To steer DS away from doing GCSE Child Development?

[dson2]

DS wants to do GCSE Child Development.

WIBU to steer him away from this?

Exactly what BeingATwatItsABingThing said! My older brother is a professor and he is incredibly intelligent but has zero common sense!

Academic intelligence isn't everything. I work with my best friend who didn't do well academically, but has bucket loads of common sense, fantastic judgement and can really think on her feet. She is brilliant to work with and I'd trust her opinion over most other people's any day of the week. She knows what she's good at, what her weaknesses are, and can play to her strengths. She's been incredibly successful throughout her life as a result. :)

Well, it would be useful if he is going to be a doctor

No. If he is considering anything even slightly as competitive as medicine, all of his GCSEs must be ones with a reputation for academic rigour.

All of my GCSE's were "academic", I didn't make any "fun" selections, I just opted for the subjects that I liked and was good at (Irish, French, Politics, History etc etc) but I let my head teacher convince me to take Triple Award science and it was a mistake, I hated it and found myself wishing I had chosen something more "easy going" to balance the work load.

I think if your son wants to take Child Development you should not try to discourage him; It won't negatively affect his university prospects or long term goals but it could make all the difference between a relaxed GCSE student and an overwrought one.

Support his decision because at the end of the day it's him who has to do the work!

I think you can offer advice but recognise that it is his choice. Show a little faith in him.

"My cousin is incredibly academic (think PHD in physics) and can't teach for shit because he doesn't understand how people don't understand things straight away."

That's unfortunately true of a lot of university lecturers. It's probably more important to be able to impart what knowledge you do have than to have massive amounts of knowledge that you can't transmit to young people.

If he wants to go on and do science A Levels, then he really should (to the point of must) do triple science.

However, given that it seems he is
a) keen on the subject
b) not dropping anything else that would be more worthwhile for his future and is a realistic choice for him
I'd say go for it

You mention he can't wait to be a father - this may at least give him the knowledge that he needs to realise that having kids isn't as easy as he might imagine, and get him to delay fatherhood for a few years, until he has settled down!

However, it looks like GCSE Child Development has been phased out, and is no longer available www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479635/2015-05-14-reform-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2017-may-2015.pdf meaning that he would be studying for a qualification that is equivalent to GCSEs (so Level 2 on the National Qualifications Framework) but not an actual GCSE. This probably won't matter in the long run, but it's worthwhile making an informed decision.

I work for a university, and what I always tell kids picking their GCSEs is to pick ones that they
a) will enjoy
b) will do reasonably well in
c) will keep their options open for any A Level subjects that they want to take / are necessary for any future degree they want to take.
So long as he picks triple science, I can't see any problem with his GCSE options for a science based degree / career, and GCSE childcare does seem to tick all the boxes above.

Even Oxbridge does not operate some sort of GCSE blacklist where anyone with one of the subjects on their UCAS form is automatically rejected, regardless of what else is on there - that would be absurd. All they do is check that they have got the subjects that are required for any given course (and any requirements are always clearly stated on their website - there are no secret entry requirements that only special people in the know are told about). The only university that is sniffy about people not having a language GCSE is UCL - and for students who don't have one, they just have to do a language module once they're actually there, so it doesn't actually stop them getting in.

Oh - and if he does decide that he wants a career in childcare, then there are some very good and well paying jobs out there for men, as they are so rare in the industry! For instance, there was a male student at Norland College, and their graduates can earn £50k per year nannying... www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9526118/Meet-the-Norland-Manny-teenager-is-first-undergraduate-at-worlds-most-famous-nanny-academy.html

Beingatwat
So you would be happy for your children to be taught by someone who couldn't read very well and couldn't spell? Or couldn't do maths?

insancerre

Well done for taking what I said and making it ridiculous to the extreme.

Twat
I've got no idea why you think I'm so insulting and ridiculous

No-one cares what GCSEs you got ten minutes after you got them.

To the

Aargh typing on phone. To the pp who did MFL gcse was useless, the new one is much better and I hope will lead to some independent skills with the language.
That said, as an MFL teacher I would discourage anyone who was really not keen. What else is in the ch dev option block OP? The posts about pe seem irrelevant - he would need to do sport outside school for that and anyway if I read the op right, it's not that option that is up for debate.
Agree btw that art is a lot of work.

Child development is a huge part of psychology. From what I remember when I took the subject it is very similar to what I studied last year on the Access Course I last year.

Child physical development (biology)
Social development (psychology)
Childcare (depending on syllabus can cover everything from looking after a child to raising a child; parenting, sociology again psychology)

If he is choosing it because he wants to do it...don't stop him. Maybe he is giving himself another option for the future.

Is he going to work as a student and during the summers?
If so, it might be handy to earn some money. Perhaps he can top up that with a First Aid Cert and couple of short courses like Club Leader, Swimming Pool supervisor, working with sn, understanding autism.... Then he can always have jobs duringthe Uni years.

Don't forget that traditional jobs for students like i.e. retail work are not easy to get these days.

It could also be a good way to do some travelling, live in another country and learn a language as an au pair, or working in holiday clubs abroad.

I worked in childcare and i had some fab time in Med resorts and in Ski resorts. It has been ages though so i don't know what qualifications you need these days and if there is demand.

I interview apprentices (mainly for techie/IT roles but also project management - it's a really good scheme btw, great pay and training for decent qualifications).

Sexist as it may be, seeing that a boy had chosen Child Development would pique my interest. It would suggest that he wasn't afraid to be a bit different, which is a real bonus in my eyes.

I echo what Zombie said.

Computer science is perfect complement to Maths. There's a lot of support for young programmers so that would open another career option for him.

If he wants to do the child development I would let him. I'm assuming it will teach him some valuble logical and critical thinking?

Is he interested in teaching or a mind based science? Seems like a good choice if he is

Yes, yes Bunkai. Some of 'my' apprentices are training as programmers. We invest lots in them - it really is a brilliant route for a lot of youngsters. As an aside, these kids aren't incapable of going to university, they've just chosen to earn a (bloody good for a teenager) salary and learn on the job rather than saddle themselves with huge debt.

I did child development and hated it. I thought it was about psychology but it was more to prepare the girls for teen parenthood, although it may have changed as it was many years ago. However, I was fairly academic and went off to a respected university to get a good academic degree. It had no bearing on my later career. If he enjoys it, great, if not, it's a learning experience to make mistakes and deal with them.

I was forced to do a language when I am just useless at languages. I could only do art or music when I was good at both. I got my only C grade in it and I really resented it as it looked like a blip on my record to me.
Employers don't look at what GCSEs you got. They just look at how many A*s, As etc you got unless the job is specific to something.
So I would say let him do whatever he is likely to get the best results in.

insancerre

Because the things you have said are insulting.

I didn't say you were ridiculous. I said you turned what I wrote into something ridiculous. I couldn't give a rat's arse if the person who teaches my DCs has 12 A* GCSEs. Whether or not they are a good teacher doesn't depend on that. To get onto a teaching degree, you have to have at least Cs in maths, English and science at GCSE anyway.

GCSE child development has been offered here too.

I wouldn't have an issue with it. It doesn't generally matter which gcses you chose.

This is my list and it will be what most children at academic schools do by the way and what most of my chidlren did (although one did German not French)
English lit
Englihs lang
maths
French
Geography
History
2 or 3 sciences

Then one other less difficult one eg music or RE or Art depending on your interests.

Do them all at one sitting and that will get you your 9 or 10. Sorted.

DS is doing year 13 A level psychology (as did I back in the day), I didn't do any child development and he says that they don't cover it either apart from when they look at attachment. I'd say that child development GCSE and psychology GCSE (I did that too) and A level are far removed from each other. They are academic and child development is not.

There's no graphic design section in GCSE Computer Science. There may be in 'computer studies' but that is not the same thing at all.

Art is not a soft option. It's a very difficult GCSE.

As for people seeing no point in doing Art unless you're going to be an artist, that's like saying there's no point in doing English Literature unless you're going to be a poet.