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Old 01-27-2009, 07:16 PM
 
176 posts, read 540,220 times
Reputation: 54

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FarNorth- I might do that. I wouldn't know which ones to check out, but you did give me some ideas. Maybe I want something only found at a place like Lamplighter. I didn't think I would have to go private for a more creative approach, but maybe I do. I never thought of public schools as bad and private as good. Kids in Kindergarten should love to learn. It should be fun. I can't afford private, and I was saying that I hoped that this wasn't the best I could hope for in a public school nowadays. Lakewood is so highly regarded.
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Old 01-27-2009, 07:20 PM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,552,891 times
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blue ribbon schools are usually good schools--the process used to investigate covers more than one year's records so there has to be consistency -- but a school can enter the process only once in certain time frame--maybe 6 yrs-- which is why it is difficult to find schools that repeat as blue ribbon schools--and most school faculties don't want to spend the extra time it takes to get ready for one of those reviews...

just consider the fact that most of the kids at Lakewood come from homes where there are two parents, where there is enough food/clothing/heat so they get a decent upbringing, where most of them knew how to read before Kindergarten, where their parents have expectations regarding their behavior and progress in school---where violence is not a daily houseguest--
any schools with those students is already a success...it would be hard for it NOT to be a good school...
OP--you want a Montessori type of teaching--you won't find that in public school in TX unless you can find a charter school maybe...
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Old 01-27-2009, 07:35 PM
 
176 posts, read 540,220 times
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loves2read- that is what I was trying to say--- that I thought they had something unique going, given their Blue Ribbon status and reputation for excellence, but now I am thinking it is just having involved parents and a decent amount of money pumped in that makes the difference. And two parent homes, or a stable environment. Not the teachers or the school curriculum, because it seemed just as lackluster as any other.
I guess what I am looking for is less conventional than I thought. I didn't think my type of active learning screamed Montessori, but maybe it does.
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Old 01-27-2009, 08:20 PM
 
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At Science School, I loved when they did the scissors projects - learning how to manipulate the scissors by cutting out pieces of the Great Wall of China - and then assembling them all the way down the hall...plus learning about the Great Wall.

Lamplighter is an excellent school. My neighbor's grandsons went there - the oldest started his first year at St Mark's this year while the younger brother is still there.
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Old 01-27-2009, 08:57 PM
 
176 posts, read 540,220 times
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Yup, Pepper. Now I just need $17,000.
Or maybe I have a better shot at going back to school, getting recertified for Kindergarten, and getting a job there.
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Old 01-27-2009, 09:32 PM
 
6,578 posts, read 25,389,549 times
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So many Blue Ribon Awards have been given out to so many schools in the area it has become essentially useless in helping to determine anything about a school.
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Old 01-27-2009, 09:46 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
937 posts, read 2,896,397 times
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Does anyone know how many are currently blue ribbon schools in the area?
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Old 01-27-2009, 10:33 PM
 
6,578 posts, read 25,389,549 times
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I can list all the Blue Ribbon schools if you want me to. There are over 150 of them in the area.
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Old 01-28-2009, 12:36 AM
 
291 posts, read 672,226 times
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It sounds to me like your expectations might be a little too high. You sound like one of "those" kinds of parents. I went to a regular public school in NYC for elementary school and I had no idea what viscosity was as a 5 year old! Circumference? That is just crazy. That is not what should be taught in kindergarten.

And I should add that from 2nd grade on - I was in all advanced accelerated classes, could read and write in 2 languages, went to a nationally recognized science high school and later, an Ivy League school.

I had a best friend who had a parent like you and she was miserable during her teen years and had MAJOR issues because of her parents' ridiculous expectations.

Also wanted to add that as someone who has worked with elementary school aged children, you can do fun things without alienating other students and still engaging all students.

Quote:
Originally Posted by littlewmn View Post
CGGirl- I guess I consider it to be interactive learning. Discovery learning.
My son went to Science School for preschool and he brought home a mini version of the Nile, experiments on viscosity, estimations on the number of pumkin seeds in a pumpkin, how much it weighs and what its circumference was. To me, figuring out these types of things represent higher level learning.
As melissaj100 was mentioning, I know they learn things like counting to 100, patterns and sequencing. He already knows those things, but it wouldn't hurt to learn them again if they were presented in a fun way (like, I dunno, making patterened jewelry or something. I don't teach Kinder; I have no clue how they would do that), but worksheets??? If this is because their main focus is literacy and they don't teach basics in more creative ways, then a child who can already read is stuck doing incredibly boring stuff. I thought they would do enough creative and fun approaches in an award-winning school to keep the kids' attention and focus, but that just wasn't what I was seeing, and LOLA wasn't being used much at all. I had a very, very brief snapshot, so I was hoping others could give me more insight and hope.
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Old 01-28-2009, 12:40 AM
 
291 posts, read 672,226 times
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Money and a 2 parent household have nothing to do with learning. My sister and I both grew up in a single parent household and lower to middle class. Both of us went to specialized science high schools (we both said no to scholarships for private school) and both of us have advanced graduate degrees.

While it is good for parents to be involved in their children's learning, there is such a thing as being too involved.

Quote:
Originally Posted by littlewmn View Post
loves2read- that is what I was trying to say--- that I thought they had something unique going, given their Blue Ribbon status and reputation for excellence, but now I am thinking it is just having involved parents and a decent amount of money pumped in that makes the difference. And two parent homes, or a stable environment. Not the teachers or the school curriculum, because it seemed just as lackluster as any other.
I guess what I am looking for is less conventional than I thought. I didn't think my type of active learning screamed Montessori, but maybe it does.
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