AP History

Unlike his parents, Alex seems to really enjoy his non-science classes, like Theology and History. I think I already mentioned that he received an award as the top freshman theology student at his school. Well, he is also doing well in his Honors World History class. He might end up squeaking by with a 90% if he gets an A on the final. Regardless, he loves the class, and decided to try an AP European History class next year. I met with the teacher on Friday to talk about the class. This class will be a killer. It is intended for high school credit and also, after passing the three hour long AP test, for college credit. The work begins as soon as school lets out in June. The text book is over 1000 pages long, and the first two chapters have to be read (with appropriate notes taken) before school starts in August. During the school year, students will be assigned a dozen pages a night, more over the weekends. The teacher informed me that nobody ever gets an A in the class. Most kids get between 70 and 80, a few rare students as high as an 87. This class is not taken to boost the GPA. It is taken to learn History from 1450, on, and how to write effective essays on the knowledge acquired, in a timely fashion.

Vicki and I have serious reservations about Alex taking this class. He will also be taking Honors Chemistry and Honors Geometry. This is too much to handle if he wants to also maintain his sports, especially baseball, which is one the greatest loves of his life right now, along with soccer. We told him the only way he could do this would be if he dropped baseball, and maybe even soccer, although the soccer schedule was a little (but not whole lot) less strenuous than baseball. He actually agreed, and, so far, has decided to give up baseball next year. I really hope he understands what he's getting into. But, I have to remember that he's going to be 16 in January and has got to start making some of his own decisions real soon.

Coincidentally, I just received next year's tuition bill in the mail. I gotta remember that this doesn't even count the extra we'll have to pay for his AP fees (not to mention a bigger uniform and new books). Ugh, and I guess we'll have Driver's Ed to pay for in the Fall, too. I guess that'll take care of the soccer decision, since he'll have to skip after school sports to take his driving lessons.