Public or Private school?

bluefox9er

I think it certainly depends on what country you live in, and what kind of private schools are available. I live in the UK and the school system is terrible - all the schools are overcrowded so you have to apply for the school you want and just cross your fingers you get it. I know people who moved house just to get in the catchment area of a particular school, and then still didn't get in.
Class sizes are 30+
And don't even get me started on after school care or lack there of, they are no help with that and just seem to assume its 1955 and all mothers stay at home.
I was advised by my nursery teacher to look at private for my daughter, who is a very bright little girl but can be quiet - the teachers words were "she will just disappear into a black hole".
We found a private school where class size will be no more than 16 (currently there are less than 10 in the class) they get swimming lessons, ballet lessons, tap dancing, horses riding whatever they want, and becuase a boarding school is attached after school care is free and they just hang out with the boarders until I get there.
The fees are reasonable and its a really family atmosphere, its not some snooty posh school.
More than 80% get A's and as far as I know pretty much the entire school goes on to University.

I can't rate it highly enough and you just cant' compare hte opportunities she will get there to a public school.

Or homeschooling, i'm sorry I just don't get why this is meant to be a good option for children, why would an untrained mother be a better teacher than a qualified teacher, an what about all the other social opportunites a school provides?/

this was the reason my parents moved to the united states to avoid the UK's horrific education system....long before the UK's school system has become the unacceptable mess it is right now.

fteale

The one thing that would worry me with private schools, is mixing with children who think money is the be all and end all of life, and are spoilt. No matter how much money I had I don't want to be (nor want my kids to be) snobby about it, and think they are above others because of it. Or think that they deserve all the material things in the world just because we can afford it.

I think that the parents have a much better influence on that . My parents aren't rich and sending us to private school was a sacrifice. My brother and I knew that and we didn't let people with money influence our morals since many of the spoiled kids had bad relationships with there parents.

I agree. I went to private schools all the way through my schooling, and never met anyone at any of them who cared or talked about money at all, it wasn't an issue. There seemed to be more emphasis on how much your parents had at the state schools my friends went to, as there was much more discrepancy, so things like clothes and what holiday you went on became status symbols, which simply wasn't the case at the schools I went to.