I know two families who turned it down - so apparently not all parents are hung up on it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

That, or they are hoping that the apparent mob dissent about the program causes some families to decline an acceptance so their waitlisted kid has a better shot.

I mean, honestly, why are people so involved in CES threads on a place like DCUM if they wouldn't even consider it for their child?

Agreed. But it's mainly preemptive green-eyed monster.

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

That, or they are hoping that the apparent mob dissent about the program causes some families to decline an acceptance so their waitlisted kid has a better shot.

I mean, honestly, why are people so involved in CES threads on a place like DCUM if they wouldn't even consider it for their child?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

You nailed it.

I don't think you nailed it but I will say I would have shared this opinion till I my son got accepted to the program. Now that he is in the program I really decided no way I would have wanted my next son to go.

Another poster here. I have to agree with the poster from above. I have a DD at a CES that has a heavy workload and lots of homework/projects. Kids move to fast from project to project. While it might benefit a small subset of the kids, the rest seem to do it just to survive, and another subset cannot keep up. Although DD writes a lot more just because there is more assignments, I don't feel like she has drastically improved on her creative writing skills. From what I am told by DD and her peers, many of the kids have learned to glance and look for information but there is lack of deep learning and reading of the text. Perhaps it is due to the speed of the workload. While it is a great program meant for a selective few who have good work ethic, we would not be interested in sending our younger child to the program because we see gaps that could be missed in their learning. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely pros to the CES, but nothing so drastic that a good home school and some targeted enrichment can't match! If this program was for 4+ years, then it would be more worthwhile to uproot a child who is happy at their homeschool. However, for 2 precious years at this stage in their childhood, I would say it's not worth it.

It depends on the kid. It is a lot of work, and if your child is not organized or disciplined (or not motivated), or isn't willing to work on those skills, it's going to be a slog. My sense is that the time and organization demands that most kids face in middle school get filtered down to kids in the CES programs, at least starting in the 2nd half of 4th grade. We've been very fortunate in that the CES program has been great for our DC in many ways, but there have been some rough patches because it's far more rigorous than the home school (which seemed, at times, to be just going through the motions).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, all CES are focused on reading and writing? Why?

Because the CES program is officially humanities-based, with a special curriculum. The math (including compacted math) and science curricula are the same as at other elementary schools (officially, anyway, although perhaps some CES teachers include additional challenges or projects).

At our CES, the material is exactly the same for science and compacted math. As a matter of fact, sometimes the general ed and CES kids have science together.

Anonymous wrote:So, all CES are focused on reading and writing? Why?

Because the CES program is officially humanities-based, with a special curriculum. The math (including compacted math) and science curricula are the same as at other elementary schools (officially, anyway, although perhaps some CES teachers include additional challenges or projects).

So, all CES are focused on reading and writing? Why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

You nailed it.

I don't think you nailed it but I will say I would have shared this opinion till I my son got accepted to the program. Now that he is in the program I really decided no way I would have wanted my next son to go.

Another poster here. I have to agree with the poster from above. I have a DD at a CES that has a heavy workload and lots of homework/projects. Kids move to fast from project to project. While it might benefit a small subset of the kids, the rest seem to do it just to survive, and another subset cannot keep up. Although DD writes a lot more just because there is more assignments, I don't feel like she has drastically improved on her creative writing skills. From what I am told by DD and her peers, many of the kids have learned to glance and look for information but there is lack of deep learning and reading of the text. Perhaps it is due to the speed of the workload. While it is a great program meant for a selective few who have good work ethic, we would not be interested in sending our younger child to the program because we see gaps that could be missed in their learning. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely pros to the CES, but nothing so drastic that a good home school and some targeted enrichment can't match! If this program was for 4+ years, then it would be more worthwhile to uproot a child who is happy at their homeschool. However, for 2 precious years at this stage in their childhood, I would say it's not worth it.

OP, if it helps, I would say that CES is not about “getting ahead” so much as solving an existing problem. So if your child is feeling kind of desperate in school and even the teachers agree that their time is largely wasted all day, then the CES helps that kid have a schoolday where they actually get to learn something. While they are learning a lot about writing, they are really learning how to learn at school and sometimes, for the first time, how to deal with challenge and failure so that when they get to harder classes they will understand how to work hard and persist to get the work done well.

Your child may need some enrichment or not... you know your kid. If you are doing writing classes in the summer, I think you can rest assured that your child will be well prepared for the tougher classes of high school one day. But if you think of CES as basically a kind of special ed to help some kids learn how to be well-adjusted students and how to BE normal, happy kids, it might give you less anxiety about how your child might be missing something.

That said, I think most of us would love to see some of the enrichments in CES brought into the entire school curriculum. Some schools do have an enriched ELA program and that, along with compacted math, can do a lot for bright kids.

My son was accepted for next year. He’s stronger at science/math, and while he’s a good writer, he’s also a reluctant writer. I’m a little skeptical about putting him into a program that focuses on writing, but I hope it pushes him in a good way. Thankfully we’re not far from the school, so the bus ride is only 15 minutes.

One of the main reasons I think it will be good for him is the peer group. He has friends at school, but not the type of friends who see each other outside of class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

You nailed it.

I don't think you nailed it but I will say I would have shared this opinion till I my son got accepted to the program. Now that he is in the program I really decided no way I would have wanted my next son to go.

Anonymous wrote:Would love to hear from other parents who aren’t that hung up on their kids acceptance/rejection. Our 4th grade son didn’t get in last year but didn’t really care. He’s doing very well in his classes and is happy at his school. I am totally fine with my kids in gen pop. Anyone else out there not think their kids is destined to a life of asking “would you like fried with that?”, or am I failing my kid and am just oblivious to it?

Mine did get in last year and is in 4th CES. My second son this year got on the waitlist and I can say I don't mind a bit. The program is really just more reading and writing challenges. My oldest loves to read but writing is another story. The only real plus as been a peer group that he can relate to better. He really did have an issue at his old school being an outsider. My second son on the other hand fits in fine and does very well academically. I actually feel my kid's home school is stronger then the CES school in general. For example the compacted math DS got into at CES school full of kids from the school so it was way "dumbed down". The teacher told me I had to move him another class cause he did not belong there. So if your kid is huge reader and way into writing then the program is great. If they are a math and science kid who has a good home school not really a big deal. I think the more competitive middle school and high school programs matter more.

I can also tell you the boys in my son's class that don't like reading are doing very poorly and having a hard time.

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

You nailed it.

The reality is that most parents rationalize that CES isn't useful or the right fit for their child, because they fear or know their child has very little chance of getting in, and have to protect their parental ego.

If they knew their child was getting in, and what the program entailed compared to the regular 4/5, most of them would be happy to let their child go to a CES.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child is happy at the home school, not bored in classes and the commute is too long, CES is obviously not worth it. If your child is spending 6 hrs a day un challenged, or struggling to find a like minded peer group then CES ca be a wonderful alternative and worth the ride. It really depends on your child. But painting all the kids who go, as children of tiger parents is a little unfair. Most of us are trying to do the best for our kids

This. It isn't unusual for some kids to go for the social reasons.

+1 I know a child who is unchallenged and got in, I can totally see how she can benefit from it. Probably not worth it for us, but I still want to see the results.