Will gifted child lose interest in "school"? Will study habits ever be learned to prepare for college?
Are the offered AP courses enough to challenge the child? Can a child who doesn't need to study in middle school to score high even do well on AP courses?
Likely; probably not.
Perhaps, but not in the
right ways for most HG+ children; er-- well, that depends upon motivation.
Let me explain those answers.
1. Likely that school has ALREADY lost its luster, at least insofar as "learning" and any passion for doing so exists.
2. Why develop study skills if you never need them?? Study skills involve mostly drudgery and tedious activities, after all-- why WOULD you learn to do those things and make them practiced enough to be habits?? You
don't. This is the single most compelling argument that I can think of for placing a child into appropriately challenging curriculum. Now, there are different TYPES of challenge, which brings me to my next answer for you.
3. AP. Ahhhh... yes, AP. Well, these classes (in general terms) are not that much HARDER in terms of content. Courses vary, obviously, but
most of the difference between AP and "college prep" or "honors" high school coursework is: a) the
volume of work to be gotten through-- I estimate that the volume is between 125% and 200% of a regular high school class, depending upon the AP course, and b) externally controlled syllabi, scope and sequence for the courses.
My DD has found AP courses to be QUITE useful to her. They move at a faster pace, which is good. The demand on her is
closer to being appropriate as a result. In other words, for her, AP classes are about as appropriate as regular high school coursework is for bright kids. It's not terribly arduous, but it
does require time-management skills, if nothing else. The quality also seems to be slightly better than the average offerings otherwise (though that may well be a function of individual schools and teachers).
4. Motivation. Well, at least with AP, there is
some challenge other than earning 100%. Keeping up with the volume requires
some attention to be paid to the class. The real question is whether or not it's
enough to prove motivating to an individual student.
I'd ask (as a parent) what my child does when placed under more appropriate academic load-- does s/he seek to AVOID challenge? Or to embrace it? How does that manifest (either way)?
