A/P courses approved by CB

[Hot Lava Mama]

This question came to my mind when I was reading another thread.  I was wondering if people are willing to share their CB approved AP syllabi?  Is that an o.k. question to ask?  Don't know if I am out of line by asking the question.  If so, my apologies.  I am just thinking about how the wisdom of the hive has been so helpful to so many people.

 

If it "is" o.k., and you are willing to post it, please list it below.

Thanks!

Hot Lava Mama 

[swimmermom3]

This question came to my mind when I was reading another thread.  I was wondering if people are willing to share their CB approved AP syllabi?  Is that an o.k. question to ask?  Don't know if I am out of line by asking the question.  If so, my apologies.  I am just thinking about how the wisdom of the hive has been so helpful to so many people.

 

If it "is" o.k., and you are willing to post it, please list it below.

Thanks!

Hot Lava Mama 

 

It might be better if people just say if they have a syllabus they are willing to share and then people can pm them and get the file. If you use someone else's syllabus, you'll submit their number and then a copy of the actual syllabus without any identifying marks on it. Some syllabi would be easier to post than others. For example, a Microeconomics syllabus is going to be significantly shorter than a European or US History syllabus, which could run 10-15 pages long. They are also often formatted a particular way, for example some people use boxes along the side to show what requirement an assignment fulfills. That formatting most likely will go wonky when posted here.

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I have a good AP American Government syllabus I would share. This course has only a year or two before it is revised.

I can share a Comparative Government syllabus, but it's bare bones. It was the 150+ articles in The Economist and Foreign Affairs magazines read during the course and hours of discussion over years that was the real prep.

I did a European History, but I think that course is now being revised. I don't think my syllabus would be any more helpful than the new sample syllabi.

 

ETA:  If someone wants one of these, send me a PM.  

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Also it is possible to simply adopt one of the sample syllabi.

[Hot Lava Mama]

It might be better if people just say if they have a syllabus they are willing to share and then people can pm them and get the file. If you use someone else's syllabus, you'll submit their number and then a copy of the actual syllabus without any identifying marks on it. Some syllabi would be easier to post than others. For example, a Microeconomics syllabus is going to be significantly shorter than a European or US History syllabus, which could run 10-15 pages long. They are also often formatted a particular way, for example some people use boxes along the side to show what requirement an assignment fulfills. That formatting most likely will go wonky when posted here.

 

 

Thanks for that information!  My main goal in seeing some AP syllabi is to make sure my ds is doing a rigorous course in preparation for the AP tests.  I actually am not going to bother with getting the syllabus approved through CB because I am not going to classify anything on his transcripts as AP.  I am, however, going to have him take some of the AP tests.  I figure that schools are really more interested in seeing the results (ie: test score) than just taking the AP class.  Would you agree?  What are your thoughts about this?

Thanks!

Hot Lava Mama

 

[Hot Lava Mama]

I have a good AP American Government syllabus I would share. This course has only a year or two before it is revised.

 

I can share a Comparative Government syllabus, but it's bare bones. It was the 150+ articles in The Economist and Foreign Affairs magazines read during the course and hours of discussion over years that was the real prep.

 

I did a European History, but I think that course is now being revised. I don't think my syllabus would be any more helpful than the new sample syllabi.

 

Thanks fantastic!  Would you be willing to share your American Government and Comparative Government syllabus?  He will be covering both of those this next year.  I think there is also an American History AP test, too.  He will be studying all of that together, so if you have or know of any good rigorous American History syllabus, I would appreciate it!  Thanks so much!

Hot Lava Mama

[swimmermom3]

Thanks fantastic!  Would you be willing to share your American Government and Comparative Government syllabus?  He will be covering both of those this next year.  I think there is also an American History AP test, too.  He will be studying all of that together, so if you have or know of any good rigorous American History syllabus, I would appreciate it!  Thanks so much!

Hot Lava Mama

 

The Us History test was revised this year and May 2014 will be the first administration of the new exam.  I am planning for next year and am loosely basing some of our coursework off of the sample syllabus #5, I think it is. I have figured out whose syllabus it is and know that he has been involved in creating the revised test. Actually, it's more like I am adapting the Hillsdale course (thanks, Sebastian!) into the framework of that #5 syllabus, if that makes sense.

 

Hot Lava Mama, can we stay in touch, please? My guy will be a senior next year and is also doing both government classes with US History.

 

Yes, I do agree that good scores from the AP test itself is worth more than the AP designation on the transcript.

 

Sebastian, I would love to see your US Government syllabus, if possible. Ds is auditing the US Government class through PAHS, but I would like to learn as well. I figure your syllabus will give me the balance that I am looking for.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thanks for that information!  My main goal in seeing some AP syllabi is to make sure my ds is doing a rigorous course in preparation for the AP tests.  I actually am not going to bother with getting the syllabus approved through CB because I am not going to classify anything on his transcripts as AP.  I am, however, going to have him take some of the AP tests.  I figure that schools are really more interested in seeing the results (ie: test score) than just taking the AP class.  Would you agree?  What are your thoughts about this?

Thanks!

Hot Lava Mama

 

 

My kids started high school in an area where it was typical for students on the college prep (ie, honors) track to do several AP courses in high school.  In fact in the district we lived in, there were no honors courses at schools that offered AP.  Students either took regular level courses or did AP work.  

 

Especially in the humanities, I felt that my kids were able to do the work on an AP level.  I wanted to be able to quantify what they were doing.  An AP score could have done that.  But by going through the process of getting a syllabus approved, I am also able to put that on the transcript.  My hope is that this will be read as an indication of the level of difficulty that they are working on.  I'm hoping that it will also serve as an indicator that when I say other coursework is also rigorous, that it will be believed.  (Of course, it might work against me too, in that a reader might decide that courses I don't indicate as AP are low level work.)

 

I think that an honors designation for homeschool is hard to justify.  Honors as compared to what?  The AP label gives me a reason for weighting some of the gpa.  There are a couple schools of interest that give automatic merit aid based on test scores and "rigorous coursework" and I'm hoping that the AP label will serve as an indication of rigor.

 

If you aren't planning on submitting a syllabus, then you may find one of the sample syllabi on the AP course page is plenty to use.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thanks fantastic!  Would you be willing to share your American Government and Comparative Government syllabus?  He will be covering both of those this next year.  I think there is also an American History AP test, too.  He will be studying all of that together, so if you have or know of any good rigorous American History syllabus, I would appreciate it!  Thanks so much!

Hot Lava Mama

 

PM me an email address and I'll send you what I have.  

 

AP American History has recently undergone a significant revision.  The test is very different than in past years.  I'm not sure how students are going to do on the new test.  

 

There were some long discussions of American History vs European History over the spring and summer of '14.  I kept wavering and in the end, decided that it was too hard to figure out what the expectations of the new American History framework were.  This was after watching the discussions on the AP Teacher discussion boards where seasoned AP history teachers were discussing test items and how they didn't understand what the content of a good essay were in response to some of the prompts.

[beckster]

I have a CB approved US history syllabus, but that was before the revision, so it probably won't be much help!  I also have an approved psych syllabus.