This is a long post that is kind of my journal of sorts regarding the future education of our kids. I would love to hear from other parents on what you all are thinking in this area.
As mentioned before, Katherine started "school" a few weeks ago. It is technically Mother's Day Out but we call it school and treat it as such. Actually we got lucky and she was moved up a class because she is so smart (that is how I choose to explain it at least :). Don't all mom's think their kids are "gifted"? By her age she is about 4 months younger than most in her class but the younger class had kids that were a full year younger so we all thought she would do better in the older class. She has done great. The director of the school commented that Katherine may be small in size but she plays big. She was running around with all the big kids on the playground, holding her own.
Anyway, school is a huge topic around these parts lately. The upcoming school decisions stress me out a bit. Will we go to our local public school, private school or will I homeschool? We have three years until Katherine enters kindergarten so you would think that is a long time to decide but I already have a list of about 6 schools whose open houses I want to attend this fall. Tomorrow I will be attending the open house for our public school to check out that option.
Why? Well, a few of the private schools actually start with a 3 year old preschool. That would be next year.
If I want her to attend private christian school "A" for kindergarten, shouldn't she begin there in preschool for the sake of continuity? On the other hand, if we decide on private christian school "B" or to our public school, which does not start until kindergarten, would we want her to go to preschool at private christian school "A" and then switch or just stay at Mother's Day Out? From my observations the preschools at Mother's Day Out locations are not as "rigorous" as those which are at schools that continue on to elementary. Then it cracks me up that I am even considering the "rigor" of a preschool. We are just talking about kindergarten readiness. Of course I have no fear that Katherine will be ready for kindergarten. According to friends who used to teach kindergarten she is almost ready from an academic standpoint just because we read so much at home. Of course socially she is not close, but she knows and recognizes her alphabet and most numbers, her colors and shapes.
My first choice would be to send our girls to a Christian school, specifically the one that I attended. There are two main reasons we would not do this. The first is the fact that the cost is prohibitive at this point unless I were to want to go back to teaching. I am not sure that is a choice we are ready to make right now. The second factor is distance. To go to the school that I attended we would probably need to move. There are other Christian school that are closer but they are also expensive.
Another choice would be to go to our public school. Since I attended private schools for my entire k-12 education, my only public school experience was one year as a teacher and it was not a good one. I was not impressed. Now, to be fair, I taught in a different district than where we live. Also, to be fair, I have never set foot on the campus of our neighborhood school. Like I said, tomorrow I will be attending the open house so I can give an update then. When we moved to our neighborhood 5 years ago, not a single child on our street attended our public school. They all either attended private schools or they went to the public magnet school. Now, there are about 20-30 kids on our street attending our public elementary school. Apparently over the last 5 years a lot more of the homeowners have been sending their kids to the school and have become very involved in the PTA and the school has improved a lot. In fact, it is the highest ranking school in the district (according to the state tests). This year there is a new principal who is a Christian as are a lot of the teachers. There is a early childhood PTA for our area and they organize playgroups for each elementary school. This year we plan to attend as many of these as we can so that we can be on the campus and meet more families.
My main concern with a public school at the elementary level is not the academics but the influences that my children will be around. I want to protect them as long as I can but yet I know it is not wise to keep them in a bubble. There is such a balance between taking the time to nurture and train up my own kids versus being a light to a lost world. Ideally I want them to be a light but don't know how much opportunity there is for a kindergartner to be a witness in their class. I am more apt to think that will happen in later elementary and up.
Our final option is homeschooling. Having an education degree and being a teacher for 9 years I certainly know that I am qualified and feel comfortable with homeschooling (not to imply that those are requirements as I know many people who homeschool well whom were not teachers). There are a lot of things about homeschooling that appeal to me. You get to choose the best curricula for your kids. You can spend extra time on areas where they are interested and go quicker through areas that they have already mastered. You can plan all kinds of cool field trips and activities that correlate with activities. You can travel as a part of your study. School and education are just a part of life. However, I just don't feel fired up about the idea of homeschooling. I know that it is selfish, but I feel like I need "my time". I had Katherine in MDO one day a week at 11 months and will do the same with Caroline I am sure. Once they are school age, there are no MDO programs so you are with your kids all the time. I also feel like I will have a hard time staying home and getting it all done. I seem to be good at planning and bad at follow through.
So, those are my thoughts on education right now. Luckily I know that it does not have to be decided right now. I also know that I don't have to decide in kindergarten where the girls will go for all 13 years. We can change schools. Also, Katherine and Caroline don't have to do the same thing.
Tune in for part 2 of "Thoughts on Education"
By the way, this is my 400th blog post!
5 comments:
We are considering private school. The only reason we would not go that route is the distance from our home to school. We must make our minds up soon; she starts school next year.
I think you would be perfect for home school, although I appreciate your need for alone time.
I've tried private, public, public charter, and homeschool for my kids. I can't tell you which is best; that totally depends on your specific school options. But I think going to open houses now is a wonderful idea! I would also recommend volunteering in several schools around you ASAP. You can usually help in a classroom or read to a group of kids or something, even if you're not a parent of someone at the school. Schools are thrilled to see interest from the outside community. That's the only way to really see what the school atmosphere is like on a daily basis. Also, in our area, there is such a thing as MDO for homeschoolers, so you might want to see if that's a possibility in your area. Here, it's called "Options." It's a one day a week "school" for homeschoolers. They usually meet in a church but are not church-affiliated. In fact, there are two such programs in our area. The other is church-affiliated. Surely there's something like that near you.
ashley's idea about volunteering at the school is a great idea. i taught in that district for nine years and know that is certainly welcomed. that would give you a peek into what goes on.
we've known since before we got married that we would home school our children one day so i haven't even looked into all of the schooling options you're talking about. i'm sure it would be really overwhelming.
i just said a prayer for you that you'd have wisdom and insight.
what about something like coram deo? that would provide the outside structure you want but still allow you to teach katherine at home several days per week.
also, i don't know much about it but have heard fabulous things about the home schooling coop here. that might provide some of what you're looking for as well.
chrys
well, you know my opinion is, if you want to send her to our school, then you shouldn't let your location stop you...since we spend 3 hours a day driving back and forth to school, I would LOVE to live where you live....I know you obviously have two kiddos and I only have one, but there is always financial Aid...Our school has their Open House in Nov, but like you said, it is a little early...you would need to have your application in the fall before she would start school in Aug. Oh, and if you are going to test her there, I will give you a heads up and tell you that she will need to be able to recognize money and know all the values...or at least if she does she will score higher on the test!!!! :) Plus you have the alumni edge going for you and you only have to pay half of the admission fee...
This is a fascinating discussion!
I have no experience with private schools or Christian schools personally,but I can attest that the public school I went to (in East Texas) was actually pretty good at preparing many of my classmates for college.
I was tested and repeatedly accepted to the advanced/honors classes at the school, but didn't have the push from my parents to stay with it. What I'm saying is that bright kids can do well in public schools IF parents are involved and encouraging. :)
I graduated from high school with a not-too-spectacular GPA (and had to go to Jr College),BUT then I realized the importance of an education and graduated with Highest Honors from both Texas A&M and PT school.
Outside of the influences of public school, which I was smart enough not to be a part of, it's not a bad thing to send kiddos IF parents are involved and interested in their children's education and social life.
I need to be honest here and say that I too have considered homeschooling our girls, however, I would appreciate the structure and healthy-competition that a classroom provides.
Thanks for a great post. I look forward to the next one!
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