To steer DS away from doing GCSE Child Development?

[dson2]

DS wants to do GCSE Child Development.

WIBU to steer him away from this?

What is MFL?

I did typing and home economics as two of my options.
Then did English at university, then worked in the city in foreign exchange.
Funny how things work out

Would you let him do it if he was your DD? as in 'it may be of use one day my dear girl'

I'd be impressed if my DS wanted to do that subject! The world needs more men who are in touch with their feminine side.

MFL is a modern foreign language. My children did French (except for one who did German instead. I did French and German.

My list above is not a bad typical ist for bright children to do. Do be careful in schools which offer subjects which are not typical for the better employers to look at and the universities that you don't leave out a vital subject eg a university may require a language or you might need decent A levels for a solid university course leading to a high paid job and that is going probably to include at least 2 facilitating A level subjects. As you usually do a GCSE in the subject you do at A level leaving off say geography and history or a language is obviously going to be likely you lose the chance to do those as an A level. Always work backward from the likely degree course or even career. Keep as many options open as possible which I believe my list does.

If your son hates the languages he is currently doing don't make him do them at GCSE - its really not a good start.
My advice is to support your DS as much as possible. An example - DS2 wanted to do Psychology A level. I really didn't think he was suited to it - far too much essay writing and analysis as he is much more creatively minded. I told him gently what I thought but he insisted. He worked hard but still got a D at AS and was advised to drop in Yr 13. There was no "I told you so" from me yet he has admitted it wasn't the best choice. He enjoyed the experience, gained a few UCAS points and we still have a good relationship

Goodness me, do some people know how they sound? Why is this wasted subject at any level or a "for fun" subject. It was an option I chose at GCSE level and is more academic than you think. I also have eight other GCSE subjects A*- C four a levels and an Honours degree. So for all the people who said or implied that this is a subject for none academic people is so wrong. Is it because he is a boy you have a problem? Is this a subject for girls? Let him do what he wishes. I have found this as subject useful please let him study what he wants

I encouraged all my children to do a 'fun' gcse

I dont mean that they are any easier than any other gcse but they did one for them, one they thought they would enjoy or they may not have done before

The only ones i didnt encourage were ones that had much too much work involved...but even those they could have picked from

Ds1 'fun' one was citizenship (his 3rd humanity) which encompassed politics and law

Dd is pe and drama, both of which are very academic...in effect english lit with a bit of stagework and science with a bit of sport

Ds2 is doing Cida which is computer related

Strong believer in my dc's choosing what they want for their options. I feel it is their path to take not mine. Have known children not allowed to take what they want and dont agree with it.
My dd is currently doing child development BTEC at school.

I dont see the point in making children do subjects (outside of core subjects) that they dont want to do...at gcse or A level

I got sneered at in a Cambridge interview over my GCSE in DT: Textiles. My school forced everyone to do a tech subject.

Considering the amount of posters I've seen in the 5 or so years I've been on here who are so suspicious of male nursery nurses and childminders I would agree that there's a desperate need for more boys to look at childcare as an employment option.

I got sneered at in a Cambridge interview over my GCSE in DT: Textiles. My school forced everyone to do a tech subject.

Whereas DD's school encouraged (not forced!) DT as an option - if she hadn't done electronic products gcse I doubt she'd now have an offer to do engineering at Cambridge now. Much more valuable to her than the wretched mandatory MFL.

It's his money that he's worked for, I think you're being greedy to expect to be put on the deeds for free.

This might sound a bit convoluted while I try not to out myself, but the funny thing is that while my current part-time job while I study something else is mainly related to the degree I did end up doing (I work as a translator), the textiles knowledge is actually rather useful in it and makes me better at it, as most of my work is to do with clothing.

Apparently my attempt at copying didn't work there, so I pasted a quote from another thread. Oops!

For the last few years I have been an admissions interviewer for medicine and biomedical sciences and I can honestly say I wouldn't care in the slightest if a candidate had child development GCSE as long as they a) had a great grade in it b) had great grades in all their other GCSEs, particularly the core subjects c) had revelant 'hard' A levels with great actual/predicted grades.

I can't understand why you think it will limit his A level choices if he is already doing GCSEs in the subjects he wants to do.......

There is a lot of snobbery about the less academic GCSEs.........

I agree Bertrand , especially when many parents and students don't even bother to read up on and check which courses are on offer at their school and what is actually covered in a syllabus: they just go with the 'title' of a course and make sweeping judgements.

I would have thought looking at past papers and a syllabus would, at the very least, be the most sensible thing to do when choosing Options but I always have one or two students a couple of weeks into Year 10/12, saying 'this isn't what I assumed it was, can I move subjects?' and judging by this thread, many parents don't even know what course their children are signing up for.

"I got sneered at in a Cambridge interview over my GCSE in DT: Textiles. My school forced everyone to do a tech subject."

That's because the interviewer was an arsehole. Not because there was anything wrong with the subject!

Since when should child development only be for people who are classed as "not academic"?

How incredibly insulting.

Let your son study what he wants to, it's his life and if he's interested in Child Development then let him get on with it.

I did Child development GCSE back in the Early 90's it was interesting. If he wants to do it, its up to him. Child development GCSE is for everybody who wants to do it, not just the 'non academic'. Btw, it helped with my BA (hons) Psychology, and I have an Msc Health Psychology, and hopefully will go onto do do a Phd in Clinical Psychology, so there you go.

my dd wanted to do childcare, i was pretty against it, but thought, hey, she wants to work with children. i wasnt overly impressed with her teacher at open evening.
however due to timetabling there was a distinct lack of choice.
she hated it, hated the teacher, who then went off sick.
i did try and suggest RE

As a teacher and head of year I see students being forced into or away from options all the time. Please don't be one of those parents and please let your child do what he enjoys.

Child development is not the same course as childcare though is it?

but things like child care, which will be a new subject in GCSE how is the DC going to know whether they will enjoy it?

I did it at GCSE in the late 1990's. It was pointless and I hated it.

In fairness I had to do it because the options I had chosen were not able to be timetabled, and there wasnt much other choice.

Got an A* though

My ds is doing 8 GCSEs (including Media Studies ) and two BTecs- Sports Science and Performimg Arts.

He has just been accepted (subject to grades, of course) into a highly selective academic 6th Form.

With some caveats, of course, I think people worry too much about GCSE choices.