Private Schools Should Do Better

[Anonymous]

DC has a wide variety of private schools so I don't think it is a question of "private schools" missing the boat on curriculum. The important thing is to find a school that works best for your child.

My son taught himself to read in preschool, whole language (I think, I wasn't involved.) Before then I would have jumped on the phonics bandwagon but it would not have made sense for him. He's a different kind of learner.

He also would not have survived at a Montessori preschool. I realize many kids do well in that setting, but he needed much more structure, smaller classes.

So i think we have to be careful here. Something that worked great for your child may not work for others.

[Anonymous]

Yes pp, but there are generally regarded best practices that these schools ignore, sometimes due to incompetence and ignorance.

[Anonymous]

That may be, but children are not "general". Maybe most would respond to whatever the best practices are, but not all children learn the same way. And if there are schools that do things differently, it isn't necessarily out of ignorance or incompetence. It may be because there are children that respond to that approach.

[Anonymous]

I agree with pp. The "Best Practices" approach, assuming anyone could even agree on what those are, could result in all schools teaching the exact same way. Personally, I do not think that would be a good thing. What is the absolutely ideal, proven-by-research, approach for some children will not help other children at all!!

It is very important for parents to have a good understanding of their own children and seek educational opportunities that seem to match/complement each child's learning style, address possible areas of weakness, and appropriately challenge areas of strength, while also providing an emotionally supportive environment that matches the family's values. It is a very tall order, particularly since many of us try to make these judgements when our children are THREE!! As the children grow and evolve, the "perfect" school may become less so and then we have to reassess again! And finding one school that meet the varying needs of siblings .... ACK!

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else remember fondly the time when there was one school, everyone went there, no questions asked, and all kids seemed to basically do OK?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else remember fondly the time when there was one school, everyone went there, no questions asked, and all kids seemed to basically do OK?

. . .and you get home, have a snack, and run out the door to play for a few hours every day all around the neighborhood?

[jsteele]

I am locking this thread because it has become a spam magnet and I'm tired of deleting messages every day. If you would like to continue the discussion, please start another thread.