Public versus private - did the private school save you any time or stress?

[Anonymous]

I can't even come up with as many wants as Op has.
I actually want less from school, not more.
The morning meetings and closing circles could be used for recess. I don't care for music or arts, but not going to complain. Wish school days were shorter or again, more breaks for running around.
We do stay after school to play to make up for the lack of recess.
I would supplement math regardless of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is shady. What public school in this country doesn’t have hot lunch?

Also, what public school doesn’t have math daily?

Instruments - has anyone ever seen instrumental groups offered younger than third at public schools? Can’t understand how this is a shock to anyone. Kids get exposed to basics in music special.

My public elementary school offers piano and strings to kindergarten -2nd grade as an after school enrichment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The private school our DD goes to has aftercare and a ton of after school clubs/classes. We have to send her with lunch.

Same here. After school optional items offered by the school at Elementary School level include general AfterCare, STEM enrichment, Art enrichment, Chess club, Music classes, Sports, etc. We still have to take DC to their swim classes. Our street does not have other kids our kids age to play with, so they actually like going to the general AfterCare because they can play with friends (outside in good weather, inside if raining).

Math curriculum is good and they use direct instruction with printed textbooks (not electronic) and have a bit of homework (not too much) for practice, so math enrichment is not really needed (at least for now). No electronics (or Chromebooks or laptops) outside of the 1 hour per week computer class. There must be some dud teachers, as any school will have some, but we have been lucky so far. Our public elementary uses electronic textbooks, which we prefer to avoid, and their math curriculum/approach keeps changing — all according to people at church whose kids attend that public. Others at church report things that do improve a lot in the local public once kids get to MS and HS, so we will reevaluate when DC get to MS.

Different families are different. Different children are different. Just because private works well for us, and some others, does not mean it is the best option for all families. Also, there can be wide variance between schools, even within the same county public school system. So people living in different neighborhoods likely will have different experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is shady. What public school in this country doesn’t have hot lunch?

Also, what public school doesn’t have math daily?

Instruments - has anyone ever seen instrumental groups offered younger than third at public schools? Can’t understand how this is a shock to anyone. Kids get exposed to basics in music special.

Yeah, agree. And public elementary schools typically don’t offer organized sports teams or clubs after school. That starts in middle schools. Nor do kids play instruments. Maybe in later elementary school (4-5th grade) band/orchestra starts if they pick that option.

Yep I’m pretty sure to receive any federal funding public schools must serve hot lunch.

…unless the school kitchen is closed for a (botched, and stretched out) renovation, which prevented cooking a hot lunch, as did happen at a NoVa public elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is shady. What public school in this country doesn’t have hot lunch?

Also, what public school doesn’t have math daily?

Instruments - has anyone ever seen instrumental groups offered younger than third at public schools? Can’t understand how this is a shock to anyone. Kids get exposed to basics in music special.

My public elementary school offers piano and strings to kindergarten -2nd grade as an after school enrichment

That is great ! Which county/city ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting, i had never imagined that private school would do more on that front but will be also interested in the responses.

From the friends i know who are doing private, I don't see how they get more enrichments outside of class. Reason i know that is that they are doing the same extracurricular as our kids (soccer team, piano lessons, bouldering, art or gymnastics class etc..) and seem to be coming out of school at same time.

Private schools vary widely from one to another. I totally believe quoted PP that their friends’ private does not offer those things. Some privates might offer A B & C after-school/enrichment options, another might only offer option A, and a third might offer no after-school/enrichment options. Smaller schools probably have a harder time offering (m)any options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are in upper elementary 4th in private. I am a public school teacher. If I lived in a better public school district, I would put them in public. Right now, I pay for private, but kids are not getting a rigorous education. Private is very small. No differentiation going on. I teach them math at home because they are not challenged in school. Same with science: I bought a homeschool science curriculum. The private has no sports. It was great when they were in K/1, even 2.

Both private schools snd public schools will vary in rigor. As quoted PP notes, a lot can depend on where one lives and what the local public and private schools are like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But you do need to pick your private school carefully; there are quite a few out there with similar drawbacks -- even now, you'll find quite a few allegedly elite, ultra expensive schools with beautiful campuses embracing Lucy Caulkins's execrable reading and writing programs.

+1000. At least APS, FCPS, and all other Virginia publics are required by a bi-partisan VA law to eliminate the Lucy Calkins reading approach over the next 2-3 years. APS got in front of this issue beforehand, but only after NAACP threatened to sue over their (previous) ineffective reading curriculum, and I am very grateful to NAACP for that pressure on APS.

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to a public elementary and can do a variety of sports/enrichment activities directly after school and then transition seamlessly to the aftercare program. All of this is on site in the school. He has done chess club, Spanish, soccer, basketball etc. the enrichment is organized by the PTA, but what difference does that make? We do supplement math at home bc my kid is advanced, but according to dcum, the math curriculum is not as strong in private schools compared to top publics. Also I’ve never heard of a public elementary that doesn’t offer hot lunch? This might be a “specific to your school” thing OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We chose public over private because we thought we couldn't justify the cost when we live in a decent school district. My child is only starting elementary, but already the schedule is crazy because it turns out there isn't much offered at school. No sports, clubs, instruments, and not much art, not much math, no hot lunch, so we are supplementing all of that. Activities are way more PTA and parent run mishmash as opposed to well organized by faculty (which is what I seem to remember having attended private). Add in outside math tutoring, outside ELA curriculum, camps, aftercare, art class... I'm no longer sure private is looking THAT terrible in terms of maybe spending a bit more to get more time back. I know private school kids also supplement, but it feels like we are spending a lot of everything instead of just one or two things. If you went private for your children, I'm wondering if it saved you any time or stress because more was offered on site and/or more info and guidance was available to you rather than things being pieced together however parents can find?

You would be doing all of that if had chosen private because it's your prenting style. Don't kid yourself.

[Anonymous]

To answer some questions, no I would NOT be supplementing math, literacy if the curriculum covered it better. I never said they do NO math, but they are working on basic fact families, basic 2D shapes, and haven’t touched two digit numbers yet. At home I printed a 100s chart (just 0-100) to be filled out, and introduced number line. Gave an intro to working with 11-20. These are basic things that I think should be covered in 1st grade. Again I am not supplementing to accelerate. This is to address holes in the current curriculum. Same for literacy.

If they had enough art time at school, no I wouldn’t be looking into art classes. Same with sports and clubs. I’d much prefer those enrichment activities be done at school. There are activities I’ve nixed because you add one or two casual activities and it becomes nonstop driving every day after school. The one thing I think I would supplement regardless and feel ok about driving some distance for is music instruction.

The hot lunch thing is exactly as one PP said. A renovation which has been drawn out for over two years and now people don’t even seem to know what the plan is there.

[Anonymous]

My kids are a little older but attended private in elementary, then both went to a public and now that they are in secondary one is in private and one is in public.

Schools are going to greatly vary everywhere. We always had things like sports and classes of interest (art, music, dance) outside of school. Expecting all of that at school in elementary and run by faculty is not realistic. Now in HS, our kid in public happens to have more options available at the school but both kids continue to have almost all of their activities outside of school because of specific involvement in club sports or other activities. We choose private vs public for each based on them being very different kids and having very different academic needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer some questions, no I would NOT be supplementing math, literacy if the curriculum covered it better. I never said they do NO math, but they are working on basic fact families, basic 2D shapes, and haven’t touched two digit numbers yet. At home I printed a 100s chart (just 0-100) to be filled out, and introduced number line. Gave an intro to working with 11-20. These are basic things that I think should be covered in 1st grade. Again I am not supplementing to accelerate. This is to address holes in the current curriculum. Same for literacy.

If they had enough art time at school, no I wouldn’t be looking into art classes. Same with sports and clubs. I’d much prefer those enrichment activities be done at school. There are activities I’ve nixed because you add one or two casual activities and it becomes nonstop driving every day after school. The one thing I think I would supplement regardless and feel ok about driving some distance for is music instruction.

The hot lunch thing is exactly as one PP said. A renovation which has been drawn out for over two years and now people don’t even seem to know what the plan is there.

This sounds like a bad public so either switch to a better public or a better private. Ranting about how bad public is wont change anything. There is a lot of variation in both public and private everywhere you go. Wishing you the best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never said they do NO math, but they are working on basic fact families, basic 2D shapes, and haven’t touched two digit numbers yet. At home I printed a 100s chart (just 0-100) to be filled out, and introduced number line. Gave an intro to working with 11-20. These are basic things that I think should be covered in 1st grade.

1-100 chart and 2-D shapes were 4 yr old material at our Montessori. Basic Addition and subtraction were late in 4yr old year or fall of 5 yr old year. Multiplication was late in K or during 1st grade, depending on the child. That was also about what my public elsewhere did when I was in 1st grade.

So I think OP is reasonable when writing about filling curriculum holes for math.

[Anonymous]

I supplement the academics because my kids go to a languange immersion public school and I find the ELA and math too easy for my kids, although other parents at the school seem to think it's on grade level. Maybe OP would find more satisfaction at a language immersion public where the second language provides enough enrichment to make up for other lackluster aspects. There are no solutions except to switch schools or continue to supplement.