What public doesn’t teach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is no one going to call out the fact that OP things creativity is a thing that should/can be taught?

I noticed that. My kid's public school teachers haven't taught that, but everything else on the list is explicitly taught. There may be reasons to pay for private, but blanket statements about all public schools aren't it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing
Critical thinking
Creativity
Organization and study skills
In depth math

Have been at a highly ranked public from 1-6th and am appalled by the shallowness of the curriculum. I feel terrible for what my kid has missed.

Also:

Public speaking/presentation skills
Social-emotional kills

Again, my public school kid routinely gives presentations in class and the school has an explicit SEL curriculum, including a peer mediation program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol you posted this on the private school forum. Did you expect posters to disagree with you?

Have fun spending tens of thousands of dollars a year only to see your kids end up exactly the same as the public school kids in life.

NP. My goal in life for my kids is to help them be as happy, intelligent, and self aware as they can be. Not to get them to make millions.

I do think in most cases all that private school gives you will help in life and will be an advantage.
So I am happy to spend tens of thousands of dollars because my kids will not be the same people they would have been in public…

They'll have the same parents regardless of which school system they attend, which is considered to be more important than the school.

More important, yes, I agree, but school, teachers friends are also very very important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But does private teach how to be a good test taker?

Do you mean the ability to demonstrate proficiency with material taught though out the course of the year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Writing
Critical thinking
Creativity
Organization and study skills
In depth math

Have been at a highly ranked public from 1-6th and am appalled by the shallowness of the curriculum. I feel terrible for what my kid has missed.

I have one in public and one in private. This is a ridiculous thread - you can't make generalizations about either type of school. It's important to compare your actual public to the actual private you are considering.

The curriculum are very similar.
The big difference is class size. The classes are much bigger in public, so your child needs to be a little more self sufficient and able to pay attention in the larger class. They also seem to get a lot of *opportunities* for more in depth and advanced work, but it isn't always required. For one of my kids, she is able to do focus in the big class and always does the her best to challenge herself and take advantage of the additional learning opportunities. She has learned lots of critical thinking, creativity, and in depth math. For my other kid, she was happy coasting in public and needed the small class sizes and more individual attention to really stretch herself. She doesn't have as many opportunities for advanced work as my public DD, but since she wasn't taking advantage of them anyway, she's better off in public.

I will say the organization and study skills seem to be explicitly taught more in private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But does private teach how to be a good test taker?

Yes. When my kid got to private she could only do multiple choice tests. Now she can do any type of test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing
Critical thinking
Creativity
Organization and study skills
In depth math

Have been at a highly ranked public from 1-6th and am appalled by the shallowness of the curriculum. I feel terrible for what my kid has missed.

Also:

Public speaking/presentation skills
Social-emotional kills

Again, my public school kid routinely gives presentations in class and the school has an explicit SEL curriculum, including a peer mediation program.

But yet you are here.

[Anonymous]

Both my wife and I attended public schools; private school was not in our plans for our children, nor did we spend any time even thinking about it. We live in "highly ranked" public school system and were operating on autopilot.

The abysmal performance of public schools during COVID introduced us to private school; what a silver lining that turned out to be!

Having my children at a school where teachers and parents collaborate; where parents' voices matter; where schools require and enforce good behavior and respect of teachers by students; where real learning to each child's potential takes place instead of a lowest-common denominator approach; where politics are left out of education; makes all the difference.

Once, I never thought my children would attend private school. Now, I know that they will never be sent back to public school again.

Being in public school was like being the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot of water---until we got out, we did not realize how bad it had become, and how much worse it was getting every year.

[Anonymous]

I can spot the private school kids in a coffee shop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing
Critical thinking
Creativity
Organization and study skills
In depth math

Have been at a highly ranked public from 1-6th and am appalled by the shallowness of the curriculum. I feel terrible for what my kid has missed.

I have one in public and one in private. This is a ridiculous thread - you can't make generalizations about either type of school. It's important to compare your actual public to the actual private you are considering.

The curriculum are very similar.
The big difference is class size. The classes are much bigger in public, so your child needs to be a little more self sufficient and able to pay attention in the larger class. They also seem to get a lot of *opportunities* for more in depth and advanced work, but it isn't always required. For one of my kids, she is able to do focus in the big class and always does the her best to challenge herself and take advantage of the additional learning opportunities. She has learned lots of critical thinking, creativity, and in depth math. For my other kid, she was happy coasting in public and needed the small class sizes and more individual attention to really stretch herself. She doesn't have as many opportunities for advanced work as my public DD, but since she wasn't taking advantage of them anyway, she's better off in public.

I will say the organization and study skills seem to be explicitly taught more in private.

Totally agree with this. The generalizations that OP made are ridiculous. But there is a difference between private and public, and it is class size, and attention. At publics, you need to learn how to seek out opportunities. At privates, the teachers are paying much closer attention to every kid and it's a "no child left behind" situation. At publics, many kids are left behind.

I say this as a product of public schools, and a former private school teacher. My husband and I both came through publics and learned "in depth math" (he has two degrees from MIT) and "writing" (I published thousands of articles and a book).

[Anonymous]

Meh. Both of my kids went to top 30 colleges and didn't notice any difference between the public and private school students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol you posted this on the private school forum. Did you expect posters to disagree with you?

Have fun spending tens of thousands of dollars a year only to see your kids end up exactly the same as the public school kids in life.

NP. My goal in life for my kids is to help them be as happy, intelligent, and self aware as they can be. Not to get them to make millions.

I do think in most cases all that private school gives you will help in life and will be an advantage.
So I am happy to spend tens of thousands of dollars because my kids will not be the same people they would have been in public…

np.. this is really unknowable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But does private teach how to be a good test taker?

Yes. When my kid got to private she could only do multiple choice tests. Now she can do any type of test

? My public school kids take tests that include free response. They are not just multiple choice tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing
Critical thinking
Creativity
Organization and study skills
In depth math

Have been at a highly ranked public from 1-6th and am appalled by the shallowness of the curriculum. I feel terrible for what my kid has missed.

Also:

Public speaking/presentation skills
Social-emotional kills

Again, my public school kid routinely gives presentations in class and the school has an explicit SEL curriculum, including a peer mediation program.

But yet you are here.

dp.. I see private school parents in public school forums all the time.

You know dcum has a "recent list" page, right? This thread popped up.

[Anonymous]

My IB magnet student learned all of that. And I didn't have to pay extra for it.