NINE Texbooks!
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 06-06-2006 - 10:47pm |
Oh my. DD registered for an AP course in European History & Studies for her sophmore year. I had to sign a release indicating that I was aware of the (enormous) time commitment before DD was allowed to put it into her schedule. Her current World Cultures teacher also had to sign off on it.
The AP Euro teacher held an introductory meeting a lunchtime today and passed out NINE textbooks to each student as well as the title of an additional ONE to be purchased and TWO novels as required summer reading. PLUS FIVE pages of study assignments that are due on orientation day in August. If I had any concerns about DD taking this class, given her predilection towards dawdling and procrastination, they have just increased by NINE-fold!
DD said she was pretty much overwhelmed at first, but now she feels she can handle it. The subject matter is hugely interesting to her, so perhaps she will stay motivated. She also has two novels to read over the summer for her English class.
Egad. Not much of a breather for either one of us. I can feel my hair getting grayer by the moment.

Pages
Wowzers, Julie. I'm beginning to wonder if your dd is from this planet! Even today, if I signed up for a class that would assign me 9 TEXTBOOKS (!@#!) I think I would run screaming for the hills! Much less when I was a teenager! IMO dd is to be congratulated for going forth with this enormous task. I'd be proud of her; she's going to learn valuable lesssons about time management, if nothing else! I think you should stay out of it, and watch how she handles it, offering support where you can. It sounds like she doesn't need you to be too involved with her work, and I soooooo envy that.
Have you ever watched Gilmore Girls? I know you said you don't watch much t.v., but I have to tell you this is a very intelligent, well written show. Your dd reminds me of the daughter, Rory. It's on the WB Channel.
<>
LOL mom_dragonfly! I wonder the same thing myself sometimes. Alien or no, she's a good kid and I truly feel blessed to have her as a daughter.
DD used to watch the Gilmore Girls regularly -- before high school, that is. Is that show still on? I've seen the 'seasons' on DVD at places like Target and Costco so I sort of assumed it is all re-runs now.
As far as the AP class goes, I doesn't sound like they will use every page of every book; just different sections from different ones. DD is talking about trying to get a 2nd locker next year just to hold the materials for this class! Yikes!
Thanks for the positive thoughts. I think I'm gonna need more before the summer is even up!
It's going into its 7th season next fall! I'm glad because I personally discovered the show late myself, watching syndicated re-runs. I now own two entire sets of DVD's - can you tell I'm crazy about this show? I don't own any other DVD's!
Yikes!! Hardly even summer, and I'd already be stressed for next year! My DD is still slogging through the end of the year projects, papers, and finals. I can't imagine her already thinking about four required novels and STUDY sheets due before the first day of class in the fall. It sounds like it will be a demanding class, but I'm impressed by your DD's response. If she's interested in it, she *will* be motivated to take on the work.
Good luck to your DD - I bet she'll love it!
Sue
Well then! Maybe I'll just have to find out when it's on down here and actually sit in front of that tv and watch it myself. Seeing on how it's come so highly recommended. DD enjoyed the show quite a bit when she had the time to watch it!
The last two times I went to the movies, I saw a trailer for a summer series called "The Closer" with Kyra Sedgewick. I thought that looked like one worth sitting down to watch, too. I guess it's season 2 this year. Have you seen that one?
Edited 6/8/2006 10:11 am ET by hydrangea_blue
I'm still in a state of shock myself, and DD is experiencing some major stress over her English final tomorrow. (She has hung at a B+ all year and is currently .2 away from an A-. She calculated that she needed a 91 on the final to get her A and she wants that A in a big way!)
Anyway, this year aside, I was very pleased to learn that she and 6-7 other students have already formed a study group. Terms and definition lists have already been divvied up and there are plans for 'terms' parties and 'maps' parties over the summer. Sounds like a logistical nightmare to me, but I will do everything in my power to make those logistics work for my DD so she can be successful.
DD also told me that she had two weeks after the school years starts to change her schedule, if this AP class proves to be too much. My current mindset that if she is committing so much of her summer to this class, why not just stick it out? That may change, however!
Thanks for the good thoughts!
Julie
Wow, this seems kind of odd. DS17 took AP Euro History as a sophmore (as do most sophmores in our HS honors program) and had ONE textbook. They did read a couple novels through the course of the year- it was a three trimester class- and there was a moderate homework load with quite a bit of reading. That class was pretty much overshadowed though by the homework load he had in Adv Chem and a college credit Anatomy course he had at the same time.
I know they must teach this class differently in different areas, but the AP exam is a standardized national test- everyone takes the same one no matter where you are. Sounds like her teacher is going for a little overkill here with 9 textbooks and so much due over the summer. DS scored a "4" on his AP exam at the end of the course (3 is considered passing and gets you college credit, 5 is a perfect score).
Good luck to your DD- sounds like she will need it!
<<...the AP exam is a standardized national test- everyone takes the same one no matter where you are.>>
Hunh. Really? I will have to check into this and then with the teacher. Tomorrow is the last day of school, though, so there may not be time and I may have to wait until back-to-school night in the fall.
It sounds like the class has always been taught this way at this school -- lots of reading, lots of work, mostly self-directed. What part of the country are you in? We're in California.
AP exams are administered by the College Board. Here's a link:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html
We are in Indiana, and DS' high school has the #1 AP program in our state. Obviously there is a big push to take AP courses at this school and they have a very high passing rate. Euro History is the traditional first AP course taken, during the sophmore year, along with AP Psych for those interested. Junior year is usually AP US History, AP English, and depending on the student, there are AP courses in foreign languages, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Calculus, Computer Science, Art, Music, Government, Econ, etc. Plenty to choose from for those Juniors and Seniors.
AP courses are in general more rigorous than regular classes and require students to be much more self-motivated. It almost sounds though, like your DD's teacher is going to the extreme. I know that here most teachers understand that the kids who take AP courses are typically taking multiple APs along with college credit classes, and these are also the kids who are more involved in extracurriculars. In my DS17's case, he is a two sport varsity athlete with a part-time job, and had AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP US History, and AP English- along with third year French- all in the same year. His schedule is typical of our Academic Honors track kids.
I would bet the difference is private school versus public school. The private schools, at least in California, do not go by the same standards. They don't answer to the state at all. And from what I've seen, in private schools here in CA, the parents are not happy if there is not an overload of homework. I've seen it time and time again (obviously not including you in there, Julie!).
Pages