is private school like giving your kid organic fruit?

[Anonymous]

I feel like private school is more like luxury ingredients.

I can go to Aldi's and buy some ingredients that come together with a fair amount of work to make a meal that tastes decent and meets all of our nutritional needs.

I can also go to Whole Foods and buy some specialty foods that are much easier to turn into a meal, taste amazing, and meet the same nutritional needs.

Maybe there's a small nutritional benefit to the Whole Foods meal, in that my kids might eat more of the produce it if tastes amazing. Maybe there's a small educational benefit to the Private School meal because my kids will make better choices in that environment. But that's not the primary driver. Enjoyment, and convenience are the primary drivers.

It's a luxury. It's one I feel lucky to be able to provide for my kids, because we're happier this way, but I'm not under a delusion that it will determine their whole future.

[Anonymous]

I laughed at the part where you said you didn't want to supplement anymore. Get ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I laughed at the part where you said you didn't want to supplement anymore. Get ready.

Sigh yeah, I know. (OP here) But not as much as public, fingers crossed.

I like Aldi, I like Whole Foods...putting it all together = well-balanced diet. Can't knock Aldi, esp when they put out all of the German food around Oktoberfest.

That said, maybe first class vs coach makes more sense. Our public is not terrible, but private is a more pleasant ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The largest class i taught last year was fifteen students. At public schools, the number is closer to 30. That's one of major benefits of private school.

We are doing the opposite. Moved from small class sizes of 16-18 at public to larger sizes of 20-23 at private. The curriculum and higher standards are what attracted us. Along with less screen time at the K-2 level.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully your private school has great LA classes, so your children don't write subjects with "like" in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of silly analogy. We are moving to private. I am aware of the research that says private doesn't necessarily make a notable difference in academic outcomes. Ditto small class sizes. And yet, it feels like there's some intangible benefit and that the process to get from point A to point B is just...nicer and more lovely in private. Actually, it is tangible. At the end of the day, my kids may end up attending state schools, or the same schools they would have attended if we stayed in public. They're bright, and would do well in whatever setting. (Part of the move to private is for my own sanity--I did a lot of supplementing when they were in public, and decided it's worth it to just do less supplementing and put them in private) Still, I feel some ambivalence as someone who benefited from public schools growing up. That said, I know the public of 2025 is not the public of 1980s/90s.

It makes me think of how most of us grew up eating regular, non-organic fruit. I don't think I knew organic fruit existed till I was like...25? And we're fine. But we prefer to feed our kid organic when it's available and accessible/not exorbitantly priced. Is it that much better for our kids to eat organic? Hard to tell. But it feels better as a parent, to give them that. (Similar analogies would be the "difference" between breastfeeding and formula--which I think is really minimal though when I had newborns it felt like life/death, and between flying coach vs first class...everyone gets to the same place, but boy is first class nice, esp on a long flight.)

But, you will actually have to do as much supplementing (if not more) in private.

This is only true if you pick a terrible school. Granted, there are people sending their kids to expensive fancy privates whose teachers are still Lucy Caulkinsing their students into illiteracy, but if you care about education, instead of social cachet, you don't need to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully your private school has great LA classes, so your children don't write subjects with "like" in them.

Was this written by AI? Please do share what’s wrong with using the word “like” when comparing one thing to another?

[Anonymous]

It’s school, not a grocery store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I laughed at the part where you said you didn't want to supplement anymore. Get ready.

Sigh yeah, I know. (OP here) But not as much as public, fingers crossed.

I like Aldi, I like Whole Foods...putting it all together = well-balanced diet. Can't knock Aldi, esp when they put out all of the German food around Oktoberfest.

That said, maybe first class vs coach makes more sense. Our public is not terrible, but private is a more pleasant ride.

First-class vs. coach is the better analogy. I prefer having money to legroom. They both get you to the same place. And...I am a short woman, so chairs designed for 6' tall businessmen are uncomfortable for me.

I think organic fruit is a boondoggle and that eating organic vs. regular version is extremely unlikely to have any detectable benefit. I've had meh organic fruit that tasted worse than regular. At least with first class you are getting benefits you can see, feel, and taste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully your private school has great LA classes, so your children don't write subjects with "like" in them.

Was this written by AI? Please do share what’s wrong with using the word “like” when comparing one thing to another?

You don't get to stick your nose in the air and utterly profundities like, "Is nonpublic education comparable to furnishing your offspring with organic produce to fulfill their nutritional needs?"

Then you get to feel REALLY superior all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:✈️

Public school is coach.
Private school is business class.
Homeschool is first class.

Sorry…homeschool is flying basic economy coach unless you are wealthy enough to hire the best private tutors around.

People homeschool because they are poor and usually live in a shit hole area with awful public schools.

Except the billionaire who decided to sail around the world on his super yacht and pulled his kids from a top private while hiring two incredible tutors for the journey…and then promptly re-enrolled them in the top private upon return.

[Anonymous]

well, there were fewer pesticides when we were younger and i bet there's an analogy with schools there as well

but i wouldn't say that the cost "isn't that much more" at least at my income level

[Anonymous]

My friend sends her kids to Horace Mann in NyC and says nearly everyone supplements…all have private tutors, private college counselors, etc.

I think it’s FOMO more than anything else…if Judy is doing it for her kids who don’t seem like they need it, then I need to do it for mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of silly analogy. We are moving to private. I am aware of the research that says private doesn't necessarily make a notable difference in academic outcomes. Ditto small class sizes. And yet, it feels like there's some intangible benefit and that the process to get from point A to point B is just...nicer and more lovely in private. Actually, it is tangible. At the end of the day, my kids may end up attending state schools, or the same schools they would have attended if we stayed in public. They're bright, and would do well in whatever setting. (Part of the move to private is for my own sanity--I did a lot of supplementing when they were in public, and decided it's worth it to just do less supplementing and put them in private) Still, I feel some ambivalence as someone who benefited from public schools growing up. That said, I know the public of 2025 is not the public of 1980s/90s.

It makes me think of how most of us grew up eating regular, non-organic fruit. I don't think I knew organic fruit existed till I was like...25? And we're fine. But we prefer to feed our kid organic when it's available and accessible/not exorbitantly priced. Is it that much better for our kids to eat organic? Hard to tell. But it feels better as a parent, to give them that. (Similar analogies would be the "difference" between breastfeeding and formula--which I think is really minimal though when I had newborns it felt like life/death, and between flying coach vs first class...everyone gets to the same place, but boy is first class nice, esp on a long flight.)

But, you will actually have to do as much supplementing (if not more) in private. Curriculum, pedagogy and teacher qualification in even worse than public.

What privates are great for - smaller classrooms, richer demographics, less discipline issues, more expensive ECs like horseriding, rowing. What they are worse for - STEM, curriculum.

So, it is like you decided to eat organic onions and potatoes...but you are buying all your berries and greens from non-organic sources, and your protein from Aldis and Lidl.

This certainly isn’t my experience.

I am one of the many private school teachers who began my career in the public system.

I’m held to a much higher standard now. We are not only required to be state certified, but we also have to complete far more ongoing training than the state requires. I’m observed more often, and by people who are actually qualified to observe me. (Some of my public administrators were not.) We are also required to do peer observations and we evaluate each others’ curricula. Neither of those things happened in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully your private school has great LA classes, so your children don't write subjects with "like" in them.

Was this written by AI? Please do share what’s wrong with using the word “like” when comparing one thing to another?

You don't get to stick your nose in the air and utterly profundities like, "Is nonpublic education comparable to furnishing your offspring with organic produce to fulfill their nutritional needs?"

Then you get to feel REALLY superior all day.

So what I’m hearing is, yes, it was written by AI, because it’s riddled with errors and doesn’t answer the question being asked.