private vs public school education
walter snow
23 years ago
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Comments (34)
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Private schools?
Comments (35)Education is only part of the experience of high school. I have great high school memories because I had a great group of friends. My sister had a very unhappy high school experience because she didn't fit in. Same school, 1 year apart. This may already have been voiced above, but a few additional things to consider, which I have seen happen to other people, are the lifestyle issues and the donation issues. Specifically, will your child feel left out if they cannot afford to do the things their classmates do? I can remember being the only one of my friends in (public) high school who didn't get to go to Europe senior year (in my case it was my mother worrying rather than money, either way, I was left out). I've seen the activities and things friends' kids want. Will your child feel left out if they can't go skiing in the Alps over Christmas break? Will there be an issue if he has a beater car rather than a BMW? Another issue which I was a little surprised by was the "donation" issue. A good friend of mine has her only child in a $30k per year high school. They can easily afford it. However, the school also expects a sizable donation every year, and it keeps going up (he is in his third year). Think thousands - extra. They also do expensive things to raise money for the school, like auctions. Regarding treating kids "the same". It is very difficult. My parents didn't pay (or even help pay) for my law school because my mother didn't think they should do something for me that they were not going to do for my sister. But they weren't going to do the same for her because she wasn't going to go - she dropped out of college. I didn't argue with them about it at the time. In fact, it wasn't until after I graduated that my father even knew they didn't help. He assumed they had. My mother handled the money. So now all the money they saved my father is spending on his chi-chi girlfriend (my mother passed away). I have to admit, it irks me now. But it wouldn't have bothered me if my parents had used the money together. My in laws took the "equal" thing to a ridiculous extreme. DH was the "perfect" child. He was the oldest, and was a great student, athlete, and was very handsome (voted "best body" in high school, which we have a good giggle over). His parents wouldn't even give him praise unless they could give the same praise to his 2 younger (and less stellar) siblings. One story he mentions is when he came home with all As in all AP classes. His mother said something like, "well, Sally and Billy tried very hard to". My MIL was an early example of the dangers of praising trying as much as succeeding. His siblings learned they would get as much credit for failing as DH would get for succeeding. No one lived up to their potential as a result. I guess my point is this, you can't treat kids equally, and you can't be perfectly fair. Every kid is different....See MoreSchool lunches vs lunches made at home?
Comments (30)Our school lunches are $2.65. The lunches here seem decent. They offer 3 main meals each day. Everyday there is also a choice of Yogurt, Hummus or PB&J sandwich. With the above you get a choice of fruit, veggie or starch. There is also a salad bar option. I have checked the lunch menus all year and was THRILLED to see NO FRENCH FRIES EVER. I think that's great! Although there is pizza every Friday, but the portions are small and kid appropiate. We also have a credit system, where I place money on her account. Kids don't handle money at all if they don't want to. I can also get an itemized list of what she has bought. My DD brings her lunch 95% of the time. Once a month they serve "Breakfast for Lunch" (Pancakes, turkey sausage & milk) which she absolutely loves. But I am very happy to pack her lunch since I know it's healthy and foods she enjoys and will eat. Normal day she gets turkey, carrot sticks, fruit (like apple slices, grapes) and popcorn. Kids are not allowed to "trade" or bring Candy for the snack, but I'm sure it goes on. My DD is picky, so she would not eat a school lunch each day-heaven forbid the sauce touch the pasta!! LOL My issue is that kids may take the veggie or fruit option but not eat it. Or just choose the starches and ala carte "junkier" items. I think our school system does the best they can with foods most kids like (Baked chicken tenders instead of fried) Most of the breads are Whole grains each day etc. Nice selection of fresh fruits. When I was in school the lunches were so/so. I knew my mom's fresh food was better then the mass produced, waiting under a heat lamp school lunch. I normally brought my lunch as it was MUCH quicker too. But you could have spent your "lunch" money on a meal of Twinkies and chips! I could strangle the 15 year old me, for all the junk I ate and NEVER thought twice about!!! Here is a link that might be useful: Lunch menu for the month...See Moreprivate school issues
Comments (9)My children attend a very small private school. The upside is I know all the teachers, all the students in their classes and they can't get away with anything (good or bad) without me knowing. The school they attend is not advertised as a religious school. However, they do have morning devotionals, religious based Christmas program if they choose, a bible class for those who choose it. I am not an overly religious person, but I like knowing my kids are exposed on a daily basis. Because it does not pay as well as public school, the majority of the teachers are parents of the children who attend. I find this is good because they really care about the quality of the education. Their kids are my kids friends and they do not hesitate to call if they are concerned about my children. Also, our school requires a certain percentage to be certified. I think we have 3 teachers out of 30+ that are not certified. These three are the best teachers my children have had. They all have college educations, but did not gravitate to the field till they were older. These are people who did not like their chosen fields, but found they had a knack with kids. Much better then getting a teacher with a masters who learns after years of being educated for the job that they hate kids!!!! The bad side is that tuitions increase. Our school's finances are public knowledge for those who ask for it. It may be a good idea to find out how much the tuition has increased each year for the past five years....See MoreAutodidactism vs What We Were Taught at School
Comments (50)lemonhead, thanks for picking up on the research paper/project question. I find the responses very interesting and informative. I'd bet that you still remember more about Bonnie Prince Charlie than many of us ever learned. If I hadn't had a brother who loved Sir Walter Scott's Waverly and anything by Robert Louis Stevenson, I would have gone through elementary and secondary school without hearing a thing about the Jacobites. I took an anthropology class in gender language differences and found it both fascinating and dismaying. For instance, females often have a 'voice' they speak with around other females, but if a male enters an otherwise all-female group some of the gals' voices change immediately (often becoming breathier), no matter if the females are eight or eighty years old. I already knew this from observation and often found it annoying; but that it is largely an unconscious thing on the part of some females irritated me even more because I had thought it was a matter of choice, a mere affectation or a bad habit. elliottb: I'm intrigued how and why myths come to be, though the myths themselves don't interest me much. I will take a look at the 'Unhistory'. I know what you mean about anything "that holds interest" -- so in furtherance to your dilemma and mine, I will respond to woodnymph: woodnymph, I would enjoy a nonfiction thread and I would certainly contribute. Nonfiction seems to get short shrift here at RP. I know you mention the NF you read, Mary, but I'd say the "What are you reading?" thread runs something like 70/30 or 75/25 percent, favoring fiction over nonfiction. I can never keep up with all the bestselling fiction -- sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm only one person while there are dozens of people here at RP (and multitudes elsewhere) following the fiction trends. Yet nonfiction is even wider than fiction, so it's hard to comprehend that reading through post after post and there's hardly a mention of it. Maybe a thread devoted entirely to NF would bring more of it out -- I hope it would....See Morewhoami_fatbroads_com
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