While I don’t disagree with your larger point (that is, that she probably won’t be damaged by running with riff-raff for a year), I do think your impression of kindergarten is out of date by at least 15 years. They do reading and writing now, and math: addition and subtraction, and counting money and making change. Students have homework every night in most kindergartens now. It’s a *lot *more academic than it used to be. I often hear teachers say that “kindergarten is the new first grade”, and from what I’ve observed in my daughter’s class, it’s very true.
Whereas coming from a home where a parent identifies themself as “bongmaster” shouldn’t be a concern?
Please go shit on someone else’s thread, the both of you. My brother goes to a private high school with over 25% of students receiving merit-based financial aid and his friends don’t hesitate to tell you (anyone they talk to about their experience at the school) that they used to go to school with trashy, stupid morons. Poor people are just like other people. The bottom line is that in a poor high school the quality of education is subpar. S/he’s doing what millions of other parents do every single year.
And we are suggesting he not be so quick to judge. Two years ago I had a parent come and cry for an hour because her daughter was going to have to go to the public school where I teach and the mom was just wracked with guilt that their change in financial circumstances was condemning her daughter to the hell of a big-city public school. And her daughter has been just fine. She’s got a wide circle of friends, is active in the drama department, and made exactly the same scores on her AP exams you’d have expected her to make had she stayed at her exclusive private school.
And I could tell plenty of stories about the “hell” of my school, if I was looking to impress others with how ghetto my background was–hell, my students do it ALL THE TIME when they encounter suburban kids. I mean, it’s fun to talk about the time the school had to be evacuated because the security guard teargassed the pregnant girls who were fighting under an intake vent for the HVAC, or the kid who went to jail for bank robbery. They don’t mention all the positive stuff, because it’s boring.
I’m not saying there aren’t schools I wouldn’t send my kids to–there are plenty. But working in urban education, I’ve learned you HAVE to go see the school itself, and see it on more than one occasion, to have any idea what it is really like.
Parochial schools aren’t what they used to be, and your local parochial school could be lovely.
Your public school might not be as bad as you’re thinking; I agree that a visit would be a good idea. Base your decision on facts, not conjecture.
Have you looked into a Montessori or other secular private school, if there are any in your area?
It turns out that many stereotypes about homeschoolers are wrong, and we don’t stay in the basement all the time–we routinely hang out with a wide variety of other people. When we were doing K I used to joke that yes, socialization was a real problem, because it was crowding out the school time (which works great–you can do a perfectly good K program 2-3 mornings a week and play the rest of the time). Many people homeschool because they feel it offers a wider scope of experience and more people to meet. You might look for secular or inclusive homeschool groups in your area. That said, it’s a lot of work and not for the faint-hearted; I’m not advising you to homeschool, just trying to fight some ignorance.
In fact, a recent Gallup poll showed that the majority of the American public is quite dissatisfied with “American schools.” But 77% of those same respondents gave their local school a grade of A or B. This is the highest percentage ever given local schools since 1985. The fact is that what people “know” about the country’s schools is in great measure based on hearsay - primarily from the media (where else would they get their understanding?). So, yes, go to your local school and see how it feels. See if there’s any student work on the walls. See if there’s any laughter anywhere. See if the kids seem to be learning - and don’t base this judgment on test scores, just look at some classes and see what’s happening. That’s a much better way to form an opinion - direct observation.
If I’m reading the OP correctly, this is your first child. I wonder if that has something to do with your level of concern.
When my oldest was set to go to Kindergarten, I was pretty set against the public school as well. Not because of the other kids who go there and any questionable home lives, but because I was overwhelmed at the thought of her bring one of 21 or 22 students in a class. I didn’t feel that she could possibly get the kind of personal attention she deserved (being the smartest kid in the world and all). There was an independent school that has a Kindergarten program that we considered, but it had no openings.
Despite my biggest fears, it turned out that my daughter does just fine in large classes and the quality of instruction—while not what she would get in that privately-run class of 8 students—was just fine.
Maybe it will be different as she moves into higher grades (she is in 2nd now, and my youngest is in Kindergarten and also doing just fine), but we’ll evaluate as time goes on. In addition to teachers, there are very involved parents who get permission to come and read to the students, teach about their cultural traditions, do special art projects, etc. Why not be one of those parents?
Frankly, if $7000/year is a prohibitive cost for an out-of-district school for you, I don’t see how you will manage private school in any form. And the families of other kids may well surprise you. Bad influences are in the best schools, too.
You are asking for that. They are threadshitting.
Maybe you’re the Jaime Escalante of your school. And that’s great. But the kids are still going to be lacking in their other subjects, not to mention the therapy they’ll need in years to come simply from being around some of their loser classmates.
Are you talking about the kids in manda JO’s school, or the ones in the OP’s kid’s potential Kindergarten class. You know, the ones with <gasp> divorced parents.
Either way…loser classmates? Years of therapy? Please, child. Get over yourself.
Please child? I think you mean child please :rolleyes:
Thanks for the lecture. In case you didn’t notice, I’d already provided two answers before you had deigned to share your wisdon. That you don’t wish me to take notice of the fact that my advice will probably end up falling on deaf ears because of the apparent motivation of the OP doesn’t bother me at all.
Hijack: I just love you for using the phrase “hoi polloi”.
As to the OP, I will only say that there are a lot of good options here and you should consider them. I also don’t think it will hurt her to have a year in this school and then be moved. But what do I know, I am not a parent.
I didn’t actually know there was one correct way to say this. Thank you for fighting my ignorance.
Maybe it would help you clarify what it is about the local public school that you don’t like.
The only thing I saw mentioned was that it ‘wasn’t great…for scholastic reasons’, and the kids come from ‘broken homes and a not-great part of town’. Isn’t that the part of town you live in?
I think you should visit the school(s) in your district, if you have not.
My kids are in middle school and high school now, but I did move to get to a better school district. I knew my youngest would need SPED, that I couldn’t afford private school, and didn’t want parochial school, so I shopped around and bought a house in the best district I could afford. If this is what you wind up doing, one or two years in a poorer school won’t make that much difference if the child has a motivated and involved parent.
You’re welcome, though I don’t have any pride in correcting a phrase Ochocinco made popular again. Link.
Gracious! Now I’ve heard it all … snobs in our private schools!
I dont know about your state but here in california your children do not have to attend kindergarten. Often children are not ready untill the next year anyway, emotionally it can be a trying time. If you can teach your child to count to twenty and write it, write her full name and address and phone number, know and write the alphabet recognise shapes and colors, some basice plant and animal science and I mean simlpe stuff…you are going to do as well as anyone elce.
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I dont know about your state but here in california your children do not have to attend kindergarten. Often children are not ready untill the next year anyway, emotionally it can be a trying time. If you can teach your child to count to twenty and write it, write her full name and address and phone number, know and write the alphabet recognise shapes and colors, some basice plant and animal science and I mean simlpe stuff…you are going to do as well as anyone elce.
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See…this post proves that skool is uneccesary.
Actually, I think it proves that school IS necessary; just not always effective.