Why such obvious hate toward AAP parents or hope-to-be in AAP parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At an AAP center and in AAP. Absolutely no differentiation. Kids only change classes for math and science as an entire class, though. The whole class moves to the other AAP teacher and that teachers class move to the other AAP class for language arts. As has been said before, differentiation is a term thrown around by FCPS brass, but rarely, if ever, implemented.

We have differentiation at our AAP Center. There are kids in 6th grade AAP that take Algebra at middle school, as an example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is over for us, thankfully. We moved in from another state, and were in "base" (what a name!) for awhile. The DCs were repeating work from 2 grades previous. Third, fourth grade, so repeating first,second grade material. For whatever reason (no child left behind/no child gets ahead?) My DCs are not geniuses or gifted --just academic. So I think that the overall dumbing down of the school system (while simultaneous praising itself to the skies) has resulted in a "need" for parents to be in the GT program because the pace is so slow to accommodate everyone. Even in GT the pace can be slow. When the parents see the work that their kids are doing, they get mad, because they know that their kids could do much more. So everyone wants to be in the program. But it only accepts 11%, so 89% do not make it. Every new family that moves in goes through this in our neighborhood (changing neighborhood with new families moving in...). It really makes me wonder about the FCPS system altogether.

Where did you live before and what was your base school? Without that I have trouble believing that your children were 2-3 years ahead. Were students taking HS level algebra in 5th and 6th grade- routinely? That would be 2-3 years below the math at my DCs base school. The vast majority take Algebra Honors in 7th or 8th grade.

They were still reading at a K level in 2nd grade. Still working on that pesky alphabet. Still learning to add an s to make something plural. Just K level stuff in 2-3rd grade. It is not that my Dcs were so super smart, or that the other kids were not smart. It was that the whole class had to wait for each child to learn the most basic things. Then out came the coloring books...It was easier for the teacher to just repeat until the slowest kid finally got it. What a waste!

Again what school? It really depends on the school especially within a county as vast a Fairfax. At my DC's base school the kids that were reading at grade level were in reading remission. Everyone else was 1-? grades ahead. Also, the math was different than your experience- they were taking multiplication tests starting in Nov/Dec of 2nd grade and adding/subtracting 3 and 4 digits numbers.

I'm curious which FCPS has multiplication in Nov/Dec of 2nd grade. That is not the norm in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is over for us, thankfully. We moved in from another state, and were in "base" (what a name!) for awhile. The DCs were repeating work from 2 grades previous. Third, fourth grade, so repeating first,second grade material. For whatever reason (no child left behind/no child gets ahead?) My DCs are not geniuses or gifted --just academic. So I think that the overall dumbing down of the school system (while simultaneous praising itself to the skies) has resulted in a "need" for parents to be in the GT program because the pace is so slow to accommodate everyone. Even in GT the pace can be slow. When the parents see the work that their kids are doing, they get mad, because they know that their kids could do much more. So everyone wants to be in the program. But it only accepts 11%, so 89% do not make it. Every new family that moves in goes through this in our neighborhood (changing neighborhood with new families moving in...). It really makes me wonder about the FCPS system altogether.

Where did you live before and what was your base school? Without that I have trouble believing that your children were 2-3 years ahead. Were students taking HS level algebra in 5th and 6th grade- routinely? That would be 2-3 years below the math at my DCs base school. The vast majority take Algebra Honors in 7th or 8th grade.

They were still reading at a K level in 2nd grade. Still working on that pesky alphabet. Still learning to add an s to make something plural. Just K level stuff in 2-3rd grade. It is not that my Dcs were so super smart, or that the other kids were not smart. It was that the whole class had to wait for each child to learn the most basic things. Then out came the coloring books...It was easier for the teacher to just repeat until the slowest kid finally got it. What a waste!

Again what school? It really depends on the school especially within a county as vast a Fairfax. At my DC's base school the kids that were reading at grade level were in reading remission. Everyone else was 1-? grades ahead. Also, the math was different than your experience- they were taking multiplication tests starting in Nov/Dec of 2nd grade and adding/subtracting 3 and 4 digits numbers.

I don;t believe either of these extreme stories until you cough up the names of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Chesterbrook is the second school.

[Anonymous]

Some people not in AAP do not like AAP because they assume you AAP parents think your kids are better than their non-AAP kids. They assume you are arrogant assholes, and when you talk lots about the importance of AAP, they get even more afraid their own kids are being left behind.

It's the same attitude that causes many people to reflexively mistrust parents with kids at expensive private schools. It's not necessarily jealousy, but rather an assumption about what other people are thinking.

It's also sort of like the knee jerk assumption that someone driving an expensive Mercedes convertible is likely an asshole. You're assuming that Mercedes driver is looking down his nose at you, so he must be an ass.

[Anonymous]

Nice analogy. Well said. Very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chesterbrook is the second school.

In second grade the three homeroom classes would take a pretest for the chapter/section, they would separate the whole grade into 4 or 5 groups (3 taken by gen ed teachers, one by resource or AAP/GT teacher if available, one by Special ed teacher). You can see the reading test scores on FCPS.edu I looked them up when my children were in those grades. When my DCs were in 2nd grade there were only one or two students that were below grade level. I know who they were for one DC, because he was one of the them. They recieved reading remediation in special ed. The gen ed students who were reading at grade level went to the reading specialist for "remediation".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is over for us, thankfully. We moved in from another state, and were in "base" (what a name!) for awhile. The DCs were repeating work from 2 grades previous. Third, fourth grade, so repeating first,second grade material. For whatever reason (no child left behind/no child gets ahead?) My DCs are not geniuses or gifted --just academic. So I think that the overall dumbing down of the school system (while simultaneous praising itself to the skies) has resulted in a "need" for parents to be in the GT program because the pace is so slow to accommodate everyone. Even in GT the pace can be slow. When the parents see the work that their kids are doing, they get mad, because they know that their kids could do much more. So everyone wants to be in the program. But it only accepts 11%, so 89% do not make it. Every new family that moves in goes through this in our neighborhood (changing neighborhood with new families moving in...). It really makes me wonder about the FCPS system altogether.

Where did you live before and what was your base school? Without that I have trouble believing that your children were 2-3 years ahead. Were students taking HS level algebra in 5th and 6th grade- routinely? That would be 2-3 years below the math at my DCs base school. The vast majority take Algebra Honors in 7th or 8th grade.

They were still reading at a K level in 2nd grade. Still working on that pesky alphabet. Still learning to add an s to make something plural. Just K level stuff in 2-3rd grade. It is not that my Dcs were so super smart, or that the other kids were not smart. It was that the whole class had to wait for each child to learn the most basic things. Then out came the coloring books...It was easier for the teacher to just repeat until the slowest kid finally got it. What a waste!

Again what school? It really depends on the school especially within a county as vast a Fairfax. At my DC's base school the kids that were reading at grade level were in reading remission. Everyone else was 1-? grades ahead. Also, the math was different than your experience- they were taking multiplication tests starting in Nov/Dec of 2nd grade and adding/subtracting 3 and 4 digits numbers.

I don;t believe either of these extreme stories until you cough up the names of the schools.

Such hostility? The way this was phrased "cough up the names of the schools " . I don't get it. Are the schools doing something they are not suppose to be doing or are you upset that it did not occur at your school. I am not the poster but when my child was in second grade at FCPS school she was given extra work sheets to do when she was done doing the classwork like sheet to do 30 multiplication questions in one minute and also got sheets to add and subtract 3-4 digit numbers.

[Anonymous]

NP. I think the issue is that FCPS obviously does not have continuity in what is being offered across ES. That is a shame and probably why so may parents are nutty about AAP placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is over for us, thankfully. We moved in from another state, and were in "base" (what a name!) for awhile. The DCs were repeating work from 2 grades previous. Third, fourth grade, so repeating first,second grade material. For whatever reason (no child left behind/no child gets ahead?) My DCs are not geniuses or gifted --just academic. So I think that the overall dumbing down of the school system (while simultaneous praising itself to the skies) has resulted in a "need" for parents to be in the GT program because the pace is so slow to accommodate everyone. Even in GT the pace can be slow. When the parents see the work that their kids are doing, they get mad, because they know that their kids could do much more. So everyone wants to be in the program. But it only accepts 11%, so 89% do not make it. Every new family that moves in goes through this in our neighborhood (changing neighborhood with new families moving in...). It really makes me wonder about the FCPS system altogether.

Where did you live before and what was your base school? Without that I have trouble believing that your children were 2-3 years ahead. Were students taking HS level algebra in 5th and 6th grade- routinely? That would be 2-3 years below the math at my DCs base school. The vast majority take Algebra Honors in 7th or 8th grade.

They were still reading at a K level in 2nd grade. Still working on that pesky alphabet. Still learning to add an s to make something plural. Just K level stuff in 2-3rd grade. It is not that my Dcs were so super smart, or that the other kids were not smart. It was that the whole class had to wait for each child to learn the most basic things. Then out came the coloring books...It was easier for the teacher to just repeat until the slowest kid finally got it. What a waste!

Again what school? It really depends on the school especially within a county as vast a Fairfax. At my DC's base school the kids that were reading at grade level were in reading remission. Everyone else was 1-? grades ahead. Also, the math was different than your experience- they were taking multiplication tests starting in Nov/Dec of 2nd grade and adding/subtracting 3 and 4 digits numbers.

I don;t believe either of these extreme stories until you cough up the names of the schools.

Such hostility? The way this was phrased "cough up the names of the schools " . I don't get it. Are the schools doing something they are not suppose to be doing or are you upset that it did not occur at your school. I am not the poster but when my child was in second grade at FCPS school she was given extra work sheets to do when she was done doing the classwork like sheet to do 30 multiplication questions in one minute and also got sheets to add and subtract 3-4 digit numbers.

+1

We also had a similar experience in 2nd grade with extra multiplication questions "for fun" after the classwork was done.

[Anonymous]

FCPS ES mom. We experienced the same thing when DC was in 2nd grade. When the kids who worked fast finished the group assignment they were given a challenge packet to work on. This packet had multiplication. McLean area elementary school.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's hate, rather annoyance. It depends on where one lives. In the parts of FCPS where the average test scores are low, I can understand the angst over AAP. A high achieving student in gen ed would be left with a higher percentage of lower scoring students.

I don't understand why the parents are freaking out in the wealthier areas. The average test scores are high. Even if a kid is in gen ed, their peers are still mostly above average. Only the truly gifted in the high SES areas really need AAP. I find it hard to believe that the kids who score in the 85-90% range have needs that cannot be served in a class where kids score mostly in the 60-80% range. It's about trying to ensure their child has the "best," which annoys the rest of the parents who don't feel the need to differentiate students who really are not all that different.

[Anonymous]

No need to cough up the name of the school. Just take a real look at what you kids are doing in school, and stop praising yourselves endlessly. A few work sheets does not make an education.

[Anonymous]

All of us chickens and cows and sheep are really peeved that you pigs decided that, "All animals are equal, but some are more equal that others."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of us chickens and cows and sheep are really peeved that you pigs decided that, "All animals are equal, but some are more equal that others."

I get the reference, but I don't see how it applies here. No one said all kids are being treated equally.