Reply to Basis changes language curriculum; less Latin, no world language until 8th

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Right, any criticism of BASIS' inflexibility, however minor, thoughtful or valid, constitutes "hating" the school. Give us a break.

I'm with posters who view BASIS' policy on language as being outmoded. There's a strong trend toward teaching foreign languages at younger ages in schools in this country, in all kinds of schools. High-performing school districts all around the country are coming on board in an age of increasing globalization. [/quote]

Basis parent here. I think anyone is justified to complain about the school's inflexiblity. I do think, however, that parents who enroll kids there need to know that this is the way it is. If its going to make you insane, pick a different school. [/quote]

NP. We didn't enroll after BASIS admins informed us that our 5th grader would be forced to start a new language eventually, or to take beginner classes in the world language we speak at home. Neither option appealed, or seemed to belong in the 21st century. I enrolled the kid in a suburban school near where my ex lives. He does well in 6th grade algebra there. BASIS can freely push DC families around because parents EotP are desperate for OK middle schools. That's a longstanding political problem none of us can fix of course.[/quote]

True, but its also not Basis' fault. I say this as someone who lives in bounds for Deal, and we chose Basis. So perhaps we feel less frustrated about it since we have that option.

Regardless, Basis doesn't discriminate. They are equally inflexible in all their locations. As you can see here, this currciulum change was made system-wide. So thinking that Basis DC could, say, have advanced language classes for middle schoolers who are coming from immersion schools is laughable. And no doubt there are things like this across the country that other communities would like to see changed. [/quote]

There are 2 epic differences in the way BASIS DC and suburban schools in the DMV offering equally challenging 6th-12th grade STEM (namely test-in programs in Fairfax and MoCo) operate.

The first difference is that suburban parents who don't like the way they're being treated by admins in public schools have recourse up the chain in school systems that are fairly accountable to parents (because large cohorts of UMC ed-minded voters ensure this is the case at the ballot box).  The second difference is that the suburbs support large bilingual immigrant communities where ed stakeholders/voters care deeply about advanced language study in public schools. [/quote]

I never understood this language argument. My home language isn't taught in any public schools in the DMV. I've always sent my kids to outside language school to make sure they learn it properly, and they learn another more commonly taught language in public school. It seems that this home/immingrant language argument would apply only to a very small number of people, or those lucky enough to have their home language also taught in public schools.[/quote]

Right.  You aren't going to learn a foreign language in the US by taking a class at school.  You need do an immersion course or go to a bilingual immersion school.

We all know plenty of non-immigrant Americans that took 4 years of Spanish, French, or whatever in school and barely speak a word of the language.

Changing around the curriculum to focus first on writing and linguistics before starting a foreign language is a smart decision by BASIS DC.

In addition, BASIS DC has a lot of international families (and it is 17% Hispanic and Asian), so there are plenty of kids that already speak another language.  Because it follows an international-style curriculum it especially attracts parents who want a more rigorous curriculum along the lines of what you see in Europe or Singapore.[/quote]

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