Silicon Valley Moms Blog

Another Missed Opportunity

Yesterday my 7-year-old came home from school all fired up about getting on the computer to “do some Google searches.” I said that would be okay since I had some work to do in my office anyway, and could supervise him while I did my work and while my daughter played on her bed in the next room.

We went into my office, where my son pulled a piece of paper out of his book bag. Scrawled across the page were the things he wanted to do on the computer: “pull up Word,” “import photos.” Below that was a line I couldn’t read: it looked like “wake the baud.” I asked him about it and only got a mumbled response. 

But nonchalantly peering over his shoulder once he started with his Google search, I was surprised to see that he was looking up Wayne Thiebaud, the American painter who created, among other things, colorful images of ordinary objects like gumball machines, lipsticks, ice cream and cakes in northern California in the 50’s and 60’s. My son was getting thumbnails of his favorite images to put into a PowerPoint presentation he was putting together about the painter.

RECAP - Education: Public, Private or Home Schools?

Is there anything more important to a child's future than education?  Aside from the basics, like food, shelter, clothing, and parental involvement, not really.  How our children will be educated is one of the most important decisions we will make as parents.  It isn't a decision that should be abdicated entirely to a public, or private, school system.

I had a charmed childhood.  I thrived in public schools, had great experiences (for the most part) and loved school.  My little brother wasn't so lucky.

B didn't fit the teacher's pet mold.  Although very bright, he was slow to learn to read and a bit immature for his age.  This is pretty typical for boys, and even for some girls, when starting elementary school.  Unfortunately, my brother encountered a teacher who shouldn't have been teaching anymore.  One who ridiculed him, humiliated and punished him in front of the other children, and basically told him (and my parents) that he just wasn't good enough. At the critical age of 6.  That's right.  He was 6 years old. 

When B misbehaved as a result, my parents were told that he needed drugs for ADHD.  Of course, he'd never actually been seen by a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist.  But the school and the administration claimed they knew what was best for B.  Better than his parents.

Is there anything worse that can happen to a child just starting out in school?

Because education is such an important issue, the moms on the Silicon Valley, Chicago, D.C. Metro, New York, 50 Something, and New Jersey Mom Blogs are all blogging about education today.  Even though our sites have tackled education generally before, today we'll be discussing public, private, and home schools. So please stop by each of our sites for posts throughout the day to read all of our individual views on this important issue.

Silicon Valley Moms Blog

From a Teacher's Perspective

Are school buses a thing of the past?

School Uniforms

Considering a parent participation/co-op school

Schedule vs. Fit

How Do You Choose?

I Am A Bi-Schooler

The Beginning of the End of the California Public School System

The Gift of Education - A Child by Child Choice

A Teacher Fretting About School

The Private School Snob Celebrates Public Education

Our School Decision Has Nothing To Do With You

Prop 13 and Silicon Valley

Chicago

The Power of Early Intervention: My Son Didn't Talk

Special Ed to Mainstream School: Making the Leap

An Inclusion Preschool Experience

It's Just So Public

Too Smart For Public School

Lockdown in a Mountgomery County Public School

Einy Meeny Mini Mo

DC Metro Moms Blog

Yes to Year-Round Schools

Education: What Makes A Summer

Why Our Kids Are Public School Kids

From This Student: What Makes A Great Teacher?

Heroes

Why So Much Testing and So Little Love of Learning

Why Mama is a graduate student

New York City Moms Blog

Confessions from a Teacher

Working for Great Public Schools

Diversity Trumps Test Scores

The Few, the Fortunate and the Secret of one (Not Really) Public New York School

Going Public

Admissions of an Admissions Survivor

Public School and the Public Interest

Because School are important - PS 234 Overscrowding

New Jersey Moms Blog

Opposite Side of the Table: From Teacher to Mom

On public education: An opinion that gifted students deserve more support

50 Something Moms Blog

Public or Private School: Both Can Be Stressful

Which School -- College Edition

Click Here to continue reading Stephanie's (aka. Lawyer Mama's) post on DC Metro Moms Blog.........

From a Teacher's Perspective

When I heard the SV Mom's Blog and our sister sites were having a topic day on education, I decided that I probably wasn't going to participate.  My son is still in preschool and he'll most likely go to his neighborhood school whenever he enters kinder.  We haven't yet had to make any tough decisions as to how, when, or where we'll educate our child.

My father is a yearbook and art teacher at a local High School in San Jose.  He's been voted Teacher of the Year more than once by the students.  I've always considered my father to be an extremely talented artist.  But he's a phenomenal teacher.  And his fellow colleagues, past and present students would agree.  So I asked my dad to write a little about what it is like to teach ART in California - a rapidly dying curriculum across many schools with budget cuts and an increasing trend to teach to standardized tests.  Here's what he had to say...

I began teaching art in high school in the mid 1970's, left in the 1980's [due to Prop 13],  to pursue other options, and returned to teaching in 1994. When I began in the 70's, I received about $2000 in budget money to be used for the 28 students in each of my five classes, and my curriculum gave my students a sampling of experiences in drawing, painting, and crafts. My crafts lessons included some leatherwork, stained glass, ceramics, and sculpture. My last year of teaching was 1979. When I returned to teaching in the mid 90's I was surprised to find that not only had my class sizes grown to 33+, but my budget had been reduced to $800. That's right, $800 is my entire budget to keep my 160+ students actively engaged for an entire school year.

Are school buses a thing of the past?

When I was a little girl, I rode a school bus to school. It was fun. I felt almost like a grown-up because I was in another vehicle and not with my parents. I liked the big seats and the big windows I could look out of. I especially liked being with all my friends together in the same vehicle. I wasn't part of the popular group so I didn't get to sit with the "cool kids." But I wanted to. They were, after all, cool and seemed to have all the fun.

But what I didn't enjoy about riding the school bus were those few kids, and there were usually only one or two, who tormented the other kids (luckily I was never targeted...probably because I was so quiet they hardly knew I was there). I felt bad for the targeted kids and angry with the bus driver for not doing anything to stop it. I could never understand why he just ignored kids being hit or shoved, even when the bullies were standing up in the aisle.

Since those days I have noticed an ever-increasing surge of parents driving their kids to school in lieu of letting them ride the school bus. Part of this I know stems from the fear of letting their kids out of their sight lest a child predator abduct them. And part of it is in lieu of letting their kids walk to school. But part of it is also "the unknown." As parents, we don't really know what is going on when our kids are on school buses.

Last year, a couple of girls, 7 and 10 years old, reported that they were repeatedly sexually abused on their school bus by a group of boys and the driver did nothing about it. 

School Uniforms

When the time came for us to decide between public and private education for our kids, the decision was easy.  We knew that parents pay big bucks to live in postage-stamp sized houses in order to get their kids into Palo Alto public schools, so we figured they must have decent schools.  And the other benefits of private schools, such as smaller class sizes and better music/arts/p.e. programs?  We figured we could compensate by helping her out with schoolwork, signing her up for afterschool activities and fostering a love of learning at home. Besides, there is the diversity of ethnicity and culture and origins and experience in public schools that money cannot buy.  We made our decision and never looked back.

Except for one silly thing.  I do wish my daughter wore school uniforms like most private schools do.  Call me shallow; I just think a group of schoolgirls and schoolboys in uniform looks neat, orderly and cute.  And call me nostalgic; school uniforms remind me of my own schooldays, when things were simple and carefree.  With images of kids going to school looking like mini gang members or mini streetwalkers, I wonder if my daughter's schooldays will ever be as simple and carefree.

Considering a parent participation/co-op school

My 4-year-old twins will be entering pre-K next year. They have been in preschool for the past 2 years, but we have recently gone through a complete change of mind on preschool, one that is leading me to think we might to do the same for elementary school and beyond. After all, when my kids started preschool I had no idea what to look for, what was important to them and to my husband and I.

We started out at a drop-off preschool - it was a small location (a house), that is a part of a larger network of preschools and daycares. It was fine. Just....fine. Then I started talking with my neighbors about the school their elementary school-aged kids had attended, a parent participation preschool. I also talked to friends in my twins club whose kids were starting preschool at a nearby private academically-focused preschool. I debated all of last spring about which one to go with - seemingly on opposite sides of the spectrum. I finally decided to go with the parent participation school and could not be happier. It has been an amazing year and I can't believe I have learned so much. About my kids, about education, about myself. The kids have thrived. We have been able to do some many "extra" things that just wouldn't be possible with the ratios of just one teacher to many kids. 

I never thought I would go private for my kids' schooling. I didn't grow up in California, but went to public school my entire life and had great experiences. I don't want my kids to grow up feeling privileged or entitled. At the same time, I also don't want them to be brought down to the lowest common denominator. I want them to do truly amazing things and be exposed to unique opportunities. And now,

Schedule vs. Fit

Back in January I wrote a post about how I felt searching for a preschool was absurd.  Since then there has been a lot of discussion along the same line.  Now today we have a whole day dedicated to education.  Clearly it's a hot topic. But for those of us who are just putting their toes in the educational waters, it's somewhat of a mystery. I have not yet entered the kindergarten madness.   However, we did just buy a house in a new school district so that the kids could go to a great set of public schools K-12 if that ends up being our choice. And college is so far off, that it's not even a blip on the radar, other than the fact that we set up some 529 Education Savings plans for the boys.

So here we are wading through preschool land, and sometimes I feel like it might be more difficult to navigate than grammar school, middle school, and high school.  As a parent you are still so inexperienced to the schooling process, let alone being a parent. There are so many choices and your child is so young, it's hard to decide what is right for their age, personality, and schedule.  What happens when you picked the perfect preschool for your first child, based solely on his personality and schedule.... however, when you get to your second child, and the preschool doesn't seem to fit him in the same way?  Do you chose schedule over fit?  or fit over schedule?

How Do You Choose?

School choice is a huge topic in our house right now; my husband and I are currently embroiled in the great elementary school debate. Our oldest turns four this summer, so we’ll have to make our kindergarten choices by next winter. We’re not the only ones trying to make some decisions. In fact, whenever I get together with other moms from my daughter’s playgroup or preschool, one of the hot topics of conversation centers around, “Where are you sending your kid to kindergarten?” Before I had kids – actually, before S was two years old – I never imagined that this would be such a difficult question to answer. 

We live in Redwood City, one of the more “modest” cities in the Silicon Valley (by SV standards). Our public elementary schools vary widely in reputation and test scores. We have a few with really low test scores, and a couple which rival the schools in some of the Peninsula’s tonier towns, including one charter school with a better API score than all but one of the Palo Alto grade schools (which have great reputations).

I Am A Bi-Schooler

The education day discussions going on our blogs inspired me to come out as a "bi-schooler". I saw people ranting about the public schools going down the drain or about private schools having the same problems at more expensive price.

My oldest child has been in the public school system for 4 years now, my youngest still in preschool. I equal amounts of friends with kids in public and private schools. I had the opportunity to hear their input versus mine.... I had the opportunity to hear my older neighbors tell me how their kids both made it into Stanford going through the local public system and other neighbors who's kids are excelling in private school.  Instead of having strong feelings either way, I believe that the "right school" for a child is dependent on their specific learning styles. Yes, thats it... it is all about learning styles. Some of what I hear fellow preschool moms say about this school or that shows me they don't really understand that point (and I try not to be too annoyed...).

Unfortunately, I feel that learning styles are for the most part mis-understood because it is not fully covered in the education of Teachers. As a parent, it is also hard to get that information. I have in the past ranted on about how Mel Levine "schools attuned" programs should be made available for every school (in my dreams), which I feel would be a big help. I know my public school system has programs in place for differentiated learning that includes splitting the kids up starting at 3rd grade to a different class for math - dependent on what level they are at. Because our school has over 6 classrooms, there are more then 6 different math levels kids can go to (my son has moved up a couple of levels just this year). This is a great example of differentiated learning. Many private schools have smaller numbers of classes but find ways to have differentiation within the class. But the biggest misconception is that bright kids are made for school. Some of the most successful adults had a very tough time in school (i.e. geek syndrome) because they have a specific learning style.

So, back to what annoys me when I hear moms saying:

The Beginning of the End of the California Public School System

It used to be one of the best public school systems in the country. It used to be a reason to live in California (besides the obvious weather and beaches). It used to offer curriculums that turned out well-rounded students. And now, that is only a memory…unless you happen to live in a relatively affluent neighborhood whose parents contribute money, time and other support to ensure the neighborhood school will provide the kind of top education parents desire for their kids.

I was lucky. My high school was brand new when I entered my freshman year. It was outfitted with the newest equipment, several inspiring teachers, advanced courses to challenge the brightest students, and more. More importantly, it was pre-Proposition 13. Before the Jarvis-Gann Initiative passed. What’s that, you ask? Basically, it was one of those cannot see the forest for the trees knee jerk efforts conceived of by Howard Jarvis to relieve the tax burden on property owners.

And it has ruined the formerly proud California public school system. Since the late 1970’s, there have been several additional propositions to that initiative to close loopholes and prevent the property tax burden from falling mostly on residential property owners. But. And that’s a big but. There has been nothing constructive enough to restore the California public school system to its previous prominence and effectiveness. Did you know that student achievement in California public schools used to be one of the best in the nation?