Kindergarten - new parent questions.

[Anonymous]

I have a rising kindergartner and just visited our zoned school. We live in a city (not DC) and our neighbors all say our zoned school is very good. My child is currently at a private (preschool - 5) school for pre-k and I absolutely love it but it’s not in our budget to keep her there forever. It was a bit of a shock touring the public school yesterday. The classes for K are about 25 (some had 27) students. They only have 20-25 minutes for recess each day. I’m assuming all of this is normal in public school but I really don’t know. Is it?

Do you find your child gets the attention they need in a class of 25?

Besides being free, what do you find the advantages of public school are over private?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. My children went to pre-K and K (state approved K program) at the Child Development Center on center and had a very full STEM education there. They got to meet real astronauts, even the King of Sweden when he visited. They had scientists that did liquid nitrogen experiments. And they went outside on the playground for a minimum of 2 30-min periods daily (usually 3, but occasionally only twice).

They moved to a good public preschool where they have a pretty normal schedule with morning classes including one short morning break (about 10 min), then recess and lunch, and a similar afternoon schedule with one short break.

My kids did fine and are doing well. Yes, more outdoor activities would be nice. So, what we did was we enrolled them in the aftercare program at their school and afterschool, they get somewhere between 30-90 minutes of outdoor play and activities after school. It works fine and my kids are doing well. They are now 4th graders and at the top of their class and they are pretty well adjusted and they love the school and their teachers.

[Anonymous]

Its free. At the higher levels public usually has more rigorous math offerings (usually not always). Bigger mix of kids.
But yes private for smaller classes and more outside time.
I would happily pay more in taxes for 15 kids in school for everyone instead of 25.

[Anonymous]

Yes, public school is free and has it's limitations. Big class sizes, limited outdoor times.

Stay private if small class sizes and breaks are important to you. We stayed private through middle school because in the county middle school kids don't have recess breaks. It was important because of my son's energy level to have recess outside even in the 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, public school is free and has it's limitations. Big class sizes, limited outdoor times.

Stay private if small class sizes and breaks are important to you. We stayed private through middle school because in the county middle school kids don't have recess breaks. It was important because of my son's energy level to have recess outside even in the 6th grade.

Not all public schools have large class sizes. Our local ES has K classes under 20.

I chose public because the majority of kids I know in private are asshats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, public school is free and has it's limitations. Big class sizes, limited outdoor times.

Stay private if small class sizes and breaks are important to you. We stayed private through middle school because in the county middle school kids don't have recess breaks. It was important because of my son's energy level to have recess outside even in the 6th grade.

Not all public schools have large class sizes. Our local ES has K classes under 20.

I chose public because the majority of kids I know in private are asshats.

Okay, then. Her child is already in a private pre-k so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, public school is free and has it's limitations. Big class sizes, limited outdoor times.

Stay private if small class sizes and breaks are important to you. We stayed private through middle school because in the county middle school kids don't have recess breaks. It was important because of my son's energy level to have recess outside even in the 6th grade.

Not all public schools have large class sizes. Our local ES has K classes under 20.

I chose public because the majority of kids I know in private are asshats.

+1. Check out the class sizes at your local ES. Mine is 14 kids right now in Kindergarten. There is a teacher and an aide too, so I do feel like they get a lot of attention.

Downside is that there are REALLY disruptive kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising kindergartner and just visited our zoned school. We live in a city (not DC) and our neighbors all say our zoned school is very good. My child is currently at a private (preschool - 5) school for pre-k and I absolutely love it but it’s not in our budget to keep her there forever. It was a bit of a shock touring the public school yesterday. The classes for K are about 25 (some had 27) students. They only have 20-25 minutes for recess each day. I’m assuming all of this is normal in public school but I really don’t know. Is it?

Do you find your child gets the attention they need in a class of 25?

Besides being free, what do you find the advantages of public school are over private?

Many school districts have class size funding models that have smaller class sizes in schools where students have higher needs (i.e. didn't go to pre-K). A larger class size isn't necessarily a problem. If your neighbors say the school is good, believe them.

I think the real benefit for attending public school is for kids to be in school with other kids in their neighborhood. It's good for them to be able to grow up together and participate in activities together, where parents don't have to arrange and manage social time because the friends don't live close by. The other benefit is that students in public school see a broader mix of students from different socio-economic groups. It's more diverse - so more opportunities to get to know kids different than their family, see different perspectives, and learn how to get along with other people. You can always supplement academics or activities (spend your extra $$ there if needed). You can't supplement the socio-emotional learning that comes in a public school setting.

[Anonymous]

Are you implying that social emotional learning doesn’t take place in private school? My local upper Marlboro ES labeled my son as being whiny in kindergarten. Total opposite from his now private for 1st grade. While his private is not as diverse, his private understand early childhood education more and since it’s only 14 in his class, he doesn’t get sat in the back of a class of 28. He play with his neighborhood friends in the neighborhood but in my case, my so called “good” school fell short.

[Anonymous]

Save your money and at least try the public school. There are almost certainly movement breaks during the day and I'll bet there's a full time aide in the class.

[Anonymous]

My son’s MCPS K class has 26 kids. They play outside 3 times a day. He loves it.