Montessori

[sputnik]

Originally posted by benyl
Sure it will.

Did you send him to public, private, home schooling?

We aren't adverse to moving.

You would move because your kid speaks in full sentences and has a decent understanding of the English language before two?

[M.alex]

Originally posted by sputnik


You would move because your kid speaks in full sentences and has a decent understanding of the English language before two?

Apparently


I guess it's hard to believe anything worthwhile can come out of the public system

[tirebob]

Originally posted by clem24


Dude, that's insane. Most high schoolers can't even read and write at a high school level.

Yeah he has always been really out there... lol

We took him to the beach a couple days after his second birthday and came home mid afternoon and figured we would make an late lunch/early dinner and plopped him down in front of Sesame Street while we were preparing the food. I came out like 10 minutes later and he had a crayon in his hand and had written the entire alphabet out on the wall! lol! It was a combination of pride and oh shit! He was reading and doing kindergarten work books within a couple months of that. When he barely 3 he came up to us one day and asked us if we wanted to hear the alphabet backwards and proceeded to rattle the entire thing off. I damn near fell over! By the time he turned five he had read every Harry Potter book available at the time.

I have to say though, it posed a huge amount of issues with maturity not matching abilities, peer to peer understanding, severe high anxiety, depression, etc. It took a HUGE amount of work over the years working with him with child psychologists, the schools, etc just to help him grow to be a normal teenager, whatever that means. I am actually more happy seeing him just be a normal lazy video game playing kid with his buddies than anything. I am very proud of the fact we NEVER medicated our child either. We did every thing possible to make sure we never had to do that and it payed off...

Everyone thinks having an extremely "smart" kid is all awesome, but it often doesn't work that way. The streets are full of homeless people exactly like that who just couldn't understand and handle it and didn't have a solid support network while growing up...

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by spiceboy
Most of the kids I see in JK and K are very well behaved and they are goal oriented.

If my kid gets described as "goal-oriented" when he's junior K or K I'll be disgusted. They're kids, they don't need to be worried about "goals" yet.

Holy shit, pretentious parents irritate the hell out of me. No personal offense intended, it's a generality.

[spiceboy]

If you are paying the amount of money most half decent daycares / preschools in Calgary are charging these days, you'd make sure they do more than wipe your kid's ass and put him/her in front of a TV or some crayons all day long.
In other words, I want to see my kid learn about her social role in a structured school environment. Yes, even in JK or K. I don't want her to wander aimlessly in a classroom for 8 hours a day. She needs to be taught right from wrong, and when's the time to fulfill her responsibilities in school, and when's the time to go wild and play with her friends (in addition to the academic side of things).
There's no right or wrong. There are different methodologies for child upbringing, and hence the wide variety of schools and programs out there. It is what's most fitting for your child that matters most.

So no need to be disgusted or irritated at all!

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE


If my kid gets described as "goal-oriented" when he's junior K or K I'll be disgusted. They're kids, they don't need to be worried about "goals" yet.

Holy shit, pretentious parents irritate the hell out of me. No personal offense intended, it's a generality.

[benyl]

Originally posted by sputnik


You would move because your kid speaks in full sentences and has a decent understanding of the English language before two?

You moved back to Winnipeg... need I say more?

It has nothing to do with his abilities or inabilities.. The issue is the teacher's ability to keep him occupied.

I am willing to bet that half the kids with behaviorial problems are simply bored. They act out to get attention because the regular stream of things doesn't stimulate them.

Like spiceboy, I don't want him to "play" the whole time. He can do that at home. He is going to pre-school to learn. That can be social, physical, or mental. I am not going to send him to daycare.




Whatever. Not going to defend my choices to Beyond. I am looking for information on why parents choose send their kids to certain school (tirebob) and their decision making process. I never said that I would move. I said I wasn't opposed to moving. I am still a selfish asshole who would rather buy a car for me than send my kid to Webber.

Not sure why this thread can't be about people's experience and helping others.

In typical Beyond fashion, the thread has been derailed...

[sillysod]

I went to private school and think it is well worth it.

My son is currently in Kindergarden but we are looking at where to send him next year. I haven't looked into Montessori yet, but will. So far we are leaning to the Green Learning Academy.

Strathcona is a very good school, but Green is very reasonable at $6500 for grade 1, whereas Strathcona is $16,000. I don't see $10,000 difference in these early grades being money well spent. Jr. High and High School I can see it, but not for Elementary.

What does Grades 1-3 cost at Montessori?

I too would like to see what you guys have to say about Montessori.


(we need a parenting sub-forum)

[JRSC00LUDE]

Benyl/Spiceboy,

I'm not intending to derail or offend with my opinion fyi. I find the whole conversation quite interesting (albeit somewhat incredulous) with both your and other peoples perspectives and experiences.

My kid is only 18 months, perhaps by the time he is 3 I will have a different viewpoint than I do now.

[sillysod]

A huge part of private school that people overlook all the time is connections.

When you are going to a private school chances are that a lot of your piers come from families that have businesses too, or are relatively high up in other companies. Not always the case, but usually.

Those buddies can come in pretty handy once you have graduated and are in the "real" world.

The other thing is when you go into the principals office to raise a concern and you are actually paying a tuition they tend to listen a little more to what you have to say.

[G]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
Benyl/Spiceboy,

I'm not intending to derail or offend with my opinion fyi. I find the whole conversation quite interesting (albeit somewhat incredulous) with both your and other peoples perspectives and experiences.

My kid is only 18 months, perhaps by the time he is 3 I will have a different viewpoint than I do now.

Nope if you aren't like that now you will never be. I know parents who have already have their kids on waiting lists for certain school and they don't even have kids yet. I once thought my son was special because he was able to speak fluently (he said at 2 years old "I will put my pumkin by the door so that I won't forget to take my candy home.") but as he grew older we have accepted that maybe he is just normal and we are okay with that.

Chinese parents are the worse...piano, tutoring, violin, swimming, extra math classes...day in day out...how many of those nerdy socially retarded kids are truly happy and not resent their parents when they grow up?

[benyl]

yep, I am totally ok with my kid being normal. I am actually hoping for it as I pay for public school anyway. But in the off chance he isn't, I don't want him to end up in special ed because he is bored and causes trouble. Those kids end up doing drugs and dropping out. haha

[tirebob]

Originally posted by benyl
yep, I am totally ok with my kid being normal. I am actually hoping for it as I pay for public school anyway. But in the off chance he isn't, I don't want him to end up in special ed because he is bored and causes trouble. Those kids end up doing drugs and dropping out. haha

Also man, moving to give your kid a better shot is awesome no matter what some people might think. If your kid ends up going through even a bit of what my kid had to go through, you would be willing to do anything to help him do well! Good on you for caring enough to consider what is best for your kid...

[baygirl]

My daughter (who never went to any pre-school), is currently in grade 2 in a public school. While she is not as smart as tirebob's son, she is gifted. For an example she is currently reading on a grade 4 level and has finished the grade 2 math curriculum. However the downside, as mentioned by Bob, is that her maturity level does not match her intelligence. (I like to describe her as scary smart but socially awkward).

Anyways, my issues with the public system:

If the child doesn't fit into a certain mold, they want to put her a label on her. So far Heidi has been evaluated for autism and Aspergers on the suggestion of teachers.

The resources are limited. Her teacher has admitted that because Heidi is on the opposite end of the spectrum and doesn't have a learning disability that the chances of her getting help in the classroom are slim. That being said, her teacher is amazing and is working with Heidi to improve her social skills. However I am worried what happens next year when she has a different teacher.

The GATE program doesn't start until grade 4. I am worried that she will get bored and not be stimulated. Case in point: On Friday morning during morning lessons the teacher was covering something that Heidi already knew. Heidi's response: to call out "boring..." half way through.

@Tirebob: How much help did your son have in school? Or did you have to do it all on your own?

[tirebob]

It took a lot of work and hoops to jump through, but they did come through with all the help he needed. He was lucky to have great teachers who were just as dedicated as us to seeing him do well...

[SJW]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
Benyl/Spiceboy,

I'm not intending to derail or offend with my opinion fyi. I find the whole conversation quite interesting (albeit somewhat incredulous) with both your and other peoples perspectives and experiences.

My kid is only 18 months, perhaps by the time he is 3 I will have a different viewpoint than I do now.

My kid is 3 and my goal is to make him happy. If he shows interest in something i'll do my best to promote that. Right now he's in pre-school and LOVES it. Once you start pushing something on them they'll hate it that much more.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by SJW
My kid is 3 and my goal is to make him happy.

That's about right I'd think.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by sillysod
A huge part of private school that people overlook all the time is connections.

When you are going to a private school chances are that a lot of your piers come from families that have businesses too, or are relatively high up in other companies. Not always the case, but usually.

Those buddies can come in pretty handy once you have graduated and are in the "real" world.

The other thing is when you go into the principals office to raise a concern and you are actually paying a tuition they tend to listen a little more to what you have to say.

This is probably the #1 benefit to private school. The actual education isn't any better or worse. I know for a fact (inside, first hand knowledge) that grades are frequently "massaged" by management depending on how much money Mommy & Daddy kicked into the school that year. It sounds ridiculous but it's true.

All the smarts in the world don't do you a lick of good if you're a social retard. And the most popular kid in school won't go anywhere if he's a brick with no work ethic. Balance of the two needs to be taught at home, not at school. If you leave everything up to the school you're going to be very disappointed when little Johnny the genius is still living in your basement at 25.

[SilverGS]

Originally posted by G


Chinese parents are the worse...piano, tutoring, violin, swimming, extra math classes...day in day out...how many of those nerdy socially retarded kids are truly happy and not resent their parents when they grow up?

I see where you are coming from but I think the key is to not push your kid if they try it and don't want to do it. My parent's put me in tons of stuff but if I wanted to stop they let me.

Today I am glad they put me in so many things and I actually regret some of things I decided not to pursue further like Piano.

Some Chinese parent's push on certain things to hard which is where the resentment will come in but I think trying and experiencing different things in your youth is not a bad thing.

[G]

Originally posted by SilverGS


I see where you are coming from but I think the key is to not push your kid if they try it and don't want to do it. My parent's put me in tons of stuff but if I wanted to stop they let me.

Today I am glad they put me in so many things and I actually regret some of things I decided not to pursue further like Piano.

Some Chinese parent's push on certain things to hard which is where the resentment will come in but I think trying and experiencing different things in your youth is not a bad thing.

You're the exception not the norm. I have seen first hand in my family what some of these parents are like and how unhappy the kids are. My two cousins both moved across the country for school and never came back. They are not on speaking terms with their Dad. The Dad and I suprisingly have a pretty good relationship and he tells me he regrets not letting them pursue their own interests and forced what he thinks will do them good down their throat. He is super lonely now....holidays, birthdays, Chinese NY they are alone in their huge house because their kids will not come home. One's an engineer with a failing marrage because of daddy issues the other is a career student that doesn't know how to make a cup of tea.

I am going to let my kids try a lot differents sports and music but they will have to pick at least one of each on their own to pursue further.

[benyl]

Originally posted by SilverGS

Today I am glad they put me in so many things and I actually regret some of things I decided not to pursue further like Piano.

Bingo.

My parents started me on Violin at 3. I hated it and quit. I regret that a lot today. Same with Piano, guitar, etc...