Private School vs Public School - Mesa,AZ

It depends on the private school. There are some very good ones out there. Many private schools do not require the teachers to have a state credential. So, without a credential, the teacher has not had training from a college. I have been a teacher for 13 years, and it is important to get college training.
K.

Hi, D. -
We had this same debate at our house, and after much discussion and information gathering, our daughter is starting public school in just a few weeks. First, the cost at the private school we were considering was obscene, and although I understand you can't put a price on your child's education, in this economy, you really have to consider it. What we kept hearing was that for everything extra your money could buy at a private school, some of the challenges remain the same, no matter where they are. Islands Elementary is our local school, and after checking out their reputation and meeting a few of the staff members, I enrolled her there yesterday. They are an excelling school, and I plan to stay really involved. I figure I can always make a decision to switch to a private school later if things aren't going the way I think they should. Good luck. I know it's an agonizing decision.

Yet another thing for you to consider: Where do most of the kids in your neighborhood go to school? We went to a different school than most of our neighborhood for a year, and my daughter was really isolated from the neighborhood kids. It had a big impact socially for her. Most playdates are planned during school, so she had very few except with kids who lived way across town.

My daughter was in a charter school last year and I had a very hard time with some of their policies. Particularly how difficult it was to get time with the teacher. In a years time, I had one very public parent/teacher meeting and two hard fought for phone calls. Parents were not allowed on campus so I was never able to just pop in when dropping my daughter off or picking her up to ask a question.
Before you decide on a private or public school, or even a charter as advised by others here, I would do a couple of things. First, look up the schools Department of Education report card, they are all online. You might be surprised to find the local public school scores better than the private school you are considering. The elementary by my house just earned and A+ rating. Better than the private or charters in our area.
Second, sit down with the principal. Like any business, the overall attitude is a trickle down affair. If you don't mesh with the principal, chances are you are not going to like some of the policies put forth in the school. And third, look at some of the classwork from the kids that have gone through recently. The teachers all have samples of this. Make sure that the work looks genuine. When I toured the charter school my daughter attended, I glanced it all over and thought, "Wow! Kindergarteners are going THAT!" Once my daughter was in school and I really had to pay attention to what she was doing, I almost felt like they were putting out trained seals. The math homework looked great, but when I would watch my daughter work, she was doing it all wrong! The numbers were coming out fine, but she would never be able to do higher difficulty problems the way she had learned the easy stuff. I had to re-teach some of her lessons myself. I made the mistake of not really looking intently at the last student's work. And I didn't ask any questions of the teacher about it. Big mistake.
I have several friend that have kids in private school and swear by it. Some would mortgage their homes to pay tuition if need be. I believe it has more to do with goodness of fit. If you like the school, teachers, and especially the principal, you'll be happy with the results you get. If you get a bad vibe from any of them, you are going to have problems, no matter what you are paying out of pocket for the classroom seat.
It's a hard decision. Everyone wants to make the best choice for their child. Good luck.

Have you looked into charter schools? They are yet another option...

I think you need to consider where your daughter is academically. I feel that a strong academic start is very important to success down the road. After researching the public schools curriculum and the private school curriculum we decided to go private school. Public school will teach the same thing that my kids learned in pre-k 3. I was concerned my son would be bored and lose the desire to learn if he went to a public school. Good luck!

You might want to look into charter schools. We considered private but my girls now go to a wonderful charter school (Happy Valley School) where we feel they are getting the equivalent of a private school education for free. We tried our local public school (which is highly rated) and were unimpressed. It depends what you are looking for. Our focus is on high academic achievement, good values and a strong work ethic. You really can onlymake the decision by touring the different schools.

How about home schooling? Check out AFHE (Arizona Families for Home Education) for more information. I started on a whim 14 years ago and have honestly not one regret. The only hard part is not getting big blocks of time to myself. But I love my kids and they love me...not the usual for teenagers. No one has so great an interest in how your kids turn out as you do. No one else has so much to loose if they don't turn out well and finally they were a gift (I believe from God) to you...not to the school system, teachers, day care workers or any other system....they are yours. Best wishes! K.
Oh, and if you have questions and want to talk to a real home school mom who came out of the work force to educate her kids (all 5 of them) I'd be happy to answer them.

Our belief is that private schools are a waste of money. They lack the resources that public schools have and the astronomical tuition you pay doesn't buy your child a better education. A charter is slightly better because they get money from the state, BUT not always run well and don't use their funds the best they could. Public schools have so many problems it isn't funny. Most schools will have 30-35 students per teacher. The teachers will be overworked and under paid. When my kids went to public schools, the school spent large amounts of time having assemblies teaching the kids about sex, drugs, violence, adversity, careers, etc.

We have home schooled our kids, ages 12 and 10, for the past three years. We still have the public school to use for sports, arts and special services if we need them, so our tax dollars are still working for us. My kids are getting well educated. They are also mature, responsible children who socialize with people of all ages, not just those who are their age and mental development. They are comfortable filling their time with productive activities, not just playing video games. They are challenged and stimulated, and when they excel in a subject, they are allowed to move ahead when they have mastered the concept. If they should need extra time with a subject, they get it; as well as one on one attention from the teacher who, ensures that they understand before moving on to the next topic. Once they finish with their studies for the day, which only takes 3-4 hours, they are free to pursue their interests. My son plays basketball, guitar, is on a swim team and he sings. My daughter is in ballet, piano, voice, plays violin and swims. They get to practice more than just one hour a week like their public school friends. Additionally, we get to vacation whenever we want because we are not tied to the school calendar.

I would also recommend looking into charter schools. I did my Masters research thesis on public schools comparing charter and district schools... there are some good district schools out there, but depending on your area you may want to check out other options. (charters are free)

Hi D.,
The importance of child’s play
One of the major changes in public school education in the past fifteen years has been the transformation of the kindergarten room from a “children’s garden” full of toys and play-like activity into a pre-first grade, full of work sheets and learning stations. There has been an assumption that all of this is appropriate for the five year old and will help the child in its academic work and in its growth and development in general. More and more, that assumption is now being challenged

In his book,The Hurried Child, David Elkind, child psychologist and professor at Tufts University, discusses the problem of stress that he finds in children who come to him for treatment. He points out that, in the great rush to bring children into academic work, we have ceased to ask if children are inwardly ready for such concentrated, intellectually-oriented work.
There is a growing body of research that supports the position of Waldorf schools that children should remain in play-oriented preschool until the age of six. The clearest example of such research which has come to our attention is a major study undertaken in Germany comparing 100 public school classes for five year olds. Fifty of them had only play in their program and the other 50 had academics and play together. The children entered first grade when they were six, and the study surveyed their progress until they
were ten. The first year there was little difference to be seen. By the time the children were ten, however, those who had been allowed to play when they were five surpassed their schoolmates in every area measured. One can imagine how startling these results were to the state educators. They considered the results so conclusive that within months they had converted all of the academic programs back into play programs. They also recognized the advantages of mixed-age kindergartens in which, through play, the
children help one another to grow and learn.

What is living in the five year olds that makes play such an important aspect of their growth and development? To answer this question, one needs to look at the progression of play throughout early childhood up to the age of six. For the two year old, play consists of doing what the adult does. Fantasy has not yet entered, and if one offers a two year old a cake made of sand, he is very likely to eat it. By the time the children turn three, this is no longer the case, for they are generally full
of fantasy and imagination. This is a time of great fluidity in their play. They are inspired by whatever comes into their hand, and a single object will change its meaning for them several times during a single play session. For the parent this can be a frustrating stage, for the child generally leaves a stream of toys behind him as he moves about. It’s quite hopeless to tell him to put away a thing when he is finished. His play is always in the process of changing and becoming.
In the four year olds, one sees more constancy entering. They will build a house and stay in it for much longer periods of time than will the three year olds. Yet the inspiration for the house comes very much out of what catches their eye in the moment. This is no longer the case with five year olds. They will often enter the classroom and tell you exactly what they are going to build. They carry an image within themselves, but they still need the physical materials for carrying the image into play.
This image may now last for weeks at a time, and thus one will have five year olds in a kindergarten building boats or “hide outs” day after day for a month or more.

Around the age of six, yet another change enters. It is one of the changes which we look for as a sign of readiness for first grade. Now the child’s image is so strong that toys or props are almost unnecessary. One Waldorf teacher described her own transition into this stage as follows. As a young child she loved to play with little toys and would set up scenes on a large window seat and play by the hour. One day, as she was turning six, she set a scene as usual, but then closed her eyes and played it all in her mind. I
have seen six year olds in my kindergarten classes go through this same transition when they build their houses but cease to take any toys into them. They are now able to create everything they need in their mind’s eye, so to speak. It is quite a contrast to four and five year olds, who take as much as they can into their houses, leaving scarcely enough room in which to move. When such a stage has been reached, one feels the child is ready for studying the academic subjects which demand a capacity to
hold an image of a letter or a number and call it up at will. Such a feat of memory is simply not possible for the younger child. He may compensate by developing little aids to jog his memory, but this is not the same as having a true readiness for the activity.
When we interfere with this process of development by starting the children on their academic subjects too soon, the imagination does not seem to develop fully. A certain dryness can enter into the intellectual process, and academic learning becomes less interesting as time goes on. What may first seem to be a gain soon disappears and as the German study indicated, can turn into a liability.

At first, we separated the kindergarteners from the younger children, but after two years we mixed the ages, primarily fours and fives, with a few three year olds, and were happy with the results. The younger children brought their fluidity into the play situations; the older ones brought their inner direction, and the two complemented one another very well. We also found that each age group came to the stories and activities in quite different ways, and each group took from the experience just what
they needed for their development.

In addition, we have worked hard to develop a curriculum consistent with the preschool child’s dreamy, playful approach to life. For example, all the children paint with watercolor paints once a week. They work only with the three primary colors, and the youngest children are content to experience the pure colors in their most flowing form. The four and five year olds become intrigued with the discovery that additional colors can be created by mixing two colors, and the five and six year olds discover that the
fluidity of the color on the wet paper can be controlled and forms and pictures begin to emerge. Fingers also learn to translate fantasy into form as the children model with beeswax, create tissue paper transparencies, sew with a needle and thread, or participate in other activities appropriate to their ages. Baking, whether it involves kneading the dough, rolling and cutting cookies, or cutting fruit for pies, also provides opportunities for the awakening intelligence of the child to penetrate into the fingers.
The manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination which result from all these activities are essential for later academic work, yet to the young child this is all play.

It is also very important that language arts skills be developed during the preschool years and our curriculum is very rich in this area. During story time, the children develop listening skills, and as they grow older one sees how actively they listen, for as five and six year olds, they will often go home and repeat the whole fairy tale they have heard to their families. During circle time, they gladly learn songs and verses coupled with appropriate gestures and movements. Recently, I had the opportunity of
sharing a fall harvest circle with a group of non-Waldorf preschool educators. They were amazed that a group of three and four year olds could participate in such a lengthy series of songs and verses, yet my class delighted in doing this little circle play over and over during the fall.

Through all such activities, we prepare the children for the academic work they will encounter in the first grade whether they [continue in our school], go to public school or to other private or religious schools. We have stayed in touch with our “graduates,” and we have been gratified to learn how well they have done. They generally experience a transition period of a month or two when they enter first grade, but by Christmas time, the children have mastered the same academic material as their peers and are
functioning at their own level.

It is interesting to note that all the published studies which look into the question of early academics show disadvantages for children who begin academic work under the age of six. We have yet to find a study which reveals a long-term advantage to those starting early. More and more books are being published about the problems children encounter when rushed into academic work before true readiness has taken place. This can be a very confusing time for parents who see that their five year olds
would like to learn their letters and numbers, and assume that their child is ready for academic work before a true form of academic readiness has actually taken place. In addition, one must contend with a great deal of social pressure from neighbors, friends, and family as to why one does not want to rush one’s child. Parents should feel free to discuss this question of school readiness with their child’s teacher. It is one of the most crucial questions affecting the lives of young children today.
What are the Needs of Five Year Olds? by Joan Almon, Waldorf kindergarten master teacher and chairman of the Waldorf Kindergarten Association.

My two are both graduated now but we tried all three -private, charter AND public. Looking back, I feel that private was a waste of money (many moms I know feel the same way). There are some good charter schools out there but you have to do your homework. Also, if your child has ANY sort of learning disablilty, developmental delay, etc. the public schools have much more to offer.

I had my daughter in a private school, christian one, since she was in preschool. She went there through 2nd grade and that year had a terrible bullying experience - I moved her and my son to a public school and have loved every part of it! There is so much more to offer, lots more kids and they are all in our neighborhood so now they have friends to walk to school with and play with after school without having to have an official "play date". I wish I wouldn't have wasted my money with private school! Just my 2 cents!
~T.

Are you going to stay in your area for awhile or could you possibly move at some point. Is the school district you are in currently have a strong reputation for the elementary level and High school? Some folks flock to private because the High School's are not good and their children would have to start private once they reach that grade. The best way is to take the school tours of what your school's offer, so you can do your own self evaluation on what feeling you get from the school. Can you afford private for both your girls? One word of caution is to stay close to your neighborhood. The drive to the school of your choice should not be too far. YOu will have to go their twice every day. Once to drop off and then once to pick up. I have one child that started Kinder last year and I took 5 tours of the school close by and that made a huge difference. I chose private in the end and after one year I still feel so good about my choice. Good luck it's a HUGE
choice!!!!