As I read about the beginning of the 2010 school year I can’t help but get a little bit excited because next fall my son will be starting kindergarten! This still seems unreal to me – like it shouldn’t be possible that I’ll be the parent of a school-aged child. Since he was born in 2006 we’ve lived in two different states, four different cities and we’re now in the process of trying to buy a house. School districts have always been a consideration in the back of my mind – what are the schools there like and do we want to do private or public? And how far away are the schools from the home in question? Could I drive them to school if I wanted or would they be stuck with the big yellow bus?
Part of me would love to give my kids the private school experience, especially when you constantly hear about the mundane politics and ridiculousness that comes with a supposedly free public school education these days. Still does having to spend a small fortune each fall on school supplies really compare to a $5-10k annual cost for private school – that is expensive!
My husband went to private school for most of his life. I went to public school entirely. There is no doubt in my mind that he and his siblings have received a better education than I did but this could be for a lot more reasons than just the fact that they went to private school. Their mother stayed at home and likely had a big hand in their studies, keeping them disciplined. They all seem to be naturally brilliant and seem to like school a lot. Is this because of the private school or just genetic?
I moved a lot growing up so my studies constantly suffered because of varying curriculums and then later hormones – boys seemed much more interesting than homework and everybody else in my classes seemed to agree that school wasn’t all that important. In fact, for many years I was probably one of the more studious kids in my classes. Maybe a private education would have better nurtured that and encouraged me to work harder and pay more attention? I’m not sure.
I’ve toyed with the idea of doing public for elementary and then considering private again when they are entering middle and high school and hormones, etc. enter the picture. But then I risk taking them away from all of their school friends and alienating them.
So my Aloha Friday question for you today is:
Do or did or will your kids go to private or public school? Where did you go? What is your stance on private education versus public?
Kailani @ An Island Life takes it easy on Fridays by posting a simple question for you to answer – and she invites you to do the same. Just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!
Mommablogsalot 
14 responses to “Aloha Friday: Private vs Public Schools”
I went to public school and received a very good education. However, my mother was a stay-at-home mom, too, and did spend a lot of time outside the classroom helping me with my studies and projects. I think parental involvement is crucial to a child’s success in school. My only concern with the public schools in our area are the class sizes – over 20 kids in a class. The number of kids in my class was smaller, around 14-18 and I think that, in general, smaller class sizes equal a better learning environment.
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We’ve been doing daycare since the girls were born, so I guess that is private. Right now, Iz is in private pre-K because of her October birthday (it was that, or another year of preschool) at the same school. My plan is for public pre-K next year and then to continue, but now, everybody is saying she will be board, so I have no idea!
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I went to private schools from 5th grade through college. They were church schools, and there was far less emphasis put on learning the 3 R’s than learning the church doctrine (at least in grade school and high school). There were also far fewer opportunities for things like advanced placement classes, college prep, etc. Looking back, I’m disappointed in the quality education I got for the $$ my mom put into it. College was a different story–I got a great college education.
As a parent, there was no question in my mind that I wanted my kids to go to public schools. The biggest reason is that there are standards public schools must meet; there’s some accountability there that doesn’t exist in all private schools–especially the ones I went to. Sure, there are stupid cuts made, based solely on $$, too much governmental influence, etc., but at least I know my kids are going to LEARN. We live in one of the highest rated school districts in the state, and that gives me some confidence in my kids’ education too.
Not all private schools are equal. If you go that route, my advice is to do some serious research.
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My children went to public school, but my boys also went to military school for a while (four years). I went to Catholic School for Kindergarten & Grammar School & for high school one year. My opinion is if you can afford private school then do it. I think public school is a lot harder on the children mentally if anything. Rules are made to be followed in private schools, and they are. Also, they where uniforms, so no one is better in then the other in the style catagory. As far as girls they don’t have to see who is better with make-up or hair or who’s up to speed or who is more popular etc. Yes, I think it’s a big load off the child’s mind & they can put their mind on their studies instead of is my hair in place & is my clothes getting messed or dirty.
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My hubs did both private and public and honestly I think it’s all about the person more so than the type of school. He was never “studious” in either one..he’s a genius if he just applied himself.
As far as switching the kids out…kids are so adaptable and they can talk about it in therapy later. 😉 I always worried about the constant school changes with my kids…so far so good really. It’s rough at first but they really adjust.
Maybe start them out in public and go from there. Are you going to “homeschool” pre-school still?
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I went to public & my kids go to public
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i went to private school till 6th grade…
brother went and graduated from it…
my son will probably do public school…
we can not afford private school
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We are public school all the way. I went all through public school, my husband went to a Catholic high school of his choosing though his sisters went to the public high school. We have all turned out just fine and all got great educations.
We can’t afford private schools but our neighborhood school is a really good one so we would still be there. The school district has some issues but it’s mostly because budgetary, everyone is suffering with the economy. Fortunately our school finds ways to work around these issues, like hiring a third 2nd grade teacher even though the district is not giving them money to do so.
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I went to a private school as well as public growing up and I enjoyed both. For high school I would have rather gone to a private school.
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My kids are going to public school. We do not have the money to send them to private school and I am not homeschooling them.
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I have no faith in public education any more. Any money they receive seems to go to teachers and not to benefit the kids, with no improvements in education. Private schools are better, but we prefer to homeschool .
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My kids have all gone to public school. One has graduated from high school, one is about to be a sophomore, and one is about to be in second grade. Maybe we’ve just been lucky, but we’ve never had an elementary teacher we didn’t like. My two older kids went to a charter for elementary, and my youngest is in our neighborhood public school. Both were/are wonderful. I don’t know much about private school, except that it costs an arm and a leg. I think parental involvement is HUGE in determining the quality of your child’s education, no matter where they go.
And just to answer your question about the bus…yes, you can drive them if you want. No one can force you to use the bus. 🙂 Case in point: My sophomore *could* take the bus, but I end up driving her every morning because she says “buses are gross.” It actually doesn’t bother me, because the whole time they were in the charter school (Two kids, three years apart, seven years each), so 10 years…I had to drive them anyway because most charter schools don’t have buses.
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My kids did both. The thing about public schools is that they have more money and can give teachers better benefits which means they can pay teachers better and fill their libraries better.
Have a great Friday!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2010/08/when-is-it-time-to-move-on/
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Schools are good here. I went to public and so will my kids!
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