Reply to Start language in 6th grade or 7th?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Parent of a junior. She did Spanish 1A in 7th, 1B in 8th, 2 in 9th, and 3 in 10th and is now done. She really hated it, we didn't think the instruction was all that great, and she needed the room in her schedule to be able to take computer programming this year and AP Computer Programming (Java) next year.

Overall, we were comfortable with her not progressing to 4 years or up to the AP level and beyond. She has a ton of other APs, especially in math and science, and didn't want to drop band (the only other droppable class) because she is in a higher-level ensemble at her school. Overall she will have good grades, a schedule that demonstrates rigor

Which is all by way of saying -- yes, your kid should do her best to get the 3-4 years of language in, and middle school counts towards that, but don't assume that if your kid doesn't go through AP levels of a foreign language that her chances of getting into a competitive school will be tanked. Colleges look at the whole package, and different colleges look at different things. For example, our dd wants to go to an engineering school, so the foreign language is much less important than the math, science, and computer science courseload. And your kid also needs to be able to explore her interests and choose her own curriculum (with input/advice) as she gets to high school -- and if that doesn't include a foreign language past the third or fourth year, then that's a choice you should respect.

I'm someone who very much values instruction in foreign language, BTW -- having done several years of full-time intensive foreign instruction during undergrad and graduate school and having lived and worked overseas for many years. Our system of foreign language education sucks so badly in so many ways and illustrates how little we value foreign languages. If we truly valued them, we'd start meaningful foreign language instruction in kindergarten. But I can't blame my dd for wanting to stop -- even going through AP level would never have made her truly competent.[/quote]

Very insightful information..thanks![/quote]

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