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There's tremendous variety in private schools. To adequately cover your question, one would have to catalogue the different types, their plusses and minuses.
Generally speaking, however, their strength is, that they give kids more individual attention, due to smaller class size. They're also much more flexible regarding placement of the child in a grade level appropriate to the child. There's no real cut-off date in terms of birthday months; a capable child can enter a year earlier than in public schools.
Their great weakness, IMO, is that they have limited course offerings, because they can't afford to have a large faculty offering a wide variety of courses. Students have far less choice in what courses to take. Most aren't able to offer band or music performance instruction, because they can't afford musical instruments, with the possible exception of those subsidized by a church.
As to private grade schools, the Montessori schools (grade school only, AFAIK) make up for any such deficiencies with their teaching methods, which go far beyond any other school. The teachers are thoroughly trained in child brain development and capabilities beginning with pre-school, and are trained to make learning fun. Kids are doing pre-algebra exercises in kindergarten, and having fun with it. Go figure.
If I had children I would send them to a non religious private school. However, I don't think parents should be given tax money to send their children to private school. I think that undermines public schools.
They are a fine alternative to public school if the family can afford the tuition or a student can get financial aid.
It should not be paid for with public funds unless the school district can not accommodate a disabled or emotionally disturbed student in a public school setting.
My kid had a little friend, who was a great kid, but he was dumber than a fence post. He was struggling in school, because he was, honestly, more than a bit stupid.
His parents put him into a private school to give him a better chance and they were bragging about how much his grades had gone up and how well he was doing.
The kid came over to my house and the kids were talking and it didn't take long to discover that what he was being taught was a whole year behind what my kid was learning in his classroom.
The kid wasn't doing better. His education had been slowed down and dumbed down and he was getting grades better than he deserved. His parents were paying a whole bunch of money and they were pleased as could be because the kid's grades were so much better.
So my suggestion, if you use a private school, to check their curriculum against the public school curriculum to make sure your child is getting the education you think they are getting, and that you are paying a lot of money for..
A huge plus for private schools: they can kick out the disruptive students and the dangerous students, so the school should be physically safer.
Oh wait, when I was a kid, several neighbors went to catholic schools and I suspect they were getting more beatings than education. I heard about a lot of abuse at school. That was years ago, and I hope that sort of thing is no longer happening.
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 02-06-2022 at 10:51 AM..
I went to public school through 6th grade, private 7-12.
My kids were homeschooled through 7th or 8th grade, then went either public or private for high school.
Most public schools do have a wider variety of course offerings, and more opportunities for kids who are exceptionally gifted in sports, music, or drama. For the average student, if cost is not an issue, I would pick a good private school every time. The students get more individual attention, the teachers aren't subject to "flavor of the month" government involvement in what is taught and promoted, and the kids come from families that by default are invested in their educations. I don't think you can underestimate the value of that last fact.
IMO, if a family lives in a district that's been downgraded and/or lost its accreditation, than the family should receive a gov. subsidy for private school.
I went to public school through 6th grade, private 7-12.
My kids were homeschooled through 7th or 8th grade, then went either public or private for high school.
Most public schools do have a wider variety of course offerings, and more opportunities for kids who are exceptionally gifted in sports, music, or drama. For the average student, if cost is not an issue, I would pick a good private school every time. The students get more individual attention, the teachers aren't subject to "flavor of the month" government involvement in what is taught and promoted, and the kids come from families that by default are invested in their educations. I don't think you can underestimate the value of that last fact.
The bolded is key. A good private school uses methods that work (speaking of grade school and teaching the basics), and they stick with them, because they're tried and true. Also, private schools won't promote kids who can't read. They'll make sure the child learns to read. They'll help a child struggling with math.
Kids will learn basic grammar in gradeschool, and advanced college-prep grammar in high school. You won't encounter what I found in public high schools, where entire English department faculty say it's not their job to teach grammar/writing. The private grade schools typically will teach phonics, which really helps kids learn to read and to spell. You can ask about these things, if you decide to consider private schools in your area.
My kid had a little friend, who was a great kid, but he was dumber than a fence post. He was struggling in school, because he was, honestly, more than a bit stupid.
His parents put him into a private school to give him a better chance and they were bragging about how much his grades had gone up and how well he was doing.
The kid came over to my house and the kids were talking and it didn't take long to discover that what he was being taught was a whole year behind what my kid was learning in his classroom.
The kid wasn't doing better. His education had been slowed down and dumbed down and he was getting grades better than he deserved. His parents were paying a whole bunch of money and they were pleased as could be because the kid's grades were so much better.
So my suggestion, if you use a private school, to check their curriculum against the public school curriculum to make sure your child is getting the education you think they are getting, and that you are paying a lot of money for..
A huge plus for private schools: they can kick out the disruptive students and the dangerous students, so the school should be physically safer.
Oh wait, when I was a kid, several neighbors went to catholic schools and I suspect they were getting more beatings than education. I heard about a lot of abuse at school. That was years ago, and I hope that sort of thing is no longer happening.
Why do you think that was a bad thing? It sounds like the boy needed a slower, more individualized school. Does it really make a difference if the private school was behind what the private school is teaching? What I see is that many students don't learn what they should in each grade level. I see many kids in middle school and high school who can't do basic math. I see many kids who can't read something and understand what they read. What is important is not how fast they are covering the curriculum, but how well the students are grasping the subject matter.
I went to public school through 6th grade, private 7-12.
My kids were homeschooled through 7th or 8th grade, then went either public or private for high school.
Most public schools do have a wider variety of course offerings, and more opportunities for kids who are exceptionally gifted in sports, music, or drama. For the average student, if cost is not an issue, I would pick a good private school every time. The students get more individual attention, the teachers aren't subject to "flavor of the month" government involvement in what is taught and promoted, and the kids come from families that by default are invested in their educations. I don't think you can underestimate the value of that last fact.
Families invested in education.
Agreed that you cannot overemphasize that.
I went to both public and private and the differences were night and day.
The public schools were zoos that were little more than daycares.
When kids transferred from public to my private high school, they needed a lot of catching up.
Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.
Also, I’m all for school vouchers.
Ultimately, kids just need an education. If publics schools can’t get the job done, then what difference does it make as long as the child receives an education? I also don’t care if the money goes to religious schools. That’s just trivial, and in no way does it constitute an establishment of religion. It does, however, allow for religious freedom.
We never seriously considered public schools for our kids, no matter how “elite” the schools supposedly were.
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