Public, Parochial, private, Charter or homeschool?

Question

My son is two years old and may seem like it is too early to worry about this but I would like to make an informed decision when it is necessary. I'd like to hear positive and negative experiences from real people who have children in school now (I don't want to hear 50 year old stories about the Catholic nuns). We are leaning toward Parochial school because there is one very close home. But I'd like to learn more about the other choices, too - especially charter and homeschooling since I know almost nothing about them.

Answer 1

I went to catholic school and got a great education. There is no way you can gradute 8th grade and not be able to read, like in some public school systems. It's funny, because many public school systems throw $10,000 at each student, and some still have the worst results. Catholic schools near me cost about $4,000 per student and they are always ranked in the top schools in the area, low droput rate, high college admission rate. Except maybe in inner cities, where they may suffer the same fate as public schools - students may have bad attitudes, poor work ethics, disillusioned with life, etc.

I have noticed that people I work with who went to public schools don't speak quite as well. For example, they always say "I should have took", when it should be "I shoudl have taken." Not sure why, but the grammar of catholic school students seems to be much better than public schools. In fact, someone told me I was very well spoken the other day, especially considering I'm from the Philly area. Too funny!

Just my 2 cents. Do some research on the public elementary and high school in your area and see what they're like. Soem of the public high schools near me are very good, but it costs you an arm and a leg in housing and taxes to live in that district.

Answer 2

If you have the money, RUN from the public school system.

My friend's wife is trying to get in the public school system as a teacher. I reviewed some of her exam books. Question after question is like this: "if a child gets a wrong answer, what do you do?" Answer: assure the child they have self-worth, that there is a place in the world for them, and that the exam is simply a social structure to pass time in school. NEVER is the teacher instructed to tell the child the RIGHT ANSWER.

Its a sickness. A good catholic school (I'm non catholic) is a treasure. At the foundation, catholics believe in right and wrong. Hence, not only will your child be given a moral framework - so lacking today - but they will learn to respect the concept of "right answers". Wanna know why customer service is so bad today? Because there are no "right answers" - everyone's method is equallly valid.

The sooner your kids learn that there is a "right answer", the sooner they will know what to study, the sooner they will get ahead, and the easier (though incredibly frustrating) their life will be.

.

Answer 3

Charter schools can be better than your local public school or they may be around the same. They often attract parents that are more involved, therefore the kids may do better because they have more active parents, not necessarily because the school is better. I would steer very clear of home schooling. Your child doesn't get any interaction with other kids and misses out on building social skills with peers and other adults.