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Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,628
Registered: ‎01-06-2015

Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

There is some disturbing stereotyping in this thread, that's off topic too. And belief that only your news source is not slanted one way and what they are telling you is the truth is off topic too. So I don't see how only a poster who responds to that is called out as being off topic, that started pages back.

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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,473
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

Many attend exclusive private schools so their children are only with their ilk.  Adminstrations have  hundreds of ways to keep the so called "undesirables" away from their school without being ever called out due to the fact they don't have to answer to anybody because they are private.  There are a lot of dummies who come out of private education but their flaws can be hidden due to the fact they don't have to meet certain state requirements.

Teaching in a gifted public school you can see  parents who exposed and taught their children  to so much before the age of 4 they are worldly and can be taught at a different level.

The premise of the OP has way to many vague of a premise to understand what small children can really do and learn and what private and public really means.

States and schools with problems do not have children at the forefront of their agendas.

Honored Contributor
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Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

I believe for most parents, the issue is always, where can my child get the best, most focused preparation in core academic subjects that will prepare him or her for a productive life and career.

 

I think that can happen in several settings, whether public, private, faith-based, or home-schooled.  Our son went to all public schools.  But now, more even than when my son, now 22, was in early grades, parents need to be involved to make the best judgment about that.  I'm very glad that parents are more alert to the pitfalls, and are finding out just exactly what is being taught, or not taught, in their children's schools.

Esteemed Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

[ Edited ]

The private school where I taught (years & years ago) was based on the English (form) system. Tuition (for the time) was very high! All boys. (Sister school was down the street.) Everyone wore "uniforms." Upper School & Middle School wore suits & ties. Junior School wore the school's colors in a nice sweatshirt. No shorts!

 

Students had chapel every day. Mostly pep talks.

Everything was orderly! No expense was spared for necessary materials.

 

For me, it was up-to-date music instruction textbooks and also classroom instruments (all the melodic & percussion Orff). The piano I used was a baby grand.

 

I taught in the Junior School: K, Pre-1st, grades 1 through 5.

 

My take-away (among many) was that...one year I got a terrible case of laringitis. Couldn't utter a sound! I wrote all the directions on the board, and even the 1st graders could read them!

 

These students were being primed for leadership positions in the state, let alone the country. Education was paramount.

 

Back then students were taught Latin. (Don't know if it is still required.)

 

I also had a stint in the inner city schools. Would you like me to recount the contrast?

Honored Contributor
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Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

At $24,000+ a year, it might make more sense for three or four parents to unite and hire a private teacher to work with their children. New York reportedly has the highest average teacher salary at $85,889 so three or four parents finding a really good teacher for their kids and paying them $24,000 each would give the teacher a salary of $72,000-$96,000 which would be comparable or better than they'd get in a school system and give the kids by far the best opportunity to learn. Discipline should be easier also since the teacher and parents would be more closely allied. Find the right teacher and you could give your kids the absolute best education possible if you're spending that kind of money. 

 

If you've got the money to spend $24,000 a year to educate a child, odds are one of you lives in a big enough house to devote a room in the house to become a classroom. No need for a cafeteria as they can eat lunch at their home. A computer or computers are likely already there. Commuting is not an issue for the kids. Just walk to whichever house has the classroom. For an upper-class neighborhood with parents willing to spend that kind of money, it would seem to be the best solution.

A three or four students to one teacher ratio is better than you'd find at even the best private school. The teacher makes more money, the students get a better education, there should be fewer discipline or other issues. Just find the right teacher, pay them a lot, and go from there.

 

Finding the right teacher part might be the hardest part, but if you could do that, the sky would be the limit. A win for everyone. The kids are safer. They learn more. They get more individual care and attention. The teacher makes more money. There should be fewer disciplinary issues. Everyone wins.

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Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?


@KittySoftPaws wrote:

If you read or listen to the news and I mean the news that reports both sides, not a slanted one, then you will have the answer to your question. If I had young children, I would try to get into private schooling or home school. Aside from the violence, there's bullying, drugs, erasing history as it's written, gender changing and influencing without parental consent as a minor, (this is allowed in my state) to name just a few reasons. These few are plenty enough reason for me.


This is the reason why I wouldn't even consider a private school.

Private schools and Catholic schools are not the same thng.   

I would go with a Catholic school or home schooling. 

 

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Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

[ Edited ]

@gardenmanFamilies are doing this; it's called POD teaching.

 

@CelticCrafter You are correct, Private Schools and Catholic Schools are not the same thing though the majority assume they are. Also, some of the top/elite private schools in the nation are Catholic or some other religious denomination. Then there are those where no religion plays any role and are at the top for education.

 

Bottom line, there are many stereotypes regarding private schools, those who choose them for their children and for those who attend which are just as offensive as any other stereotype people toss about. It's also one of those topics that often get ugly quickly. Sad but true.

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Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?


@gardenman wrote:

At $24,000+ a year, it might make more sense for three or four parents to unite and hire a private teacher to work with their children. New York reportedly has the highest average teacher salary at $85,889 so three or four parents finding a really good teacher for their kids and paying them $24,000 each would give the teacher a salary of $72,000-$96,000 which would be comparable or better than they'd get in a school system and give the kids by far the best opportunity to learn. Discipline should be easier also since the teacher and parents would be more closely allied. Find the right teacher and you could give your kids the absolute best education possible if you're spending that kind of money. 

 

If you've got the money to spend $24,000 a year to educate a child, odds are one of you lives in a big enough house to devote a room in the house to become a classroom. No need for a cafeteria as they can eat lunch at their home. A computer or computers are likely already there. Commuting is not an issue for the kids. Just walk to whichever house has the classroom. For an upper-class neighborhood with parents willing to spend that kind of money, it would seem to be the best solution.

A three or four students to one teacher ratio is better than you'd find at even the best private school. The teacher makes more money, the students get a better education, there should be fewer discipline or other issues. Just find the right teacher, pay them a lot, and go from there.

 

Finding the right teacher part might be the hardest part, but if you could do that, the sky would be the limit. A win for everyone. The kids are safer. They learn more. They get more individual care and attention. The teacher makes more money. There should be fewer disciplinary issues. Everyone wins.


 

@gardenman 

 

Interesting points, although I don't know how much state accreditation varies across the country.

 

While your comments addressed how the wealthy might opt to do things, I'm not sure home schooling for the average family is such a good idea.

 

I don't recall where I saw it, but a long time expert on education said he thought home schooling was one of the worst ideas to come along in the past century.  it pretty much guaranteed that those children would never have the option to grow and learn more than their parents knew, and that was not a good thing.  

 

Interesting point.

 

Personally, I don't have a strong opinion about it, but I do think exposure to many perspectives is better than a more narrow view that the parents may hold.   

 

Understanding ideas that we don't agree with isn't damaging; it gives us all an opportunity to reconsider all points of view.  It either confirms what we already believe ... or it gives new information that is relevant, and important to personal growth.

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Registered: ‎05-10-2010

Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?


@gertrudecloset wrote:

@chrystaltree wrote:

I'm sure it's the same in the UK as it is here.  $24K isn't even a lot of money for rich parents who can afford it.  There are exclusive private schools in my area that charge $35K for elementary school, $50k for middle and high school.   The parents are paying for low student to teacher ratios,  teachers who are better educated and come from a higher socio economic background than public school teachers,  a curriculum that strives for excellence and puts achievement first.  They don't want their children exposed to working class students who are more likely to have troubled backgrounds.  Private schools are free from many government mandates that prevent teachers from actually teaching. And then there are things like music classes, foreign language classes, fencing, ballet beginning in elementary school.  Before my girls started school I would go through those catalogs and dream about being to send my girls to them.  Which isn't to say our family would even be considered by those exclusive schools but a mother can dream.  But we did want something better than public school so we sent them to good parochial schools.  Discipline, respect, strong work ethic were important to us and those things were weak in public schools.  

 

 


You're not talking about U.S. Private Schools.  There is OVERSIGHT for them too.  Oh, so only lower socio economic people have troubled home lives?  Get a load of that why doncha?  No school in these United States get to do what they want w/o governmental oversight.  Right down to inclusion and the food they are allowed to serve @chrystaltree .  I'm going to assume you're speaking about schools in the u.k. 

 

Most of us here are in the U.S. and that's what the discussion should be about imho.

 

Obviously you don't know much about private schools in the US.  


 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,768
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SMALL CHILDREN - NECESSARY?

It depends on the community. 

 

In NYC, the teachers are wonderful but the class sizes are huge.  Some students do better in smaller classes and it may well be worthwhile for the parents to find a private school. 

 

I had a mixture of both as a kid, and the 2 systems are really different---a lot more socialization and interaction and diversity and exercise in public school, and a lot more discipline, knuckle rapping, regimentation, and intensive testing in private school.  The combo worked out OK for me: the "discipline" school got me a bit more organized, and the public school got me a lot more socialized.  Smiley Happy    There are a lot of good teachers in both types of schools, but in New England, anyway, the cultures are different.