(AAP) All About Prepping?

[Anonymous]

13:32, you raise a good question, and I'd like to share our experience. We have three children who are in AAP. DD and DS #1 were extremely bright and "logical" from a very young age; DS #2 was a little slower. DS #1 and DD both had scores on NNAT/CogAt at 99.9 percentile; DS #2 is a hard worker but had borderline scores; got on on parent appeal and strong GBRS. Long story short - DS #1 and DD both have struggled in AAP (attention/processing issues) while DS #2 has flourished. He might not have started out as a sensitive deep thinker, but he has always been able to quickly grasp what is taught to him, he's focused and gets his homework done in one blow, and has generally just had smooth sailing in AAP. Just like in the working world, the best ideas don't get you very far unless you can execute efficiently. So I think hard work, focus and determination in many cases are more important traits for academic or professional success than IQ alone.

PS - AAP is still the right placement for DS #1 and DD given their very strong comprehension; it just takes much longer and some amount of drama to get homework done...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Leave it to you, PP to turn a well-meaning comment into something nasty and borderline racist. If that mom cared so much about the test, she would have been prepping his kid like you. So relax yourself.

You sound very dumb. Where do you get borderline racist from (as opposed to over or under the board)? Define borderline racist?

You don't know what borderline racist means - yet you call someone else dumb. Bwwaaa haaa haaaa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone out there think that a lack of pure "giftedness" can be overcome through hard work? For example, my DC will be in 2nd grade this year. Our DC is extremely hard working and bright, but previous WISC testing reveals that DC is not in the "gifted" range. DC will take CoGat this fall. We would like our DC to have AAP opportunity, and we ARE willing to prep DC so no doors are closed to her in the FCPS system.

My husband and I are not geniuses, but we both have succeeded academically and have very good advanced degrees. We have both worked extremely hard to get good grades and good jobs. Can a child who is not deemed outright "gifted" through success on one of these tests succeed in AAP? Can hard work compensate for any innate IQ deficiencies?

Assuming this is a real question, prep your child between now and October and he/she will do just fine. If prepping can cause a significant increase in the number of kids doing well on the test, clearly it's not only about innate ability. Get online and look up CogAT prep and see what comes up...Take is from there. When 30 percent of kids from one school are in the pool, I doubt it's solely innate ability. Do what you think will give your child the best educational opportunity for him or her and forget about what anyone else thinks.

[Anonymous]

I would prep. It won't hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone out there think that a lack of pure "giftedness" can be overcome through hard work? For example, my DC will be in 2nd grade this year. Our DC is extremely hard working and bright, but previous WISC testing reveals that DC is not in the "gifted" range. DC will take CoGat this fall. We would like our DC to have AAP opportunity, and we ARE willing to prep DC so no doors are closed to her in the FCPS system.

My husband and I are not geniuses, but we both have succeeded academically and have very good advanced degrees. We have both worked extremely hard to get good grades and good jobs. Can a child who is not deemed outright "gifted" through success on one of these tests succeed in AAP? Can hard work compensate for any innate IQ deficiencies?

Question: When you and your husband were in school, were either of you in an AAP-type program? Assuming no, do you think not having been a part of such a program hindered your success?

[Anonymous]

Really...preparation and hard work are good things.

[Anonymous]

To 15:52, I am the poster who asked if our hard-working DC could get into the AAP program if DC was not a "genius" but worked extremely hard. I attended a small parochial school up until the 8th grade, then entered my public high school (not in VA). I realized that a bunch of my friends from my sports team were in the "gifted" program, which I had not been aware of (my parents were not active in my academic pursuits). I asked my guidance counselor if I could be tested to gain admittance to the gifted program, and I was not accepted. Ou HS didn't differentiate between students so dramatically as FCPS. FWIW, I later took many AP classes and had close to a 4.0 GPA at HS graduation.

[Anonymous]

I agree prepping and hard work pay off. Learn it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I later took many AP classes and had close to a 4.0 GPA at HS graduation.

And your kid can do the same thing in FCPS. Your kid can also self-select honors courses in middle school. It is not necessary to be in an AAP Center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 15:52, I am the poster who asked if our hard-working DC could get into the AAP program if DC was not a "genius" but worked extremely hard. I attended a small parochial school up until the 8th grade, then entered my public high school (not in VA). I realized that a bunch of my friends from my sports team were in the "gifted" program, which I had not been aware of (my parents were not active in my academic pursuits). I asked my guidance counselor if I could be tested to gain admittance to the gifted program, and I was not accepted. Ou HS didn't differentiate between students so dramatically as FCPS. FWIW, I later took many AP classes and had close to a 4.0 GPA at HS graduation.

Agreed with 22:01.

I asked because there seems to be a very casual characterization around here of AAP kids as "geniuses" and those who aren't in the program being "IQ deficient." This is not what AAP is about. AAP is about identifying students who could benefit from one particular style of curriculum. This doesn't mean AAP kids are geniuses, just that they would likely get more out of the AAP than they would the standard curriculum.

As for the differentiation, how much of that is really coming from FCPS vs. from the parents? I mean, check out the threads on this board. Look how many threads are obsessing about what test scores will guarantee a kid entry into AAP, asking about kids who were eligible despite lower test scores than others who were found ineligible, appeals processes, etc. In fact, one parent wrote that we should bring our kids to AAP orientation to "flaunt it" in front of the other kids. Really?! This thread is about prepping 7/8-year-olds with (I guess) sample tests and such, as if this were the LSAT or something. When I took my son for the testing earlier this year, we waited in a large classroom at GMU where, I kid you not, at least 15 parents were all having their kids run through sample questions at 7:30 am. My kid sat and played his DS, was totally relaxed, and did well. But if he didn't make the cut...he'd still be the same kid, right? So while there were Tiger Moms there, I was the Basset Hound Dad (Hey, buddy, it's only a test, do as well as you can and we'll go get a FroYo or something later, eh?).

Point being, if parents are thinking their kids are IQ deficient if they aren't in AAP, then I don't think the pressure is necessarily coming from FCPS.

[Anonymous]

AAP eligibility is not an accomplishment. It is not something worthy of a congratulations or a pat on the back. It is more worthy of a "that's great. I'm sure your kid will do well there."

Kids who are truly "gifted" didn't accquire the ability through hard work. They were just born wired that way. It makes no more sense to congratulate someone on having a gifted kid than it does to congratulate them for having blonde hair.

If people would stop looking at AAP eligibility like TJ admissions or college admissions, all the madness might end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP eligibility is not an accomplishment. It is not something worthy of a congratulations or a pat on the back. It is more worthy of a "that's great. I'm sure your kid will do well there."

Kids who are truly "gifted" didn't accquire the ability through hard work. They were just born wired that way. It makes no more sense to congratulate someone on having a gifted kid than it does to congratulate them for having blonde hair.

If people would stop looking at AAP eligibility like TJ admissions or college admissions, all the madness might end.

True that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP eligibility is not an accomplishment. It is not something worthy of a congratulations or a pat on the back. It is more worthy of a "that's great. I'm sure your kid will do well there."

Kids who are truly "gifted" didn't accquire the ability through hard work. They were just born wired that way. It makes no more sense to congratulate someone on having a gifted kid than it does to congratulate them for having blonde hair.

If people would stop looking at AAP eligibility like TJ admissions or college admissions, all the madness might end.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 15:52, I am the poster who asked if our hard-working DC could get into the AAP program if DC was not a "genius" but worked extremely hard. I attended a small parochial school up until the 8th grade, then entered my public high school (not in VA). I realized that a bunch of my friends from my sports team were in the "gifted" program, which I had not been aware of (my parents were not active in my academic pursuits). I asked my guidance counselor if I could be tested to gain admittance to the gifted program, and I was not accepted. Ou HS didn't differentiate between students so dramatically as FCPS. FWIW, I later took many AP classes and had close to a 4.0 GPA at HS graduation.

Agreed with 22:01.

I asked because there seems to be a very casual characterization around here of AAP kids as "geniuses" and those who aren't in the program being "IQ deficient." This is not what AAP is about. AAP is about identifying students who could benefit from one particular style of curriculum. This doesn't mean AAP kids are geniuses, just that they would likely get more out of the AAP than they would the standard curriculum.

As for the differentiation, how much of that is really coming from FCPS vs. from the parents? I mean, check out the threads on this board. Look how many threads are obsessing about what test scores will guarantee a kid entry into AAP, asking about kids who were eligible despite lower test scores than others who were found ineligible, appeals processes, etc. In fact, one parent wrote that we should bring our kids to AAP orientation to "flaunt it" in front of the other kids. Really?! This thread is about prepping 7/8-year-olds with (I guess) sample tests and such, as if this were the LSAT or something. When I took my son for the testing earlier this year, we waited in a large classroom at GMU where, I kid you not, at least 15 parents were all having their kids run through sample questions at 7:30 am. My kid sat and played his DS, was totally relaxed, and did well. But if he didn't make the cut...he'd still be the same kid, right? So while there were Tiger Moms there, I was the Basset Hound Dad (Hey, buddy, it's only a test, do as well as you can and we'll go get a FroYo or something later, eh?).

Point being, if parents are thinking their kids are IQ deficient if they aren't in AAP, then I don't think the pressure is necessarily coming from FCPS.

Totally agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP eligibility is not an accomplishment. It is not something worthy of a congratulations or a pat on the back. It is more worthy of a "that's great. I'm sure your kid will do well there."

Kids who are truly "gifted" didn't accquire the ability through hard work. They were just born wired that way. It makes no more sense to congratulate someone on having a gifted kid than it does to congratulate them for having blonde hair.

If people would stop looking at AAP eligibility like TJ admissions or college admissions, all the madness might end.

Sorry, you're wrong. Many AAP eligible kids have worked their butts of in school and have the grades to back it up. I would agree with you if admissions were solely based on a WISC score like some school districts. Then it truly is out of everyone's hands, including the child. But Fairfax goes as much on achievement as ability therefore I have to disagree with you, these students deserve congratulations.