Anonymous wrote:But they get the HS credits for the middle school classes. They take the same exams. They are on the HS transcript. The college just sees Spanish 1a whether you take it in 6th grade or 12th. Some kids are entering high school with that college requirement taken care of.

It is not like math where there is a state req that you take math for 4 years in HS regardless of how advanced you start. That is where kids can get hurt by too much advancement.

This is exactly what I thought, until a high school guidance counselor informed me otherwise last week. She specifically said that colleges want to see that at least some of the language classes are completed in high school. That's the first time I had heard that.

But they get the HS credits for the middle school classes. They take the same exams. They are on the HS transcript. The college just sees Spanish 1a whether you take it in 6th grade or 12th. Some kids are entering high school with that college requirement taken care of.

It is not like math where there is a state req that you take math for 4 years in HS regardless of how advanced you start. That is where kids can get hurt by too much advancement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most kids are going to be screwed with the language requirement by the time they are in high school if they take 3 years in MS.

Why?

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See comments above. Colleges want to see HIGH SCHOOl language credits, so if you're entering HS with 3 credits already, you've got to keep going into upper level language courses. Which is great for the kid who wants to go that far in a language. The kids who would be "screwed" are the ones more interested in banking the requisite number of credits for the college app.

Anonymous wrote:most kids are going to be screwed with the language requirement by the time they are in high school if they take 3 years in MS.

Why?

At our MS, Advanced Reading is lower than being recommended for a Language but only about 15% of students are recommended for a language and A/B only, there is no A option. So Advanced Reading is definitely not "only for kids that need extra help" but the very top kids do take a language.

most kids are going to be screwed with the language requirement by the time they are in high school if they take 3 years in MS.

Anonymous wrote:Also--keep in mind that even if you complete the high school requirement, most competitive colleges will want to see three years while in high school. The requirement is only two years to graduate. Thinking ahead for Pyle, even if your child is doing orchestra/chorus/band, in seventh they will still have one other elective. There won't be reading in seventh with rare exceptions for particular needs, so why not take the one chance at the advanced reading course. Those skills will have long-term benefits. Some kids will be bored in that class and need the extra challenge of a world language, but not many kids.

This is true and I just learned it this week from a guidance counselor, with a child entering high school next year with 3 foreign language credits from middle school. If I had known this 3 years ago, I definitely would have discouraged DD from taking Spanish 1 a/b in 6th grade, even though she handled it fine.

At the Pyle orientation, it seemed that they were discouraging foreign language in 6th grade. They made the reading option seem very attractive and reminded parents that language is a high school course and the grade with remain on the high school transcript (not necessarily great for 6th graders who are acclimating to middle school). We will opt for reading over language and our DS is a very advanced reader. It was not presented as a course for those needing "extra help."

Anonymous wrote:I am going to go OT for a moment but I find the different schools cultures so interesting. In the RM cluster, most on grade level kids take a language. Reading is considered the lower option. Yet I recently learned that Whitman still lets freshman take AP History which RM eliminated for freshman (replaced by the MYP curriculum) within the last few years. I have no opinion on which options are better for the kids (and it probably doesn't matter in the long run) but it is just interesting that in one county things are done so differently. And who makes these decisions??

I got the same answer as you regarding the reading course. The MS counselor came to DC's school to discuss options and help them complete the registration cards. According to my DC, the counselor told them that the Reading course was for students that needed "extra help" in reading if they were not especially strong in that area. They urged most of the kids to select the language option. I'm getting this second hand from my child for what it is worth.

I agree that this sounds different from what I've heard about our DCC middle school, where foreign language in 6th is the norm for higher-achieving students. I'm not sure if most students take a or a/b.

I am going to go OT for a moment but I find the different schools cultures so interesting. In the RM cluster, most on grade level kids take a language. Reading is considered the lower option. Yet I recently learned that Whitman still lets freshman take AP History which RM eliminated for freshman (replaced by the MYP curriculum) within the last few years. I have no opinion on which options are better for the kids (and it probably doesn't matter in the long run) but it is just interesting that in one county things are done so differently. And who makes these decisions??

Also--keep in mind that even if you complete the high school requirement, most competitive colleges will want to see three years while in high school. The requirement is only two years to graduate. Thinking ahead for Pyle, even if your child is doing orchestra/chorus/band, in seventh they will still have one other elective. There won't be reading in seventh with rare exceptions for particular needs, so why not take the one chance at the advanced reading course. Those skills will have long-term benefits. Some kids will be bored in that class and need the extra challenge of a world language, but not many kids.

Advanced Reading was recommended for us because it offers higher level reading and writing skills that are key to success in the higher grades. As PP says,, unless your child is extremely advanced, it is likely to be helpful and there is no downside. If you are determined that your child complete the HS language requirements before the end of MS, there is still time even with using a year for advanced reading.

Unless your child is truly advanced and very organized and disciplined, have him/her take advanced reading. The language will appear on a high school transcript. The exams are county exams--not devised by the teacher of their course. If you are on the fence, choose language a instead of a/b. It moves at a slower pace. Keep in mind that few sixth graders take a world language--as a result, they may not see many of their friends at lunch if their schedules are different. Also, if you speak the language at home, the classes are not appropriate--they will be too easy. Not trying to discourage--if your child is interested and motivated, it can be a great choice. Not all languages have the a versus a/b option. Chinese, for example, only is A/B.

Opinions regarding 6th grade/Pyle choice of advanced reading vs. language