DC can’t get full IB because foreign language

[Anonymous]

“That’s one of the problems with IB,”

It’s not really an IB problem. Colleges prefer to see 4 years of the same language not 1 or 2 years of one and 2 or 3 years of another, even if you’re not in IB.

This kid could have fixed the issue and done the IB diploma if they’d gotten on top of it soon enough. They didn’t, and that’s not an IB problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“That’s one of the problems with IB,”

It’s not really an IB problem. Colleges prefer to see 4 years of the same language not 1 or 2 years of one and 2 or 3 years of another, even if you’re not in IB.

This kid could have fixed the issue and done the IB diploma if they’d gotten on top of it soon enough. They didn’t, and that’s not an IB problem.

Not really, plenty of top colleges require 2 or 3, especially if a STEM major.

If FL is not your strength, IB is not going to be helpful. You’ll have to choose between diploma and ranking your GOA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

Maybe the school does the IB MYP (Middle Years Program), which goes up to 10th grade. The DP (Diploma Program) is grades 11-12.

OP, did your son do the MYP program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take the IB classes to get the college credits, grades and overall rigor matter more than the actual IB diploma. This also allows him to skip TOK, CAS, and the extended essay if he wants. Make up for it with an extra HL class or two.

This. Not having the certificate won’t make him any less competitive. He should focus on the classes and grades to be competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“That’s one of the problems with IB,”

It’s not really an IB problem. Colleges prefer to see 4 years of the same language not 1 or 2 years of one and 2 or 3 years of another, even if you’re not in IB.

This kid could have fixed the issue and done the IB diploma if they’d gotten on top of it soon enough. They didn’t, and that’s not an IB problem.

I think that rising Juniors are going to be the last cohort where FL progression was messed up due to Covid. My DC is a rising SR and has 2 different languages because learning a FL over PowerPoint, with no speaking interaction, for levels 1-2 during Covid was ineffective. Then they were expected to keep up with the normal sequence and take year 3 as if they had gotten a normal curriculum the past 2 years. Many kids opted to start fresh with a new language and do the 2 and 2 route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

You have to have 5 years of a language to earn the IB diploma and it has to be the same language. This is something that any Counselor at a school sending kids to an IB school should be telling parents. Any Counselor at an IB HS should be making sure that kids and parents are wll aware of this.

It sounds like OP’s kid had 2 years of a language in MS and got a B in the third year of the language at HS. The student was more worried about the letter grade and switched languages as a Sophomore. Now they can only get 3 years in the same language which makes them ineligible for the IB Diploma. Mom says she was not paying close enough attention due to issues at the time and has just realized this. The Counselor should have been that conversation with the student when it happened. We don’t know if the student was told that and ignored it or if the student wasn’t told that. Either way, the language requirement is something that sinks a decent number of kids for the IB Diploma.

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

You have to have 5 years of a language to earn the IB diploma and it has to be the same language. This is something that any Counselor at a school sending kids to an IB school should be telling parents. Any Counselor at an IB HS should be making sure that kids and parents are wll aware of this.

It sounds like OP’s kid had 2 years of a language in MS and got a B in the third year of the language at HS. The student was more worried about the letter grade and switched languages as a Sophomore. Now they can only get 3 years in the same language which makes them ineligible for the IB Diploma. Mom says she was not paying close enough attention due to issues at the time and has just realized this. The Counselor should have been that conversation with the student when it happened. We don’t know if the student was told that and ignored it or if the student wasn’t told that. Either way, the language requirement is something that sinks a decent number of kids for the IB Diploma.

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

+1 this is one reason we don’t rely on counselors for anything

[Anonymous]

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

Another problem at Carson is kids coming from Fox Mill did Japanese, but the Japanese teachers at RCMS and SLHS are very bad, and unless you are one of the kids who speaks Japanese at home, these teachers will actively drive kids away from wanting to speak Japanese. Then they are challenged if they want to switch languages in 8th or 9th grade. The only way around it is to do a summer class in the new language.

I haven’t seen any diploma numbers at SLHS. There aren’t that many kids there trying to do IB, but the ones who start generally finish as far as I can tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

You have to have 5 years of a language to earn the IB diploma and it has to be the same language. This is something that any Counselor at a school sending kids to an IB school should be telling parents. Any Counselor at an IB HS should be making sure that kids and parents are wll aware of this.

It sounds like OP’s kid had 2 years of a language in MS and got a B in the third year of the language at HS. The student was more worried about the letter grade and switched languages as a Sophomore. Now they can only get 3 years in the same language which makes them ineligible for the IB Diploma. Mom says she was not paying close enough attention due to issues at the time and has just realized this. The Counselor should have been that conversation with the student when it happened. We don’t know if the student was told that and ignored it or if the student wasn’t told that. Either way, the language requirement is something that sinks a decent number of kids for the IB Diploma.

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

+1 this is one reason we don’t rely on counselors for anything

We had the same conversation with one of the counselors at Robinson when my daughter transferred there for 8th grade. I knew about it from reading this board so I was insistent that she take a world language. Counselor told us "Of course it's not a requirement to start a language in 8th, what would the kids do who are coming from schools outside the county who don't have the opportunity to take a language in middle school." That's a direct quote. I tried to tell him about the 5 years for the diploma and he said I had misunderstood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

Another problem at Carson is kids coming from Fox Mill did Japanese, but the Japanese teachers at RCMS and SLHS are very bad, and unless you are one of the kids who speaks Japanese at home, these teachers will actively drive kids away from wanting to speak Japanese. Then they are challenged if they want to switch languages in 8th or 9th grade. The only way around it is to do a summer class in the new language.

I haven’t seen any diploma numbers at SLHS. There aren’t that many kids there trying to do IB, but the ones who start generally finish as far as I can tell.

That really sucks. My DC went to Langston Hughes, which does the MYP, and almost everyone does the 1A/1B route in 7th & 8th to get a year under their belt. Or, since the school are on the same campus, 8th graders could walk over to the SLHS and take the HS course in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

You have to have 5 years of a language to earn the IB diploma and it has to be the same language. This is something that any Counselor at a school sending kids to an IB school should be telling parents. Any Counselor at an IB HS should be making sure that kids and parents are wll aware of this.

It sounds like OP’s kid had 2 years of a language in MS and got a B in the third year of the language at HS. The student was more worried about the letter grade and switched languages as a Sophomore. Now they can only get 3 years in the same language which makes them ineligible for the IB Diploma. Mom says she was not paying close enough attention due to issues at the time and has just realized this. The Counselor should have been that conversation with the student when it happened. We don’t know if the student was told that and ignored it or if the student wasn’t told that. Either way, the language requirement is something that sinks a decent number of kids for the IB Diploma.

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

+1 this is one reason we don’t rely on counselors for anything

We had the same conversation with one of the counselors at Robinson when my daughter transferred there for 8th grade. I knew about it from reading this board so I was insistent that she take a world language. Counselor told us "Of course it's not a requirement to start a language in 8th, what would the kids do who are coming from schools outside the county who don't have the opportunity to take a language in middle school." That's a direct quote. I tried to tell him about the 5 years for the diploma and he said I had misunderstood.

Lol. Some of the counselors are truly morons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought students only started IB courses in 11th grade? But yes, language is a big part of IB.

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

We had a similar problem at Frost where DD was LIV going back to Annandale which is IB. The counselors and principal were utterly uninterested in making sure students slated for AHS were well prepared for the IB program. I eventually contacted Megan McGlothlin and she raised the issue up the pipeline and made some progress in ensuring that students who were not attending Woodson had a separate meeting with an IB counselor in 7th grade. We knew from friends with older siblings about the language requirement or I would have been blindsided. I wanted to ensure all LIV students returning to AHS were prepared since they were highly likely to pursue the IB diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

Another problem at Carson is kids coming from Fox Mill did Japanese, but the Japanese teachers at RCMS and SLHS are very bad, and unless you are one of the kids who speaks Japanese at home, these teachers will actively drive kids away from wanting to speak Japanese. Then they are challenged if they want to switch languages in 8th or 9th grade. The only way around it is to do a summer class in the new language.

I haven’t seen any diploma numbers at SLHS. There aren’t that many kids there trying to do IB, but the ones who start generally finish as far as I can tell.

My middle child, a 2024 grad, had a very positive experience with Japanese at South Lakes. He was not an immersion student, so I was worried, especially as I had only studied Romance languages myself, so would be no help. Through his Japanese work at SLHS, and the encouragement of his teacher, he was nominated for and attended governor’s world languages academy for Japanese last summer. He’s starting college next year majoring in Asian studies. Japanese was his strongest teacher connection in high school. Just sharing another experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

Another problem at Carson is kids coming from Fox Mill did Japanese, but the Japanese teachers at RCMS and SLHS are very bad, and unless you are one of the kids who speaks Japanese at home, these teachers will actively drive kids away from wanting to speak Japanese. Then they are challenged if they want to switch languages in 8th or 9th grade. The only way around it is to do a summer class in the new language.

I haven’t seen any diploma numbers at SLHS. There aren’t that many kids there trying to do IB, but the ones who start generally finish as far as I can tell.

My middle child, a 2024 grad, had a very positive experience with Japanese at South Lakes. He was not an immersion student, so I was worried, especially as I had only studied Romance languages myself, so would be no help. Through his Japanese work at SLHS, and the encouragement of his teacher, he was nominated for and attended governor’s world languages academy for Japanese last summer. He’s starting college next year majoring in Asian studies. Japanese was his strongest teacher connection in high school. Just sharing another experience.

There is one notoriously bad Japanese teacher there who has caused more than one kid to quit. Your son must have had a different one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know parents whose kids are going to an SLHS from Carson who have not been told about the IB requirement and are upset when they learn about it as Freshmen or Sophomores. The Carson literature on language that I saw for rising 7th graders mentioned the IB requirement on the backside of the language info sheet that was given out. It was one line and not highlighted. The video that was released for rising 7th graders encouraged kids to not take a foreign language in 7th grade, because it was a high school class, and strongly suggested that waiting until 9th grade was a good idea for most students. It did not mention that kids going to SLHS need to start the language in 8th grade if they think they want to earn the IB Diploma. I would bet that the language requirement and the crap Counseling from Carson is a part of the reason why IB Diploma numbers at SLHS are low.

Another problem at Carson is kids coming from Fox Mill did Japanese, but the Japanese teachers at RCMS and SLHS are very bad, and unless you are one of the kids who speaks Japanese at home, these teachers will actively drive kids away from wanting to speak Japanese. Then they are challenged if they want to switch languages in 8th or 9th grade. The only way around it is to do a summer class in the new language.

I haven’t seen any diploma numbers at SLHS. There aren’t that many kids there trying to do IB, but the ones who start generally finish as far as I can tell.

My middle child, a 2024 grad, had a very positive experience with Japanese at South Lakes. He was not an immersion student, so I was worried, especially as I had only studied Romance languages myself, so would be no help. Through his Japanese work at SLHS, and the encouragement of his teacher, he was nominated for and attended governor’s world languages academy for Japanese last summer. He’s starting college next year majoring in Asian studies. Japanese was his strongest teacher connection in high school. Just sharing another experience.

We are a Fox Mill family. Most of my friends who have kids at Carson and SLHS that have been in JI have had good experiences. The main tip that we have been given is to practice the Hiragana and Katikana over the summer entering 7th grade. A few people have complained about the Teacher but most of the kids seem to have positive experiences. The Japanese Teacher at Carson has said that the biggest problem is that too many kids from JI do not go in knowing the alphabets well enough and that gets them off on a bad foot. So DS is going to be practicing his alphabets over the summer. He has some friends who are fluent in Japanese who I think can help if he needs it. We will see how it goes.

I do know kids who have received the same information and are choosing to start a different language in 7th or 8th grade. They know they need the 5 years to be able to earn the IB Diploma. It seems like the kids who are not in JI are the families less familiar with the language requirement. I suspect it is something that is mentioned in JI in ES and in MS but not necessarily discussed for kids in the non-JI classes.