<p>Our son is just starting his AP US History class, and is required to outline each chapter of the textbook as he reads it. This seems crazy to me -- no wonder kids hate high school and the busywork there.</p>
<p>Is outlining typical in APUSH classes? If so, what is the rationale for it?</p>
<p>Nice to see you have an interest in your son’s school life.</p>
<p>It’s not busywork. It’s not required at my school but my teacher <em>strongly</em> suggested taking notes on the textbook and strongly suggested that we read it, as it’ll benefit us come AP exam. APUSH is all about facts and memorization and by having outlines, your son will have all the important information he needs and won’t have the headache of digging through his textbook and notes 2 weeks before the exam frantically trying to discover what the important parts are. </p>
<p>It’s an AP class, it requires more work, more time, and less fun but it’s not busy work and no grounds to hate high school.</p>