Which schools are most progressive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

This is silly. That’s a false dichotomy. I’m active in my neighborhood association, pay taxes that support the public school, support the school fairs and bake sales. Sending my child to private school because of her particular learning needs does not mean I’m not also supporting my local public schools.

So lame to suggest that paying your taxes means you support public schools. Everybody pays taxes.

If you're "progressive," you don't go private -- unless you're a hypocrite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

Any public school parent who trolls private school forums is, by definition, misguided.

I'm not a public school parent.

Physician heal thyself ….

Your response makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

Politically progressive, and the progressive educational movement are two entirely different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Edmond Burke

Wasn’t Edmund Burke a conservative?

😭😭😭

Yes which is a bit confusing. However, school self-identifies as progressive and derives its mission from Burke's defense of the US colonies specifically as opposed to his broader writings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

You're confusing progressive politics with progressive education. We actually chose our home because it was in bounds for a great dcps public school. However, I'm a teacher myself (in an mcps school) and have been learning more and more about how young children learn. A progressive approach to education is now what I'm seeking, but unfortunately it seems the public schools haven't been able to embrace this (in large part because some parents WANT traditional and balk at reduction in homework, for example).

Several DCPS schools use a Reggio-inspired curriculum in the Pk-early elementary years. Murch and Mann are two I know of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I meant progressive in terms of educational philosophy (unstructured time in K, inquiry based learning, etc).


Thank you to those who responded so far.

I'd recommend Burgundy Farm, then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I meant progressive in terms of educational philosophy (unstructured time in K, inquiry based learning, etc).


Thank you to those who responded so far.

I'd recommend Burgundy Farm, then.

+2 Burgundy Farm.

[Anonymous]

The River School and GDS. Regarding the drop off comments on River - ya it’s not ideal during the pandemic as there is no before or after care yet so it’s not very staggered. That being said it’s very efficient considering the constraints being on MacArther.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious which schools that have kindergarten are considered most progressive? Thanks!

Just about 95% of them. Homeschool.

[Anonymous]

100% Green Acres School for Kindergarten. If it is at all convenient to your location, check it out. My two children attended for K and it was transformative. They are extremely different kids both intellectually and personality-wise. Both were taught in ways that supported their challenges and realistically pushed their strengths. It is very play based with a ton of outside recess and learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious which schools that have kindergarten are considered most progressive? Thanks!

Just about 95% of them. Homeschool.

Yes your rising Kindy student will have much more fun being homeschooled by himself and lectured on the merits of conservative ideology than being in classrooms with Godless, Commy progressives who don’t believe in the value of learning everything by rote anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who chooses to spend tens of thousands a year to send their kid to private school instead of investing in their neighborhood and their public school is, by definition, not progressive.

Politically progressive, and the progressive educational movement are two entirely different things.

Agree.

I think progressive pedagogy is best for preschool and college.

For most students, grades 1-12 need more structure and as much subject matter as possible, with skills and standards testing.

Progressive schools for lower, middle and upper school skip too many important topics, context and subject matter so you come out knowing less. And any good student “knows how to think” so drop that fake pretense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:100% Green Acres School for Kindergarten. If it is at all convenient to your location, check it out. My two children attended for K and it was transformative. They are extremely different kids both intellectually and personality-wise. Both were taught in ways that supported their challenges and realistically pushed their strengths. It is very play based with a ton of outside recess and learning.

I'm looking at it. Seems incredible. Your kids attended for k only? Would you mind sharing why you left after k (if that's what you did)? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:

• Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary learning, experiential learning
• Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
• Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
• Group work and development of social skills
• Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
• Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
• Education for social responsibility and democracy
• Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum[2]
• Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society[3]
• De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
• Emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills
• Assessment by evaluation of child's projects and productions

This is why much of this is edu-babble. Even our religious (and liberal social justice leaning) school with a traditional teaching pedagogy does all of these things, plus makes sure there are text books available and ensures that kids learn to memorize in addition to everything on the list.

So progressive education just means we don't learn to take tests and don't develop vital memory skills? I'm not sure there is a good evidence to support that we should eliminate the memory part of brain development.

It’s also not skills focused. It’s supposedly behavior focused which is why two teachers and small classrooms are a necessity.
Gds nixing the two teacher model plus ramping up the student/teacher ratio in lower school basically renders differentiation impossible plus less insightful teacher feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:

• Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary learning, experiential learning
• Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
• Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
• Group work and development of social skills
• Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
• Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
• Education for social responsibility and democracy
• Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum[2]
• Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society[3]
• De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
• Emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills
• Assessment by evaluation of child's projects and productions

This is why much of this is edu-babble. Even our religious (and liberal social justice leaning) school with a traditional teaching pedagogy does all of these things, plus makes sure there are text books available and ensures that kids learn to memorize in addition to everything on the list.

So progressive education just means we don't learn to take tests and don't develop vital memory skills? I'm not sure there is a good evidence to support that we should eliminate the memory part of brain development.

The skills identified above are much more likely to be helpful in modern work Place than is regurgitating facts by rote. Computers are here to stay for boring mental tasks. Who remember more than a few phone numbers since our smart phones collect all that data.

Learning what to do with all this information in the Information Age is much needed. The human jobs not delegated to technology require good communication and social skills as well as critical thinking to wade through all the misinformation.

Call me when my upper elementary progressive school kid finally actually knows how to yell time, anything about the weather, colonies (not present day immigration presented as not controversial), math facts, spelling/ root words, and gets marked down for barely using any punctuation.