Anonymous
05/18/2026 12:19
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:AAP 6th grader family. Had to start Mathnasium in December because DD started to fall behind in class.
My DD feels better about her math competency and she feels like she did very well on the SOL and got to the Geometry portion of it.
But then, I showed her all the wise comments here on DCU Mom and now she feels like we failed her as a family by getting math support for her.
Whichever posters said AAP kid should not need tutors or outside enrichment were so right. And now that I think about it, AAP should not require any additional support at all, in any subject ever! So happy being in the program immediately absolves us parents from any further responsibility whatsoever of helping our kids outside of school anymore! -What a fresh take!
Clearly, some people think the one-size-fits-all approach to education applies to AAP. 🙄
Ok, I have a kid who never got advanced math, had to skip 7th grade math (ie will never formally be taught the math your kid is struggling through)to choose honors in middle school and is getting 100% on almost everything in honors. No tutoring, no outside academics. Kid finishes all work at school, never see them doing homework. Had to deal with years of bullying, full time students always telling them they aren't that smart, asking what's wrong with them they aren't in aap. Still thinks it's easy and could do more. Tell me why your child needed the advanced curriculum more than mine. Because that is the system we are in. I absolutely know that my child feels like they were failed by this system!
No one can answer that. We got in from a Title 1 school, which I think was easier to get in from. Just know that in HS, none of that will matter and you can pick your own classes. When a kid is competent at something and is self motivated/ self directed, they will succeed despite many unfair circumstances in life! And besides, the real value in public school is in dealing with circumstances that will better prepare them for the real world like practically all kids feel like they are being bullied by someone and being unfairly subjected to some kind of rule they don't agree with.
Anonymous
05/18/2026 10:33
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP how did you know what the AAP kid’s test score was?
In pool status, which at the time was a CogAT of 132 or higher. Also, one of the moms was pretty vocal about how her kid "just isn't a good test taker" and only got a 122 or whatever CogAT, but the committee "recognized that the kid was really special and still gifted." It was a lot of the typical Fairfax parent cognitive dissonance.
The system is flawed. My friend DC got a 140 (99th percentile) on NGAT and did not get into AAP with zero preparation or tutoring.
Anonymous
05/16/2026 17:10
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:PP how did you know what the AAP kid’s test score was?
In pool status, which at the time was a CogAT of 132 or higher. Also, one of the moms was pretty vocal about how her kid "just isn't a good test taker" and only got a 122 or whatever CogAT, but the committee "recognized that the kid was really special and still gifted." It was a lot of the typical Fairfax parent cognitive dissonance.
Anonymous
05/16/2026 16:53
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:PP how did you know what the AAP kid’s test score was?
DP...maybe this is just a center school thing ..but so many people talk about their test scores. I never ask, and I try to walk away from these conversations, but I seem to know several
They also humble brag about their kids academic struggles
Anonymous
05/16/2026 16:36
Subject: AAP and tutors
PP how did you know what the AAP kid’s test score was?
Anonymous
05/16/2026 14:03
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:AAP 6th grader family. Had to start Mathnasium in December because DD started to fall behind in class.
My DD feels better about her math competency and she feels like she did very well on the SOL and got to the Geometry portion of it.
But then, I showed her all the wise comments here on DCU Mom and now she feels like we failed her as a family by getting math support for her.
Whichever posters said AAP kid should not need tutors or outside enrichment were so right. And now that I think about it, AAP should not require any additional support at all, in any subject ever! So happy being in the program immediately absolves us parents from any further responsibility whatsoever of helping our kids outside of school anymore! -What a fresh take!
Clearly, some people think the one-size-fits-all approach to education applies to AAP. 🙄
I'm glad she's getting tutoring. I couldn't care less about which kids are getting tutoring. Instead, I care about which kids are causing the teacher to water down the class for everyone else. Your DD is no longer slowing down the rest of the class, so that's great!
I hope you and your DD appreciate, though, that she's fortunate to be in AAP math, and that quite a lot of kids in gen ed would do at least as well if they had been given the opportunity. IME, even the AAP kids who were getting tutoring or struggling in a subject were still snobby about being in AAP and being better than the gen ed kids.
So true!
What’s worse than any “snobby AAP kid” is the bitter parent commentary that shows up every time AAP is mentioned. The kids aren’t the problem here — the adults badmouthing them are.
Venting on an anonymous online forum iof adults s not the same as snobby aap kids and parents bullying non full time kids in real life
What a world we live in where now the nerds are also the bullies! Or all kids can be mean about any number of things and this one you are complaining about likely never happens.
It's not that simple. AAP draws a pretty arbitrary line through the "bright kid" cohort, with half labeled AAP and told that they're special and need to be bused to a different school to learn and the other half labeled gen ed. Both halves are pretty indistinguishable. Kids and sometimes their parents don't know how to process this, and it's not uncommon for a kid in AAP to think that they're much smarter than any gen ed kid, simply because they're in AAP and the other kid isn't. My gen ed kid got bullied for being "dumb" by AAP kids who actually had lower test scores than mine. It does happen a lot more than people might imagine, because young kids don't fully understand why they were picked for AAP and other bright kids weren't, and they don't have the best verbal filters at that age. A lot of the parents contribute to this, because they truly believe that their kid was admitted to AAP because their kid is somehow special and not because their kid is lucky.
If you have an AAP kid who needs tutors, that's fine. You should do whatever is appropriate to maximize your kid's educational outcome. But, do so with a little bit of introspection and self honesty.
This. Thank you!
Anonymous
05/16/2026 14:01
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:AAP 6th grader family. Had to start Mathnasium in December because DD started to fall behind in class.
My DD feels better about her math competency and she feels like she did very well on the SOL and got to the Geometry portion of it.
But then, I showed her all the wise comments here on DCU Mom and now she feels like we failed her as a family by getting math support for her.
Whichever posters said AAP kid should not need tutors or outside enrichment were so right. And now that I think about it, AAP should not require any additional support at all, in any subject ever! So happy being in the program immediately absolves us parents from any further responsibility whatsoever of helping our kids outside of school anymore! -What a fresh take!
Clearly, some people think the one-size-fits-all approach to education applies to AAP. 🙄
I'm glad she's getting tutoring. I couldn't care less about which kids are getting tutoring. Instead, I care about which kids are causing the teacher to water down the class for everyone else. Your DD is no longer slowing down the rest of the class, so that's great!
I hope you and your DD appreciate, though, that she's fortunate to be in AAP math, and that quite a lot of kids in gen ed would do at least as well if they had been given the opportunity. IME, even the AAP kids who were getting tutoring or struggling in a subject were still snobby about being in AAP and being better than the gen ed kids.
So true!
What’s worse than any “snobby AAP kid” is the bitter parent commentary that shows up every time AAP is mentioned. The kids aren’t the problem here — the adults badmouthing them are.
Venting on an anonymous online forum iof adults s not the same as snobby aap kids and parents bullying non full time kids in real life
What a world we live in where now the nerds are also the bullies! Or all kids can be mean about any number of things and this one you are complaining about likely never happens.
Right, probably only happens to my kids then.
It was so bad that my kid who has all As in honors wasn't sure if they should still take honors next year
And, I'm sure the full time aap kids who are the ones doing the bulling aren't the ones with straight a's
Anonymous
05/16/2026 13:23
Subject: AAP and tutors
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:AAP 6th grader family. Had to start Mathnasium in December because DD started to fall behind in class.
My DD feels better about her math competency and she feels like she did very well on the SOL and got to the Geometry portion of it.
But then, I showed her all the wise comments here on DCU Mom and now she feels like we failed her as a family by getting math support for her.
Whichever posters said AAP kid should not need tutors or outside enrichment were so right. And now that I think about it, AAP should not require any additional support at all, in any subject ever! So happy being in the program immediately absolves us parents from any further responsibility whatsoever of helping our kids outside of school anymore! -What a fresh take!
Clearly, some people think the one-size-fits-all approach to education applies to AAP. 🙄
I'm glad she's getting tutoring. I couldn't care less about which kids are getting tutoring. Instead, I care about which kids are causing the teacher to water down the class for everyone else. Your DD is no longer slowing down the rest of the class, so that's great!
I hope you and your DD appreciate, though, that she's fortunate to be in AAP math, and that quite a lot of kids in gen ed would do at least as well if they had been given the opportunity. IME, even the AAP kids who were getting tutoring or struggling in a subject were still snobby about being in AAP and being better than the gen ed kids.
So true!
What’s worse than any “snobby AAP kid” is the bitter parent commentary that shows up every time AAP is mentioned. The kids aren’t the problem here — the adults badmouthing them are.
Venting on an anonymous online forum iof adults s not the same as snobby aap kids and parents bullying non full time kids in real life
What a world we live in where now the nerds are also the bullies! Or all kids can be mean about any number of things and this one you are complaining about likely never happens.
It's not that simple. AAP draws a pretty arbitrary line through the "bright kid" cohort, with half labeled AAP and told that they're special and need to be bused to a different school to learn and the other half labeled gen ed. Both halves are pretty indistinguishable. Kids and sometimes their parents don't know how to process this, and it's not uncommon for a kid in AAP to think that they're much smarter than any gen ed kid, simply because they're in AAP and the other kid isn't. My gen ed kid got bullied for being "dumb" by AAP kids who actually had lower test scores than mine. It does happen a lot more than people might imagine, because young kids don't fully understand why they were picked for AAP and other bright kids weren't, and they don't have the best verbal filters at that age. A lot of the parents contribute to this, because they truly believe that their kid was admitted to AAP because their kid is somehow special and not because their kid is lucky.
If you have an AAP kid who needs tutors, that's fine. You should do whatever is appropriate to maximize your kid's educational outcome. But, do so with a little bit of introspection and self honesty.