for a reason. If your kids can’t manage that, that’s what academic level is for. The solution isn’t dumb down and make advanced classes easier - then the kids who need and deserve to be challenged won’t be so you and your kids can claim they take honors/AP.

THIS. Please stop complaining about this and instead have your kid take classes that match their abilities. My 9th grade DC is so happy that at least some of her classes are finally moving at a pace that she's not bored out of her mind and is actually learning some things. She doesn't waste time on her computer or phone in school and uses any free time to get work done. She has max of an hour of HW remaining at home each night and has all As. Please don't ask the schools to water down honors and AP classes, just move your kid down a level or accept that they're not an A student. FWIW, I'm not bragging about my A student, I have another who is not like this, and he takes Honors/AP where he has strengths (math and science), but doesn't in classes that are harder for him like English or he takes Honors but accepts that he's going to be striving for a B -- and we are fine with that.

OP here. Why do you assume my kid doesn’t have As? My kid has all As actually, close to 100% in all classes. But I feel like my child spends too much time doing work for the classes. Is that a reason to drop down? I don’t know.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING HARD FOR AN A. That’s the entire point of learning! What do you expect? He goes to honors and gets handed an A and a .50 GPA bump for coloring in a map?

Yeah but spending all weekend working on school work with no time for activities doesn’t seem right. Kid is working on school work 7 days a week, including Fridays. Just to stay afloat?

Honestly, it sounds like your child is a stretch for an honors class. Either they should drop a level or accept that this is the amount of work needed to get As based on their time management and skills levels. I have both in my classes--those who decide they want a more balanced high school experience and drop for an easier class because honors is too much stress, and those who want the A in honors more than they want to play a sport and are okay with giving up ECs. I also have plenty who can get As/Bs without a ton of added stress, because honors is the "just right" fit for them.

None of these are bad things, they are just the reality of kids at different ability levels taking the same course.

Do you see improvement in time management and efficiency by some of your students by the end of the year?

Rarely. The vast majority actually get worse as the material gets harder throughout the year.

Interesting. I know in the past we felt that our child would have this issue no matter what class they were in. We’d rather have a stronger peer group. I’ve talked to my child and they do not want to move. Maybe they see it as a failure to drop down, I don’t know. I will support my child as best as I can. They currently do have very high As in all classes but do have to work very hard to keep up. I’m definitely going to advise them not to do AP World next year, though.

:shock:

So it actually has nothing to do with the honors classes and everything to do with this child’s ability to use time efficiently/effectively. Seems like some support there might be useful!

There is quite a bit of support in regard to time management. However, regular classes may not have as much work to begin with. The honors classes seem to have constant assignments every class period, and the assignments aren’t necessarily easy. They require a lot more time/effort/writing than say the ones given in middle school, even in AAP. That was surprising to me. I wish middle school AAP had stepped things up. I have friends with kids in regular classes in high school who literally have no homework. I’m jealous!

Your kid would’ve struggled to manage that too. I feel like you are not understanding your child’s academic profile. He is a kid who isn’t necessarily an efficient or fast worker and will need to work extra hard to stay on top of assignments and get an A. It’s possible, but it won’t come as easily to him as others. That’s not the class’s fault, that’s a function of how he is as a student.

No, I definitely understand this. But he’s also incredibly smart. So knowing all this, how do we know if honors is the right fit? It is clear that regular classes have less work.

Have you had him evaluated for ADD? It sounds like his has executive functioning issues that could be addressed if you work with the right person. The first step is understanding what is happening. Maybe he doesn’t have ADD but the person giving the tests notices something else and you can focus on that. Not all ADD is ADHD and the kids with the inattentive bit and not the hyperactivity or impulsivity tend to be overlooked.

Did he do the study skills class in MS? Is there an equivalent class in HS? Something that will help him develop a system that would allow him to be more efficient and successful?