Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 14:30     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
APS doesn’t have any foreign languages.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 14:29     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would be fine with this. Slowing it down to cover 1 year of HS course over two years gives kids new to learning foreign languages time to understand the grammar, build vocabulary, and learn proper pronunciation. I wish my school had this option, basically to cover 2 years of high-school courses over three years.


OP here. Kid already has some Spanish comprehension (Spanish was offered as a 2x a week class at their elem and they took it). I'm pretty sure she is going to be bored. It also doesn't sound like they will allow a 6th grader to take the 7th grade option.


Most ES don't have twice a week spanish classes.


yeah it wasn't MCPS. Point is, she knows a little. And so Spanish 1A is going to be very very slow.


At our school you can test into a higher class.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 13:50     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would be fine with this. Slowing it down to cover 1 year of HS course over two years gives kids new to learning foreign languages time to understand the grammar, build vocabulary, and learn proper pronunciation. I wish my school had this option, basically to cover 2 years of high-school courses over three years.


OP here. Kid already has some Spanish comprehension (Spanish was offered as a 2x a week class at their elem and they took it). I'm pretty sure she is going to be bored. It also doesn't sound like they will allow a 6th grader to take the 7th grade option.


Most ES don't have twice a week spanish classes.


yeah it wasn't MCPS. Point is, she knows a little. And so Spanish 1A is going to be very very slow.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 13:34     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would be fine with this. Slowing it down to cover 1 year of HS course over two years gives kids new to learning foreign languages time to understand the grammar, build vocabulary, and learn proper pronunciation. I wish my school had this option, basically to cover 2 years of high-school courses over three years.


OP here. Kid already has some Spanish comprehension (Spanish was offered as a 2x a week class at their elem and they took it). I'm pretty sure she is going to be bored. It also doesn't sound like they will allow a 6th grader to take the 7th grade option.


Most ES don't have twice a week spanish classes.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 13:34     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
I wish we had the option of slowing it down. We found Spanish really fast-paced and lots of smart kids struggled with it.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 12:42     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ugh, I'm sorry you're impacted, OP. It's happened at North Bethesda middle and some other schools I know, probably due to teacher shortages - they can't be everywhere at once, and the most common course is the half year course, so they've cut down to that. It's extremely annoying for the kids who were ready for more.

If you're interested, there are a couple of good Spanish weekend schools and one French one. And of course many tutors. Your kid can study privately and study for the AP exam, whether they offer it at your high school or not.


I doubt it is teacher shortages. They still need the same teachers but they just cover less material. Maybe they think the slower start mean kids end up more successful. It is so hard to tell how much a child is learning when almost every gets an A or B


There are dire teacher shortages everywhere, PP, to the point where Principals cannot fire terrible teachers and long-term subs with no expertise in the subject matter stay for the year, so I'm sure it must play a role. But you're right that MCPS is very much against acceleration, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid lockdown. They want to prove they're reducing the achievement gap that widened with the pandemic, and forcing high-achieving kids to take lower-level classes where everyone gets As, as you said, is a way to do that.

Sad all around.


But the same kids are still taking the same Spanish classes. They are just taking them more slowly. It does not save teachers to do this. The kids that used to take Span 1a/1b in 6th had 1 teacher all year. Now those same kids take 1a all year and still have 1 teacher.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 10:58     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:I would be fine with this. Slowing it down to cover 1 year of HS course over two years gives kids new to learning foreign languages time to understand the grammar, build vocabulary, and learn proper pronunciation. I wish my school had this option, basically to cover 2 years of high-school courses over three years.


OP here. Kid already has some Spanish comprehension (Spanish was offered as a 2x a week class at their elem and they took it). I'm pretty sure she is going to be bored. It also doesn't sound like they will allow a 6th grader to take the 7th grade option.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 10:56     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ugh, I'm sorry you're impacted, OP. It's happened at North Bethesda middle and some other schools I know, probably due to teacher shortages - they can't be everywhere at once, and the most common course is the half year course, so they've cut down to that. It's extremely annoying for the kids who were ready for more.

If you're interested, there are a couple of good Spanish weekend schools and one French one. And of course many tutors. Your kid can study privately and study for the AP exam, whether they offer it at your high school or not.


I doubt it is teacher shortages. They still need the same teachers but they just cover less material. Maybe they think the slower start mean kids end up more successful. It is so hard to tell how much a child is learning when almost every gets an A or B


There are dire teacher shortages everywhere, PP, to the point where Principals cannot fire terrible teachers and long-term subs with no expertise in the subject matter stay for the year, so I'm sure it must play a role. But you're right that MCPS is very much against acceleration, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid lockdown. They want to prove they're reducing the achievement gap that widened with the pandemic, and forcing high-achieving kids to take lower-level classes where everyone gets As, as you said, is a way to do that.

Sad all around.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 10:52     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
I would be fine with this. Slowing it down to cover 1 year of HS course over two years gives kids new to learning foreign languages time to understand the grammar, build vocabulary, and learn proper pronunciation. I wish my school had this option, basically to cover 2 years of high-school courses over three years.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 08:28     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Anonymous wrote:Ugh, I'm sorry you're impacted, OP. It's happened at North Bethesda middle and some other schools I know, probably due to teacher shortages - they can't be everywhere at once, and the most common course is the half year course, so they've cut down to that. It's extremely annoying for the kids who were ready for more.

If you're interested, there are a couple of good Spanish weekend schools and one French one. And of course many tutors. Your kid can study privately and study for the AP exam, whether they offer it at your high school or not.


I doubt it is teacher shortages. They still need the same teachers but they just cover less material. Maybe they think the slower start mean kids end up more successful. It is so hard to tell how much a child is learning when almost every gets an A or B
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 08:04     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Ugh, I'm sorry you're impacted, OP. It's happened at North Bethesda middle and some other schools I know, probably due to teacher shortages - they can't be everywhere at once, and the most common course is the half year course, so they've cut down to that. It's extremely annoying for the kids who were ready for more.

If you're interested, there are a couple of good Spanish weekend schools and one French one. And of course many tutors. Your kid can study privately and study for the AP exam, whether they offer it at your high school or not.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2023 07:57     Subject: Foreign language, 6th grade
Suddenly our middle school is only offering half year in Spanish/French instead of full year like they were previously with my older kid. What's going on? And is this something they can change? They don't even have Spanish/French 3 option in 8th anymore!