Reply to The entire AAP program should be eliminated

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Let’s make AAP the standard curriculum. Win-Win.[/quote]

I work with a after school program at our ES. I am always shocked by how much farther behind the gen ed kids seem than the AAP kids. Their reading ability is worse, their comprehension is worse, etc. No way some of those kids could handle the AAP workload my DS has (I say that not to brag, but it's an observation repeated again and again). I'm not sure making AAP the standard curriculum wouldn't just leave more kids behind.[/quote]

Oh honey, don't you realize your child is ahead because he's getting the extra attention and rigor of AAP? If all our kids were put on the same pedestal AAP kids are put on, they'd all be so much further ahead. The whole AAP/Gen Ed divide is disgusting. [/quote]

NP here.

I have volunteered for classes for my kids for over a decade and substitute teach.  And I am going to tell you- [b]you can tell the aap kids from the gen Ed kids before third grade[/b]- in fcps and other districts. Aap is worth it. It is significantly different. I know you think that if they had AAP in school they would be able to handle it, but it’s simply not true. Most kids can’t handle it.

The other thing is that that is totally ok. I really hate this idea that aap should be the norm. The reality is that it like putting lipstick on a pig- putting a gen Ed kid in aap isn’t always going to work- the gen Ed kid would struggle and feel bad about themselves. Sometimes it might, but the reality is that it won’t. They can’t just be smart- they have to have that ambitious streak too.

I really wish people would stop knocking gen Ed. Most kids are fine with gen Ed. They just need time to figure out what they really want to do.  This concept that kids can handle the harder coursework is really not true. If you have ever seen kids faces as they struggle to even do the first few math problems on a worksheet when the aap kids fly through the sheet and do extra credit in second grade- you would understand it’s better.   Kids all have different velocities.

It disgusts me how people think that aap should be applied for all kids. It would be torture for those kids. They would just give up.

Finally- I’m actually happy with fcps and the gen Ed and aap program. I want my kids to be happy- and they are in gen Ed and aap. Each kid is different. And that’s great- because they enjoy school. [/quote]

PP who works with the after school program here, and I agree with this. I've been with a lot of these kids since kindergarten, and as they aged it was clearer which were the brighter kids. Even before any of them were AAP, it was pretty easy to tell who would potentially be in the program.

I don't understand the stigma around gen ed either. AAP is rigorous and that environment isn't right for every student. [/quote]

Hell, I was the kid in Gen Ed struggling and not able to understand what was being taught. I was 2E, I went on to earn a PhD and teach classes in some of my weaker areas from my childhood, but ES was rough. I found my footing with support and patience and crushed school in high school. I know several kids today that are following that same pattern, they struggled in ES and are finding their grove in MS. Not every kid is capable of the AAP curriculum.

I have friends whose kids were Principal Placed and they tell me that they are happy that their kid is being challenged but the math is really hard for their kid. Not challenging but a struggle. I would bet that their kid is the one that parents on this forum complain about holding back the AAP class. The kid is one of those who is really strong in LA but less so in math.

The AAP curriculum is not for everyone and that is ok. I do wish that they could figure out a way to rotate kids classes in ES so that they could group abilities and move to different Teachers based on those groupings. I am sure that there would be some kids who would be together for all of the groupings, the kids struggling and the kids who are ahead, but I would bet that about half the class would be mixed into different groups. I am not certain why this isn't done because it would meet the kids needs better. The kids who are struggling could have the reading specialist or math specialist push into their group a few days a week so that they get more attention and help. The kids who are ahead would get the attention that they need. The other kids would get the supports that they need. [/quote]

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