New School Year

With the new school year aproaching, I would like to discuss briefly the three options a parent has in regard to their child's education.  These are public school, private school and home school.  The third option is a growing viable option for parents.  I want to look at each option as I have been a teacher in each of these settings.

1.  PUBLIC SCHOOL - the teacher attempts to keep the students (30 at a time in some cases) in their seats, quiet, and engaged.  There is a teacher to student ratio of up to 30:1  The government / county / school board dictates the overall curriculum and assessment methods (WESTEST).  The start and end times are established by the county, but the teacher is responsible to teach during alotted times what she deems most important.  There are pep assemblies; anti-drug assemblies; sex ed assemblies; anti-bullying assemblies; anti-violence assemblies, magic shows; demonstrations; meetings with the principals; peer leadership seminars;   parties; coaching in writing, behavior, and lifeskills; early outs; snow days; movies; character education by counselors; and the list goes on. 

2.  PRIVATE SCHOOL - schools seem to be more strict, solemn, and rigorous.  My experience has been this type of school is very good with behavior and classroom managment.  Principals tend to not be lenient with staff or students.  Most private schools do not have certified teachers in their classrooms; however, theses students fair better than public school students on achievement tests.  Often monies are tight with private schools and tuition can be high.  Books are purchased by the parents along with test booklets, worksheets, and reading books.

3.  HOME SCHOOL - Parents spend quality time with their children teaching them the things that are important or of interest to the child.  The student to teacher ratio is often very good!  Meaningful field trips can be taken which enhance the prior knowledge or hope to spark interest in a new subject.  Parents have the choice of curriculum publisher and can tailor their child's education to accomodate their learning styles.  Parents dictate their schedule which would include bedtime and wake times; this decreases the exhaustion that some children can experience with school and after-school activities; no one has to be on the bus at 6:45am.  I believe parents are the best teacher for thier children.  Parents love their children and want them to succeed, so they will do what it takes for excelling in a subject. Assessments can be made in more than testing only; therefore, a student who does not test well (but is intelligent) can be evaluated by another means.