<p>My youngest DS is in 9th grade. He just finished Chem A and received an "A" with out any effort. He has the same teacher this semester for Chem B. He is the only 9th grader in his class, most are jrs and seniors. He is on the frast track in math, completed Honors Alg I in 8th grade and is currently taking Honors Geom (received A first semester). He is getting ready to schedule for next years classes. Our HS offers AP Chem to sophs. as long as they take Honors Alg II at the same time. My two older boys took AP Chem their Junior (1) and Senior (1) year and had no problems. Middle son does not think it is a wise choice because of the extensive math required in AP Chem. The teacher believes youngest son could handle the work. Youngest son admits he does well without doing much homework or review. He is not driven like the middle son. DS says he just pays attention in all his classes yet takes Adderall XR for Hyperactiveness vs. Attention Deficit. </p>
<p>During the first day of class in Chem B, the teacher was asking lots of review questions. None of the other students were raising their hands. Since my DS had just completed Chem A, the material was fresh in his mind. DS was the only student that answered the questions. Midway through the period the teacher was called out in the hall by another teacher. Some girl sitting in the back of the classroom spoke out and said "Hey you in the front (DS), what grade are you in?" My DS is only 5" tall and wrestles @ 103#. DS does not fit the stereotype of a nerd. He quickly replied that he was in 9th grade. Someone else blurted out, "What are you, some kind of Einstein kid?" My DS quickly replied in a light hearted manner...."No, that would be my brother (current senior at HS)." Some one asked who his brother was. DS said his brother's name. It was rather funny when he heard a bunch of "Ohhhhh Him!" Middle son is 2nd/406 in his class. Thank goodness my boys love each other and have a love for learning. We have always tried to focus on each of their individual strengths. We had a good laugh at the dinner table that night.</p>
<p>Back to the original question. Has your 10th grader done well in AP Chem?</p>
<p>My S did well in AP Chem in 9th grade after taking the Fast-Paced High School Chemistry course in CTY. I'd strongly encourage your S to take it now when the materials from Chem B is still fresh in his mind.</p>
<p>MomOf3, my S just turned 14 and is a sophomore. He took Fast Paced Chem at CTY and was all set to take AP Chem this year, until a scheduling conflict forced him to take AP Bio instead :( S takes 4 APs (English, Calc AB, Bio, and World History) with a 99 average. I think it's very reasonable for your S to take AP Chem.</p>
<p>No- but also have a gifted son. Let him fly academically! People can be both ADHD et al and gifted. My tall, thin son, fall birthday, was 2 grades ahead and so initially got some teasing from some upperclassmen football players (while waiting for parental rides after CC practice) fall of freshman year when they found out how young he was- he deflected comments with some clever self deprecating humor (a good sense of humor often goes along with being gifted and it is hard to taunt someone when it doesn't bother them). </p>
<p>Back to the classroom- does he belong in the AP Chemistry class? Of course. You are not even deviating from school norms for him to do this. You will find students in HS classes regardless of age/grade, especially the AP classes- some courses are taken instead of the regular one by some students while some students take the AP course after the regular one (AP chemistry usually needs a HS course first, but AP physics and AP US history are two often substituted for the regular course). Be thankful your school recognizes different educational needs for different students and accomodates the gifted as well as the slow learners.</p>
<p>Catbird exactly the same thing happened to my son. He was forced to do AP Bio as a sophomore though he'd have rather done Chem. He did fine in Bio and I'm sure would have done fine in Chemistry too. If your son's teacher thinks he will do well, I would be inclined to believe him.</p>
<p>I don't see any problem with him taking it. My oldest did something similar, she took AP Bio as a sop and did well enough for the teacher to ask her to be her AP Bio aid another year. My youngest is also a freshman now and is taking bio and chem, both of which are required for AP Bio which she will take as a sop. She could take AP Chem as a sop, and the only reason she doesn't is that AP Bio is 3 units and so it makes more sense for her to take it as her only AP in sop year and leave AP Chem (2 units) for jr year when she'll be taking two other AP courses.</p>
<p>There is no reason a young man who loves the subject, does well in it, and is successfuly coping with ADHD (as evidenced by his classroom performance and general social/emotional adjustment) should be kept out of an AP course where he can fly. Trust me on this one. Please.</p>
<p>Both my kids took APs in their areas of passion as sophs. Their grades showed their love for the subjects and for my older son, opened up opportunities later.</p>
<p>As long as the OP's son realizes that he might have to put a little effort into it, I think he should go for it. Skipping a year would give him more math and maturity - but would also mean that the material was not as fresh.</p>
<p>There is also something to be said for keeping bright kids challenged!</p>
<p>Son breezed thru second level of chem as a soph at his HS. It was not taught by the AP Curriculum, however, he was well-prepared for the AP test that spring of his soph year. In fact scored a 5 on the AP test, the only one he took as a soph and made a perfect score on the SAT II for chem as well that year. The only drawback that he found was that when it came time to start college, he did not want to be bumped up to more adv chem (using the AP credit) since he had not had chem in two years. Fortunately, as he is an eng major, the AP credit was not usable anyway as he had to take 2 semesters of Chem for Eng and the AP credit at his college was only for reg Chem. I think it made a huge difference with regard to his scores as well as grades in Chem to take it as a freshman in HS, and then take it again as a soph. And, depending on your son's major, if he can score well enough on the AP/SAT II, he may not have to take Chem in college. In my opinion, he would be doing the right thing as it sounds like your son enjoys the subject, just as my own son did! He seemed to be a natural in Chem (even the Eng requirement Chem), but alas, we cannot convince him to consider Chem Eng!!</p>
<p>I'd say about a quarter of students in the AP Chemistry classes at my high school were sophomores. Some of my friends skipped regular chemistry altogether and went straight to it. It's a tough class, but with chemistry background it's not really that big a deal.</p>
<p>Definitely have him take AP Chem. My daughter followed a similar path- took Honors Chem as a freshman, then the CTY "Special Topics in Advanced Chem" or something, then AP Chem as a sophomore. This year she's studing Organic and that's also going well. She's enjoyed it- it is a lot of work but better than being bored!</p>
<p>Our kids thought AP chem was the easiest of the AP sciences, and not hard at all, even though at our school people take it as a first chemistry class. So unless your school goes way beyond the AP curriculum I wouldn't foresee any problems.</p>
<p>Ditto here....D1 took AP Chem as her first Chemistry class. Her teacher said there are just some students who "get" it, and he said he could tell by the 2nd class that she was one of them. Sounds like your son....especially if he's taken the other Chem classes already.</p>
<p>I see no academic reason why your son shouldn't be in AP Chem, but I would ask the question: does he like being challenged or would he rather have things come easily? My own son preferred being challenged to being bored.</p>
<p>our kid's school is geared for AP Chem in tenth grade...everyone takes the exam that spring. Our son did well but he did spend a couple Sundays taking practice tests at home and reviewing. (They do two years of chem work and chem labs and begin Bio in junior year.) The only way this is a bummer is that the ACT I think covers some bio..assuming that most students had it earlier. Have your son review a AP Chem book and take a practice exam and then decide. Should be fine!</p>
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My own son preferred being challenged to being bored.
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Isn't that the truth! My son doesn't even like science that much, but his honors classes were sooooo boring that he has a personal goal of never again taking anything that isn't AP. (A disclaimer: the so-called "honors" science classes at our school aren't much more than regular classes w/ some extra reports.)</p>