Waiting for school placement

Are there any of you still waiting to find out about school placements/acceptances for your children for next year?

I did not talk about our wait (for a NYC public school Kindergarten spot) online because I thought (and still think) it could come back to bite me (the long arms of the internet being what they are).But we got a spot last week.

I still don't think I should talk about it. I'm still a little shell-shocked, actually. I know I was kind of paralyzed on a lot of fronts, not knowing where my baby was going to school.

Is anyone else still in limbo? Preschool? Kindergarten? Older grades? (College?)

Comments

[hedra]

@allison, check your homeschool rules, at least in PA standardized testing is still required for homeschooled kids.

Montessori IS expensive. The materials cost alone is huge, and the cost rolls downhill. But we definitely felt it was worth it.

Charters do have the advantage of having involved parents skew - you can't get in unless your parents care about your education enough to apply. I like our charter for the curriculum ("Core Knowledge" - which is federally approved so any public school can use it). It is also available for homeschooling (which is where it started, actually).

That said, I've spoken with other parents at the charter, and there are plenty who felt it was a real wrench to leave the public school, because some of the schools are really very good. Some are definitely not, and the kids need some kind of enrichment, and a lot of social support outside school to manage the behaviors 'allowed' at school. Still, even in the charter, there are good years/bad years, teachers that mesh with my kids, teachers who don't, etc. Sigh. It's life.

[eliz]

Does anyone know what people do who have to move in the middle of all this? My kids will be set if we stay here but my husband is interviewing for a job which will involve a major move into an competitive/intense area with multiple districts and lotteries for all the schools. My youngest turns 5 at the end of October so I think we'll just hold him back (though he's totally ready) and find a preschool or daycare somewhere/somehow but my oldest will be starting 2nd grade and I can't help but feel that whatever place he gets will be everyone's very last choice. Does anyone know if there's any other way? The way things are going I can't imagine we'd move until the middle of the summer and I just can't get my head around how we will figure out where to send oldest to school. Any ideas much appreciated.

[Cloud]

@eliz- you can probably tell from my earlier comments that I don't really have an advice for you on how to handle your situation.

But I wanted to say- I think it will all be OK. Even if you get a truly bad school, it is only one year, and your influence is going to FAR outweigh the school's influence at this age.

I spent my second grade year with a teacher whose basic pedagogical approach was to assign worksheets. I think it killed my mother (herself an elementary school teacher) to see that, but she says I was happy at the time. And I don't think that set me back too far overall.

In fact, I spent my entire school career in public schools that were probably much like the public schools that are horrifying my friends here. And I went on to a good college (and grad school!) and actually look back on some of my experiences in those schools as being very good for me, even if academically, my schools weren't as great as some of the schools attended by my college classmates.

I totally understand why you are stressed out. I would be too. Actually, if you read my first comment in this thread, I AM stressed out, and we're still a couple of years away from actually choosing a school. But I think it will all be OK. For both of us!

[SarcastiCarrie]

@Cloud - That is so funny because I love worksheets. And I like standardized testing too. And timed tests. And multiplication tables. So different strokes for different folks (and I went to a prestigious college and all that even with the worksheets).

[RaiseNextYear]

I have been delighted with the academics of child's Montessori school but decided to pull him out after year two of three due to financial concerns. (He was in for age 3-4 and then age 4-5 this year.) No, I am not feeding him to the wolves; I am so, so lucky to have full-day public K that is very good. As a family, we just needed the "raise" that happens when you don't have to pay over a thousand a month for Montessori, (more like 1300/month when you include all the fees and all the charges for "aftercare" of 3-5pm.)

[Marie]

Sorry for getting to this discussion so late. For those worried about standardized tests, you have the right to opt-out of such testing for your child. Most schools don't want you to opt out, because if their test participation falls below a certain percentage of they risk trouble with NCLB.

[nike dunks]

children have their oun road to go,what parents have to do is encourage children to try their best to do what they want to do,and pay attention to point the derection of the grow for them.

[montessori preschool]

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[true religion outlet]

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