Public, Private, Home

[Etharia]

I was just wondering, do you put your child in a public school, private school, or homeschool them?


I was home schooled for 11 years using Abeka Book curriculem. This year I enrolled in a public school in a special program which allows me to earn credits superfast by testing out and taking special courses to get my high school diploma. I have already earned my diploma but I'm still taking some classes to help prepare me for college and also some that I just thought would be fun.
I always thought I would enroll my kids in public school unitl this year. Now I'm not sure. Any input would be apriciated.

 

[Krazeekkc]

I am homeschooled on the A Beka books. I wouldn't go to any public schools do to the Dumbing Down System that is going on. A Beka books are the best I believe. Hope I helped!

 

[Evening Mist]

My son goes to a small private school. They do not use text books at all -- instead they follow a more "alternative" methodology that involves a lot of creative writing, hands on exploration, and group thinking. He's in 2nd grade and doing brilliantly. (and of couse, I'm not biased at all!)

 

[faith177]

My son goes to public school I think there are good and bad to any choice that you will make, We have done all three, the private school was too small and when my son did not get along with one student he was shut out. We have not tried a bigger christian school which I would like to but too expensive right now. Home schooling was good but he was lonely and missed the social stuff, if we were rich I think it would be easier because I could put him in more activities, I did love the one on one interaction, he is a preteen and I feel our relationship is stretching he goes through so much now that I miss. sorry I am not much help I am also debating what is best.

 

[Peter]

6 children here. Yes. All three. Whatever is best for the child.

Peace.

Peter

 

[Kelly]

She's starting kindergarten next year...planning on public with a very careful eye....

 

[faith177]

yes be very watchful, especially about the books. I have read some of the books my son has brought home from the school library and I was shocked. one was all about drinking and doing drugs and one talked of killing bunnies. I brought both to the schools attention. Some of the assignments are not really appropriate either though most teachers are good about concerns. one year they wanted the kids to write a horror story, we did not agree with this and he was allowed to write a story of angels instead. Also be careful about the sexed program although it is a little early for your child, we went to preview the grade five program and out of about 60 kids there were only 7 parents there. very sad

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

private or public. My wife is a teacher and passionately against homeschooling, and I agree with her, so that one is definitely out. The public vs. private really comes down to individual ones. I know private schools near me I wouldn't let me kid go to in a million years, they are so bad, both educationally, and morally.

 

[Etharia]

Thank you all very much for your input.
Ican eat 50 eggs, may I ask why your wife is passionately against homeschooling? All honest opinions would be a great help in making a decision.

 

[Blindfaith]

My teenagers have been going to public school their entire life, and I'm kind of sorry for it now.

Our kindergartner started private school, and I am just blown away by what she's learning. My teens are surprised as well.

I homeschool my 8th grader for a year when she was in 6th grade to get her caught up in math and science. She did great in the 7th grade for the year, but now she's sliding once again. I really don't have anything nice to say about the public school system where we live.

 

[faith177]

Blind faith I am there with you, I have huge issues with the public schools system.

 

[Krazeekkc]

So do I! I have this book on the public school system and there is this dumbing down system that is going on. It has alot of facts about public school and how it is bad. It's a really good book! I wish I could send it around to everyone here to read! Lol!

 

[Blindfaith]

In Washington state here they implemented yet another test called the WASL. They have to take it in the 4th, 7th, and 10th grade. During those grades they don't learn a blessed thing except how to pass the test. THAT'S IT. I am so disgusted, I could spit nails. If they don't pass it in the 10th grade, they can't graduate unless they take additional classes and retake the test as a Sr.

For example, for a math problem they don't just 'do' the problem, they have to write an essay on it; how they came to the conclusion, etc. As it is now, if my 8th grader were to take the test she wouldn't be graduating. While I have no problem with a higher standard of education, I'm just not seeing it. The education they're receiving compared to my kindergartner is just astounding. I have a feeling I'll be yanking her out of school to homeschool her the rest of the way, but I guess we'll just have to see.

In the private school my daughter Faith (6) is attending, she has already learned all of the consenant/vowel sounds, she starts learning how to read this week, and she knows how to cursive handwrite every single letter (cap and small). They do geography, and she can identify the continents and this week they start learning the states and their capitols. This is kindergarten! Next year she'll be learning Spanish, and in computer lab she's already got the homerow down. They memorize a scripture verse every week along with the sign language for each word, and at the end of the year during kindergarten graduation the entire class will recite from memory every single verse. She's going to know more than I do!

There is absolutely no comparison between public and private school - at least where I live.

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

my wife hates homeschooling mainly because she is (was) a teacher. She feels that there is no way that a parent can be competent enough to homeschool there children, especially in junior high and high school. Elementary school is a little less clear cut, but you still won't have the qualifications of all the teachers that your kid would have access to in other school settings. my wife hates homeschooling mainly because she is (was) a teacher. She feels that there is no way that a parent can be competent enough to homeschool there children, especially in junior high and high school. Elementary school is a little less clear cut, but you still won't have the qualifications of all the teachers that your kid would have access to in other school settings.

 

[faith177]

wow bf that school sounds great, my daughter starts kindergarten next year, I have a feeling that we will just let her attend for a couple years for the fun stuff, then pull her out and homeschool. Although if we have enough money I would love to try private christian school. Which one is she in if you dont mind sharing?

 

[JOYfulbeliever]

I'm not a parent, but I attended a private Christian school from kindergarden through high school graduation.

While the school wasn't perfect and had it's flaws, I wouldn't trade my Christian education for anything in the world. The way things worked at my school, the elementary grades were FAR more advanced then the same level at local public schools, but by the time you got to high school, we didn't realize it at the time, but we were almost at a disadvantage in a way. I guess I should explain that, shouldn't I?

The way things worked at my high school (which was a fairly high rated "college prep" high school), we basically were able to choose what classes we wanted to take, but had to have approval from the administration before our schedules were finalized. My class was very academically oriented, and the majority of us took the "advanced curriculum" which included the highest level maths and sciences. Unforutnately, the classes weren't "weighed". So, someone taking Calculus and someone taking basic Algebra received the same amount of credits. Our valedictorian took 2 study halls, "Business Math" and no foreign language his senior year, while the salutitorian took the most advanced courses. His grades were slightly lower because he took the harder courses. Believe me, as a class, we fought this BIG TIME! We weren't offered "Honors" or "Advanced Placement" classes. At the time, none of us cared, but for those of us who left the "private school bubble" and attended a state university, this really hurt us.

My freshman year at college (at a top rated state university) I was quite a bit behind my class. Most came in with at a minimum of 6 college credit hours. I spent an entire semester just playing catch up to get to where they were.

So, that was one of my biggest beefs with "my" Christian school. They have since changed the way they do things slightly, but it still isn't quite where it needs to be.

As for the pros - there are MANY more pros than cons!

First of all, the Biblical basis behind EVERYTHING. I'm telling you, there wasn't a subject matter that was discussed that didn't have a Christian perspective, which is something that I will be forever grateful for!

Also, we too, up until the day we graduated learned a bare minimum of 1 verse a week. The older we got, the larger the passages. This is another thing that I am just so thankful for. I have verses committed to memory that I know I wouldn't have memorized if it hadn't been for school.

There was never a class that didn't start with prayer, and it was not at all unusual for a teacher to break out in prayer right in the middle of class as something came to mind.

We had "chapel" once a week, which we loved mainly because our classes were each shortened by 10 minutes to give us the extra time in the day! But, we had guest speakers each week who provided such wonderful spiritual food for us.

Looking back, I can tell you how thankful I am for my Christian education and I see how much I took it for granted while I am there. I had friends that went to public schools that were envious of me, and at the time, I couldn't understand why. In my eyes then, they had all of the "elective classes" while we had: art, band, choir, and yearbook. They had NUMEROUS sports teams, we had: basketball, baseball/softball, soccer and volleyball - we didn't even have a football team. They had extracurricular activities/clubs/organizations, we had nothing of the sort. They had hunderds and hundreds of people they went to school with on a daily basis. My graduating class had 32 people, the entire school, K-5-12th grade, PLUS FACULTY was right at 600.

Wow...I was a pretty lucky and blessed kid!!!

 

[Kelly]

my wife hates homeschooling mainly because she is (was) a teacher. She feels that there is no way that a parent can be competent enough to homeschool there children, especially in junior high and high school. .

That's what I feel too. We can surround ourselves with all the curriculum books we like but when our kids ask us a question not found in the teacher's guide, we had better know our stuff.

Here's another way to look at it. When I was applying for a job one time, I needed to know a piece of software that I had no formal training or job experience in. I heard that they tested software skills on prospective employees.

I crammed using some self teaching books and went through all the tutorials, etc. I thought I knew my stuff. When I finished they looked at the test results and the first thing out of the interviewer's mouth was "You're self taught on this software, aren't you?" I admitted it and asked how she could tell. "Because you do very good at certain processes, but horrible on others. It shows that you skipped or avoided the processes that were more difficult or you thought you'd not need".

I don't know college prep science, english or literature analysis. I can look at all the teachers guides that exist but still not know the subject. It's mimicry.

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

exactly,
while I could probably do a decent job at math (up through and including calculus) and physics, neither my wife or myself have any business teaching english lit, or art, or music, or foreign language, or biology, etc, etc.

 

[MsAnne]

Both of my kids attended Christian School. K - 12. There were disadvantages to being part of a small school, but the advantages far outweighed anything else. However, this is what it came down to: "Conviction over Preference"

It wasn't just a nice idea, it was where my kids BELONGED. I knew it was the place God had prepared for them. Changing them to another school was never an option. No, it wasn't without a few conflicts or difficulty, but even now, looking back, I know beyond any doubt it was the right choice.

 

[Blindfaith]

Although if we have enough money I would love to try private christian school. Which one is she in if you dont mind sharing?

We live in Washington state, in the Seattle area to be precise, and she attends through the Rainier Christian Schools.

Like Joyful stated above, they have chapel one day a week, and the things that she is learning is just blowing me away. She explained to us tonight what 'omniscience' and 'omnipresence' means (we knew it already, but encouraged it). She's got her addition down (1-10) now.

As far as being able to afford it faith, I know that almost all Christian schools have "scholarships" for families that needs some help with the cost. If that's possible, GO FOR IT! It's soooo worth it.

As far as the homeschooling is concerned, I don't know what it's like for others, but in our area there's a HUGE contingency of people who homeschool their kids, and various types of co-ops. For instance, science is not my strong subject, so when I homeschooled Lauren we went to a co-op and she took a class in science from a qualified parent, while I helped in the English class. I think (at least for here) there's a fallacy that homeschooled kids don't have as many opportunities as public school kids. I didn't see that to be the truth at all. If anything, she had more opportunities and more places to go than she does while in public instruction. I think it may depend on where people are located perhaps.

The curriculum for homeschooled kids FAR surpasses the non-option given in public school. When I went to pick out the curriculum for Lauren, I was frankly shocked because there was so much to choose from! What surprised me the most was seeing a history book with the word 'God' mentioned. Surprise, surprise!!

Anyway - whatever works for each family is what they should do. What works for mine, may not work for yours (general statement, not specific). Do what works for you!!