private schools in cy-fair (Houston, Spring: fit in, preschool, living) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

yar78 · 10-14-2009, 09:47 AM

I will be moving to the cy-fair area very soon from France and need some help for my youngest son. In France my son has attended school two years now and will be soon 4 yrs old. In school he has been learning this year to read his ABC's, simple math and write his name. What school will take him at his age, continue teaching him at his level and not be limited to the famous what age were you the 1st of sept. If anyone knows the good private schools in the cyfair area and know the prices more or less...
Thank you all for your help

westres1 · 10-14-2009, 10:35 AM

Alot of Cy Fair kids go to AWTY, Grace, Fay and other private schools on the West side. It is a commute but many do it.

yar78 · 10-14-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westres1

Alot of Cy Fair kids go to AWTY, Grace, Fay and other private schools on the West side. It is a commute but many do it.

Is there a good pre k in cy-fair???

descovy · 10-14-2009, 03:33 PM

What your son has learned so far is about the *norm* for a 4 year old who has been attending preschool. My 3 kids went to 2 different preschools (we moved) and in the 3's learned their alphabet and how to write their 1st name. In pre-K (age 4) learned to read simple sight words, beginnings of math, how to conduct yourself in Kindergarten (use the bathroom independantly, eat in the lunchroom, line up, etc...) Neither school was an "academic academy" Just nice church run preschools.

In Cy-fair I have heard wonderful things about WeeWuns (Cypress N Houston near Huffmeister) Mackel (also on Cypress N Houston) and St John Lutheran Church (Spring Cypress & Huffmeister... this has the best reputation, imo)

When we lived in Cy-fair, we attended Chrysalis preschool at Messiah Lutheran Church. It *was* a wonderful school back then, but in the meantime has changed administation and all the teachers we knew in 2007 are gone

Many had been there for YEARS.... I myself not to impressed with the current director, but you have to make your own observation there...

descovy · 10-14-2009, 03:58 PM

Just wanted to add... Kindergarten is the new 1st Grade. Everything we adults remember learning in first grade, these kids are doing in public Kindergarten. Don't kid yourself in thinking Kindergarten is all ABC's and 123's. Kindergaten is... learning levels of the rainforest (my 5 year old quized me and I didn't know the answer!) doing a "project" on Jupiter, etc...

And when you are the little runt kid with the late summer birthday (one of my kids is) yes, you snuck in by the Sept 1 deadline. But half the class is turning 6 by October and a whole head and shoulders bigger (and smarter!) than you. About half the kids nowadays start kindergarten already knowing to read books!

Academics will come naturally (given the opportunities) to most bright children with involved parents. Growing and maturing, and having the stamina to make it through a jam-packed day of learning, going to PE, opening your own lunch, riding the school bus, easily takes to the age of 5.

yar78 · 10-15-2009, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by descovy

Just wanted to add... Kindergarten is the new 1st Grade. Everything we adults remember learning in first grade, these kids are doing in public Kindergarten. Don't kid yourself in thinking Kindergarten is all ABC's and 123's. Kindergaten is... learning levels of the rainforest (my 5 year old quized me and I didn't know the answer!) doing a "project" on Jupiter, etc...

And when you are the little runt kid with the late summer birthday (one of my kids is) yes, you snuck in by the Sept 1 deadline. But half the class is turning 6 by October and a whole head and shoulders bigger (and smarter!) than you. About half the kids nowadays start kindergarten already knowing to read books!

Academics will come naturally (given the opportunities) to most bright children with involved parents. Growing and maturing, and having the stamina to make it through a jam-packed day of learning, going to PE, opening your own lunch, riding the school bus, easily takes to the age of 5.

Wow, thank you for all the information. Is there one that is better then the others? I hope to find a good school the closest I can to where we will be living (i have 4 kids and traffic on 290 is a killer).
I have already spoken to some private schools that told me that my despite the fact my son is young(3 soon to be 4), he could be in the class with the older kids because he has already started writing and math. Do you think that they really will put aside his age and look what he knows?
I have a similar problem with my oldest daughter that is 10 but is in the equivalent to 6th grade. In Texas she is suppose to be in 5th not 6th, will they put he back a grade even though she has very good grades?
Thank you for your help!!

MommiePreMed · 10-15-2009, 05:17 AM

Awty has a great Pre-K program if you are interested in foreign language immersion. The Post Oak School has an excellent montessori program that is great for young children who are above Average learners, but neither are in Cy-Fair.

descovy · 10-15-2009, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yar78

Wow, thank you for all the information. Is there one that is better then the others? I hope to find a good school the closest I can to where we will be living (i have 4 kids and traffic on 290 is a killer).
I have already spoken to some private schools that told me that my despite the fact my son is young(3 soon to be 4), he could be in the class with the older kids because he has already started writing and math. Do you think that they really will put aside his age and look what he knows?
I have a similar problem with my oldest daughter that is 10 but is in the equivalent to 6th grade. In Texas she is suppose to be in 5th not 6th, will they put he back a grade even though she has very good grades?
Thank you for your help!!

For your older daughter, I am not exactly sure what they will do... testing, checking transcripts, etc... I know here in Katy we have a lot of expats in our schools so it isn't as much of an uncommon issue as you might think!

On your son, I don't know if *they* will put his age aside and look purely at "what he knows" What you will want to watch as Mom is that he is in a class where he fits in socially and emotionally. Again, a lot of pre-k is "life skills" preparation for Kindergarten.

Once in Kindergarten, your teacher will likely have him tested for GT (Gifted/Talented) In Katy they call it Challenge, and from what I remember, CyFair called it Horizons. It is a pull-out program of extra-enrichment activities for gifted students. This keeps him with children his own age, but allows some extra learning opportunities.

I would advise you to do some research in Cy-Fair's GT programs, as that might be a better fit instead of skipping a grade (or starting early)...

Good luck!

EasilyAmused · 10-15-2009, 07:16 AM

With some of these private schools, Pre-K is the new first grade. Actually it's not a bad thing.

LizzySWW · 10-15-2009, 07:28 AM

I understand your son would be fine doing kinder work. But here's something you might want to know, lots of parents are red shirting kindergarten boys here. So there are more boys now than ever starting kinder a year late to give them a scocial edge. (Lots of parents do this with spring/summer birthdays for boys, even boys who are academically advanced.) Just wanted you to know that if you put your 4 year old in kindergarten he's going to be in class with a good handful of 6 year old kindergarten boys.

The GT programs are decent in public kindergartens. They get more challenging in 2nd & 3rd grades for most ISD's.

Awty, St. Francis & Grace School are your 3 closest top academic private schools. We've used one of them for the pre K -2nd grade level. I can't imagine your commute from 290 to these schools. I'd find a good cy-fair private pre school & give him extra learning experiences at home. That's some nasty driving for a pre-k education.