I would actually teach them the derivative so they can check their work in pre-calc.

When I was taking AP calculus, I was taking AP physics at the same time. Kept acing tests because I knew the short cuts to check the long hand work.

There is no point in teaching a concept in its hardest form first. Better to give the confidence first through shortcuts and then go back and dig into the details.

Plus I would give the concept of derivatives the context of physics because otherwise finding the slope of a point seems pretty pointless and unrelated to life.

[khanacademy.org]

[thattutorguy.com]

[www-math.mit.edu]