Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
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Anonymous
Yes, at our school this is what most kids do. Language 1 in 6th, language 2 in 7th, and honors language 3 in 8th. Kids who struggle reeat the La gauge one year. Only kids who are in a reading course don’t take a language. |
Anonymous
| My student took both FL and band all three years of MS and is taking both through HS. One caveat is that they took FL 1A full year in 6th and FL 1B full year in 7th. So by 9th was in FL 3. This is a slightly less rigorous track for those who worry about FL becoming too hard in HS. But starting band or chorus plus FL in 6th definitely limits your MS and HS elective choices. You are locked in through MS and the state requirements become your electives through HS, like PE, Health, Tech. It has worked out for my child but for kids who want to explore more options or have niche interests, probably not the best plan. |
Anonymous
How competitive is marching band/pep band at most schools? Would kids who don't do band all 3 years of MS be unlikely to make it in? |
Anonymous
The course catalog for concert band says "Prerequisite:MS Band 3, HS Beginning Band, or by audition.". So would they have to do a year of Beginning Band even if they did two years of ES band and 1 or 2 years of MS band (assume no private lessons)? How boring would that be, or would it be an okay start to high school band? |
Anonymous
| Maybe I missed someone else posting this, but at JW kids can take band AND a language. No need to choose. |
Anonymous
Yes, I think that's typical, but the issue is that at most schools if you take band all 3 years and foreign language all 3 years you get zero other electives. So the question's more around what the best way to navigate that might be to allow a middle schooler some additional electives. |
Anonymous
A kid like that should just audition. |
Anonymous
| My kid took no language in Middle School. He took 2 APs in 9th, 3 in 10th and now has 4 in 11th. He took Spanish 1 and 2 in 9th and 10th respectively. The reason I wanted him in Spanish 1 in 9th is because I wanted him to concentrate on his 2 APs math and principles of computer science. With Spanish 3 or 4 there would be too much work to keep up with while taking 2 APs as a freshman. |
Anonymous
| This may not be the same at all schools, but at our schools, band and foreign language were not substitutes. Band substituted for the 'arts/ electives (so you can't take band and also chorus, or band and also art). |
Anonymous
| Except for the magnet programs, MS kids get two electives. They can do both band and FL. Or choose two electives they want. There is no right or wrong way. They only need to be taking a FL by 8th to qualify for some HS programs. |
Anonymous
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My kid started Spanish 1 in 6th grade. In HS, 9th grade was Spanish 4 and 10th grade was Spanish5/AP.
When he applied to college (beginning of 12th grade), he had AP results in all 5 core subject areas. Please note that he only did 2 years of FL in HS, but cumulatively had 5 years of foreign language on his transcript. All colleges were fine with his FL credits because the school did not offer any higher foreign language class after AP. Starting HS credit FL from 6th grade and taking the most rigorous class meant that the HS GPA also got a bump. It helped him in getting merit aid, college admission. If you want your kid to be academically competitive, then look into starting foreign language from 6th grade and do not take easy course (ie take Spanish 1 instead of Spanish 1a) |
Anonymous
Or like our district, not enough busses so they offer "virtual" class in highest level language offered at middle school. <vomit> Lots of kids don't know until they are registering for it and are stuck |
Anonymous
Oops Didn't realize this was an MCPS thread |
Anonymous
So are all students required to take foreign language at those schools, then? Or what electives can they substitute for foreign language? |
Anonymous
DP. We are at an IB MYP and they require a foreign language unless you need a reading class. So effectively, all students just have one elective. |