bad idea to study ahead?

Parents Forum
1

<p>My DD will be entering her sophomore year of high school. She is doing an internship with a prof at the local University in Molecular Bio/Biochem and Biophysics. She really likes it and has learned a lot, reading papers etc. </p>

<p>Next year, she will be taking AP Chem and AP Physics B along with Honors PreCalc, AP World, Honors French 3 etc. </p>

<p>Her prof suggested that she learn more chemistry after she began asking more questions about zinc fingers, since his work really combines biology, physics and chemistry.</p>

<p>So she found a used copy of the chem textbook used at her school and I bought it for her. She also found the problem sets that the teacher will assign next year online and is happily completing them. (This was her problem with Chemistry last year, it was too easy and she wasn’t challenged-these have actually made her work and so she’s happy).</p>

<p>She’s also studying logic for fun and is considering doing physics and calculus. This is a bit surprising to me because she used to slack off quite often during the school year (she was smart enough to still maintain good grades, but this is really the first time that she’s really enjoying studying-before she kind of hated it (study an hour before the test, absorb the info and do fine), so I’m being as encouraging as possible.</p>

<p>My only worry is that she might quite possibly finish the textbook and get bored during the class- which is what often causes her to slack off- being bored. </p>

<p>Last year in Honors Chemistry, she’d already learned quite a bit of it in 7th grade (accelerated program-she really learned and absorbed it-synthesizes info) so it wasn’t much of a challenge.
She said that she would totally zone out during class, just because the teacher was so dull.</p>

<p>However, on the other hand in Global History, she tended to go ahead and ask questions a lot and was a very engaged student in that class. </p>

<p>I don’t want her to start zoning out again, especially when the teacher is said to be incredibly nice and a good teacher.
Of course, she could go either way with it and end up participating a lot-I just don’t know with her! (Her last year’s chem teacher was a family friend, and apparently she just lectured a lot, so perhaps that was the problem…)</p>

<p>Should I ask her not to do the problem sets, or let her continue doing what she is now and ask her to be interactive when school starts and just hope for the best?</p>

<p>Suggestions anyone? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>If my D was motivated enough to study over the summer, I sure wouldn’t discourage her. </p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

3

<p>Sometimes it works the other way - if one has at least an introductory knowledge beforehand then when it’s discussed again later more of it ‘clicks’ and it makes even more sense. She may also end up with a ‘deeper’ knowledge of it than the other students as a result. If she wants to do this I’d be pretty happy about it and support it as you have.</p>

4

<p>There’s enough material that I don’t think she’ll be bored even if she studies ahead in Chemistry. If she is bored, suggest that she ask the teacher for extra work. D1 didn’t study ahead but sailed through the class. Her instructor gave her extra-challenging questions when she finished the regular assignments early.</p>

5

<p>If your daughter is curious and motivated, I would let her pursue the subjects at her own pace and find challenges in other ways. If she finds the material too easy or the pace too slow, she can ask her teacher for additional work.</p>

<p>My son studied ahead in both physics and chem. He thought his sophomore honors chem class was too slow, so the following summer he bought a textbook and started working, mostly because of his own curiosity. This past year’s AP chem was not especially challenging for him, so he decided to participate in USNCO, which was a significant challenge and a great experience. His chem teacher helped him to work on several past USNCO labs to prepare for the national exam. Many students find that the typical classroom curriculum is not sufficient and look for other ways to dig deeper into a subject.</p>