I think your assessment is perfect. Your child's homeroom teacher can give you a recommendation for math - mine has dyslexia so is in regular English, honors science, honors history, and regular math and doing very well in all (although history is a lot of reading which is hard, but our child's history teacher has been super supportive and takes our 504 into account).

I’m the first middle school teacher again. If it helps, most of the teachers at my school and I use the same lessons and materials for AAP and Honors. Lots of smart kids in Honors classes who can do that level of work despite not being in AAP in elementary school. Biggest predictor of success is effort.

OP here. Thank you so much for all of the helpful responses. We are at an AAP center and I worry that DC has internalized this idea that they are not one of the “smart kids“. The school is also a bit of a bubble in terms of a high SES peer group. I definitely want to make sure they are with motivated peers. I’ve heard the middle school can be a bit of a shock for kids coming from our elementary school.

Anonymous wrote:Middle school teacher who teaches all three levels: do all honors. Regular is basically remedial (below grade level students are the norm). Honors is not that hard and they will have a more motivated peer group as they make new friends.

+1 from another middle school teacher.

Middle school teacher who teaches all three levels: do all honors. Regular is basically remedial (below grade level students are the norm). Honors is not that hard and they will have a more motivated peer group as they make new friends.

To be frank, the honors classes have been pretty easy. Go for it!

Do all honors. My child who cares VERY little about school, was not in AAP, AND didn't want to take all honors is doing well (and she is mad about it). Also, it is easier to move down if things get too hard than to move up if things are too easy. All honors.

Anonymous wrote:Agree with all honors! Your kid will do great. If Math 7H is a struggle, they can always do regular Algebra in 8th. But without Math 7H, they likely will be in Pre-Algebra in 8th, which limits their options in math in the long run.

No shade to students for whom pre-algebra in 8th is correct path - but with your kid’s scores, doesn’t sound like it is.

+1 Also, you can always drop him down if it’s really a struggle. But you can’t move up mid year.

My friends with multiple kids have pretty much all said that they should never have allowed their oldest to be talked into only some honors instead of all honors. Their other kids went all honors unless there was a learning issue.

The Counselors make a big deal out of honors but it is a good fit for many students. The kids who are behind are the ones who should be taking the regular class, kids on grade level should be able to handle honors.

Agree with all honors! Your kid will do great. If Math 7H is a struggle, they can always do regular Algebra in 8th. But without Math 7H, they likely will be in Pre-Algebra in 8th, which limits their options in math in the long run.

No shade to students for whom pre-algebra in 8th is correct path - but with your kid’s scores, doesn’t sound like it is.

All Honors. My 8th grader has never scored anything other than Pass-Proficient on SOLs and is in the 80s somewhere on iReady. She has straight As in her Honors classes. We debated her taking regular math but everyone we spoke to said to try Honors even though she is not strong in math. It has been fine.

My kid got put into math honors this year for 7th and I had a lot of concerns but it ended up being fine. From your description, it sounds like your kid could handle all honors classes.

All honors is not too hard for a kid who has done pretty well in ES IMO. If pressed, I would take honors math over another, because that has implications for future math classes.

Do all honors, most kids do just fine in all honors. If they struggle you can discuss moving into the regular class. I don’t know if any of my sons friends are taking anything but honors classes in MS. Some were AAP, some were not but they have all being done well in honors classes across the board.

DC will be in 7th grade next year and is not in the AAP program. They scored pass advance on the Reading and Science SOLs and has always been in the 90th+ percentile on the iReady. For math they just missed a pass advanced score on last year's SOL and are more like 70th+ percentile on the other standardized tests.

Grades have always been a mix of 3's and 4's in all subjects. Definitely more 4's than 3's in Language Arts/Science/Social Studies and maybe more of an even split in Math, but it seems to vary by quarter and by teacher. DC really likes history and seems to like science to the extent they have been exposed to it thus far. From what I have seen so far, DC will work hard if they have a tough teacher but is happy to slack if expectations are low.

Based on my description, does Honors for English, Life Science, and History and then regular Math 7 sound like the right fit? We have not yet talked to the ES counselor about middle school course selections, so not sure what kind of recommendations they will make. We will certainly factor those in, but wanted to hear people's actual experiences. Most friends seem to have kids either in AAP or needing extra supports, so I don't have a good sense of what is the right fit for a kid like mine.