Is private school REALLY different than public school??

[Anonymous]

We're no longer in the DC area, but our kids are in a Catholic school and I was delighted to find out they have recess twice a day. They seem really focused on the "whole child", which I love. It can vary so much from school to school.

[Anonymous]

The big difference at the K level is that the curriculum is much more developmentally appropriate for young children. Specifically, at our Big-3, my 4 year old has nearly 2 full hours of gross motor activity--about 1.5 hours outdoors and 3 minutes of PE four days a week. Also, she has 40 minutes to eat lunch, separately from recess. (I HATE when schools basically force kids to choose between recess and lunch.)

Also, there is no homework until third grade; music and art are offered daily; and the children learn from a dedicated science teacher and a dedicated math specialist starting in PK.

Finally, the teachers and administration respond to our emails within 24 hours (except on the weekends, of course).

[Anonymous]

My kids went to an upper NW public and 2 (out of 3) are now in private.
They never had worksheets in the classroom in K and there was no homework until 3rd grade either. In kindergarten there were two 30 minute recesses plus a movement class daily. There's a dedicated PK-1 science teacher and the school now has Spanish beginning in K. All 3 of my kids were in class in kindergarten with less than 23 kids (and two teachers).
They had art/music once a week.

So basically the difference was a few art/music classes a week which in my mind wasn't work $25K+ a year per kid. If your child is getting worksheets and limited outside time in K then something is wrong. A really good public school won't have any worksheets (in any grades).

I found that my kids transitioned seamlessly to private school after elementary and are now at the top of their classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to an upper NW public and 2 (out of 3) are now in private.
They never had worksheets in the classroom in K and there was no homework until 3rd grade either. In kindergarten there were two 30 minute recesses plus a movement class daily. There's a dedicated PK-1 science teacher and the school now has Spanish beginning in K. All 3 of my kids were in class in kindergarten with less than 23 kids (and two teachers).
They had art/music once a week.

So basically the difference was a few art/music classes a week which in my mind wasn't work $25K+ a year per kid. If your child is getting worksheets and limited outside time in K then something is wrong. A really good public school won't have any worksheets (in any grades).

I found that my kids transitioned seamlessly to private school after elementary and are now at the top of their classes.

My child is in K in a NW school now. Boy I wish it was like what you describe! It's not horrible, but there is way too little recess, way too much coloring, and way too many rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to an upper NW public and 2 (out of 3) are now in private.
They never had worksheets in the classroom in K and there was no homework until 3rd grade either. In kindergarten there were two 30 minute recesses plus a movement class daily. There's a dedicated PK-1 science teacher and the school now has Spanish beginning in K. All 3 of my kids were in class in kindergarten with less than 23 kids (and two teachers).
They had art/music once a week.

So basically the difference was a few art/music classes a week which in my mind wasn't work $25K+ a year per kid. If your child is getting worksheets and limited outside time in K then something is wrong. A really good public school won't have any worksheets (in any grades).

I found that my kids transitioned seamlessly to private school after elementary and are now at the top of their classes.

That is very different from MCPS!

[Anonymous]

OP, don't forget the issue of bureaucracy. Some of the stories I hear about DCPS and MOCO elementary are legendary in that regard. Virtually non-existent in private schools -- if you have a problem, you can easily go right to the top to at least talk about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An average private you're paying tuition so your kid doesn't have to interact with the bottom third or half of an average public.

This isn't the case in our experience with NW DC schools in DCPS. In fact, our kids' big-3 private school is more diverse (racial/economic) than our local DCPS by a lot. From our perspective, a more significant consideration is that a top private school just increases the likelihood that a student "doesn't have to interact with" truly disruptive kids who either wouldn't get accepted to private or will be asked to leave sooner in private than in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they are not ready for K, best to hold them back a year like DCUM standard dictates. As a teacher, one would hope you got them prepared academically and socially. If your kid needs rest time in K, they do no belong in K.

Don't need rest time? Back in the old country kids don't start school until they are 7 (by Oct 1). So there are 7-year olds still in what we call daycare (2-7 year olds but in different groups) and taking naps. I was 7 and taking a nap in the 80s in daycare. I turned 8 few months after starting school. Not sure if I needed a nap or not, but we ran like crazy and played outside all day long in daycare. We were exhausted by 9 or 10 o'clock. The nap we took didn't mean we would be up all night.
I was very surprised to find that 4-year-olds here in pre-k have quiet time on a mattress, not really a nap. But then again, they were inside learning something and not letting their steam out until after 3:15 and during 1 recess. No wonder they don't need a nap.
I guess it's a different system here. Kids have the ABC's on the wall and all. We don't start teaching letters until the last year of daycare. Our kids are way behind American kids when it comes to reading and letters.
I'm guessing that both countries have specialist who know what's best for the children, but the systems are really different.

[Anonymous]

One big difference we experienced was behavior. Our children in those years attended both public and private schools on the West and East coasts (not all at the same time, obviously).

Behavior in the private schools was appalling and not dealt with in any kind of effective way. So there was talking back to teachers, bullying, wild boy wrestling, that kind of thing.

In the privates there was almost a fear of intervening in case the rich donor parent was offended. In publics it was a matter of rules and public safety and there was never any hesitation to contact parents immediately when something went wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to an upper NW public and 2 (out of 3) are now in private.
They never had worksheets in the classroom in K and there was no homework until 3rd grade either. In kindergarten there were two 30 minute recesses plus a movement class daily. There's a dedicated PK-1 science teacher and the school now has Spanish beginning in K. All 3 of my kids were in class in kindergarten with less than 23 kids (and two teachers).
They had art/music once a week.

So basically the difference was a few art/music classes a week which in my mind wasn't work $25K+ a year per kid. If your child is getting worksheets and limited outside time in K then something is wrong. A really good public school won't have any worksheets (in any grades).

I found that my kids transitioned seamlessly to private school after elementary and are now at the top of their classes.

That sounds like our upper NW DC too, with slight variations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An average private you're paying tuition so your kid doesn't have to interact with the bottom third or half of an average public.

This isn't the case in our experience with NW DC schools in DCPS. In fact, our kids' big-3 private school is more diverse (racial/economic) than our local DCPS by a lot. From our perspective, a more significant consideration is that a top private school just increases the likelihood that a student "doesn't have to interact with" truly disruptive kids who either wouldn't get accepted to private or will be asked to leave sooner in private than in public.

Yikes. That is what PP meant!! Your perspective on diversity is unfortunate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An average private you're paying tuition so your kid doesn't have to interact with the bottom third or half of an average public.

This isn't the case in our experience with NW DC schools in DCPS. In fact, our kids' big-3 private school is more diverse (racial/economic) than our local DCPS by a lot. From our perspective, a more significant consideration is that a top private school just increases the likelihood that a student "doesn't have to interact with" truly disruptive kids who either wouldn't get accepted to private or will be asked to leave sooner in private than in public.

Yikes. That is what PP meant!! Your perspective on diversity is unfortunate.

new poster here: Don't be ridiculous. "Truly disruptive kids" and "the bottom third...of an average public" are hardly the same thing. Why would you deem it so offensive that someone prefers school not be disrupted by seriously bad behavior (and surely far less than 1/3 of society)? Do you want your workday disrupted by bad behavior?

[Anonymous]

In a word: "yes."

My son's public school K had 22 then 23 students. His class had 11 segments in their day (9 transitions a day, so a lot of time in line, waiting, etc.). He got 40 minutes for lunch and recess combined, which in truth worked out some days to 10-15 minutes of recess if there were delays in getting lined up, etc. Almost every segment involved worksheets, which was the main curricular learning tool. The only exceptions were: 2 sessions of PE a week, 1 session of music a week, and 1 art special a week did not involve worksheets. We had 4-5 worksheets as homework each week, starting in January.

My son's private school 1st grade has 11 kids and 2 teachers. His day has 7 segments now (5 transitions a day.) He has PE five days a week. His lunch and recess segment is 75 minutes combined, which works out to some 45 minutes of recess most days. He typically brings home 2 worksheets a day (a writing segment and a reading comprehension segment), because the pedagogical approaches are much more playful and interactive, e.g. manipulables in math, versus workbooks; hands on discovery in science versus worksheets, etc. He will not get homework until start of 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

I am a public school teacher sending my children to private school. It is completely different, particularly in the early years (at least our public option and the private we chose are completely different). You can find a private that focuses on the love of learning, the whole child, lots of recess, no testing/homework, etc. I encourage you to visit some schools to see if you find a good fit.

[Anonymous]

OP you need to visit the private schools and see how you feel. We visited privates and publics for lower grades and didn't go private as it seemed too precious, preferred the more "down to earth" approach of our NW DC public. We stayed public until 6/7th grade and now switched to private and are happy.

someone else could advise the complete reverse though, just visit and decide.