Languages pass fail option

[Anonymous]

My ds is scared stiff of taking Spanish 3 because he is afraid that it will ruin his GPA. Instead, he will start French 1 next year since he is sure that he can get an A. He expects to take French 2 then quit and move into another language, anticipating the same issues.
He has an A in Spanish 2, but he says that he has to study harder and harder to get the higher grades and he still does not understand a thing that the teacher is saying. My take on it is that the lower levels of every language are easier since you are starting with a new foundation. The higher levels require a good command of what you learned before, and he feels shaky about his knowledge.
I find this to be sad. I want him to learn Spanish, and he sees the value in learning the language. Friends of mine have said that he can easily take it in college auditing or P/F.
Why doesn't the school offer this option?

[Anonymous]

Why doesn’t your kid learn to dig deep, tough it out, and focus on learning instead of getting an A? Wouldn’t you prefer he learn some resilience? You seriously think taking an academic class pass/fail looks better on a transcript than- gasp- a B?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn’t your kid learn to dig deep, tough it out, and focus on learning instead of getting an A? Wouldn’t you prefer he learn some resilience? You seriously think taking an academic class pass/fail looks better on a transcript than- gasp- a B?

OP here, I am with you. I remember being more proud of getting to a higher level in a language even if we got, gasp, a B! I got to Spanish 5 and today I can speak enough Spanish to carry on short conversations after asking the other person to speak slowly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn’t your kid learn to dig deep, tough it out, and focus on learning instead of getting an A? Wouldn’t you prefer he learn some resilience? You seriously think taking an academic class pass/fail looks better on a transcript than- gasp- a B?

+1

What grade is your child? In the long run, it is better to stick with one language and go deeper, even with a B, than jump around shallowly in search of easy As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn’t your kid learn to dig deep, tough it out, and focus on learning instead of getting an A? Wouldn’t you prefer he learn some resilience? You seriously think taking an academic class pass/fail looks better on a transcript than- gasp- a B?

+1

What grade is your child? In the long run, it is better to stick with one language and go deeper, even with a B, than jump around shallowly in search of easy As.

We know this, but kids learn more Spanish by being in the Spanish language classroom. I would rather they attend without grade stress.

[Anonymous]

PP My DD struggles with Spanish- but after a year of Bs is getting As in level 3

[Anonymous]

He could take non honors 3

[Anonymous]

Is he currently in 8th going into 9th? If so, he could retake Spanish 2 and it wouldn't show on his transcript. That would solidify is Spanish 2 learning and make Spanish 3 that much easier, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he currently in 8th going into 9th? If so, he could retake Spanish 2 and it wouldn't show on his transcript. That would solidify is Spanish 2 learning and make Spanish 3 that much easier, as well.

+1

[Anonymous]

I also suggest retaking Spanish 2, but my goal is that my kids become fluent.

If your concern is purely grades, I would stop taking foreign language altogether.

[Anonymous]

Once you've had a long talk with your kid about a GPA being meaningless if it is not backed up with true education and he has to focus on substance not appearance in all aspects of his life, this being one of them, you can tell him strategically that colleges will see right through what he's planning to do. I would lose a lot of respect for a kid who did 2 years of 3 different languages. I would assume the kid couldn't hack language courses and, moreover, thought that I as an admissions officer was such an idiot that I didn't know what he was doing and so would be irritated and offended -- not a good frame of mind when then reviewing the rest of his application. He should stay with one language, do the best he can, and he will end up in a good place with a solid education behind him. If my kid were being this crazy about course selection, and refusing to listen to me, I might hire a college counselor to give him some advice. Is this kid also going to refuse to take a decent rigorous English course because he is so afraid of getting an A? This kind of behavior and attitude could be really limiting to him.

[Anonymous]

Unless your child is looking at community college as their goal then this is not going to work.

[Anonymous]

I just spoke with a language instructor in MCPS. She says that teachers have discussed the issue and there are two different opinions. Some say that they should correct everything, but only take off points on what the kid was supposed to know for that test. Others say take off points for all mistakes. I see the first way as a way to get more kids to pursue higher levels. The second way would make them more stressed and more likely to bail.
I prefer the first since I want kids to be multilingual.
I my profession (healthcare), they realized that people didn't take the BLS (CPR) and ACLS courses because they were too intimidating. Things got more relaxed and more people stated to take the classes. That probably results in more lives being saved.