PP: I had not really been paying much attention to the BASIS booster/detractor debates flying around this board, but your post really made me sit up and pay attention. This sounds pretty good. What grade is your child in?

Not the previous free-range post writer, but as someone who believes in free range parenting, I'll tell you why BASIS appeals to me.

I do not look over my kid's shoulder at all to pester him about homework. After dinner I sometimes ask if he has much homework, but that's the extent to which I get involved. He knows exactly what the teachers expect of him at BASIS, everything is written down in one place and all papers are stored in one file. At his old school, there was never any clarity on what homework had to be done and when. Math worksheets were sometimes given out at the beginning of the week and sometimes day to day as the kids walked out the classroom door, only to get stuffed into a random pocket of the backpack. At the old school, there were randomly assigned projects that, in my opinion, had little academic benefit, but required art supplies and materials that my child couldn't pull together without a parent's help.

Another example is that all teachers at BASIS make themselves readily available before school, after school and in the study period during the school day. When my child doesn't understand something, he can choose to simply get to school a bit early or stay late and go directly to the teacher.

Kids take tests and quizzes all the time at BASIS so they know, themselves, how they are doing in all their classes. The grade on the report card is not a surprise. Parents, without having to badger the kid or call/email the teacher, can simply look in the child's Communication Journal and see every quiz grade so they know exactly what is going on.

And, this may seem like a small thing, but it's another example....So far BASIS has had two dance parties on Friday evenings this year. Parents fill out a permission slip, kids buy $5 tickets at school during lunch, and they're good to go. The dances are well chaperoned by parents and teachers so there is obviously supervision of the kids, but the kids are able to go to this party without their parents breathing down their necks and watching their every move. At the last dance there was a dance room with a DJ, science experiments (yes, BASIS is kind of wonderfully nerdy) upstairs, a game room with Twister and a story teller. I dropped my son off at the front door at 6 and picked him up at 9. He loved it.

I'm trying to get what "Free range" has to do with BASIS. It's a charter, and I know for a fact that BASIS requires a that the parent do a couple things before the kid is enrolled. So it can't just be something the kid does on their own. I get that you find that BASIS or Latin has better curriculum than DCPS, but what is it about BASIS (or LAtin) that appeals to your free range kid?

Thanks!

Signed,

Parent of a 4th grader at Brent

Another happy Ross parent. Plan to stay through 5th, depending on middle school options.

Anonymous wrote:Blah blah blah. Have no ivy league ambitions for my kids and never took an ap class in my life. I am the opposite of a type A parent. I am more of a free range, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger type of parent. But I recognize quality in education from a mile a way. Make your own choices, and let others make theirs without the insults.

+1

Blah blah blah. Have no ivy league ambitions for my kids and never took an ap class in my life. I am the opposite of a type A parent. I am more of a free range, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger type of parent. But I recognize quality in education from a mile a way. Make your own choices, and let others make theirs without the insults.

"for many Type A parents"

Anonymous wrote:Yes, time for a change. Plus, in order to make it a sure thing to attend the middle school you believe best for your kid, it is prudent to start there in fifth ( charters ) or get in the feeder pattern ( Stuart Hobson or Deal ). And to be honest, from what I have seen, the academic content at Basis or Latin in fifth grade is worlds better than the dcps curriculum even at the best schools. Just the way it is.

The social and emotional component of elementary school is far better suited to 5th graders though. But more many Type A parents, that's not really a consideration. Most nervous parents are vying for Harvard and have bought into the BASIS hype. Too bad really.

Anonymous wrote:Loved our 5th grade and only year at Stoddert. We know many families, currently there who absolutely love every aspect of the school.

Did you do 5th at Stoddert partly to be able to feed into Hardy?

Anonymous wrote:Ross, though not sure what we will do about MS.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow! Really wish I was in-bounds for Brent - lots of happy, long-term parents represented here.

What I get is that lots plan to not stay for 5th. It's just one more year-- why is it considered so bad? Or is it that 5th elsewhere is just too good to miss?

I'm not a Brent parent, but I assume this is because Latin and Basis start in 5th and that's the easiest grade in which to get a space.

Brent parents can correct me if I'm wrong.

Loved our 5th grade and only year at Stoddert. We know many families, currently there who absolutely love every aspect of the school.

Yes, time for a change. Plus, in order to make it a sure thing to attend the middle school you believe best for your kid, it is prudent to start there in fifth ( charters ) or get in the feeder pattern ( Stuart Hobson or Deal ). And to be honest, from what I have seen, the academic content at Basis or Latin in fifth grade is worlds better than the dcps curriculum even at the best schools. Just the way it is.

Anonymous wrote:Wow! Really wish I was in-bounds for Brent - lots of happy, long-term parents represented here.

Anonymous wrote:What I get is that lots plan to not stay for 5th. It's just one more year-- why is it considered so bad? Or is it that 5th elsewhere is just too good to miss?

Little bit of both to varying degrees. Plus after seven years in ES the kids are ready for a change. It's not scary, it's not detrimental, it's not out of fear.

Anonymous wrote:Wow! Really wish I was in-bounds for Brent - lots of happy, long-term parents represented here.

What I get is that lots plan to not stay for 5th. It's just one more year-- why is it considered so bad? Or is it that 5th elsewhere is just too good to miss?