Rising 7th grader picking her own electives?

[Anonymous]

As someone else pointed out, it won't kill her to be in French instead of Spanish although you do need discuss it as a family and come to an agreement about what level of communication you expect to give and receive about her education choices.

I would like to give some different food for thought ... As the parent of college and high school students, I have seen that choices in language courses do have some impact on college courses.

In my day all students in college were not required to take language; however, both of our college students have been required by their school to take 3 semesters of language unless they tested out of 1 semester. Therefore, it behooves students in middle school and high school to have an eye on the future and recognize that there is a nice benefit for them if they are already well-prepared for those 3 semesters.

Who knew that a choice they/we made in middle school would still be with them/us their sophomore year in college? Our children fell into Spanish and there they have stayed but if we had had more clarity about it I think we might have encouraged other choices in high school (Latin, for example).

The time has passed for different choices for our high school and college students but we will be paying a lot more attention when our 6 year-old gets to the stage where he has a choice about the language that he takes.

Just wanted to give you a perspective from the other end of the spectrum ... I hope it helps. I don't know if there is a 'right' answer about the language choice but clearly both your daughter and husband have opinions on it and they need to discuss those opinions and reach an agreement for going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll side with your husband here. As a pp said, these choices and matter for high school pathways and most middle schoolers aren't thinking along those lines. If this is mcps, middle school foreign language classes go on your high school transcript. From the perspective of future college applications, I'm not sure it is the best path to switch languages after only one year - colleges want to see students stick with a language and master it at a high level, not switch year to year. If your school system doesn't have the same policy of counting middle school language classes toward high school (which is a ridiculous policy in my opinion), then I would be much less concerned about my child switching language choice but still would want to talk to her to make sure the choice was fully thought through. Also there are engineering/tech type electives one can take in my kids' mcps middle school that put you onto a certain pathway for classes in high school. So again, I just think that a child's middle school and even high school schedules need parent input and approval.

I agree that the courses should have been discussed (and our school requires parental signature on the course form so it has to happen). But, I disagree that there would be anything wrong with a middle schooler deciding to pursue a different language after one year of trying another. She should understand she now has to stick with the new one. But trying things out and changing course should be expected in MS. At our kids' MS, the 6th grade language course is called an "introduction" and then in 7th they take level 1 - it can be the same language or a different one if they disliked what they tried in the intro course. They could even switch again in 8th to a different level 1, although that starts to limit their HS elective options if they are planning to go through level 4 in one language.

[Anonymous]

It definitely should've been discussed although I agree with letting her choose, but after a complete and thorough talk about the pros and cons of her choices. I took french and looking back I really wish I'd done Spanish. Spanish is so much more useful these days! If she's good at it she could grow up to have a side gig as an interpreter. (Our court interpreters make pretty decent money where I live.) I never thought of those kinds of things when I was choosing classes. I was just like "ooh! Croissants and the Louvre! I love French stuff!" And it's turned out to be completely useless, lol. As a side note, I did take an italian course in college and Italian and Spanish are similar. Spanish could be a big help to branch out in learning other, similar languages.

[Anonymous]

Foreign language isn't really an elective
It should get, whatever degree of attention you are paying to her academics, the same.

[Anonymous]

I didn't care what my child chose! It's an elective! Sometimes kids choose them because they are interested and sometimes it's because they have friends in that elective. In the grand scheme of things who cares they're the ones who have to go to that class everyday not you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't care what my child chose! It's an elective! Sometimes kids choose them because they are interested and sometimes it's because they have friends in that elective. In the grand scheme of things who cares they're the ones who have to go to that class everyday not you.

Maybe things were different when and where your child was choosing electives. And students should be able to pick some electives just out of pure interest and fun. But if you look at what PPs above are saying, the choices can definitely matter in high school, especially when students later apply to certain colleges or programs; and it and can matter in middle school if the student wants to pursue certain paths through high school.

OP's child is only moving from sixth grade to seventh this fall, so the choices are not a big deal now, but OP and spouse and DD together will need to look at elective choices in coming grades, when it actually can matter in the larger scheme of things.

[Anonymous]

Middle school is absolutely the time to take electives that interest you. If she doesn't like French, she can switch to Spanish in high school. If she doesn't like drawing, maybe she'll take painting later on. Giving her some freedom here isn't going to harm her future in any way and may enrich it.

FWIW, I took French from 7th grade and into college. I work in international agribusiness and am the only fluent French speaker in the company. It has opened many doors for me and helped my progress. Spanish may seem practical, but it may not be as beneficial as you'd think.

[Anonymous]

I think it's fine for her to choose them on her own. I went to a public junior high that had no requirements whatsoever and I always picked all of my classes without parental input- in fact, we were encouraged to do so. We also had no grades- only page-long evaluations. I still think this was the best educational experience I've ever had - junior high is the time to experiment and, with all of the adolescence challenges, why not give kids a chance to "find themselves" and take some of the academic pressure off?

[Anonymous]

People usually learn a language or any subject much easier if they are interested in it and chose it for themselves. Your child exhibits great sense of independence and maturity and you should be proud of her that she knows what she wants.
There is nothing wrong with talking to her here and there and see where her head is, what direction she wants to go, what her plans are. This way you won't have surprises like this one you encountered.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised she didn't need your signature, but if the school has decided that's OK, back off.

Our school requires a signature, and my kid decided to drop band. I asked him about it ("Are you dropping it to take home ec? Because I can teach you what you'd learn in home ec, and my recipes are better"), but then I let it go.

They need to learn to make their own decisions. Start with the stuff that doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Mine are allowed to choose their own, and do not need my signature. I have no problem with it, because they need to be able to make their own choices as adults. They have free will, and a lot of common sense. I trust them to know what they want. I am not them and they are not me.

[Anonymous]

Looking back on it I don't think I consulted with my parents on this at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I are having a disagreement and I'd like your opinion.

Our 6th grade DD is in middle school and can pick 3 electives (language, band, art, computer programming, drama etc). When she was transitioning from elementary to Middle school we discussed with her her options, she chose which ones she was interested in and that's what she enrolled in.

This spring she went ahead and chose her 3 electives without consulting her father or I. Her father is upset that she didn't tell us she was choosing and thinks we should weigh in on her choices (he's upset she switched from Spanish to French). I think her choosing by herself is fine. I would have liked her to discuss it with us but I like she has some freedom at a young age (7th grade) and can learn from her choices. He is really upset with her for not talking with us first and wants to let her know she shouldn't have done that (and that we should weigh in on her choices).

Good thing is we decided to sleep on it and talk it through again before we talk with her. What do you think - should she have consulted us? Should she be able to choose on her own without us weighing in? TIA!

Is it a public school? If you are not paying for the school, you have no say what she will study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone else pointed out, it won't kill her to be in French instead of Spanish although you do need discuss it as a family and come to an agreement about what level of communication you expect to give and receive about her education choices.

I would like to give some different food for thought ... As the parent of college and high school students, I have seen that choices in language courses do have some impact on college courses.

In my day all students in college were not required to take language; however, both of our college students have been required by their school to take 3 semesters of language unless they tested out of 1 semester. Therefore, it behooves students in middle school and high school to have an eye on the future and recognize that there is a nice benefit for them if they are already well-prepared for those 3 semesters.

Who knew that a choice they/we made in middle school would still be with them/us their sophomore year in college? Our children fell into Spanish and there they have stayed but if we had had more clarity about it I think we might have encouraged other choices in high school (Latin, for example).

The time has passed for different choices for our high school and college students but we will be paying a lot more attention when our 6 year-old gets to the stage where he has a choice about the language that he takes.

Just wanted to give you a perspective from the other end of the spectrum ... I hope it helps. I don't know if there is a 'right' answer about the language choice but clearly both your daughter and husband have opinions on it and they need to discuss those opinions and reach an agreement for going forward.

THIS THIS THIS is what is absolutely ruining our kids and ruining our education system. She is not going to end up homeless or at a community college because she switched to French! You do not need to map this stuff out in Kindergarten. Teach her that you make choices, sometimes they turn out well and sometimes you don't and you change course. She is not signing a contract to take French for the rest of her life!! Good God this micromanaging and fear based child rearing is not going to lead to anything good. How will she find what she wants to do in life if you never let them veer off the prescribed STEM path? Create a love of learning, create curiosity THESE are the things that will serve them well in life and professionally - not all the "right" classes. Your job isn't to lead them it is to help them find their path!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking back on it I don't think I consulted with my parents on this at all.

I don't think I did either. My DS is in 4th grade so we have a couple of years, but I can't imagine micromanaging him to the extent others are recommending. It's 7th grade French or Spanish. Who cares?