help me reevaluate foreign language goals/end point for ds14

[cintinative]

My ds14 so far has covered Latin 1 (Latin alive) and Spanish I (Avancemos 1) and now is completing Spanish 2 (Avancemos 2).  Originally I had planned on him also covering Spanish III, but possibly not with me, so that he would have a total of four years of foreign language. (My other son will have two years of (high school level) Latin and two years of Spanish.)

If this ends up being ds14's last year of foreign language, only one of his years will be during high school.  For my oldest, only two years would be during the four years of high school.

Complicating factors with ds14 are that I was not aware until this summer/fall that he has stealth dyslexia. He is gifted, so he hid it well. He also has a processing issue that not really apparent until last year (more in other threads on that).  So I am recalibrating what we will do "from now on" because I want to focus on his areas of strength like his great giftedness in visual-spatial applications.  

So my thought at this point is to drop Spanish after Spanish II for him, but I don't know how that would be perceived by a college. I can really see him doing some kind of design. For example, I would love for him to be able to attend the DAAP school here at the University of Cincinnati. It can be quite competitive to get in, but I don't know if foreign language is one of those things that they look at. There is nothing on UC's site that would indicate they have a specific number of years of foreign language expected.  

Thoughts? Would we be okay dropping after this year?

 

 

[fourisenough]

I have a child with a similar learning profile. I plan to get 2 years of foreign language completed and call it good for her. It doesn’t play to her strengths and takes valuable time away from her area of interest and areas of need.
 

I give you permission to call it done after this year. Short of highly selective schools (highly rejective?), I don’t think anything more than two years is expected.

[MamaSprout]

Foreign language is one of those that often are brought up, without question, from 8th grade.

Since you have a specific college in mind, I would ask. If you do need another year, no one says it has to be grammar and writing heavy. Maybe focus on speaking and listening. Work with a tutor, watch movies in Spanish, ect. My dd is doing a Conversation class in her language this year.

Good luck.

[cintinative]

2 minutes ago, MamaSprout said:

Maybe focus on speaking and listening. Work with a tutor, watch movies in Spanish, ect. My dd is doing a Conversation class in her language this year.

This was my thought about what we would do if we did a Spanish III year also. 

I will try to contact the design school since the main university doesn't say anything about foreign language requirements. Thank you!

[freesia]

Personally, I would make sure he had 2 years in high school. However, imo, it doesn't have to be super rigorous.  My ds is doing Spanish at Aim Academy and it's very experiencial, theme-based and not hard.  It is perfect for the type of child you are describing. 

[cintinative]

27 minutes ago, freesia said:

Personally, I would make sure he had 2 years in high school. However, imo, it doesn't have to be super rigorous.  My ds is doing Spanish at Aim Academy and it's very experiencial, theme-based and not hard.  It is perfect for the type of child you are describing. 

what level of Spanish is it? TIA

[freesia]

10 minutes ago, cintinative said:

what level of Spanish is it? TIA

It is a combined 2-4 level.  Everyone works at their level and each year has a different theme.  This year is economics. Next year is geography.  https://debrabell.com/onlineclasses/spanish-with-economics/

Basically, they attend class, complete a project and an oral recording and count hours each week doing or watching or reading in Spanish.  Basically the student gets out of it what they put in, but even my completely disinterested ds has learned and progressed using this method and he isn't turned off to language learning.

[Lori D.]

So... some colleges only count courses completed in the 4 years prior to starting college as fulfilling required credits for admission. For those colleges, only the year of foreign language taken in 9th grade would "count." However, if you're looking at an art school, or a design-based program in a regular university, my guess is that they would accept the 8th grade + 9th grade Spanish credits, and call it good, as the degree program itself is unlikely to require foreign language.

Once your DS is in 11th grade and closer to college, I would re-visit the topic of required credits in conjunction with the specific colleges he would be applying for and see what their requirements are.

At that point, if he would be considered deficient in required credits for foreign language, and esp. if foreign language would be required as part of the degree, I'd consider doing 2 semesters in 12th grade of dual enrollment foreign language at the local CC, which equals 2 credits of high school for. lang. AND it would knock out in advance the foreign language requirements. You could go with Spanish 101 and 102, so it would be a repeat for him, and be easier due to familiarity, and since the goal would be credit hoop-jumping rather than language acquisition, that would make things simple.

Depending on how mild/severe the LDs are, I think it is entirely possibly for a bright 12th grader with stealth dyslexia to do foreign language as dual enrollment. Our DS#2 with stealth dyslexia did that very thing with ASL in 12th grade (and with NO prior exposure to the language) for his foreign language credits, and did very well.

All that to say... yes, you could probably drop the foreign language after 9th grade, as his degree field will likely not need it, AND you still have time/options if it later becomes clear that he needs more foreign language after all.


As far as admission to DAAP... their current freshman admissions requirements include:
- complete the Common App
- currently test-optional for some programs (re: ACT/SAT)
- submit a portfolio of work from the student's field of art
- homeschoolers additionally submit "...a copy of the Superintendent release form or district notification authorizing home schooling (OH, KY, IN students only, as required by law) ... [AND] ... other documentation upon request"

required minimum credits (1 unit = 1 year of high school study):
4 units = English 
4 units = Math ("must include 1 unit Alg. II or equivalent")
3 units = Science
3 units = Social Studies
5 units = Electives ("can include any combination of Foreign Language, additional core courses not otherwise required, Fine Arts, Business, Career-Technical Education, Family & Consumer Sciences, Technology, or Agricultural Ed")

Based on that list, no problem with stopping For. Lang. after 9th grade. 😉 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Lori D.

[Lilaclady]

I will consider stopping and using the time for electives that he is interested in. I found with my dd that so many schools are not really interested as long as you  have 2 years of the same language they are good. The ones that require 3 or 4 years are few and far between. 

[Storygirl]

We were going to skip foreign language entirely for DD16, who has dyslexia, because it is officially an elective here and not required for high school graduation. We knew it might limit her college choices, but we were okay with that; she is not a candidate for selective schools anyway.

But then she decided to give Spanish a try, and she is in Spanish 2 this year (in public school). Spanish is by far her hardest subject, but she is getting B's and C's, and when she struggles, her teachers have been very accommodating. When she did poorly on a test this week, her teacher had her come to her classroom during lunch, practiced the material with her, and then had her redo some of the test questions on the white board.

So I think it's fine to stop after two years of Spanish. Or if he really wants a third year, you can give broad accommodations. If he wants to stop after this year, I would totally let him make that decision. I would not require him to continue.