We are moving to a new middle school that has some PLTW offerings for App Design and Robotics. My son is STEM focused but looking for college engineering degree, not CTE. My question if anyone can help me on this forum: Would it be worth it for him to take these in middle school and forgo another elective such as band or language, or are these PLTW more CTE focused and not helpful for a college bound engineering student (he has the math and science grades and interests, and is in the robotics club here at our current school). He is pretty well rounded and I would like him to do his band and language more than just stay STEM focused but if these were awesome programs I would consider it. I am not getting good answers from the PLTW people, which leads me to think they may be more CTE focused. Thank you so much for any advice.
Foreign language is not considered an elective.
Personally I would not sacrifice FL and band for PLTW.
That said, it’s too early to be worrying about college and majors in middle school. Your child should do what they enjoy!
I agree it is middle school - let your child pick the elective.
Agree with the above posters. It is never too late to pick up PLTW classes, but if you forgo Band in middle school, you may not qualify to take it in high school. And taking FL in middle school will likely let you pick it up in HS at a higher level.
DD is taking some PLTW classes in high school, and she is able to fit in four years of Spanish. If she wanted to, and planned carefully, she could also fit in Band too, but she opted to quit Band after 8th grade so she could take CS.
Would never push my kid in middle school to forgo an art, language or music for this program. Also if your kid is already doing robotics on a team, what is the net positive?
Coming from a STEM parent who has had kids on national and global level STEM based activities. My kids started in Middle school and I have never heard of PLTW. If your kids love STEM they will participate in these activities. Even when kids are in high school, it’s too early to decide what major they will have in college. Things change. Having the prerequisites is all that matters.