<p>I have been reading about APush on this forum since yesterday. Got some scattered help and online and resources (such as Adam Noris youtube channel). Also downloaded the AMSCO pdf.</p>
<p>But of a background, my son is a junior this year, he got a B+ in 1sem but struggling very hard this sem. He is a C now and if things go on same track, he will not even get a B. Overall, his GPA is 4+ and 2300+ in SAT. So, he is on a good track for a STEM/Engineering. We are in northern california competitive school areas. So I know for a fact when doing a local school comparison, his C will automatically put him at the bottom of the list in ANY UC, its just that much cut throat. </p>
<p>He genuinely wants to study and get atleast a B in remaining 3 months. But seems like he is a hitting a brick wall. I would like to know what and how can I help him to go on right track to finish with a B. His text book is American Pageant.</p>
<p>Maybe have him go on coursenotes.com and read the vocab terms and outlines for the chapters for american pageant in addition to reading the textbook. Also go on cengage dot com and do the quizzes and flashcards for each chapter. </p>
<p>If the stuff he’s missing comes from the book and not in-class lecture, have him read the book out loud and/or take notes from it. That’s how I studied in APUSH and AP World.</p>
<p>APUSH was my first AP course as a freshman and I can definitely empathize with the struggle in that class. I’m glad to see that you downloaded AMSCO, which is by far the most conversational of all USH texts. I will offer some tips that helped me:</p>
<p>-buy an AP review book. Barron’s is the hardest and most detailed, but that means it will cover all the information your son could possibly need to know for both the class and the exam. I personally love the Crash Course series, which offers a reasonable amount of information in an easy-to-read and comprehend outline format.
-any APUSH teacher worth his salt will work with students on the essays, which in my opinion were the hardest portion of the class. make sure your son is aware of the requirements; the DBQ in particular is challenging because it requires an extensive amount of outside knowledge. I suggest looking up essay questions–both DBQ’s and FRQ’s–and outlining them. No question is a bad question; even the most convoluted of APUSH questions will force your son to study up on the topics, which better prepares him for the class overall
-take notes from the textbook; I know all APUSH book are text-heavy and at times downright boring. However, notes are invaluable for a class that is 98% based on memorization and recall (the other 2% is pure dumb luck that you will come across questions that covers content you actually studied).
-on the subject of note-taking, it is a long and tedious process. I was a terrible note-taker and used to spend hours on just one chapter. if money isn’t an issue and you really can’t see any progress, I’d suggest purchasing your own copy of the book. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive but having my own copy of the text that I can highlight and take notes in helped me tremendously. You can also simply photocopy chapters if you don’t want to invest in a hundred dollar book. </p>
<p>this post is getting rather lengthy so I will conclude with a “good luck” to your son. feel free to PM me. the class is difficult (the only other history course that is more challenging is probably World History) but not impossible. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the excellent feedback. I am in process of compiling all the information and assimilating it. Regarding books, I have bought the textbook and also boght the Essential contents/Insider Guide last year as someone told its the best book for APush prep.</p>
<p>He is losing points overall, I guess he needs to learn how to read and grasp and memorize. I will be working with him next 3 months, helping him out in resources, flash cards, quiz him randomly. He is not aiming for a 5 in the AP test or an A+. All he wants to just maintain atleast B in the 2nd sem.</p>
<p>American Pageant has way too many details and extra information. Outlines don’t necessarily include all information one need for a test (for me, at least, they don’t) so what I do is read the textbook and take notes, and then read through outlines for the chapter online.</p>
<p>When he takes notes, make sure he only writes down the essential stuff. </p>
<p>I read the outlines for each chapter, while taking notes in a notebook. I also have my textbook beside me, and if I notice that the book has something that the outline doesn’t (that I want to include in my notes) I write it down.</p>
<p>I always reread the textbook chapters (we also use American Pageant) before every test. This is pretty time consuming, but since my teacher normally announces tests a week or so in advance, I spread the readings over the entire week. It generally comes down to rereading half a chapter every night before a test, and I find that it really helps. Personally, I don’t take notes while reading the book because it’s just so time consuming. I just take notes in class where my teacher basically elaborates on what the textbook is saying.</p>
<p>Thank you all for all the suggestions. I have forwarded this thread to him. I have also asked him to take an appointment with this teacher and talk about the expectations of her grading. I still think there is enough time left in the year to catchup.</p>
<p>My daughter took APUSH last year, and AP world the year before. Both of her teachers required the kids to outline everything they read. It was very time consuming (and I felt it was a bit much for the teachers to micromanage what was supposed to be a college level course). But my daughter didn’t mind so much because she felt that the process of outlining the material really was critical to learning it. It took her about 5 hours to do each outline (I think those were every week or so). She felt she was faster and more efficient at it than most of the other kids, who were taking 7+ hours. Some kids seemed to have trouble identifying the more important material to put in the outline. Having to think about that is probably more helpful than just reading through the material. And of course, they all did it the day before it was due, so it was a big marathon ordeal. She said some of the kids just copied outlines from the web. They didn’t do too well. Her class used several books but I don’t recall exactly which. </p>
<p>One thing to consider is the discrepancy between an AP grading scale and a high school scale. On the multiple choice section of an AP test, you might only need to get 80% or so correct to get a 5 (don’t know the percentage for APUSH, I just made up that number, but I know the percents are lower for many tests than what you need for an A in high school). That same 80% isn’t going to look too good on a high school scale. Also, I think my daughter’s AP teachers tried to grade their practice essays by AP standards. Earlier on in the year, those grades weren’t so good. DBQ is a skill they are working on in the class, especially in the spring semester, and while they need to know where they stand on an AP scale, I’m not sure it’s fair for the purpose of high school grading to hold them to the standard they’ll be graded on in May when it’s only January and much of their work on that skill is still ahead of them. How the teachers use all this info to come up with a high school grade can vary. I know our teachers will do some curving. </p>
<p>I don’t think she used an AP review book, or other materials other than her class books. She is quite interested in history and found it relatively easy to remember the material after all the hard work she put in over the year.</p>