evaluating private school

Karen G wrote in message . ..
As our first child starts preschool, I also see school looming ahead. I
don't really have the desire to homeschool although I see it as a
positive alternative. I am looking into my arear public schools, but
have concerns about the teach techniques and the learning environment.

Be sure to ask about charter schools, magnet schools, and alternative
programs within your local public school. Our school has a multi-age
program (kindergarten through 2d grade), for example.

But these alternatives are not very well publicized. (Partly, this is
because they don't want to be overwhelmed...)

So you may need to ask around.

This year my daughter is going to a magnet program for the "highly
gifted." The class is limited to 18 students and the teachers are
excellent. It's public school, but very different from her experience
last year.

Colleen Kay Porter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" I observed one kindergarten class where every child was supposed
to listen to the teacher and color a bit of the worksheet when the
teacher said so, and the teacher said they were to color Abe Lincoln's
cabin brown because this was "before paint was invented." This offended
me on so many levels I don't even want to count them. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I looked into homeschool as an option for my DD. We eventually chose
public school for several reasons, not the least of which is that she
is an only child, and desires more social interaction with same-age
peers than I can give her. In the process of looking at curriculum,
however, I learned a few things about various teaching methods and
philosophies.

I think the "Listen to the teacher and color the worksheet" deal is to
teach kindergartners to follow directions. There are more creative ways
to do this, of course. We like a good rousing game of Simon Says. But
I don't know how effective a strategy that would be with 20-something
5yo's hopping around in the same room...g

As to Lincoln's cabin.... I can easily see why the comment was
offensive. Nothing is gained by teaching faulty history to children of
any age. Paint most certainly was invented before the era of Abraham
Lincoln. We don't know if he had paint on his house or not. I think I
will suggest to my 5yo DD that we go look that up. I feel an end of
summer research project coming on. And just in time, too! Three weeks
before school starts, and ennui settled in our house a month ago!
Should I give her any homework? Maybe she'd like to draw a picture
which represents what we learn on the subject. She's a bit young for a
term paper. g

Carol

In article ,
Karen G wrote:

How did you make this decision and how has it affected your family for
good or bad? How do I make a decision on this issue? I plan to go for
a visit in October after school has gotten underway and visit the
kindergarten classes and the 3rd grade classes.


Once your child's preschool teacher has had a chance to get to know her,
s/he may be able to recommend a school that would be a good fit for her.
My oldest's preK/K teacher recommended the private school where my kids
eventually ended up, though I did not take that advice immediately and
first sent them to a public school that was good in the short-term but
was getting worse and worse by the year until we pulled them out after
K and 3rd.

I'd echo the no homework sentiment. The public school had homework.
All it ever taught my children was to hate homework, even thought the
school was fairly flexible about it. Our current school gives
virtually no homework until 6th grade, and that works well for us, and
gives the kids more time to pursue extracurricular interests to round
themselves out a bit. From what I've seen the kids adjust just fine to
it in the older grades without "practicing" from K on, which was the
excuse the public school gave for giving it.

--Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)

Karen G wrote in message
...
As our first child starts preschool, I also see school looming ahead. I
don't really have the desire to homeschool although I see it as a
positive alternative. I am looking into my arear public schools, but
have concerns about the teach techniques and the learning environment.

We've been through the choosing school thing three times now. One thing people
often don't mention is to try to assess the relative happiness/harmony on the
staff. Do the teachers seem to like the principal? Do the teachers stay?
(Henry's first school had turnover rates above 50% each year -- a red flag).
If you have the opportunity to talk to a staff member, do so -- better still to
talk with several. Find out how long they've been at the school and why they
stay.

As the time to start school nears, take your child with you. You may be
surprised to see how your child reacts in different environments. Do the staff
relate more to you or to your child (I believe the latter is best)? Do not,
however, let the child in on the decision at this age -- we found it causes too
much stress. Better to just way "we are visiting schools to see what they are
like" than to give the child a vote at this age, at least in our case.



-Dawn
Mom to Henry, 10

Karen G wrote:

As our first child starts preschool, I also see school looming ahead. I
don't really have the desire to homeschool although I see it as a
positive alternative. I am looking into my arear public schools, but
have concerns about the teach techniques and the learning environment.
I have private school options--Lutheran, non-demonational Christian,
Catholic, and secular.

How did you make this decision and how has it affected your family for
good or bad? How do I make a decision on this issue? I plan to go for
a visit in October after school has gotten underway and visit the
kindergarten classes and the 3rd grade classes.

In the UK some of the factors we are advised to look at include:

1) Artwork: are the children's creations shown on the walls? Are only
'good' pieces shown, or do some of them look like they were done by
not-so-good artists. Are they in other parts of the school, not just
the classroom walls.

2) Does the headteacher appear to know the children by name?

3) Do the children look happy, and occupied?

One reason I like our kids current school is that although each class is
age-based, they do a lot of activities in multi-age groups. The school
often takes half or a third of one class and puts them in with another
age-grouping. This is not always ability based: eg for art work where
they are mixed up.

HTH

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I volunteer (OB parenting: with my children) at a living history site,
and this year we learned that, although most people make pictures of
westward-bound covered wagons with the wagons being made of plain brown
wood, they were almost always painted, because otherwise they would
weather and fall apart too fast. (Remember "Paint Your Wagon?" There was
a reason for that.) Perhaps this was less of a problem for actual _log_
cabins, because the wood was not cut and the exterior of the log is
stronger.
Peggy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I knew that about the wagons. Also, houses which were made of boards,
rather than logs, were often painted or "whitewashed" for the same
reason. We did learn that most log houses were built with the bark on.
It was a time saver not to have to remove it, and the bark provided
natural protection from the elements. If a cabin outlived its bark,
i.e. if the bark fell off, which took years, then paint was an
option, if the inhabitants could afford it. Some logs weathered faster
than others. Depending on the type of log used, weathering may not
have been completed for a generation or two. If Honest Abe grew up in a
newly built cabin, it is not likely to have been painted in his
lifetime. That's about all we could find. Btw, DD drew a lovely
picture of a brown, "bumpy" log cabin. g

Carol
:-)

wrote:

Some logs weathered faster
than others. Depending on the type of log used, weathering may not
have been completed for a generation or two.

Okay, I tracked down the source of my general impression: the first sentence of
_Little House in the Big Woods_, "Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little
girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs."

It strikes me that a log cabin would be a real turkey to paint! I wouldn't care
for the job.

--Helen

"Karen G" wrote in message
...

[]
How did you make this decision and how has it affected your family for
good or bad? How do I make a decision on this issue? I plan to go for
a visit in October after school has gotten underway and visit the
kindergarten classes and the 3rd grade classes.

Something that could be helpful is to spend some thinking about your
personal philosophy of education. What do you think the purpose of
education is? Imagine what the ideal education for your children would look
like. What do you want your children to end up like as adults? When you
have thought about these things then you can compare schools against your
goals and ideals.

Jayne