What is the point of AAP? I am getting to the conclusion the only real benefit is to have my child

[Anonymous]

among a cohort of students that are all about the same level (so teacher doesn't need to dumb down content because she has to make sure the low performance students catch up) and they generally come all from families who prioritize education.

But in terms of content itself, is there a real difference? Or in the way it is delivered? Is there more meaningful discussion in an AAP class vs a general education? Is there any parent here who have children in both types of classroom who could maybe clarify this?

I have two children, one is in AAP and the other is in K so I have not terms compare between the two systems yet... while I love the experience my child is having, I cannot say in good conscience the content is mind blowing. To tell the truth, her experience looks similar to the experience I had growing up going to private school in another country. But otoh, I am pretty disappointed that they are not teaching grammar in a systematic way, or don't assign books for all the children to read and analyze/discuss.

Am I missing something? Is this type of stuff going to be taught in latter grades?

[Anonymous]

The biggest difference is in math. AAP accelerates the math curriculum so that by 5th grade they are one full year ahead - 5th grade AAP teaches the 6th grade math content.

Other subjects, there's not really a difference in the basic content. AAP tends to go a bit deeper into each subject, have more self guided project work, more "application" than just basic memorization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest difference is in math. AAP accelerates the math curriculum so that by 5th grade they are one full year ahead - 5th grade AAP teaches the 6th grade math content.

Other subjects, there's not really a difference in the basic content. AAP tends to go a bit deeper into each subject, have more self guided project work, more "application" than just basic memorization.

Ok, but is there a point/benefit to this approach?

[Anonymous]

My oldest did advanced math and LIII pull outs at the base school. My next child did AAP at the center. I didn't see much of a difference between anything they did academically. The biggest difference is that my oldest child's classroom was a bit rougher, had more behavior issues, and had a decent number of ESOL students, whereas my AAP child didn't have any of that. Both kids had a tremendous amount of free time and read a lot of books during the school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest did advanced math and LIII pull outs at the base school. My next child did AAP at the center. I didn't see much of a difference between anything they did academically. The biggest difference is that my oldest child's classroom was a bit rougher, had more behavior issues, and had a decent number of ESOL students, whereas my AAP child didn't have any of that. Both kids had a tremendous amount of free time and read a lot of books during the school day.

This is why parents push for AAP. They don't want their kids distracted by these elements in the classroom. Fairfax had so many ESOL kids dumped in the schools that parents with high performing students need an outlet where that wont hinder their kid's learning experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest difference is in math. AAP accelerates the math curriculum so that by 5th grade they are one full year ahead - 5th grade AAP teaches the 6th grade math content.

Other subjects, there's not really a difference in the basic content. AAP tends to go a bit deeper into each subject, have more self guided project work, more "application" than just basic memorization.

Ok, but is there a point/benefit to this approach?

you get to take algebra earlier which tracks you to be able to get in an extra year of high level math in high school. Advance math (basically level III kids and level IV kids not at the center) are on the same track

[Anonymous]

My two kids doing AAP right now have ADHD & I feel the center has more experience with 2E kids.

[Anonymous]

In some center schools, ELA and science/social studies are taught differently in AAP. There are more critical thinking and deeper discussions. It's not a very tangible difference so isn't often mentioned or touted, and I'm not sure that all center schools even do things that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids doing AAP right now have ADHD & I feel the center has more experience with 2E kids.

We have also found this to be true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In some center schools, ELA and science/social studies are taught differently in AAP. There are more critical thinking and deeper discussions. It's not a very tangible difference so isn't often mentioned or touted, and I'm not sure that all center schools even do things that way.

Ah yes, the depth of a 5th grader's insight. I'd rather my kid be taught the underling facts so that when they do have a critical discussion the have the knowledge to underpin their opinions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:among a cohort of students that are all about the same level (so teacher doesn't need to dumb down content because she has to make sure the low performance students catch up) and they generally come all from families who prioritize education.

But in terms of content itself, is there a real difference? Or in the way it is delivered? Is there more meaningful discussion in an AAP class vs a general education? Is there any parent here who have children in both types of classroom who could maybe clarify this?

I have two children, one is in AAP and the other is in K so I have not terms compare between the two systems yet... while I love the experience my child is having, I cannot say in good conscience the content is mind blowing. To tell the truth, her experience looks similar to the experience I had growing up going to private school in another country. But otoh, I am pretty disappointed that they are not teaching grammar in a systematic way, or don't assign books for all the children to read and analyze/discuss.

Am I missing something? Is this type of stuff going to be taught in latter grades?

Yes, that's about right BUT a lot of it depends on your base school. If you have a robust LLIV program at your base school, or there's advanced math starting before 5th or 6th grade, there's not much difference in content. If you don't have either of the above, your bright-to-above average kid is going to be spending a lot of time doing independent reading and playing math games while the teacher tries to get the weaker students up to speed. If that's only a small handful of students, it's not a big deal. If it's 20+% of a class, it's a huge time suck. My oldest is in AAP at a center and our younger are at a base school that doesn't offer much differentiation. We probably should have appealed and tried to get the younger two into the center. That said, I do think there's a lot of parents who think AAP is a way to avoid the kids with behavior problems. That has definitely not been our experience, if the classes at my kid's center are any indication.

[Anonymous]

I am an AAP teacher who also taught gen ed in the same grade level. Honestly my experiences as a teacher have been night and day. I feel I can do so much more in AAP and got my creativity back as a teacher. They content is the same but the way it is taught is different. There is a lot more critical thinking and a lot more flexibility in the schedule to teach grammar, word study and do fun projects. All of the kids are reading on or above grade level so it is easy to do book clubs. I honestly love it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In some center schools, ELA and science/social studies are taught differently in AAP. There are more critical thinking and deeper discussions. It's not a very tangible difference so isn't often mentioned or touted, and I'm not sure that all center schools even do things that way.

In addition, at my child’s center school, kids were divided into leveled groups for ELA, so kids who were more advanced verbally could tackle more challenging work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an AAP teacher who also taught gen ed in the same grade level. Honestly my experiences as a teacher have been night and day. I feel I can do so much more in AAP and got my creativity back as a teacher. They content is the same but the way it is taught is different. There is a lot more critical thinking and a lot more flexibility in the schedule to teach grammar, word study and do fun projects. All of the kids are reading on or above grade level so it is easy to do book clubs. I honestly love it!

and that's one of the reasons parents fight tooth and nail to get into AAP. If you have a smart kid who reads above grade level and is good at math, but isn't gifted, level IV is the only way they get an education that matches their academic level

[Anonymous]

My dd was in AAP at Haycock and Longfellow and is in college now. Honestly, if I could go back, I wouldn’t have done it. They were pushed ahead for what? So they could take the same exact classes in high school as the kids who weren’t in AAP (with the exception of some math classes)? So they can feel smarter/superior/more capable than the general public and struggle with the idea that some things are still difficult, even when your ES teachers always told you that you guys were smarter than the gen ed kids? (Two actually did this on a regular basis) It all seemed great at the time to be getting something others were not, and she was honestly very bright and scored extremely high on everything...but the outcome was no different than it would have been in a regular classroom.