I am not sure what class my daughter has to start in.9th gade. I was not educated in America so I am confused high school class. First, I posted before that my daughter is a kind of excellent student. She read fluently old English language even sat takers think that is hardest passage and she can do sat problems easily .I want she starts to AP English in 9 th grade and Bio or chem in AP claass but it is just my opinion. Actually I don’t, know how much AP is rigorous. Does IB class start to AP from 9 th grade or 11th grade ? Some told from 9 th , some are from 10th ,11 th. our high school doesn’t have IB class . If I want to go , it takes 30 or 1 hour. Can she start AP chem or bio on 9th?
Too soon to ask. Toward the end of 8th grade, either her current school or the high school will explain options and make recommendations. At that point, she can speak with the high school guidance counselor. No, you don’t know how challenging AP classes can be. But the schools will know their courses and what they feel she can handle.
It’s not about you wanting her to take AP. It’s going to be about what she is truly ready for, what educators think. And what restrictions the high school may have. Many do not allow AP (or certain AP) in freshman year.
Take a breath and google the high school curriculum, the sequences of courses and any restrictions. A lot of parents get on CC and ask others, who may not live in your district or even in the same state. But you can research much of this online, for your school or school district.
What classes did she take in middle school? Did she attend middle school in the US or abroad (which country or educational system)?
There are two sorts of AP classes: some are more advanced versions of regular offerings, like AP US history which is much more in depth than regular US history. Some are “end of sequence” classes that requires pre-reqs (like AP chemistry, calculus, foreign language…)
AP Chem and AP Bio are junior/senior level classes that expect students to have taken both biology honors and chemistry honors before.
A concrete example: If your daughter has taken an advanced science class in middle school, it’s most likely biology, so she should start freshman year with chemistry honors before she can move to AP physics 1 or honors Physics as a sophomore and then only would she take AP chemistry or AP biology. If her school allows it and she’s truly very good at Science she could take chemistry honors and physics honors freshman year, then move to AP chemistry or AP biology as a sophomore, but many schools wouldn’t allow that.
It would be extremely unusual for a freshman to be allowed in AP English language. It’s not a matter of English mastery, but maturity. AP English involves argumentative essays that require sophisticated reading and writing skills typically found among 18-19 year olds in their first year of college.
A gifted freshman could take Honors English 10 or G/T English 9, I suppose - again, it’ll depend on your school.
An academically strong freshman would have this sort of schedule:
-Honors English 9 (or 10)
-Honors Foreign language level 2 (or 3)
-Honors Geometry or Algebra2H
-AP Human Geography or World History honors (sometimes “WH1” as in “followed by AP World History sophomore year”)
-Honors chemistry
- Art or music (orchestra, band, photography, drawing, digital arts, etc)
-PE/Health
The IB program has several steps:
1-3 Middle year program (kids 11-14:middle school)
4-5 Middle year program (kids 14-16: 9-10th)
IB Diploma: 11-12th grade
If your high school offers 10+ APs with good results (ie., most students pass) you don’t need to have her travel one hour a day to an IB school.
Why don’t you make an appointment to talk to the school counselor at your kid’s school? That person will be able to give you the options available for your daughter.
She does not have to be in an IB program, in my opinion.
See what her regular high school course options are…and remember that she doesn’t HAVE tomtske every single AP course on the list to be a candidate for colleges.
You seem to be very concerned that she take only tippy top courses…and certainly she should take a challenging course load. But remember…she also needs time to develop as a person, and find interests OUTSIDE of academics.
Colleges want strong students…but that’s not ALL they want.
Depending on where your child attends school, her 9th grade program may already be set for her, unless she is coming from a middle school where she has received credit for accelerated high school courses.
Not all high schools call classes “honors” and not all high schools allow freshmen to take AP and not all high schools have a lot of AP classes to choose from. And in some high schools the most rigorous classes may not even be AP purchased and branded. It varies greatly across the country. Your district website should have all the information you need at this point.
^ for an international parent, the information on the website often is illegible since it assumes cultural knowledge they don’t possess.
“HS in middle school” is an American concept for instance. However, the “middle school program” at a school abroad may well have covered the basic 9th and 10th curriculum in some subjects. It’s impossible to know the course content and match it to the international content just by looking at the website.
This parent understands the concept of “course rigor” and is uncertain of the way it works. It’s really not obvious when you come from another culture.
It’d help if the parent indicated whether the child was enrolled in a US middle school or an international middle school, how much schooling was done in the country of origin and what type of school (Hauptschule v. Gymnasium, Specialized school v. Comprehensive, etc.), and what educational system.
@jayku: Thumper1 (in #3) makes a good point. In the US, school rigor and performance are only a part of the elements taken into account. Students are also expected to be involved in activities outside of school (not necessarily competitive activities: rock climbing, reading club, art… are all positively seen).
And for bright kids applying to very competitive schools (think top 100 - keeping in mind the size of the country and the fact there are 3,700 colleges in the US) there has to be knowledge it’s out of their hands - for any college with sub-20% criteria, the admission commitee has criteria you don’t know and there’s nothing you can be certain of. Pushing your child too much runs the risk of making your child appear as a parent-driven student, which is not seen as a positive (“robot kid”), taking all AP’s under the sun may make the kid appear as an “AP junkie” (also not positive).
Is your child currently in the 8th grade choosing her 9th grade curriculum for next year or are you about to move midyear and trying to find the proper placement for her arrival?
IIRC the OP’s daughter attends 8 th grade now in this country.
One additional comment. The school counselors will likely not start course selection for the incoming 9th graders until after the first of the year.
You need to be very careful that you have the basic skills before taking the AP classes. Our school requires Pre-AP Chem or Chem 1 before AP chem and both have a math requirement too. Pre AP Chem in our school is known to be a very difficult class it is typically taken in 11th grade but if you have the prerequisites you can take it earlier. Last year two or three freshmen decided to take Chem 1 as an on line course which is much easier. This year they are taking AP Chem and are not prepared for it at all and were told to drop the class or they would fail because their on line class did not give them the knowledge they needed to take AP Chem.
Ditto on talking to her guidance counselor at her middle school. You should find out if/how gifted your child may be. You can get information on how US schools, her district in particular, work. This meeting should be just parent(s) and GC. Request a time slot that allows plenty of time (1/2-1 hour?) and tell the school in advance what your agenda is- your child’s abilities is one issue, how things work the other.
Getting all A’s does not mean a child is gifted. Intelligence is a spectrum, some have spikes of high ability in one or more area (perhaps math or language) while others may be globally able, perhaps to a lesser degree in each area. Every person is different. Some very bright hard workers may do better than unchallenged gifted students.
Each school district chooses how they do things- which Honors, AP and IB classes offered, plus any prerequisites for those classes. There are also mandated classes each student must take for HS graduation- determined by the school district or state. Likewise taking HS classes in middle school depends on the school district.
My gifted kid was well taken care of by our school district from kindergarten onwards. It was an ongoing process of making sure he got what he needed as offered by the school district. He did not have perfect grades. Some compromises needed to be made with his HS classes because of schedule conflicts- such as 4th year French instead of an AP Lit class junior year (took the available Honors one). His HS freshman year was mainly required classes, with versions available for top students. HE (not we parents) chose his desired classes as the years progressed. We merely signed off on them. He chose more math/science classes because of HIS interests. Again, he had to make choices based on schedule availability. It was interesting to see which classes he chose- such as a semester of AP Music Theory as a sophomore when he couldn’t fit the AP Computer Science into his schedule ( he was in the Orchestra class as well).
Note the above- my kid’s schedule had many variables. My H is from India, with a different education from me, even through college/medical school (he did not get the undergrad major et al, just premed/medicine).
Please do NOT push classes on your child. It is not a race to see how far/fast she should go in HS. Be sure she gets to take fun classes, even if they are nonacademic/regular. Childhood education is not just for academics and getting into a prestigious college. Be sure she considers foreign languages, music, perhaps art, literature and other interesting classes that round out her life.
Regarding AP classes. School districts vary on their rules (there was a CC thread covering this, btw). Perhaps exceptions could be made for the highly gifted. Some subjects require the regular class first, others allow substitution. I recall that my son’s HS allowed AP US History instead of regular to meet requirements and chemistry was needed before AP chemistry (as an undergrad chem major I agree) while AP physics did not need a prior course. AP courses are comparable to average college’s courses- better than the regular HS version. But- top tier college versions will cover more and AP classes will merely mean better preparation for that college’s version.
It is NOT necessary, or even desirable, to push AP classes on your child. Colleges will look to see if she took advantage of the most rigorous curriculum, not that she took all available top classes. Your focus should be on her learning- acquiring a good/solid knowledge and skills foundation. This includes exploring subjects of interest in classes and extracurricular activities.
She is NOT resume building. She is getting the education appropriate to her needs (and interests). Son’s school did not offer IB in his time so I do not know about that except what I read on CC. IB may/may not be in her best interest. Others can comment on that.
A final comment. My son had a good childhood. He did all sorts of the usual activities. He lived his life in the present as well as preparing for his future. If he had died before adulthood I would have known he lived a good life without regret for things not done because we focused too much on the future that never was. He went on to college and is living the life he wants, not the one we programmed for him.
Even with language issues, there can be some attempt to find local info. Otherwise, it’s operating on assumption, desire and random info- not making a feasible plan. Asking strangers.
This child sounds curious. Good. But that’s only one part of achieving. Right now, her challenges have been middle school level, provided in the ms context. Even if gifted or honors.
I take OP seriously when he/she says “I want she starts to AP English in 9th” and bio or chem AP. But he admits he knows little about their rigor. And we have zero idea if she’s taken any hs lit, bio or chem first classes. She’s just started 8th grade.
Is there an AP course called “AP 9 th grade English”?
How many HS kids take the available AP courses as freshmen in HS?
@thumper1 no there’s not a “AP 9th grade English”, but pleanty of freshmen at our school take AP classes. All my kids took AP Comp Sci as freshmen and the youngest took AP Human Geo as a freshman too.
^ varies by school. Some have AP human geog available. But many discourage freshman AP until the student has practice actually thinking on a hs level, learning at that level, and responding to the increasing rigor. Some don’t allow until junior year. Or don’t allow the stem until then.
Some math geniuses will bump into AP calc in 9th, but not in a vacuum. Not because a parent thinks he’s ready or he did a SAT practice. There’s usually plenty of actual academic history of the kid already engaged and achieving at a higher level, the pre-requisites. Plus a level of EC experience. Legit enrichment programs (sometimes test-in,) competitions, awards.
It’s not a vending machine.
Btw, APCS is still not a uniform class across most hs. At some, it’s an easy, very intro class, hardly gets past “Hello World.”
My point was…AP English in 9th grade is usually not a happening. That is what the OP specifically mentioned!
@lookingforward I don’t know what they cover in Comp Sci AP but what ever they do it’s enough for the kids to pass the AP exam, d16 and s18 both got 5’s and s20 got a 4. I would think that most schools that offer Comp Sci AP would need to cover what ever is on the exam or it wouldn’t be a an AP class?
I only meant it’s not as uniformly taught as some other APs are.
Thank you for goid advices. I want to know when IB class, start rigorous program. I asked an acquaintance whose daughter was in TROY IB class but they started all AP from 9th grade except math is,in honor. Most kids of our high school attend in honor class in 9 th grade then from 10 th grade take AP 3-4. Most 11th grader who had all A in previous year take all AP class. My cousin got 5 in 4 AP class.she is exceptional student in academic but not genius. I think she can do that but Idon’t know whether our school will permit or not. And If they don’t learn bio or chem at high school level ( honors), they can digest AP chem or AP bio?
Your daughter is going to be fine! She is a beginning 8th grade student.
She can take an honors courseload in 9th grade, and segue into whatever appropriate AP courses are available after that.
I’m not sure why you are obsessing about this now? Could you explain?
AP Bio = advanced biology (level2) - the student needs the first level (Honors Biology: level1, in-depth content) and should have had Honors Chemistry to do well.
AP Chem = advanced chemistry (level2) - the student needs honors chemistry (level1, in-depth content).
A student should not take either AP class if they’ve not taken the first level in the subject.
Taking 3-4 AP classes each of junior and senior year would be common among strong students at a competitive high school.
Freshman and sophomore year, students typically take the classes that will allow them to take the AP later.
Please re-read Post #2.
Why are you worried about it now if your daughter is in the 8th grade?
What classes is she currently taking?