School question

As my daughter is going to attend preschool next year and we will start the schooling years, I am realizing that it is going to be a real headache (from my limited experience with finding a school, the post about red flag parents, parents holding their kids back from K until they are 6, ETC ETC ETC. . .it just seems very unnecessarily complicated).

So I am curious: Do your kids attend public school, private school, or homeschool? And do the headaches seem to be greater in one type of school as opposed to another (for those who have been in both)?

I hope this doesn't stir up a debate. I hesitate to post this because I see the potential for clash here but I'm honestly just curious as to everyone's different experiences.

[houseelf]

Researching schools before a cross country move....I'm right there with you.

Our first grader and toddler attend a private, fully accredited AMI (montessori) school. It is the best money we ever spent.

We are trying to continue this same path with our upcoming move and it is proving to be somewhat difficult. We interviewed schools in August and will return for second looks at two different schools in March. It is much easier to make a schooling decision when you live in a community and can get personal recommendations from individuals. People are more than happy to tell you their thoughts about a particular school.

I wish you the best of luck finding the perfect school for your family. This is a hard decision.

Kelly

[Sheherezade]

We've been in public school in two different high income school districts. Even with all the complaining, they are basically good choices. Private school is available here, but at 8-20K a year per kid....it better be necessary. :>

We did private preschool with both kids. I think that's the norm. There aren't a lot of public preschools. When we had a choice (Boston) we opted for private preschool because of size.

I think of the private school choice as an option if my kids don't thrive in this school system. We aren't there yet.

It is much easier to make a schooling decision when you live in a community and can get personal recommendations from individuals. People are more than happy to tell you their thoughts about a particular school.

I agree. I know you are moving so it might be hard to check out beforehand but it is nice to talk to people who are living there. Also keep in mind that the "best" preschool in town might not be the best for you and your child.

I think all options have their own headaches. For now we are having a good run with the public schools and will stick with that as long as it is working for us.

Public school for us. It was a large part of our home search (the district, that is). DH has some strange hatred of private school (except for crazy pricey college / med school ), so private would have only been an option if our job search had taken us somewhere w/o good public schools.

We'd talked for awhile about living in the sticks and me homeschooling for a few years (to make the big $), but I've got to say that wouldn't have been good for anyone involved. I don't have the patience required to homeschool, in addition to some personal reservations w/the idea in general. I don't begrudge anyone the right to homeschool - it's just not for us.

I attended private school and would not recommend that for my kids. It was the wrong choice for me in so many ways....but my parents insisted. My biggest issue with it is that I had so much homework (way more than in college or law school) that I could not enjoy my youth. Plus, the grading and intensity of the workload really scared me off math and science, and my confidence in both really faltered in high school, not to return again until my post-bacc experience.

Another aspect I didn't like about it was the intense competition to get into good colleges. College counseling started early--and the whole focus of high school was to get into a good college. The pressure was overwhelming and the stress negatively affected me.

So it will be public school for our kids.

[mommax3]

We have chosen a church-based (not our church, though) private school that goes through 8th grade. There are non-church-based private schools in Indianapolis that I know of and admire, but they are too far away to be an option for us. It has a preschool, too. We pay about 8800/yr. for all three of them......not bad compared to what it could be.

Our decision was made for a variety of reasons. Here are the top few:

1. The public elementary school here would not let us tour it when we were here for a house-hunting trip, even though I had called the central office of the school system and gotten an okay before making the trip.

2. I am able to have my kids all in one building, which has been invaluable in terms of how much time I spend in the car. Had we gone the public school route, I would have had one in private preschool, one in an elementary school, and one in an intermediate school. None of them would have been close to each other, and the school start/end times would have varied as much as an hour and a half.

3. The school where my kids are is two minutes from the hospital where DH works.....closer than our house......and that has made is possible for DH to attend conferences, games, concerts, etc. to an extent that would not have been possible had they gone to public schools.

4. I am convinced that small class sizes are worth paying for. There are 11 kids in my oldest's class. There are 13 in my 3rd grader's class. My preschooler has a bigger class (and his kindergarten class will likely have 20 kids) but there are/will be two teachers.

These are my reasons. We actually were planning on public school when we moved here.....the public schools in our town get great ratings. But we were both thrown by the school's refusal to let us tour.....that had never happened to us before, and we had moved into new school districts a couple of times at that point. We live in a rapidly growing community and since living here, we have decided that we don't want our kids in the system here even in high school. Last summer, the system added 650 kids and there are already over 600 kids in the class my oldest would be in.....the class will likely be bigger by the time they get to high school. They are hell-bent on keeping just one high school (I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with sports ) and I just think that is too big. So we are hoping to move to the district where I teach by the time my oldest is ready for high school. There are 200 kids/grade there, and even if it grows substantially over the next two years, I will be able to handle those numbers.

Sally

[MissCrabette]

I only attended one year of public school when I moved to the US, but I wanted to add my two cents. As someone here mentioned in another thread, I think the decision of public versus private needs to be made on an individual basis. I was bored out of my mind and not challenged at all, even when you keep in mind that I had to adjust to an all English speaking environment. Some public schools are better than others and the same goes for private schools, but I don't think this is something that could be settled in a debate.

[Sheherezade]

I did hear one interesting thing regarding school choices recently. Some kids that were in a ritzy private school here transferred in to our public school. The parents told me it wasn't financial. Their daughter had reading difficulties starting in 1st grade and they were pressured by the private school to do something about it -- or get her out of the school. They considered private tutors, but ultimately didn't want either of their kids in an environment that would kick them out when they had trouble. (Or threaten to do so - unless the parents corrected the deficits on their own privately.) I'd have to agree. First grade is too early to start threatening kids that don't "keep up". Reading develops slowly in some. That would never happen in our system. In fact, one of the downfalls in our system is all the attention given to special needs. The special needs sometimes overshadow "regular" kids. The district gets flooded - and resources are limited. It is good to know it is there if you need it though.

Complicated.

[kaseymarie]

My boyfriend and I both attneded grade schools, high schools, and colleges. We have talked about it many times that it was perfect for us. We are very happy with our educations and feel it is worth the expense. I am now, ironically, a teacher in a public school. Regradless, my children will attend private school. We feel it is a much safer environment for our children.

Anyone considering single sex schools? What are your views on them?

[Phoebe]

We have done a church-based preschool and DD#1 will attend public school next fall.

[kaseymarie]

I went to an all women's college.....I know, quite different than a single sex elementary school/high school. I loved my college. On the other hand, I know many girls who hated it. I think it depends on the individual. I think it is best for children to go to a school with both sexes. I think children need this social interaction! It is unrealistic to not have this interaction, there would be very few times in their lives when they will be in a work/social place with only males or females.

They are hell-bent on keeping just one high school (I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with sports ) and I just think that is too big.

so the multiple high schools in a district is a good thing? I'd never heard of it before, and was kind of thrown by the fact that our district has 4, and has just announced plans to add a 5th. It's a good district, and I've been pleased so far (w/my grand experience), but I didn't know what to make of it.

I know I've been happy w/the class sizes. Jacob's kindergarten has 17 kids - and his class is the largest!

[Gwendolyn]

Because James has a special need, it will be public school for a while at least. It is the only place he can get the resources he needs.

I have much to say on single-sex education, but I am batting 1000 on the education front right now, so...maybe another time