How do I get started?

[mom2evan]

DS is not quite two, but I am starting to think about his educational options as he gets older. I always thought I would place my children in public schools, but am increasingly concerned that our parenting philosophy and approach to discipline and learning is out of step with public school programs. I hate that so much of public education is now focused on "teaching to the test" and on cramming facts and figures into kids. I want DS to learn how to learn, and to be in an environment where they will encourage his natural inquisitiveness and creativity.

I also want to be sure that he will not be schooled in an environment that emphasizes punishments and rewards. I am a classic example of the straight-A student who rarely learned anything; I started out loving school, but quickly was termed a "good" student and began to fear "failure" (i.e., bad grades) more than I loved learning.

Homeschooling is not an option for us, as both DH and I work. I'd like to learn about options other than public schools. Can anyone make some recommendations about where to start my research? Books, websites, articles?

TIA for your help.

[frannyfresh]

I am sorry but I do not have have anything offer because I am searching this forum for answers or a start like you are. It will be interesting to see how people respond. Thanks for starting this post.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Which Preschool Is Right for Your Child?
http://www.southflorida.com/sfe-sfp-...,1127966.story

The Many Faces of Preschool
Philosophies of Early Childhood Education
http://www.parentspress.com/edupreschooltypes.html

Parent's Guide to Alternative Education
by Ronald Koetzsch

The Schools Our Children Deserve : Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards"
by Alfie Kohn

What to Look for in a Classroom: And Other Essays
by Alfie Kohn

[lauren]

I am going to move this thread to the overall Learning at School forum because I think it will get seen more there. I hope that is o.k. These are great questions, and if my baby wasn't calling me I'd write more now!

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by flyingspaghettimama

The Schools Our Children Deserve : Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards"
by Alfie Kohn

What to Look for in a Classroom: And Other Essays
by Alfie Kohn

And you can read great articles by Alfie Kohn right on his website!

The Progressive Schools Our Children Deserve:
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/progressive.htm

and lots of others:
http://www.alfiekohn.org/articles.htm#null

Lillian

[mommy68]

My children attend private school and I like it much better than the public elementary school they attend in the past. There are also charter and arts based schools in our area. I liked the idea of the arts based school for one of my children until I found out that they prefer taking only certain children in to that school (kids the didn't fit in the public/private schools, ADD, low income, etc). I felt my child wouldn't fit in because right from the get-go they are already implying that they would only suit certain types of children. That's too discriminatory for my taste and I felt that they wouldn't be treated fairly there.

[turtlemama77]

I think I would make a list of things that are important to me in an educational experience. Then I would suggest visiting a lot of different types of schools, talking to a lot of people (educators, administrators, other parents), and reading about different school models. You might find information at your state's education website, or you could search for charter schools (many have websites) or alternative schools. Are there any school fairs in your area? When I lived in St. Paul, MN, every year there was an education fair where schools set up booths and parents could go around and speak to teachers/administrators. It was kind of like a job fair...I always got interesting information about different schools from the education fair (I was teaching at the time, so it was neat to see what other schools were doing).

Good luck in your search! My dd is 14.5 months, and we're beginning to think about educational options for her as well. I don't think it's ever too early to start looking around.

[DocsNemesis]

At least they have a school like that. I am in the low income (or no income, lol) category and on top of that, my son has ADHD, so I appreciate the fact that they have a school set up for people like us. I find it sad and discriminitory that my child cant go to private school just because we are poor. I'm not trying to be mean, I am just trying to point out that private schools are discriminitory as well.

[richella]

I know this is an old thread, but I guess it's a long-term project. I live in a rural area with one grade school. The next county over is bigger, but not especially progressive. I was talking about this with a crunchy mama of a 3 yo and she had very briefly considered commuting to a city over an hour away. Neither of us is enthusiastic about homeschooling, though we see lots of benefits. I feel that the options are so limited. I'm thinking about the possibility of starting a charter school. . . which sounds harder than homeschooling! Ha! Anyone care to brainstorm with me?