Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Current norms for GT & AP, etc.

Is there really room? Again just going off memory, math, english, foreign language, history/economics, science, art/band/chorus was already a full schedule back in the day.

There is room if the schedule is set up for 8 courses per semester as is the case locally. Like you remembered, when I was in high school, the schedule was set up for 6 courses, although you can squeeze in a 7th by skipping a lunch period. Each year 4 spaces are taken up by math, science, english, history/government/economics. There are miscellaneous other requirements like 2 years of a foreign language, one semester each of Health, P.E., Fine Arts, and Technology.

I have my own spiral method for my DD - do AoPS now to keep her in her ZPD but also let her do the lightweight version in a B&M school years later. This way she will still get the HS Maths credits but be able to coast through the HS Maths allowing her more cycles for Physics and Chemistry etc.

Most of the APs available are on the required subjects. My DYS 14 year old DD (a sophomore in HS) is taking 3 APs (physics, chemistry, computer science) and one Post AP (multivariate calculus/linear equations). Two of those are required courses (chemistry and math). The other two count as elective credit.

I don't believe APs are any more difficult to a PG child than regular courses are to a ND child. My dd spends less on homework than her peers (approximately 2 hrs a day).

Doesn't your daughter find the B&M school classes incredibly dull after having mastered the more difficult curriculum?

Yeah-- wow-- my dd would never have been compliant with that. She barely tolerated the honors coursework required of her, and that was theoretically stuff she hadn't seen before.

It does wear thin at times for her but so far so good. Also her teacher gives her some challenging word problems etc while the other kids are working on the regular stuff. We have been very lucky so far...