Anonymous
12/28/2024 11:55
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
My kid was at Westland MS, and she did orchestra and Spanish all three years of middle school. Now in high school and continuing both. The orchestra is basically just to relax and be eligible for All State. The Spanish will include both APs. There has never been a problem with getting electives she wanted. I highly recommend starting a foreign language as early as possible, it's better for developing brains. You get two electives a year in middle school, so there's also room for band.
Anonymous
12/28/2024 11:49
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Anonymous wrote:One thing that's kind of annoying is that as a 6th grader, you probably won't get the electives you want, so it feels like you may as well do band and foreign language. However, after 6th grade, they don't recommend interrupting either band or FL, so it's a bit of a catch 22 with electives. My older kid ended up doing band and FL and, while FL was a bit challenging at first, in hindsight I think it was worth it starting it early. He'll be able to go to a slightly higher level in HS and also be done with it a bit earlier if he chooses to (yes, I know that some people here talk about colleges that want to see 2 or 4 years of FL in HS, I think I'll just have him do at least 2 years in HS and kinda not worry about these alleged other schools.) Not to mention that it's easier to learn FLs when younger.
This is interesting. Are there electives that are generally considered 6th grade electives? What types of classes are they likely to end up with? How do kids taking both band and a language take computational thinking?
Anonymous
12/28/2024 10:38
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
One thing that's kind of annoying is that as a 6th grader, you probably won't get the electives you want, so it feels like you may as well do band and foreign language. However, after 6th grade, they don't recommend interrupting either band or FL, so it's a bit of a catch 22 with electives. My older kid ended up doing band and FL and, while FL was a bit challenging at first, in hindsight I think it was worth it starting it early. He'll be able to go to a slightly higher level in HS and also be done with it a bit earlier if he chooses to (yes, I know that some people here talk about colleges that want to see 2 or 4 years of FL in HS, I think I'll just have him do at least 2 years in HS and kinda not worry about these alleged other schools.) Not to mention that it's easier to learn FLs when younger.
Anonymous
12/28/2024 10:30
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Julius West is an IB school. It likely requires a language.
Anonymous
12/28/2024 09:52
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Anonymous wrote:My kid chose to do band in MS and wait until HS to do his language. It was fine, 4 years of language in HS is standard anyway. Also, my kid loved band so it was almost a no-brainer. And his musical dedication became a key part of his “sell” on college applications.
My one caveat is that if your child wants to apply to the RM IB program, they will need 2 years of language in MS. We didn’t know that going in, and wished someone had made that clear at the start of MS. My kid did IB at his home school which worked out great and was the right choice anyway.
Thanks. This is useful info.
Anonymous
12/28/2024 08:39
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
My kid chose to do band in MS and wait until HS to do his language. It was fine, 4 years of language in HS is standard anyway. Also, my kid loved band so it was almost a no-brainer. And his musical dedication became a key part of his “sell” on college applications.
My one caveat is that if your child wants to apply to the RM IB program, they will need 2 years of language in MS. We didn’t know that going in, and wished someone had made that clear at the start of MS. My kid did IB at his home school which worked out great and was the right choice anyway.
My one caveat is that if your child wants to apply to the RM IB program, they will need 2 years of language in MS. We didn’t know that going in, and wished someone had made that clear at the start of MS. My kid did IB at his home school which worked out great and was the right choice anyway.
Anonymous
12/28/2024 08:35
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Anonymous wrote:School will be Julius West, which I don’t think does block scheduling. If a 7th grader is taking Spanish/French 1, would they be mixed with 6th and 8th graders taking the same class?
Yes.
Anonymous
12/28/2024 07:59
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
School will be Julius West, which I don’t think does block scheduling. If a 7th grader is taking Spanish/French 1, would they be mixed with 6th and 8th graders taking the same class?
Anonymous
12/27/2024 13:23
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Check with the school. Our school, and IB school, requires a foreign language unless a student qualifies for a reading class. And the foreign language class is not split up over two years -- students are required to do 1A/1B in a year and cannot spread them out over two. I was not happy about this originally, as my child already speaks a heritage foreign language, and I did not want to have to have him take French or Spanish. But it has actually worked out fine, with the foreign language class being by far the hardest class he has taken (and the only one that requires consistent studying--helping him learn study skills).
Anonymous
12/27/2024 10:54
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Starting a language later on will put them in classes with struggling readers and students who are retaking the class. The level one classes with older students tend to be the ones with the most behavioral problems. I would suggest starting a language in 6th grade.
I disagree with this. Some people choose to start after 6th because of elective reasons, not because they are struggling or have behavioral issues.
My bright dd started in 7th and my bright ds started in 8th. They both had other electives they wanted to try. My dd is now a junior in IB language and is doing great; don’t listen to this pp.
+1 I also disagree. Plenty of kids don’t start a language until 8th or HS. Some who started a language in MS (or already know a 2nd language) switch languages in HS so are starting fresh at level 1 in 9th.
If your student wants to do band they should go for it.
Anonymous
12/27/2024 10:38
Subject: Re:Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Some middle schools have an 8 period block schedule, which allows for an additional elective.
Anonymous
12/27/2024 09:48
Subject: Re:Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
PP does have a point in that kids who are struggling readers aren’t eligible to start languages in 6th grade. They have to take a reading class.
There can be downsides in the long run depending on HS plans. Some kids I know who need/want a lot of electives in HS have to take summer classes to make it work. Also if for some reason you want your child to have more than 4 years of language you need to start in MS. I’d talk to your MS counselor to figure this out.
As an aside, my DD was able to take a dance elective in MS while also taking languages from 6th forward.
There can be downsides in the long run depending on HS plans. Some kids I know who need/want a lot of electives in HS have to take summer classes to make it work. Also if for some reason you want your child to have more than 4 years of language you need to start in MS. I’d talk to your MS counselor to figure this out.
As an aside, my DD was able to take a dance elective in MS while also taking languages from 6th forward.
Anonymous
12/27/2024 07:37
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Anonymous wrote:Starting a language later on will put them in classes with struggling readers and students who are retaking the class. The level one classes with older students tend to be the ones with the most behavioral problems. I would suggest starting a language in 6th grade.
I disagree with this. Some people choose to start after 6th because of elective reasons, not because they are struggling or have behavioral issues.
My bright dd started in 7th and my bright ds started in 8th. They both had other electives they wanted to try. My dd is now a junior in IB language and is doing great; don’t listen to this pp.
Anonymous
12/27/2024 07:33
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
Starting a language later on will put them in classes with struggling readers and students who are retaking the class. The level one classes with older students tend to be the ones with the most behavioral problems. I would suggest starting a language in 6th grade.
Anonymous
12/27/2024 06:33
Subject: Middle school electives - 3 years of band or a foreign language?
5th grader has been wondering about middle school, so we went looking for info on what classes they take. They are playing a band instrument in ES and would like to continue it in Middle school. Am I correct that if they take 3 years of band, they would only have one slot for other electives including foreign languages? Any pros/cons on waiting a year or two to start a language so that they can take other electives? It seems like theirs a computational thinking requirement?