Anonymous
09/18/2025 21:25
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Anonymous wrote:Different school system. We dropped Spanish 4 for another class. Previous teachers were not that great, and jumping into a Spanish 4 class in which only Spanish is spoken was a recipe for a low grade. We wanted Spanish to be taken until graduation, but earlier teachers didn't do their job. Kid made all As in those Spanish classes.
World languages in high school needs an overhaul. Shortage of world language teachers though.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 20:35
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Just switch now It will be a good review, middle school teachers do way too much hand holding, middle school foreign language teachers used to be able to hold back kids who got a c, then mcps changed it because parents were upset, and now the majority of freshmen we get in level 3 and 4 are totally unprepared.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 20:13
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Anonymous wrote:Two issues:
1. There might not be room in Spanish 3.
2. There's a deadline beyond which he cannot switch without having the first course listed on his transcript. You might have missed it already. Seeing Spanish 4 on the transcript, then Spanish 3, will be a red flag for selective colleges, that he could not sustain the pace. If the first course isn't listed for this year, then it could be seen as a *planned* consolidation of language, which is not as bad.
Colleges do not care at all about which 9th grade classes you took in a multi year sequence.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 19:23
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Different school system. We dropped Spanish 4 for another class. Previous teachers were not that great, and jumping into a Spanish 4 class in which only Spanish is spoken was a recipe for a low grade. We wanted Spanish to be taken until graduation, but earlier teachers didn't do their job. Kid made all As in those Spanish classes.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 18:43
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Two issues:
1. There might not be room in Spanish 3.
2. There's a deadline beyond which he cannot switch without having the first course listed on his transcript. You might have missed it already. Seeing Spanish 4 on the transcript, then Spanish 3, will be a red flag for selective colleges, that he could not sustain the pace. If the first course isn't listed for this year, then it could be seen as a *planned* consolidation of language, which is not as bad.
1. There might not be room in Spanish 3.
2. There's a deadline beyond which he cannot switch without having the first course listed on his transcript. You might have missed it already. Seeing Spanish 4 on the transcript, then Spanish 3, will be a red flag for selective colleges, that he could not sustain the pace. If the first course isn't listed for this year, then it could be seen as a *planned* consolidation of language, which is not as bad.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 18:31
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Thanks all- if he switches down to 3, do his grades restart - or does he carry over the grades he earned so far?
Anonymous
09/18/2025 18:23
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Colleges don't care at all what kids do in middle school, even if it is on their transcript. They recalculate grades and base it on what is in HS. Definitely have him move.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 18:15
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
Ask his counselor. Frame it as he really wants to have a good handle on the language.
Yes, he can be moved.
Yes, he can be moved.
Anonymous
09/18/2025 18:14
Subject: Spanish 4 too difficult/able to switch?
My son did Spanish 3 in middle school and found it easy but the leap to Spanish 4 seems very difficult. Is it too late to switch to Spanish 3 in high school and does that look bad on his transcript to repeat?