Anonymous wrote:Is the added work during the school year mostly reading? My child would be in the Blair Magnet but likes history and writes well. Seems like most magnet kids are not taking APUSH and take regular/honors instead. Just trying to get a sense of what exactly she would be adding to her plate by taking AP. Is it mostly an hour of reading? How often are there meaningful writing assignments too and how much does that add. Thanks for any insight.

My kid was in Poolesville magnet when magnet track was based on merit. All magnet kids took APUSH and were adept in time management and studying strategically. It really depends on how efficient your kid is. Minimum of daily 1 hour per AP is the conventional wisdom, but the cohort was juggling 4 APs and still managing all homework in a couple hours at home.

What other kids do is meaningless for your kid. They should do whatever they can handle. Because, mental health is more important than course rigor. This is a marathon not a sprint. So your kid must learn to pace themself.

My kid isn’t at Blair, but I’d say she probably spends about an hour, sometimes less, per night. It was a bit more at the beginning, until she got used to spotting the relevant parts and could speed up note-taking a bit. Her teacher has also switched the textbook this quarter to one that’s a bit more streamlined and has less material that won’t be tested, so that’s helped a lot.

Since the textbook was available in both print and online, she started out using a screen reader to listen to the text first, usually while having a snack, doing chores, etc., just to get a big-picture overview of the day’s material. Then she’d sit down to focus and take notes from the print textbook, which really cut down on the actual “homework” time. Eventually she got better at honing in on the essential elements, and didn’t need the first (auditory) pass. Not sure if this was helpful only because she has ADHD, though?

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Anonymous wrote:From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Daily assignments take 2-3 hours?

At my school, it took about 2 hours to do the 25 or so pages at first, but that’s because people were not used to it and it’s definitely a step up from AP Government. But as the semester progressed, the average became about an hour.

Yikes! How long do the kids officially have to try out a class and step down from AP to Honors? Can they try out a whole quarter?

It sounds bad, but think 120 mins/25 pages, with breaks in between. It’s harder to explain without having done it. I saw a couple of people switch out of APUSH after a quarter, and then when they go to honors, it’s a little slower so they’d be ahead, technically.

Do they have a textbook or is it just slides and online resources?

Good question, it’s a combination of all those sources.

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Anonymous wrote:From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Daily assignments take 2-3 hours?

At my school, it took about 2 hours to do the 25 or so pages at first, but that’s because people were not used to it and it’s definitely a step up from AP Government. But as the semester progressed, the average became about an hour.

Yikes! How long do the kids officially have to try out a class and step down from AP to Honors? Can they try out a whole quarter?

It sounds bad, but think 120 mins/25 pages, with breaks in between. It’s harder to explain without having done it. I saw a couple of people switch out of APUSH after a quarter, and then when they go to honors, it’s a little slower so they’d be ahead, technically.

Do they have a textbook or is it just slides and online resources?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Daily assignments take 2-3 hours?

At my school, it took about 2 hours to do the 25 or so pages at first, but that’s because people were not used to it and it’s definitely a step up from AP Government. But as the semester progressed, the average became about an hour.

Yikes! How long do the kids officially have to try out a class and step down from AP to Honors? Can they try out a whole quarter?

It sounds bad, but think 120 mins/25 pages, with breaks in between. It’s harder to explain without having done it. I saw a couple of people switch out of APUSH after a quarter, and then when they go to honors, it’s a little slower so they’d be ahead, technically.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Daily assignments take 2-3 hours?

At my school, it took about 2 hours to do the 25 or so pages at first, but that’s because people were not used to it and it’s definitely a step up from AP Government. But as the semester progressed, the average became about an hour.

Yikes! How long do the kids officially have to try out a class and step down from AP to Honors? Can they try out a whole quarter?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Daily assignments take 2-3 hours?

At my school, it took about 2 hours to do the 25 or so pages at first, but that’s because people were not used to it and it’s definitely a step up from AP Government. But as the semester progressed, the average became about an hour.

Anonymous wrote:From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Daily assignments take 2-3 hours?

From my experience, an average of 25-30 pages a day, but that’s because the textbook(s) tend to be older or have small font. Most of each page is not important in the grand scheme of what they need to know for their quizzes and the AP test at the end of the year. Plus, some of it is a review from past years. So, whereas assignments at the beginning of the course take 2-3+ hours, they learn how to prioritize information and the assignments end up taking 60-90 mins/day as the year progresses. The teacher also tells you what is critical to know for each unit, less important, etc. but it’s rlly about gaining the prioritization and summarizing info.

Easy, at least for my history-loving son. No advance prep during the summer, he did spend a lot of time on all his AP history courses, but then that's what he likes to do anyway. But AP Calc BC is kicking his butt, and no matter how much he studies, he can't hoist himself to an A. So I think liking the subject matters more than anything else...

Is the added work during the school year mostly reading? My child would be in the Blair Magnet but likes history and writes well. Seems like most magnet kids are not taking APUSH and take regular/honors instead. Just trying to get a sense of what exactly she would be adding to her plate by taking AP. Is it mostly an hour of reading? How often are there meaningful writing assignments too and how much does that add. Thanks for any insight.

Remember that AP exams happen a month before school ends. Which means that the teachers do not have a lot of time to finish the curriculum or do a good job with the last few chapters.
My kid used the summer break before new school year to get started on APs that require more reading. Easy 5s in all.
- Just be consistent and study every day,
- get the class account to do online practise sooner rather than later
- start during summer break if possible
- understand the the AP exams happen a month before school ends. This means that you have less time in the school year to finish the curriculum. Don’t rely on the teacher.

I feel like my daughter dedicates an hour a night to reading for APUSH. She also likes the subject matter and has a 100 in the class right now, so that may be a little extreme, but it's working.

Yes, they can be long. I think somewhere between 20-30 pages a day.

DC is trying to decide for next year. She is a fast reader and strong writer, but anticipates a heavy workload next year. Are the daily reading assignments long? 50 pp? 100 pp?

TIA!