@apraxiamom – it’s a good thing this is an anonymous forum … because that’s considered a felony offense here in GA and public admissions on an internet forum are considered as evidence at trial! 
@melvin123 I just checked and D18’s teacher had them 3-4 days a week for 1-2 hours each time. These optional, but helpful sessions have been going on for well over a month. I don’t think we could have survived anything outside of the ordinary being mandatory at this point 
Nothing extra for Calc BC here. I wish there was!
@melvin123 at our school you either take AP CAL AB or AP CAL BC not both like some schools, but pre AP CAL is required for AP CAL BC and it’s bear! There were NEVER any extra mandatory sessions I think there were a few optional study sessions but my kids never did them (two oldest both got 5s and DS20 will take AP CAL BC this year). I don’t see why the teacher can’t cover the material in the regular school day/year.
@melvin123, nothing extra for AP Calc at my son’s school, as far as I know, which means there may have been some optional study sessions. (Senioritis hit my son big time this year. In the past, he really would have been stressing about any grade below an A, but he currently has a B in AP Calc.)
@melvin123, agree kudos to the teacher but she/he also will get recognition if students do well on the AP Calculus test. Not sure it is necessary to have all those review sessions, but my guess is that most students need the review in order to do well. Hard to be motivated to study for the AP Calculus test when there are three or four graduation parties this weekend already! Not sure my S has “senioritis” per say, but he is so ready for high school to be done!
@pickledginger, a B in AP Calc second semester senior year is respectable!
It would be awesome if DS had a teacher for Calc BC, extra study sessions or not. He is the only BC student this year so it is an independent study. Online at his own pace. He needs to get at least a 4 to get college credit. Hoping he pulls it off! He isn’t stressing about it too much since AB credit is enough for Bio major and pre med at U of L. If he adds Chemistry major or minor it would be needed though.
Last AP test. That has to be a good feeling.
Our AP Calc teacher does have extra tutorials on Saturdays on a fairly regular basis. I think 2 were mandatory. AP Euro teacher also does Saturday tutorials the month before the exam. DD is off to one this afternoon in fact. Both of my kids really enjoyed the tutorials on Saturdays. They said they were more laid back and covered material more in depth. I am sure the food the teachers bring is an added bonus. Last week the AP Calc teacher brought in homemade vietnamese eggrolls and fried rice.
S is taking it online through Georgia Virtual. He’s been offered extra links and supplemental materials through the course. I also bought him a prep book and he’s been reviewing concepts, practice problems on his own.
S’s high school had their talent show last night, and S took second place with a monologue he wrote and performed himself.
He won $75. 
Starting to look at Graduation Party invitations. I did a couple of mock-ups at Vistaprint, I’ll see whether I can get her to weigh in tonight-- between her arrival home from work and my exit for Sports Night at my school.
My son was so much easier-- for him, an invitation was just an invitation. For her, it’s a personal statement, lol.
Oh @LOUKYDAD and @apraxiamom I feel so sorry for your kids that they didn’t have a live teacher. I think on-line or self-study is exponentially harder.
@labegg my D hasn’t been complaining about all these prep sessions, and since she’s not going to get any benefit at her college from taking this AP, I bet you’re onto something with the good food!
Thanks guys for your comments. It’s really interesting to see how different schools handle things. It seems from your comments that this is a subject that really benefits from these extra sessions, but it would be nicer if it were voluntary rather than mandatory. I’m sure the teacher was worried about Senioritis, and she is impacted if the kids bomb the test, so I can see why she’d make attendance mandatory. Anyway, it was really just curiosity for me since my kid seems not to mind (even though she has 4 other APs), and the other AP teachers seem not to mind, so no reason for me to mind.
Well, the hubs is headed off on a week-long backpacking trip, something he hasn’t done since his teens or early 20s. He’s going with a buddy of his, and he’s spent the last several months making sure he’s in shape for it. I hope it’s a great experience for him, but I’m also just a tad bit worried. I hope I get him back!
@melvin123 making the sessions mandatory seems wrong to me, especially that many hours worth. I don’t think any of my kids’ teachers have had any extra AP sessions, mandatory or not. Our kids have done Algebra 2 in 9th, preCalc in 10th, Calc AB in 11th and Calc BC in 12th.
DD’s Calc BC class is 6 students, who all took AB last year. This is the first year the school has offered BC, and only because the stars aligned. It’s common for the AP teachers to have cram cessions, but this teacher gets in every morning early with Chick-Fil-A, so I think he feels he offers enough! Last year D and her friends were tearing their hair out, after the test they realized he had prepared them well. So no complaints :)>-
Happy Mother’s Day to my CC friends! Wishing you all a great day! :x
@apraxiamom, @Melvin123 and @Loukydad, @labegg , several students have taken online classes this past year at my son’s high school with mixed results. I agree a live teacher for calculus is ideal, but some students are able to be successful online. It probably takes more discipline to maintain the pace, without the daily class and teacher.
As far as mandatory review sessions, S had an AP teacher last year who offered extra credit for attending the review sessions. Consequently, all the serious students showed up! S would also love to get a 4 this week on AP Calc.The Vietnamese rolls and chicken treats sound like a great motivator too, but not having to take math 101 freshman year in college is also motivating!
@DiotimaDM, that’s great that your husband gets to go backpacking with his buddy. Does that mean all us dads get to take a week male bonding trip after the high school graduation cermony? I think I’ll look into airfares to the Bahamas over backbacking. Hope he makes it back safely!
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
@Nomorelurker, I agree that a student has to be disciplined and a self starter. Fingers crossed for everyone!
@Nomorelurker I consider my D to be disciplined and a self-starter, yet when she took an on-line class she hated it and really felt like she got so much less out of it than a live class. It’s definitely not for everyone, that’s for sure. The only thing I want to add to this is that I really hope that some high schools won’t use on-line options as a way of avoiding hiring additional teachers in order to satisfy the educational needs of certain kids. Sorry, one more thing. My D has gone to both under-funded, underserved schools, and her current well-funded HS that really supports its kids and provides unbelievable opportunities to them. I’m so grateful to be in a school that doesn’t skimp on its teachers or class offerings. It really makes a tremendous difference.
DS has 2 AP tests this week, AP Biology and AP Calculus BC. There have not been any extra study sessions that I know of, but he has been doing practice tests the last 2 weeks for Calculus. Teacher is good and has been using class time and homework to prepare them. DS will be an Applied Mathematics major so he does not plan to use his Calculus AP credit anyway.
Good luck to everyone on the final week(s) of high school!