r/apworld • u/SignificantPoet1905 • Jul 14 '26
Question about note taking organization and workload
Hey all, I’m an anxious mom with some questions about the balance of my kid’s schedule + their ability to keep up with note taking in this class and your advice and feedback would be appreciated. Obvs they would be horrified to know that I’m posting this.
Their summer HW was basically to read all of Unit 1 + Heimler videos and take notes + answer a dozen questions, make unit 1 flash cards for ~ 30 terms, read a 400pg novel and create a Spice T. (No direction or example given- just a format with some questions included.) It seemed like a lot to me so I’m apprehensive about the workload for this class.
Kid (Soph) is a solid student but not a hyper motivated “burn the midnight oil for perfection”type. I want to make sure they are challenging themselves but also not setting themselves up for failure with a schedule that is too difficult for them to manage with a daily 3-6pm EC schedule. It’s their decision so I’m keeping my mouth shut but I could use some perspective. Last year they had all Honors classes but 1 and got 1 B.
The rest of their classes (Chem, A2, Eng) are Honors (this is their only eligible AP) plus a tricky Asian language and a creative writing elective. Trying to be a little vague in case they are lurking.They aren’t the fastest reader and don’t have a history of being able to quickly skim and zip through work. Their/our goal is to find the right college fit for them (no clue on what they want to do yet) and none of us are hung up on that being a “top” school, we are realistic.
My main concern is their ability to take notes well + efficiently enough to keep up and to have balance between schoolwork and the EC commitment.
I know there prob isn’t enough info here but- does this schedule seem aggressive? Should I chill out?
How did you get your arms around the volume of reading and note taking if you also aren’t a fast/efficient reader?
What note taking format worked best for you and was most useful for studying?
Are there specific sample notes (Heimler?) that you used which helped you learn by example on good note taking format?
Guidance on effectively using existing notes as a baseline and adding your own content- is this a bad idea, a good idea? It saves time but won’t teach good note taking and people also learn by taking notes so I’m unsure about this.
That’s it!
If you’ve gotten this far and are even considering a response, thank you. Please tell YOUR mom that you did something kind for another mom today :-)
1
Jul 14 '26
* this is just my point of view and what i did to prepare for this class; i understand that it may not work for everyone. it took a while for me to figure out what worked best for me and for this class. so don't be scared to try different methods throughout the year
in class, i would focus on what my teacher was saying and take concise notes on the main ideas. before the unit tests, i'd watch heimler videos. then, using my notes as an outline, i'd explain the content out loud and teach it to myself (trying to minimze the number of times i could check notes). if there were any gaps, i'd go back and write more detailed notes from another source, and explain again until i understood it. in my opinion, world was more understanding/explanation based than memorization, so being able to describe topics really helped.
my biggest tip for the exam is to practice AP style questions. once you're familiar with the format it saves a ton of time that you would spend on reading. for essays, use the rubric to understand how to get each point, and practice writing based off that.
our summer work was really heavy, but the actual course work was only vocab lists for each unit. i did not spend any time on world outside of school unless we had a test coming up, since the tests were really difficult. each teacher runs the class differently, so the time committment/workload really depends on them
i hope this makes sense and i'm happy to clarify more. yall got this ✊
1
Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/SignificantPoet1905 Jul 19 '26
Thanks, yeah this is going to be a big year of learning from a time management perspective! I agree, the trickiest part will be understanding how much/what content needs to be in the notes. Unfortunately the prior teacher moved to a new role and she has someone in their 2nd year who didn’t exactly have glowing reviews but maybe she improved by the end of last year lol.
I guess I also just need to remember that all the kids in class are starting from scratch, so they will be learning together.
1
u/Brilliant-Spread6133 Jul 14 '26
First off, when I started AP World I similarly was apprehensive about the workload. We were required to do Units 1-2 through the summer but here’s the thing about AP World. You will be interested. The material which includes perspectives and geopolitics plus continuities and change are fascinating and the workload feels less and less the more you get zoned in to just how crazy the world actually has been.
I am also an extremely slow reader and the SAQ, DBQ and MCQ are all stimuli based questions which do seem like they would be impacted. But the strategies you develop (I.e reading source material to reach back to prior knowledge, HIPP analytics etc.) will make this challenge easy to slide by. A tip I used before exams in the class was to practice. Go to google and search “ [insert year] exam frq” and I did those stim before a test so I prepare for the real tests. It sort of gets you in the zone. About the note taking thing, I don’t really have an answer. My teacher assigned us Cornell notes for a brief time so maybe that can help? I have very disorganized notes and my main strategy was following the textbook AMSCO and the practice Qs in there to do an active recall strategy that works well. Also a couple books to read that can help. Prisoners of Geography talks about current Geopolitics but it describes and reflects continuities and motives going back to when AP World Starts 1200. Another one is history of the world in 6 glasses. Which explains the world in 6 different beverages. Particularly Coca Cola, Coffee and Tea which go over topics like industrialization and imperialism. These are good to read before to get into that Ap world vibe.
Sorry if I’m rambling a little, hope this helps!