How far is your commute to school? - Page 2

[rowanberry]

It takes us roughly 20 minutes to get to our school.

[zoebird]

I thought I would add to this thread rather than starting a new one on a close-to topic. :)

When we lived in the US, it was definitely going to be Waldorf over the public school system. It was about a 20 minute drive, which was "close" by our US standards. But, it was far more than we could afford, so we were seriously considering home/unschooling.

Then, we decided to move here, and it was a great bonus that the schools are government supported such that we only have to pay a small fee. The only "problem" is that the school is located in a suburb. By public transport, it would be an hour or so; by car about 30-40 minutes (depending upon traffic). 

On the one hand, we wouldn't have a problem driving this per se. On the other, it is culturally different than in the US. 

We are moving into a neighborhood that is a fair distance from the school. By NZ standards, a 2 hr drive is "a very great distance" and 30 minutes is considered "a very long commute." In fact, 15 to 20 minutes is considered a "very long commute." It's a small country, and many people 'stick to' their neighborhoods. :)

We are moving that way oruselves! 

We love the neighborhood, the family and child-friendly atmosphere, and it's the sort of neighborhood community people dream of. It's a little beach neighborhood, with a diverse population, and lots of families.

They have a good school -- and it's a small school too. They have a lot of programs that have to do with the beach/ocean/earth and also gardens. They have a lot of work with the arts and technology. We are going to tour the school, and ask a lot of questions, of course, but we are looking into sending our son there -- instead of the waldorf schools.

Did anyone choose between two equally good schools -- regular vs waldorf -- and how did you choose which was right? 

The drawbacks of waldorf: commute, not being near kids in his school (most of them live in the suburb by the school) for that community, extra expense of the school, driving, etc.

drawbacks of the neighborhood school: traditional educational model.

your insights and thoughts would be appreciated. :)

[FarmerBeth]

We used to have our first born in what is pretty similar to a Waldorf school (an Enki school that had to go independent due to structure changes).  At the time, we had a 40 min commute by public transit (15 by car) but felt it was worth it because we didn't like what we saw in the local public school.  Then we homeschooled a year Waldorf method (long story, but point being, we had decided to go back to school outside of home). The next year we moved about another 10km (6 miles) further out and the kids really liked the new community they were in and really wanted to go to school with the neighbours.  We decided on the switch to public school, which we did like better than the one where we had moved from, and while we weren't incredibly keen on the curriculum, I have to say the kids were very happy to be going to school with their friends, and it was so nice that they could walk to school.  I guess it depends on how much your neighbourhood is their community.  When we lived closer to town, our activities and circle of like-minded friends were more a part of our community than our neighbours.  For us that changed when we moved somewhere semi-rural.  Now we live somewhere very rural, with no other options except for homeschooling, and  the kids have a 30 minute bus commute (We're in Canada, where low population density often means a long commute for rural kids anyway).  But if we had a choice, we'd probably public school over sense of community, and fill in the gaps with a Waldorf type home and activities like we're doing.