http://kidamnesiac.okcomputer.org/2011/12/05/kindergarten-selection-part-ii-ruling-out-the-favorites/ Fast times and wild living with (the former) Baby Whozit... Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:02:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.4 http://kidamnesiac.okcomputer.org/2011/12/05/kindergarten-selection-part-ii-ruling-out-the-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-638 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:10:17 +0000 http://kidamnesiac.okcomputer.org/?p=2581#comment-638 I gotta say, Audubon did not sound like you guys–any of you guys- at all. There’s structure and there’s structure, and that sounds more like Nazi indoctrination camp, with Nurse Ratchett at the helm. (Well, I AM the hippy dippy type.) And as an objective outsider, Simon will need gifted classes if you don’t want him to be totally bored. But I can see you not wasting your first spot on Brown either, because chances are so long. And some kids do need structure. Man, have things changed. In the old days you just went to the neighborhood school. And I had a really decent public education. But achievement is mostly about the parents, I really believe that. A school can be crappy but the parents determine the quality of the education. So Simon will be fine no matter where he ends up.

]]> http://kidamnesiac.okcomputer.org/2011/12/05/kindergarten-selection-part-ii-ruling-out-the-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-637 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:22:48 +0000 http://kidamnesiac.okcomputer.org/?p=2581#comment-637 Oh, Jessica, I SO feel you here! I am definitely with you on the education spectrum–too hippie/dippy for mainstream but also annoyed by hardcore crunch (and I went to Oberlin College). I only wish, however, that I had any choice at all in our kindergarten. We have one public elementary school, and it is profoundly mediocre on every level. Even though our town is not poor or under-served (and the best district in the state is RIGHT NEXT DOOR), it is in the bottom twenty schools in the state in terms of test scores and has (supposedly) a very tired/boring/apathetic academic atmosphere and staff. Then add to that a community that does not care. (Your Audubon school received a 9 out of 10 on GreatSchools.com. Our school received a 3.) I have always been a big public school believer (and we don’t want to do private–not that there are many choices for those around here anyway), but I am so worried about this school/culture for my very bright, happy, enthusiastic kid who LOVES all things science (she says she wants to be an entomologist) and art. We have one public charter school in the area, and it’s supposed to be decent (at least they teach Spanish and music and are art-integrated), but four kids total from all grade levels get in by lottery from our town a year. And that school has a ratio of 1/22 and limited activities, plus would be a painful drive in the snow. I don’t know, I went to lousy public schools myself (way worse than this one), and I did fine. I understand that so much of this is about your home environment and your own personality. But still: The thought of my kid sitting for hours a day bored out of her mind while everything unique about her slowly leaches away is terribly depressing…

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