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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t send my kids to private school to get into the best college. I want them to enjoy learning, know how to write and analyze, gain exposure and experience with a broad curriculum of subjects, and go to school in a culture where kids and families prioritize education and learning.

My husband and I grew up in two different worlds. He went to private school and I went to public school. He was an average student in high school, I did very well. We both went to a big 10 university. Despite the fact that we went to the same college, we did not have the same experience or career outcomes. His knowledge of the world and how to navigate it far exceeded mine and pretty much any person we know that went to public school. He is now the successful CEO of his own company. I went on to get another degree and still don’t have his level of connections and knowledge. I attribute much of his success to the lifelong educational experiences and culture he grew up in. [/quote]

I could have written this except I'm the one with the private school education and my husband is public. He has commented before on the educational experiences I had and the culture I grew up in (not solely related to my family, as they were first-generational wealth) and that made his want to send our kids to private school as well. I'm not smarter than him - our IQs are actually about the same - but our experiences were vastly different. And having the ability to choose for our kids, we chose the path I had gone down, rather than the path he had. And for what it's worth, he went to public in MD's top public schools, so he wasn't in some poor, rural county somewhere.[/quote]

Neither you nor the PP have yet to listed [b]what “educational experiences and culture” was experienced that so greatly improved your (or her husband’s) understanding of the world, beyond the connections you noted.[/b]  Your answer may actually help the OP, answer the original question.[/quote]

NP but just very curious if anyone can explain this too.[/quote]

In my husband's private school, 100% of the students went on to college.  That is the culture and expectation.  There are very few public schools that can say 100% of their students go on to college.  As a public school student, I had LOTS of different friend groups. I was friends with and part of the top 10% academically, but I also hung out with plenty of other kids from other social classes and with kids that were not as academically inclined.  Many of them were great people but also did plenty of stupid things that I also did due to peer pressure.  My husband never had any exposure to those things in schools.

My husband understood money, finances, investing, and the paths to different careers in ways that I had little exposure.  He understands how everything works. The classes he took in school were also very different. He knew more about world history, politics, religion, social studies, weather, science, etc.  He took Latin at a young age. Kids were always expected to actively participate in class discussions when the class size was small. He was learning and applying real knowledge v. memorizing to take tests. His extracurricular activities were different which gave him additional knowledge on numerous things. The field trips they took in school are not even comparable.

The confidence that comes with growing up in an upper class neighborhood and school translated into an ability to try new things and take risks.  Most middle and even upper middle class kids are taught a certain path to security (e.g. lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc.).  My husband knew how to raise capital and make investments so he could start his own company.  Many of his classmates were willing to do similar things.  They had the skills and experience to be entrepreneurs.  They weren't scared to do things because they knew and associated with so many people that had done something similar and were successful. Our friends and friends parents are always amazed at the things my husband does or knows about.  I can't count how many times some has said, "how does he know how to do that"?

I am in no way saying that a public school kid cannot be successful.  Of course they can.  But once I toured private schools and saw how different the educational environment is and was from my own public school experience, I knew which environment I wanted our kids to be in.

[/quote]

As someone who attend both public and private HS, what you’re describing is not an educational standard or even curriculum of a school but proximity to wealth and the experiences  and opportunities that flow from such. Lower to  Middle class and some upper middle class kids are taught to reach for certain security paths because the ability to attain them seems within reach and they as individuals don’t have a lot of room for failure.  UMC and Wealthy kids have confidence to take risk and try new things because the room for failure is greater(i.e. the consequences of the risk are not as great.) and the proximity to those who can support such endeavors is also greater.[/quote]

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