Home School vs. Public school vs. Private school

[Giselle]

Greyt information thus far, but I just wanted to comment on the importance of parent involvement. Honestly, if your kid is self-motivated, all you have to do is drive him to and from school I truly believe that your child will succeed in any environment if he/she is deeply and emotionally motivated. The only way you can do that is through at-home parenting. If you can give your child a sense of strong motivation and humility from his early years, what school he goes to will not make a vast difference. Once the emotional aspect is there, he will strive to succeed in any environment.

So back to the topic of parent involvement with the PTA and such...IMO, you don't need it =/ I've known many kids whose parents worked 10 hours jobs every day and *these* were the kids who were at the top of the class. Point is, involvement in the PTA is greyt, but I wouldn't stress it. Teach your kid the importance of education at an early age and you won't need to fret about PTA, teacher conferences, etc.

[sparks19]

Greyt information thus far, but I just wanted to comment on the importance of parent involvement. Honestly, if your kid is self-motivated, all you have to do is drive him to and from school I truly believe that your child will succeed in any environment if he/she is deeply and emotionally motivated. The only way you can do that is through at-home parenting. If you can give your child a sense of strong motivation and humility from his early years, what school he goes to will not make a vast difference. Once the emotional aspect is there, he will strive to succeed in any environment.

So back to the topic of parent involvement with the PTA and such...IMO, you don't need it =/ I've known many kids whose parents worked 10 hours jobs every day and *these* were the kids who were at the top of the class. Point is, involvement in the PTA is greyt, but I wouldn't stress it. Teach your kid the importance of education at an early age and you won't need to fret about PTA, teacher conferences, etc.

LOL it was the only example I could think of LOL. Do they still have PTA?

More than anything I mean .... if you can.... volunteer to be a helper on a field trip.... or help with school fundraisers and activities... special events... etc etc. That will give you a true feel for the school, it's teachers, rules, and other aspects you might not have known about. Now not so much in highschool but more in elementary school. The teachers can always use the extra help keeping an eye on kids during field trips... and I remember being in elementary school and we loved it when one of the parents got to come along. My mom wasn't able to do so because she worked during the day.... but she always came to the meet the teacher nights.... always came to our plays and musical productions. always came to the sports events. I wanted nothing more than to show my mom what I had accomplished. Having her set foot in MY school where I spend half of my day was awesome for me... it was always "Mom look at this... mom come see this.... mom come meet this person. MOM MOM MOM." lol I think i would have been crushed if she didn't show any interest in my activities or my school.

As for PTA... LOL I don't even really know what a PTA does. it was just the only thing with a specific name I could think of hahahaha. But I think a parent should be involved in the school if they can... and be aware of what the school wants to change... what they want to improve on... or just be there to give an opinion of what the school might need to improve on. I see some public schools these days that are banning TAG as a playground game.... I think that is ridiculous and if i was a parent of a child in that school I would definately want to find out why exactly they are banning childhood games. I mean... kids get hurt sometimes that's what being a kid is all about LOL the bruises... the scraped knees... the WAR wounds from our favourite games hahahaha.

[Miss Z]

The private school kids were incredibly far behind us in everything but math. It seems math is the only thing they could learn completely in a private school without any controversy. I would never send my own kids to private school.

Another thing, kids in private school are in more danger of messing up in the real world. They barely learn about drugs, much less how to avoid them. They believe myths about sex that could get them in bad situations. They just aren't prepared for the real world. Also, more kids in the private school in our town did drugs and drank than those in public school. Had they gone to public school, they'd have learned that we make fun of the kids who do drugs. Instead, they were sheltered and learned that those kinds of things are "rebellious and cool". Take something away from kids, and they'll want it more.

Wow, that is a real contrast to anything I've ever heard before, although I must say that all the opinions I hear of public and private schools are generally very biased. Of course, if you had the choice between a great public school and a failing private school, surely everyone would choose the public school, each to their own I suppose. As for drugs/sex education, my school provides just as much, if not more, than anything the state schools in the area provide, and the difference is, most private school kids don't fool around in class, and therefore take more in!

I live in England and the public schools here are very good.

I guess I'll have to come and live in Wiltshire, because I've yet to come across what I would consider a 'good' public school, save for those that were former grammar schools. Honestly, a 40% GCSE A*-C grade pass rate is just an average round here! That in my view is appalling, I would not consider attending a school unless it was at LEAST an 85% pass rate, and seemingly only the private schools in my area can reach this standard.