Thursday, January 29, 2009

Public vs Private School, part II

A friend and I were continuing on this discussion and her son is my daughter's age and she was asking about education and things.

I was telling her a few interesting things:

1. Kindergarten is not mandatory, and many parents look at it as free babysitting. Therefore, with that mindset, it is no wonder that there isn't parental support.
2. Many people think that kindergarten is just a social grade and there isn't much learned.
3. Many people think that kindergarten will teach them: how to tie their shoes, button, snap, colors, shapes, ABC's, etc........

With only those three things in place, it is no wonder that we have children that do enter into kindergarten and are VERY far behind.

7 comments:

Dixie said...

oops... you left out one little thing that people think school will do for their children...

#4. Teach them discipline...

you are right on... it's not the schools it's the parents. if you have a personal friend that happens to be a teacher, they'll tell you it's not the kids that are the problem... it's the parents.

continued good luck with your search for the "answer"... public vs. private...

blessings. Dixie

Huse Yo Mama said...

What!? They won't teach my kid her ABCs in kindergarten? What kind of school system is this anyway!!!?

humph

Swimming Texas Babies said...

Clarification,
yes kinder will teach them ABC's and numbers, but if they enter with little to no knowledge about these concepts, then they are at a huge disadvantage....

Huse Yo Mama said...

I was trying to be sarcastic. I failed.

Swimming Texas Babies said...

Rachel,
I knew you were being sarcastic, but I just wanted to clarify incase someone else misread that. :-)

Gwen said...

Let me know what you decide. We debate it daily. Except the "good" private schools in SA run about $16,000 a year for Kinder.

hillcountryfamily said...

Well, I feel I need to leave my two cents since I am your sister and we decided to make the switch to private. I do feel that many kids do well (very well) in public school, and excel. However, in my case, one of the biggest differences I have found is how much more the teacher's know your child and talk to you about your child and act like they genuinely care. My daughter really needed that. NOW, I am not knocking every single public school teacher, because there are good ones (like my sister), but those are few and far between. It may even be the "system" of public school. In our case, my daughter was a straight A student, but hated school and felt disconnected. Now, in private, she feels a part of her school and loves it. It took a lot of work to find the right school, but I don't think there is a one-size fits all here.....just my two or three cents :) It is much more challenging, too, and the school has a lot more flexibility to tailor the education to the needs of the child, too. That is a bonus to us!!