Public + AAP vs. private if you want your kid to be a good writer and speaker

[Anonymous]

Which would you choose? Is $40k tuition worth the smaller class sizes?

[Anonymous]

It will definitely seem like it.

[Anonymous]

If money is no object and the get into a good private, then private. If you have to care about costs or if they don't get into one of the good privates then AAP

[Anonymous]

Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

[Anonymous]

I believe FCPS' curriculum is not great when it comes to writing and grammar. Talking to friends who have had their children in Catholic elementary school, the Catholic schools seem to be more focused on "traditional" ways of teaching writing and grammar. But I also think that there are teachers in any given FCPS school who are able to teaching excellent writing and speaking skills. Of my three kids, my general ed kid has excellent writing skills and not my AAP kid. Why? I think my GE kid's fourth grade teacher was hands down a better teacher than my AAP's fourth grade teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

I give my kids presentations to do at home. I know parenting probably doesn't work for some but if you care about your child's education you might want to try it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

I give my kids presentations to do at home. I know parenting probably doesn't work for some but if you care about your child's education you might want to try it.

Ah, for the good old days when parents could be parents and rely on schools to be schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

I give my kids presentations to do at home. I know parenting probably doesn't work for some but if you care about your child's education you might want to try it.

Ah, for the good old days when parents could be parents and rely on schools to be schools!

When was that? I went to school in the 1980's and 1990's and my parents supplemented for all 4 of us. The schools we attended were well regarded but they had holes in the education that my parents supplemented to fill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

I give my kids presentations to do at home. I know parenting probably doesn't work for some but if you care about your child's education you might want to try it.

Ah, for the good old days when parents could be parents and rely on schools to be schools!

When was that? I went to school in the 1980's and 1990's and my parents supplemented for all 4 of us. The schools we attended were well regarded but they had holes in the education that my parents supplemented to fill.

DP. My brothers and I went to regular public school in the US and our parents never supplemented or afterschooled or any of this stuff. It just wasn't necessary.

[Anonymous]

I am a public speaking instructor for kids and adults. My company runs after school programs/online programs etc. I have taught at both public and private. There is no difference in that respect because ACTUAL public speaking fundamentals are not taught at schools. Just telling kids to do presentations don’t teach them effective communication etc. I have literally worked with students from Flint hill, Basis independent, Nysmith… and local public schools. I privately coached a student who was about to go to Harvard from Flint Hill. He told me they never actually LEARNED public speaking unless they joined a debate club or something. For actual public speaking skills, outside enrichment is highly recommended. The gifted kids actually have the hardest time with it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

I give my kids presentations to do at home. I know parenting probably doesn't work for some but if you care about your child's education you might want to try it.

Ah, for the good old days when parents could be parents and rely on schools to be schools!

When was that? I went to school in the 1980's and 1990's and my parents supplemented for all 4 of us. The schools we attended were well regarded but they had holes in the education that my parents supplemented to fill.

DP. My brothers and I went to regular public school in the US and our parents never supplemented or afterschooled or any of this stuff. It just wasn't necessary.

If you want your kid to be a high achiever, go to a top college, have their pick of whatever career or opportunity they want to pursue, it was always necessary. Sounds like you went to a basic state school. If that is your ambition for your child, do nothing at home and public school can get them there.

[Anonymous]

DP. My brothers and I went to regular public school in the US and our parents never supplemented or afterschooled or any of this stuff. It just wasn't necessary.


If you want your kid to be a high achiever, go to a top college, have their pick of whatever career or opportunity they want to pursue, it was always necessary. Sounds like you went to a basic state school. If that is your ambition for your child, do nothing at home and public school can get them there.

No, it wasn't. Why is it hard to believe that, really not that long ago, there were public schools that did in fact teach writing and grammar and prepared kids for excellent schools without supplementation?

[Anonymous]

The thing about private is that the application process just takes a ton of time away from you and your kids. If you put all of that time (or even half of it) into supplementation at home, you can achieve the same outcome (with less stress!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DP. My brothers and I went to regular public school in the US and our parents never supplemented or afterschooled or any of this stuff. It just wasn't necessary.


If you want your kid to be a high achiever, go to a top college, have their pick of whatever career or opportunity they want to pursue, it was always necessary. Sounds like you went to a basic state school. If that is your ambition for your child, do nothing at home and public school can get them there.

No, it wasn't. Why is it hard to believe that, really not that long ago, there were public schools that did in fact teach writing and grammar and prepared kids for excellent schools without supplementation?

Nope. Public school has and always will teach the bare minimum basics. High achieving kids that attend public school have parents heavily supplementing at home plus they are getting into gifted programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely depends on the school(s). My AAP kid has had to do 2 oral presentations this year in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade private they had 1 per month on a culture (black history month, AAPI month, women's history month, etc).

I wouldn't pay $40k a year for that though.

I give my kids presentations to do at home. I know parenting probably doesn't work for some but if you care about your child's education you might want to try it.

Ah, for the good old days when parents could be parents and rely on schools to be schools!

When was that? I went to school in the 1980's and 1990's and my parents supplemented for all 4 of us. The schools we attended were well regarded but they had holes in the education that my parents supplemented to fill.

DP. My brothers and I went to regular public school in the US and our parents never supplemented or afterschooled or any of this stuff. It just wasn't necessary.

If you want your kid to be a high achiever, go to a top college, have their pick of whatever career or opportunity they want to pursue, it was always necessary. Sounds like you went to a basic state school. If that is your ambition for your child, do nothing at home and public school can get them there.

I went to Whitman and then a t10. No supplementation other than studying for the SAT