Dropping orchestra to do two languages in high school?

[Anonymous]

DD is in eighth grade and announced today that she wants to drop orchestra in high school and learn French. She has been doing Spanish since fifth grade so will continue with that, but she now says she wants to do both languages.

I hate to see her drop orchestra because she enjoys it (although she's not a star player in her instrument or anything). I think she'll be more well rounded to do orchestra and continue Spanish rather than add another language just because it sounds fun. But when I was in high school I didn't do languages or orchestra so I don't know what the implications of this are.

Is doing two languages in high school considered a bad idea? Do colleges look on this unfavorably versus someone who is more well rounded?

[Anonymous]

If she's not into it, let her drop orchestra. Language skills could be a professional asset, mediocre aptitude on an instrument she doesn't love won't matter.

[Anonymous]

I would not force orchestra but can she just do French or Spanish outside school instead?

[Anonymous]

I'm a big believer in allowing kids to follow their interests, so I'd let her do it. Ironically, I did the opposite, and let my kid take one less academic class this year to fit in extra music.

But if she likes it, and if she doesn't have a lot of other extracurriculars, maybe she'd want to join a community ensemble or take private or group lessons on her instrument. I'd only do this if she wanted to, and if it wouldn't be overwhelming. If she's got other outside priorities I think it's fine to drop the instrument altogether.

[Anonymous]

If she enjoys Orchestra, I would encourage her to stick with it.

She can take a second language on her own time or use DuoLingo.

Orchestra/Band can be a fun class and a good way to meet other kids.

[Anonymous]

I am the PP at 19:24 and just wanted to say that you don't have to make this choice now.

She'll need one arts class to graduate, so she could take

Science
Social Studies
English
Math
French
Spanish
Orchestra

in 9th and then decide which of the 3 (French, Spanish, Orchestra) she wants to drop in 10th to make room for other requirements. If she moves health and tech to online/summer, which is easy to do, she could keep all 3 for multiple years.

[Anonymous]

I can’t see how a second language would be bad. In many fields this could be an asset later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP at 19:24 and just wanted to say that you don't have to make this choice now.

She'll need one arts class to graduate, so she could take

Science
Social Studies
English
Math
French
Spanish
Orchestra

in 9th and then decide which of the 3 (French, Spanish, Orchestra) she wants to drop in 10th to make room for other requirements. If she moves health and tech to online/summer, which is easy to do, she could keep all 3 for multiple years.

OP here. Thank you so much for typing this up! This is really helpful. Didn't even realize this way above was an option. I agree with all of the PPs that this needs to be her choice.

Thank you everyone!

[Anonymous]

Mine had to drop orchestra to accommodate class schedules for the IB diploma, but joined a community orchestra so she could continue playing.

And she plans to play in the pit orchestra for the school musical in the spring, so she gets to be involved in the musical community at school in some capacity, at least. That’s an after-school activity, so it doesn’t involve adjusting her class schedule to accommodate.

[Anonymous]

I would have her do a year of orchestra to get the final arts credit out of the way. Then let her decide.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all this input!

[Anonymous]

If my child had an academic interest, at that age I’d let her pursue it. And if she prefers it to orchestra, that’s fine. A million kids play in a school orchestra. Dropping it is not going to keep her from getting into a good school. But knowing two languages besides English may be a real advantage.

[Anonymous]

Orch and 2nd lang are both great options. Encourage her to go with her interests. Mine was very committed to orchestra, but, like another PP, she couldn't sign up 1 year due to a conflict with math. Stayed involved with after school rehearsals and came back the next year. I think colleges would see either option as valuable.

[Anonymous]

Good advice keeping orchestra for 9th to get the arts credit. She will need one eventually unless she does one of the summer options..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is in eighth grade and announced today that she wants to drop orchestra in high school and learn French. She has been doing Spanish since fifth grade so will continue with that, but she now says she wants to do both languages.

I hate to see her drop orchestra because she enjoys it (although she's not a star player in her instrument or anything). I think she'll be more well rounded to do orchestra and continue Spanish rather than add another language just because it sounds fun. But when I was in high school I didn't do languages or orchestra so I don't know what the implications of this are.

Is doing two languages in high school considered a bad idea? Do colleges look on this unfavorably versus someone who is more well rounded?

My DC is into music and quit French and Spanish and kept orchestra. I think it comes down to what you child enjoys. The person who mentioned arts credit is correct. For many students, orchestra can balance a child's schedule with a class that doesn't have a lot of homework.

I suggest you talk with her daughter, explain the graduation requirements, show her what qualifies as arts credit and let her decide whether she wants to get that credit from orchestra or another arts course.