Best school in Northern VA for traditional, non-screen-based education

[Anonymous]

Oakcrest and The Heights

[Anonymous]

Any AMI accredited Montessori school. You should start by age 3.

[Anonymous]

OP, our kids are in HS now but their Catholic K8 only used technology in their technology class until MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what are you going to do when your kid goes to college? All colleges use technology. All of them. You want to train your kid to use tech safely and correctly now rather than hope all works out later.

This is so dumb. I was born in 1981. As a child, most of my classmates were not good at using a computer. We didn't have cell phones or wifi internet until college. Yet all of us function fine in the technological world now. You don't need to turn kindergarteners into screen zombies for them to learn technology by the time they are adults.

this is so completely correct

plus the other post about formal logic being what's useful for programming - not flashing lights and touchscreens

"digital literacy" is one of the dumbest & most mendacious tropes to emerge in recent years - I wish the adults mouthing those words would describe the level of "expertise" they've attained for themselves

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any AMI accredited Montessori school. You should start by age 3.

This. My 2 kids used no screens until 6th and even then it was maybe 5 minutes one day a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what are you going to do when your kid goes to college? All colleges use technology. All of them. You want to train your kid to use tech safely and correctly now rather than hope all works out later.

This is so dumb. I was born in 1981. As a child, most of my classmates were not good at using a computer. We didn't have cell phones or wifi internet until college. Yet all of us function fine in the technological world now. You don't need to turn kindergarteners into screen zombies for them to learn technology by the time they are adults.

this is so completely correct

plus the other post about formal logic being what's useful for programming - not flashing lights and touchscreens

"digital literacy" is one of the dumbest & most mendacious tropes to emerge in recent years - I wish the adults mouthing those words would describe the level of "expertise" they've attained for themselves

No one will ever be able to convince me that doing ST Math penguin every year in elementary is a helpful supplement to in person, live teacher engagement or provides any preparation for college/post-high school. Kudos to first student to get a job because they have ST Math as resume skills line (and nope, won’t be for student to become teacher b/c will not be being used in schools by then having been replaced by something newer).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One of our biggest disappointments was going private only to find just as many screens. It's not Catholic, though.

Which private?

DP. Several privates use iPads or ChromeBooks or whatever. Purely as an example, Langley School does this. It is one reason we did not apply there.

We are at Little Langley. I’ve been pleased with the (fairly low) amount of tech use in JK-1. Hope that continues but let’s see. I think there was a parent-driven movement to cut down on tech after the pandemic. If you are paying that much for private then you tech should be used thoughtfully where it really enhances skills, not as a babysitting device as it is used in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what are you going to do when your kid goes to college? All colleges use technology. All of them. You want to train your kid to use tech safely and correctly now rather than hope all works out later.

Kids these days who are given individual devices at school are actually terrible at using technology. They don't know how to properly format things in Word and type terribly, for instance. Parents can teach kids enough technology use at home. They don't need to use screens for six hours a day to prepare them for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any AMI accredited Montessori school. You should start by age 3.

Partly agree, but I would say any accredited Montessori. AMS and AMI accreditation differ only in minor ways from each other. Local AMS preschools also are good options.

[Anonymous]

But it is the digital times and harder to find a school that by MS isn't pretty entrenched in tech. Most type papers. Quite honestly I wish typing class was offered because let's face it, we all type at work we don't handwrite.

I agree that we should press traditional foundations like teaching cursive and note taking by hand. Unfortunately I'm not sure how many kids want to go to a school that culturally isn't going to be more inclined on tech side of things by MS. Sorry, that's life now.

I think people as a whole are changing. We have these tech tools now and smartphones and google maps to use. As an adult we live our toys. Our kids watch us and they watch TV and YouTube and etc. everything is digital whether it makes sense or not to be digital. I think the best you can do is find ways to get by this reality but we can't turn back time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We like more traditional education for our daughter, one in which she won't be on an iPad or a Chromebook, but will work with good, old-fashioned books, papers and pencils. Suggestions? Thanks

Me too but we're into non-book education and want a school that works with stone tablets or scrolls.

I’ve heard stone tablets are pretty addictive. We prefer teaching using smoke signals.

More of a monosyllabic grunt household ourselves. Muh.

Skip the grunts, our teaching method is drawing in the mud with sticks