unusual apprentice training

Why is that?
We are talking about character advancement in game, not pre-game character generation.

Child characters aren't even allowed to take XP-granting virtues like Educated or Warrior.

Thread resurrected by spam, I know, but I didn’t see this the first time it came around and there’s something that bothers me about the fosterage discussion because it seems ignored even by the author of that bit in HoH:TL.

There is nothing saying the season of instruction must be within a year of the last season of instruction, just that every year of apprenticeship include one season of instruction by the Parens. So say we are on a calendar year because the arts were opened in Spring, when ready for their fosterage the Parens could teach the apprentice in Spring one year then winter the next which leaves six seasons to send them away for a year of fosterage without failing in their requirement to spend a season teaching their apprentice. Fosterage does not seem be even the minor snag in following the Code that it is pointed out to be. This seems to be how they work out Gild training as that doesn’t have any code issues mentioned and also is a year long training, usually, somewhere else.

Another interesting thing about fostering not touched on is that it is a year of teaching. So both fostered apprentices get eight seasons of straight teaching. If you combine that with a mandatory one teaching per calendar year, each apprentice will receive at least 22 seasons of instruction.

You could finagle it so that each Master instructs their apprentice at least once in every calendar year fairly easily even with that two year block of instruction. It would just have to start on the second or third season of a year, with the first to send their apprentice out teaching them in a season before they leave.

Apprentices are generally constantly busy and do not really have free time to study in, unless they have the appropriate Virtue(s). This sounds like a situation that might well develop such a virtue.

But it doesn’t develop the virtue, it just gives more xp in a year through seasonal advancement. Yes, that may be equivalent to the virtue in some respects but it is not a virtue and does not cost a virtue point for the character to receive that benefit in game.

It could (and I would argue would) result in the Skilled Parens virtue if done during abstract apprenticeship. If done during a full time tracked apprenticeship then it would just result in extra XP.

My mistake; I think I remembering an earlier edition virtue that gave an extra season of study.

This sort of situation could still be used to justify an extra xp virtue.

The quality "no fatigue" eliminates the need to sleep or rest giving the character an effective 2 extra seasons a year. This is generally for those with magical might though... (unless someone gets it as a positive twilight scar or something..)

Wouldn't the "No Fatigue" Quality cause issues with things like Spontaneous Magic? The lack of fatigue would result in having to spend a Confidence Point to perform the more powerful effects.

Well since having magic might is a requisit to having the no fatigue quality at that point you are running magic from your might pool rather than hermetically...