Children's Education

Considerations in Children's Education

Is it time for preschool? Is it better to keep the child at home until kindergarten? Is a part-time program the best choice for the child or is it necessary for the child to be in a preschool or day care program all day because of parent work schedules? Should the focus be on play or academic subjects during the early years? How do you decide when a child is ready to read and write?

As children approach the age of five or six, parents start evaluating their options for kindergarten through twelfth grade. Will the local public school meet their child’s needs? Is it safe? Is a private school a better option? Is it affordable? Does a secular or religious school better fit a family’s values? Is home schooling the best and safest option? Is a traditional, structured classroom a more appropriate setting for the child, or is a more open, unstructured environment more suitable? Is the child unusually gifted, have learning deficits, or have special interests that would be best served by a special program? As kids get older parents may also consider same-sex schools versus coeducational programs.

Parents need to carefully evaluate their child’s learning style, maturity, and personality, while looking at the various options available to them for education. Here are some of the available options a parent can consider when planning for a child’s education.

Preschool

Home

Keeping a child at home during the preschool years does not necessarily mean foregoing educational opportunities. Parents can offer many activities that prepare a child for school, including arts and crafts, reading readiness activities such as pattern matching and sequencing, colors, numbers, music and dance. However, it is a very good idea to provide social interaction through play groups, Sunday school, day camp, and even neighborhood friends.

Day Care and Nursery Schools

Many day care programs focus on caring for and nurturing preschoolers, but may not focus much on children’s education. Others integrate activities that prepare a preschooler for kindergarten or first grade; some of these schools offer kindergarten programs. Day care and nursery school programs are often church-based, but there are also many private, as well as government funded, secular programs.

Preschools

Preschools normally provide a structured curriculum to prepare a child for elementary school. Many preschools also offer kindergarten instruction. Preschool curricula not only prepare children for academic tasks, they teach life skills, such as hygiene, neatness, responsibility, and manners.

Kindergarten through High School

Home Schooling

Many parents choose to educate their children at home. In doing so, they must follow state school curricula. Help in obtaining materials and implementing the curriculum is available both from local school districts and from state education entities. Among the reasons parents decide to homeschool are a desire to teach family moral and religious values, safety issues in public school, and a belief that they can provide a more effective academic program and environment for their children. Missing from home schooling is socialization to large groups and team work among people from disparate backgrounds, but many parents resolve this by teaming up with other homeschooling families for group field trips and other activities. Homeschooling parents sometimes trade with other parents to swap skills and areas of expertise.

Public school

Most kids go to public school; however, there are choices even within public school systems. Parents can often choose traditional, structured classrooms or more unstructured open setting where children move from one learning station to another. Other options include:

• Magnet Schools – These schools focus on a specific interest area or a specific population of students. There are magnet programs for the arts, for science, for math, and for other subject areas. For example, Los Angeles Unified School District has a zoo magnet program. There may also be magnet programs for gifted and talented students. Normally, parents complete applications for a magnet program, and then students are selected by program criteria or by lottery.

• Gifted and Talented (GATE) Programs - Some public school districts have special tracks and/or special schools for children identified as gifted or talented. Criteria for inclusion in these programs are usually based achievement and/or psychological (IQ) testing.

• Special Education - Public schools are required to accommodate children with a variety of special needs, including physical disability, learning disability, developmental disability, and emotional disturbance. Special education programs to address the needs of these students are set up within regular public school programs or may be delivered in schools that address only those students with special needs. School officials, with the concurrence of parents, create an individual education plan (IEP) for children in special education.

Private Schools

Private schools have considerably more latitude than do public schools in accepting and retaining students. Some parents believe that behavior problems are reduced in private schools, creating an environment more conducive to learning. Private schools, of course, require that tuition be paid. Some scholarships are available, but education is not free as it is with public schools. Parents can choose from religious schools, as well as secular programs. Some religious school costs may be underwritten by the sponsoring church, thus reducing tuition. Other schools may focus on a specific area of curriculum, similar to magnet schools within a public school district. There are schools that focus on the arts, on science and math, or on music. In addition, there are private schools that select only gifted and talented students. There are also private schools for special education. In fact, some of these schools may address some of the most severely handicapped populations.

Children's Education Summary

With the variety of choices available, parents need to do their homework before choosing the best options for their children’s education. Reading, talking to other parents, and visiting possible schools will provide a great deal of information. Finally, parents need to observe their children’s progress and learning style to determine if a child is learning and thriving in a particular school setting.

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