educational choices comparison

[Scoobydoo]

What type of educational choices have you, if you are a parent, chosen for your children? Public school, private school, homeschool, other

What was good or bad or in between about it, would you do it again, or not and why?

If your not a parent, you can still add what you *think* you might choose and why etc.

[Athena]

Quote by: Scoobydoo What type of educational choices have you, if you are a parent, chosen for your children? Public school, private school, homeschool, other What was good or bad or in between about it, would you do it again, or not and why? If your not a parent, you can still add what you *think* you might choose and why etc.

You are inviting us to unload on you? My biggist complaint with public schools is they have usurged parental authority. When a parent goes to a school to say there is a problem, the school should respond as though the parent is the authority over that child. Not the other way around, with the school telling the parent what school policy is and assuming the child and parent will conform to school policy.

[Heather]

Scooby, I myself have no children, but if I did, I would do home school if at all possible. My reasoning, in a nutshell, is that I could easily follow along with my child's ability to learn and their maturity level.

I myself went to public school, I was home schooled for 1 semester in 5th, but that didn't work out. The only reason for doing so was because my 4th grade teacher was really "out there". I didn't pay any attention in school. In fact, my teachers and the principle had many meeting with my parents about it, and the general consensus was that I was bored because I was beyond the rest of my class. But that changed nothing, and I dropped out. Which seems an obvious risk with public schools and parents who are too busy with other things.

When I was home schooled, I also didn't pay attention, I had way too active of an imagination and preferred to play outside with the animals (I grew up on a farm) than listen to my mother, and my mother never disciplined me.

[CoffeeSaint]

It would depend on my kid. My first choice would be public school, but if my child didn't belong there, I'd go for homeschooling.

If my kid were like Heather (too smart and imaginative for classroom environment) I'd let them do whatever the heck they wanted, and constantly challenge them to learn new and different things on their own -- like if they wanted to go to a concert or something, they'd have to write a persuasive essay and beat me in a game of Trivial Pursuit. I don't know if that's the homeschool model (I assume not), but if it isn't I'd break the rules.

[Osborn F Enready]

I currently have no children, nor are expecting any. I am divorced, no relationship currently.

I am not going to have children until I can raise them as I see fit. If I have children, I will homeschool or private school (non-religious). I would prefer home-schooling if at all possible, and my children would not be exposed to society without my accompaniement or permission until I thought they were mature enough to handle it.(whatever activity) I am not saying I would raise my children as hermits. I would raise them responsibly, and wouldn't let them access tv or internet without a filter, I wouldn't let them roam out of my supervision until I could trust them in their maturity level to make the right choices concerning their actions, and how their actions affected others. I would raise them so they could survive with or without a society to depend on, and I would ensure they were well versed in self-defense and the proper use of firearms, as well as ensuring they understood their individual rights once they become adults, and independent. I would try to find their talents young, and their intrests young, and allow and encourage them to pursue their talents as well as their other intrests and constructive hobbies. I would not make their choices for them, I would help them see the good and bad in every choice, and try to allow them the freedom to choose based on their education and acceptance of respect and trust between us as parent and child, and this would be progressive over time as maturity comes.

Thats my outlook now, at 35 years of age.

[Slevin57]

I think a certain benefits come from Public Education that you can't get in private school or homeschooling.

I don't pretend to have a perfect grasp of society or the ability to teach my children how to behave in society. I think it will be done best by them going through public school and choosing their own path.

Trust is very important to me, and if there is any one virtue I could instill in my children it would be that one. If my children trust me then when major decisions come up, they will not be afraid to talk to me about it. I was afraid to speak to my parents about alot of important issues in my life. I know how important a bond of trust can be now.

[brien]

I raised two children and mistakenly placed them in the government schools. Hindsight being 20/20, if there were "do overs" in life, I would place them in private school. The government schools are a complete and utter failure for many students stuck there.

Here is a link for some comparisons:

Public School vs. Private School - Public School Review

Private school students are more likely than public school students to complete a bachelor’s or advanced degree by their mid-20s. Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, "Fourth Follow-up" (NELS: 1988/2000) show that students who had attended private school in 8th grade were twice as likely as those who had attended public school to have completed a bachelor’s or higher degree by their mid-20s (52 versus 26 percent) and far less likely to not complete a post-secondary education

Conclusion In conclusion, you will find that there is no overall right or wrong answer regarding whether private or public school education is best for children today. The best thing to do when making this decision is to consider the factors and weigh which ones are important to you. Many people are so polarized around the option of having a religious affiliation that this may be the only thing important to you. For others, the costs of private school rule it out outright for them. In addition to working out what is important to you, you’ll need to arm yourself with real numbers and information regarding the public and private schools that you are considering for your children. Go to the schools and get numbers. Finally, start early. Most private schools begin their open house and enrollment processes the year before the school year. Don’t wait until summer to consider where to place your child.

[Scoobydoo]

I've done both and there was good and bad in both (public and homeschool) but totally different issues.
**Public school upside that I saw was (at least in our case, bc its a nice area and smaller school, more safe and wholesome than most others) but in a good area, public schools can provide certain experiences that hoemschoolers cannot replicate, or at least not in teh same way. I am talking about group experiences, such as the kids were reading a series of books, then all of them took a field trip to see a play of the same book. Later they discussed in class what they read and saw, and did related activities. Another time in history they were learning a topic and went on related field trip, although you can take field trips in homeschool, it's hard to get the same experience and benefits, because the kids arent in a classroom leading up to the experience.
Other benefits I see are- learnign to be adapatable to different types of people, learning how to 'suck it up' as it were, in a less ideal situation. In homeschool at least what I saw of it, many kids are very sheltered and only exposed to the 'good kids' or 'nice teachers' of small classes their parents sign them up for. WHile it's good to not be over exposed to poor social situations, it's not to any kids advantage I dont think, to be that sheltered.
My friend has a 20 yr old daughter, and she is very bright and knows how to think critically, BUT she is also very narrowsighted- and very intolerant of others who arent exactly as her family is. She has poor social skills and barely knows how to speak confidently at 20 yrs old, or maybe its' just that she doesnt care to bother? At any rate, I thought the end result of 18 yrs homeschool was less than what I'd hope for if I invested that much time in training my child.

In homeschool there are definate advantages academically and some socially and morally. Children can be taught at their level, and especially for learning disabled OR for super bright kids, they dont have to endure the 'stigma' of being in special ed classroom or the 'nerdy' kids class at school. They can simply learn to their level without feeling they are less than other kids. For my duaghter who has a high IQ but also a learning disorder, homesschool offerrs a hard to beat advantage in that way. At school she has to fit into the program they have, the books they have, the benchmarks they set, and often times either overexceeds it, or way underexceeds, and is left with low self esteem. Homeschool can build relationships in the family, since nowdays their tends to be too much homework in school, they're there most of the day, and the time you ahve with them after school is mostly tied up with homework or projects. In homeschool they do the work in half the time, and have time with family and also to spend on very important hobbies, just relaxing or sports, music, etc.
THe real downsides I see in homeschool as I said are passing on an arrogant, we are better than others attitude, kids tend to be limited in certain (not all) social and emotional issues,and less resiliient and adaptable. They are used to alot of undivided attention from their mom or parents, and havent been given certain life experiences to help build a 'bite the bullet' ability. For ex there is too much tendency to make things a bit too (imo) fun, easy, etc. such as not making them do certain subjects- while teh benefit of homeschool is tailoring work to their ability, I dont think it's good to let them skip things they're not interested in, or arent good at. Of course these are all just generalities, on both sides, but overall at least from my experience I think i'ts probalby not too far off. I think if you send your kids to public school you have to be intentional about spending quality time with them, and also QUANTITY time as well. You ahve to sometimes be prepared to let your kid take a day off if possible, on occasion, to spend with the family, or to visit grandma, etc. Otherwise, there isnt time, and their childhood will be gone without those special times togehter. You also have to build around their education to provide things they wont get there, and talk with them at home about what they are doing, learning, so that their life doesnt become totally seperate. I think in teenage years it's ironically even more importrant to do so.
WIth homeschool I think you hav to be careful not to overprotect or coddle, or let them skip units of study they are not interested in, as this will not teach them anything except mom let's me get out of stuff I dont like. I think it's important to expect them to do things that other kids have to do, like wake up by 8 am, not sleep in til 10, unless they have some type of health issue, otherwise they will be too coddled and 'soft' to live in teh real world. You also have to watch how you come across so that you dont teach them to be arrogant or intolerant or uncompassionate about others who aren't in the same situation as you.

[grandpa]

I encourage parents to take your kids to the library, and not just to ths kiddies section.

Grandpa h.

[Athena]

May I point out, the importance of the education of the child across town.
If that child is not well educated, that child is apt to become a burden to society. Originally government mandated free public education was to assure other people's children did not become burdens to society, and I am strongly in favor of public education continuing to serve that purpose.

I just wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper, explaining I voted against a local tax to be spent on safe needs, and will never vote for such a tax nor increasing the school budets, until public education returns to education for citizenship.

I am also working on a community project using schools and the Boys' and Girls' Club, and a bike path, to teach the connection between virtues and good citizenship. I will use children's pictures and short explanations of our national symbols, and virtues, for signs along the bike path on the 4th of July. I have contacted the major and school district officals and constantly write letters to the editor, explaining the importance of education for good citizenship.

Between WWI and WWII teachers defended democracy in the classroom. That is the only place it can be defended. Read Locke, Jefferson, John Dewey to understand the connection between education and democracy. And seeing Osborn is posting in this thread- I will acknowledge his opinion that the US was never intended to be a democracy. Moving along- we had government mandated free public education to teach good citizenship, and from WWI to WWII the principles of democracy. That is, our public schools were used to mobilize the military defense of democracy.