When is the latest that you can start a foreign language and be able to take the AP class in high sc

[Anonymous]

We're currently dealing with 6th grade elective selection, and we know that our DS will eventually be taking Spanish for 4 years in high school, but we don't want to force him into taking the hardest Spanish classes by 12th grade just to have 4 years of HS credits. If we wait until 7th grade, or even eighth grade, will that track to taking AP Spanish in 12th grade? We would like him to shoot for the Seal of biliteracy (score of 4+ on the AP), and while I do speak Spanish, my husband does not.

[Anonymous]

If he starts Spanish 1 A/B in 7th, he would take Spanish 2 in 8th, Spanish 3 in 9th, Spanish 4 in 10th and have room for two years of AP Spanish depending on what your high school offers. If he starts Spanish 1 A/B in 8th, or takes Spanish 1A in 7th and 1B in 8th, he would still have room for one Spanish AP in 12th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're currently dealing with 6th grade elective selection, and we know that our DS will eventually be taking Spanish for 4 years in high school, but we don't want to force him into taking the hardest Spanish classes by 12th grade just to have 4 years of HS credits. If we wait until 7th grade, or even eighth grade, will that track to taking AP Spanish in 12th grade? We would like him to shoot for the Seal of biliteracy (score of 4+ on the AP), and while I do speak Spanish, my husband does not.

You want him to earn the seal of biliteracy, but don’t want him starting language until 8th grade? If you want him to be biliterate, wouldn’t it be better to start earlier?

[Anonymous]

OP here. He's doing the TPMS magnet, and the hope is that eventually he'll be doing the Blair STEM Magnet, which is a lot of work in 11th and 12th grade. I'm looking down the line to how big his course load will be with a foreign language on top of the heavy magnet math and science requirements. At the Eastern open house, they insisted that you can still do the AP the end of high school if you wait until 7th grade to start Spanish, but I was wondering if you could even wait until 8th grade. He also wants to be able to do a music elective, and possibly another technology elective, but there's only room for two electives in sixth grade.
The Seal of biliteracy only requires a 4 on an AP, which I got when I was in high school doing self-study and having started taking Spanish in seventh grade, myself.

[Anonymous]

He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

I think this is terrible advice. Colleges are not looking at your middle school transcripts, and only levels 3 and up of any World Language give high school credits. I'm presuming that, if your student's is thinking they'd be at the level of the STEM Magnet, that they want to apply for top level, competitive colleges (current admissions scandal aside), so stopping World Language after 10th grade is a bad idea. If you look at the Blair STEM course chart on their website, it lists World language for four years as the expectation, although there is an option for other electives in grades 11 and 12. Not to mention, they would not qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy with just five years of Spanish, unless they do a lot of extra study outside of school and take an outside test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

I think this is terrible advice. Colleges are not looking at your middle school transcripts, and only levels 3 and up of any World Language give high school credits. I'm presuming that, if your student's is thinking they'd be at the level of the STEM Magnet, that they want to apply for top level, competitive colleges (current admissions scandal aside), so stopping World Language after 10th grade is a bad idea. If you look at the Blair STEM course chart on their website, it lists World language for four years as the expectation, although there is an option for other electives in grades 11 and 12. Not to mention, they would not qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy with just five years of Spanish, unless they do a lot of extra study outside of school and take an outside test.

Lots of misinformation here. Languages classes all are on your HS transcript even if you start in 6th grade. They all get HS credit. My DD is a Blair SMAC student. She took 1a in 6th (all our MS allowed) and 1b in 7th. She will take a language all 4 years in HS (though this is not typical for a SMAC student-many stop after 4 years in 9th or 10th). She will get to AP as a senior but only by skipping year 5.

[Anonymous]

Our school also has the option of compressing 4 and 5 into one year (I believe only for Spanish). The year after that is AP lang, and then AP lit. But not all schools have this compression option, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

I think this is terrible advice. Colleges are not looking at your middle school transcripts, and only levels 3 and up of any World Language give high school credits. I'm presuming that, if your student's is thinking they'd be at the level of the STEM Magnet, that they want to apply for top level, competitive colleges (current admissions scandal aside), so stopping World Language after 10th grade is a bad idea. If you look at the Blair STEM course chart on their website, it lists World language for four years as the expectation, although there is an option for other electives in grades 11 and 12. Not to mention, they would not qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy with just five years of Spanish, unless they do a lot of extra study outside of school and take an outside test.

Lots of misinformation here. Languages classes all are on your HS transcript even if you start in 6th grade. They all get HS credit. My DD is a Blair SMAC student. She took 1a in 6th (all our MS allowed) and 1b in 7th. She will take a language all 4 years in HS (though this is not typical for a SMAC student-many stop after 4 years in 9th or 10th). She will get to AP as a senior but only by skipping year 5.

How was she allowed to skip level 5? I thought it was a prerequisite for the AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

I think this is terrible advice. Colleges are not looking at your middle school transcripts, and only levels 3 and up of any World Language give high school credits. I'm presuming that, if your student's is thinking they'd be at the level of the STEM Magnet, that they want to apply for top level, competitive colleges (current admissions scandal aside), so stopping World Language after 10th grade is a bad idea. If you look at the Blair STEM course chart on their website, it lists World language for four years as the expectation, although there is an option for other electives in grades 11 and 12. Not to mention, they would not qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy with just five years of Spanish, unless they do a lot of extra study outside of school and take an outside test.

Lots of misinformation here. Languages classes all are on your HS transcript even if you start in 6th grade. They all get HS credit. My DD is a Blair SMAC student. She took 1a in 6th (all our MS allowed) and 1b in 7th. She will take a language all 4 years in HS (though this is not typical for a SMAC student-many stop after 4 years in 9th or 10th). She will get to AP as a senior but only by skipping year 5.

How was she allowed to skip level 5? I thought it was a prerequisite for the AP.

It is allowed with teacher approval. Apparently 4 and 5 are not very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

I think this is terrible advice. Colleges are not looking at your middle school transcripts, and only levels 3 and up of any World Language give high school credits. I'm presuming that, if your student's is thinking they'd be at the level of the STEM Magnet, that they want to apply for top level, competitive colleges (current admissions scandal aside), so stopping World Language after 10th grade is a bad idea. If you look at the Blair STEM course chart on their website, it lists World language for four years as the expectation, although there is an option for other electives in grades 11 and 12. Not to mention, they would not qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy with just five years of Spanish, unless they do a lot of extra study outside of school and take an outside test.

Lots of misinformation here. Languages classes all are on your HS transcript even if you start in 6th grade. They all get HS credit. My DD is a Blair SMAC student. She took 1a in 6th (all our MS allowed) and 1b in 7th. She will take a language all 4 years in HS (though this is not typical for a SMAC student-many stop after 4 years in 9th or 10th). She will get to AP as a senior but only by skipping year 5.

How was she allowed to skip level 5? I thought it was a prerequisite for the AP.

It is allowed with teacher approval. Apparently 4 and 5 are not very different.

Yes, mine will try to skip Level 4 for French at Blair. Someone at DCUM tipped me off -- thanks!

But, I will add at the SMACS parent meeting, I'm pretty sure they said that some colleges look for students to take 4 years of lang during HS (not just 4 HS credits).

[Anonymous]

You are planning out your 5th grader’s middle school and shift school years. Isn’t this a bit much? You’ve assumed he will like and do well in Spanish and assumed he’s going to get in a magnet in high school too. You need to relax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are planning out your 5th grader’s middle school and shift school years. Isn’t this a bit much? You’ve assumed he will like and do well in Spanish and assumed he’s going to get in a magnet in high school too. You need to relax.

I have heard SP3 at TPMS is extremely challenging and alters many kids thoughts on Spanish in HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are planning out your 5th grader’s middle school and shift school years. Isn’t this a bit much? You’ve assumed he will like and do well in Spanish and assumed he’s going to get in a magnet in high school too. You need to relax.

DP:

Considering these are HS credit courses, and there are implications on HS course load and college applications, why would anyone *NOT* plan?

For our DC, in hindsight, it would have been much better to start FL from grade 7 - but thankfully there is the option to repeat. So all is well eventually, but we wish we had planned better when DC was in sixth grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may find it hard to fit in 4 years of language in high school along with all other HS requirements. If he is doing a high school STEM magnet, he may also be trying to fit in an internship. He might be better off starting Spanish earlier. He could take five years of Spanish, and be finished by the end of 10th grade.

I think this is terrible advice. Colleges are not looking at your middle school transcripts, and only levels 3 and up of any World Language give high school credits. I'm presuming that, if your student's is thinking they'd be at the level of the STEM Magnet, that they want to apply for top level, competitive colleges (current admissions scandal aside), so stopping World Language after 10th grade is a bad idea. If you look at the Blair STEM course chart on their website, it lists World language for four years as the expectation, although there is an option for other electives in grades 11 and 12. Not to mention, they would not qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy with just five years of Spanish, unless they do a lot of extra study outside of school and take an outside test.

That is not true. All full year (A/B) world language courses give high school credit in MCPS.