Electives in Middle school

[Anonymous]

Hi All,
DD is in Grade 6 and soon we will be discussing Middle school electives to the school counselor. So before going in for discussions I want to know more about it so that it can help us to discuss and ask important questions. we are first generation family doesn't know a lot about the school system here, so please help us .would love to get info regarding it.
I have heard some take one world language and one music ie., Two year long electives which make them earn credits .Few others take semester electives to try their interest areas such as Computers ,theaters .I would like to know which would be best to opt for in order to gain high school credits . Please pour in your suggestions .Thanks in Advance.

[Anonymous]

The only HS courses in MS are the year long foreign language classes and Algebra 1/Geometry. Let your child take a look at the options and choose what they want. Electives are the fun part of the day. DS is taking a language and engineering. Engineering is his favorite class.

[Anonymous]

Coding & Innov Tech is great elective for those passionate about stem computer science.

For Math, Algebra-2 HN is also an option. Discuss with counselor.

[Anonymous]

OP here . Thanks for the information. May I know how GPA is calculated for those high school credit courses - foreign language and Algebra 1 HNS . Is it based on SOL.scores ?

[Anonymous]

Gpa is based on the grade you get in the class. So if your child takes a high school level course (algebra or a full year language class) that grade will be on their high school transcript and used to calculate their high school gpa.

[Anonymous]

You should let your kid find out information about electives. Land the helicopter. Let your child fly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should let your kid find out information about electives. Land the helicopter. Let your child fly.

What electives did your child fly to: tiktok, instagram, or video games?

[Anonymous]

Many of my sons friends have enjoyed the home ec class, I don’t remember what it is called now. The theatre elective sounds great. A good number are benefiting from the study skills class. Band is popular but there are a ton of after school obligations if kids want to go on the field trip to Kings Dominion. Orchestra has fewer after school obligations but there were still a good number.

DS participated in language immersion in ES. About half of the kids who participated are taking the language in MS. The other half have dispersed to other electives, a few are taking a different year long language.

We let DS choose his electives. He selected the language because he liked the challenge, liked the idea of having one class where he would know everyone, and understood that it might open up space for electives in HS. He choose engineering because it sounded cool and he had a friend whose sibling loved it. We were fine with any number of the electives but liked the engineering and the computer science class options because of our child’s interests and just generally good things to learn.

It is MS, not everything has to be intense academics. It is ok for kids to have a more fun elective. The only kids who really need to worry about having a foreign language in MS are kids attending an IB HS who might need 5 years of a foreign language to earn the IB Diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here . Thanks for the information. May I know how GPA is calculated for those high school credit courses - foreign language and Algebra 1 HNS . Is it based on SOL.scores ?

Only take HS courses if child is comfortable with the courses, especially Math and stem related. Algebra1 and Geometry were easy As for both DCs, but younger DC was on accelerated path and had A in Algebra 2 as well. For elective, both took Computer Science by their own interest and their friends influence.

[Anonymous]

As a kid who went through this a few years ago, it really depends on what they like to do. I can think of a few pointers though:
- Since they're going into 7th the language won't count towards their HS diploma - only 8th and above does.
- I did Orchestra and I know people who did Chorus, Theatre, and Band, doing some sort of music is very fun (and looks good on college applications), but if they don't want to do it, just don't force it.
- If your kid got into Algebra (pass advanced on the SOL, 91st percentile or higher on the IOWA), make sure they're ready for it. Algebra is a challenging course even for gifted kids, and, if they're not ready, it can end very badly. I took it and got a B+, and while I'm happy I did it, it was very stressful. Geometry will be way easier than Algebra.
- I've heard great things about Home EC, and while I didn't take it, a lot of people who did it liked it.

Overall, don't push your kid into things they're not ready for. You can start worrying about college and life in their freshman year, but for now, helping them manage the transition from elementary to middle is the best thing you can do.

Also, about your high school credits question, Algebra 1 HN is the only class 7th graders can take which gives credits.

Hope this helped!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a kid who went through this a few years ago, it really depends on what they like to do. I can think of a few pointers though:
- Since they're going into 7th the language won't count towards their HS diploma - only 8th and above does.
- I did Orchestra and I know people who did Chorus, Theatre, and Band, doing some sort of music is very fun (and looks good on college applications), but if they don't want to do it, just don't force it.
- If your kid got into Algebra (pass advanced on the SOL, 91st percentile or higher on the IOWA), make sure they're ready for it. Algebra is a challenging course even for gifted kids, and, if they're not ready, it can end very badly. I took it and got a B+, and while I'm happy I did it, it was very stressful. Geometry will be way easier than Algebra.
- I've heard great things about Home EC, and while I didn't take it, a lot of people who did it liked it.

Overall, don't push your kid into things they're not ready for. You can start worrying about college and life in their freshman year, but for now, helping them manage the transition from elementary to middle is the best thing you can do.

Also, about your high school credits question, Algebra 1 HN is the only class 7th graders can take which gives credits.

Hope this helped!

This iw weird and wrong.
Language taken in 7th or 8th in an FCPS MS is a high school level class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a kid who went through this a few years ago, it really depends on what they like to do. I can think of a few pointers though:
- Since they're going into 7th the language won't count towards their HS diploma - only 8th and above does.
- I did Orchestra and I know people who did Chorus, Theatre, and Band, doing some sort of music is very fun (and looks good on college applications), but if they don't want to do it, just don't force it.
- If your kid got into Algebra (pass advanced on the SOL, 91st percentile or higher on the IOWA), make sure they're ready for it. Algebra is a challenging course even for gifted kids, and, if they're not ready, it can end very badly. I took it and got a B+, and while I'm happy I did it, it was very stressful. Geometry will be way easier than Algebra.
- I've heard great things about Home EC, and while I didn't take it, a lot of people who did it liked it.

Overall, don't push your kid into things they're not ready for. You can start worrying about college and life in their freshman year, but for now, helping them manage the transition from elementary to middle is the best thing you can do.

Also, about your high school credits question, Algebra 1 HN is the only class 7th graders can take which gives credits.

Hope this helped!

This iw weird and wrong.
Language taken in 7th or 8th in an FCPS MS is a high school level class.

It depends, this is the first year that Carson has offered Spanish and French to 7th graders that counts towards high school credit. The Department Chair was clear that in the past kids only got credit for 8th grade foreign languages. I know some MSs had 7th and 8th grade programs before Carson did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This iw weird and wrong.
Language taken in 7th or 8th in an FCPS MS is a high school level class.

At least in my middle school, 7th grade language doesn't give any high school credits. Only 8th grade does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This iw weird and wrong.
Language taken in 7th or 8th in an FCPS MS is a high school level class.

At least in my middle school, 7th grade language doesn't give any high school credits. Only 8th grade does.

At Frost you have to go through a process in order to be able to take Spanish/French 1 (credit bearing) instead of 1A (not credit bearing). They highly discouraged taking 1A.

[Anonymous]

DD7th grader chose orchestra plus 2 other semester courses she’s interested; one of her friends chose world language plus 2 other semester courses she liked. I heard world language would be hard so I didn’t want to stress DD, and she didn’t want to take during MS anyways. However, if your child’s already good at another language, just take the world language exam for credit.