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Middle School Honors Classes
Is Your Child Ready?
By Sue Marquette Poremba
In the church bulletin this week, the priest added what he calls a "light quote of the week," something to make you smile. This week's quote was "Half the people you know are below average."
Of course, the majority of parents will tell you that their child is in the half that is above average. There is nothing wrong with parents who believe that their child is among the best and brightest. After all, what parent doesn't want to see their child excel in everything?
Success in the classroom is especially important. Every parent wants their child to be motivated and challenged. Honors classes and accelerated class are popular ways to encourage this academic motivation. It's not so much that the work in these classes is more difficult than work in the "regular" classroom, but it moves at a faster pace with more work required in a shorter period of time.
Honors classes have been a staple in high schools for decades, often in the form of Advanced Placement (AP) classes. AP classes are geared specifically to prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam. If the student receives a particular grade on the AP exam, he or she will be able to use it as college credit. More recently, honors and accelerated classes have moved into middle schools (it is important to note that a middle school will not offer a true AP class, although some parents or schools refer to the class in that manner). But are honors classes at this age a good idea?
It depends, says Berneice Brownell, assistant professor of education at Susquehanna University. If the courses are designed with the student in mind and if the student truly needs and wants that extra acceleration in the classroom, then honors classes for middle school kids are a good idea. However, she continues, too often, "parents end up taking the class, not the kids." In other words, the parents are generating the push behind the honors classes, and in many situations, the parents are spending a lot of time helping with the homework.