63 replies to this topic

[Dratj]

What's better?

I'm torn as to whether to keep my kid in private school or to switch to public school to save money. She will be four yrs old in June. I've been paying for private school for almost a year now and montessori before that since she was 2 yrs old. She seems to be learning lots, she is definitely way more advanced that i was at her age as my parents didn't have the resources to send me to private school.

I've done some research and some people say that french immersion is a good way to get a good schooling free here in Canada. It's kind of the poor man's private school. So, if you have to go public then french immersion is the way to go.

Thus, I've thought of keeping her in private school till age 6 then sending her to french immersion (min age is 6). That way she can get a decent education and I can save more money. I can afford to send her to private school but i'm having another kid soon. Two kids in private school is still affordable but I'd rather not have to if I don't. I'm so torn. I feel bad if I don't give my kids the best that I can afford but i'm not so certain that private school is necessarily better. I went to public school and turned out half decent. FWIW i became a dentist. I'm not rich but i do ok.

[Nikki_N]

I don't know anything about public schools in Canada, but I do know that there are some great public schools in the US and some terrible ones. Check out your options. It may even be worth moving if the finances of selling and buying another house work out. When Dave and I bought our house, the school district was a key factor for me. I ruled out certain areas due to their schools.

[Nikki_N]

French immersion sounds cool, btw.

[hblask]

Yeah, I think you have to look around and compare schools and results and costs and see what you can afford.

Here in MN, private schools are better, but public schools are pretty good, so unless you are rich, private schools are not worth it. In most of NJ, when I lived there, public schools were terrible (except for the richest suburbs), and sending your kid there was a form of abuse. For example, I worked with a guy in NJ who was one of 8 people who graduated from his class of over 200. Here in MN, in St. Cloud, high schools graduate over 98% of their students (maybe it's just one school, I'm not sure).

Schools are very, very local, so unless someone here lives in your town, advice here will be patchy.

[SuitedAces21]

save money for what? what are you going to use that money on thats more important? i'd guess nothing.

[grocery_mony]

save money for what?

fancy watches obviously

[Swift_Psycho]

save money for what? what are you going to use that money on thats more important? i'd guess nothing.

Maybe a private instead of public college if his kids want to go to one.

[nhlfan]

Yeah, not sure about the school systems in Canada. I live in Loudoun County, VA (right outside DC), and it is the richest county in the country, and the public schools here are some of the best in the country, so I have no reason to send them anywhere else (and I am by no means rich, although some of the bastards that live near me are).

A question for anyone that wants to answer. When I lived in Indiana we were going to send our kids (twins) to a private preschool, and they teach them French. Now I can understand it in Canada where it is a part of your heritage and all, but why would you teach kids in America French? I mean, about 136 million people speak French as a first language, compared to over 1 billion that speak Chinese and about 340 million that speak Spanish. Especially for future business, I would think Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese would be way more beneficial than French. I understand that, at least here in the states, French is considered a "cultured" language, but what good will it do in the future business world. Just a question.

Peace.

[Governator]

I can't really comment on what it's like today as my kid is 7 months old. I went to public school.

I have a lot friends who went to private school & catholic schools, only know a couple of people who went to french immersion in grade school. Private school was mostly the wealthy & preps, although the same bullying exists in every school, that's unavoidable. Whether or not the education is that much better is up for debate, I tend to think real education starts after high shool, where money would be better spent.

Your situation might be a lot different though, being in school at the age of 2, I'm sure your child is much more advanced than the average kid going into kindergarden.

Here in Canada you take French from grade 1-9 regardless of the school you go to. Je ne parle pas francais.

[Mercury69]

Languages are a gateway to culture and communication. Any opportunity to introduce a child to a new language should be embraced.

[speedz99]

save money for what? what are you going to use that money on thats more important? i'd guess nothing.

False.

[nhlfan]

Languages are a gateway to culture and communication. Any opportunity to introduce a child to a new language should be embraced.

I totally agree with you, just thinking that wouldn't a different language be better?

[Mercury69]

I totally agree with you, just thinking that wouldn't a different language be better?

Maybe, but French is so accessible. It can also be a solid foundation for understanding and learning Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, which opens up the entire Western Hemishpere.

At the same time, one cannot ignore the impact of Arabic and Mandarin, but they are very different language groups. However, the earlier a child is exposed to a language, the likelihood of fluency is increased on an almost exponential basis, unless there is exceptional natural aptitude.

[SuitedAces21]

False.

but, but, the children are the future.

[SuitedAces21]

False.

but, but, the children are the future.

[Balloon guy]

Languages are a gateway to culture and communication. Any opportunity to introduce a child to a new language should be embraced.

Why...the kids speaks english already.

Let everyone else learn our language.

I mean, we are the rulers of the free world.

[Balloon guy]

What's better?

I'm torn as to whether to keep my kid in private school or to switch to public school to save money. She will be four yrs old in June. I've been paying for private school for almost a year now and montessori before that since she was 2 yrs old. She seems to be learning lots, she is definitely way more advanced that i was at her age as my parents didn't have the resources to send me to private school.

I've done some research and some people say that french immersion is a good way to get a good schooling free here in Canada. It's kind of the poor man's private school. So, if you have to go public then french immersion is the way to go.

Thus, I've thought of keeping her in private school till age 6 then sending her to french immersion (min age is 6). That way she can get a decent education and I can save more money. I can afford to send her to private school but i'm having another kid soon. Two kids in private school is still affordable but I'd rather not have to if I don't. I'm so torn. I feel bad if I don't give my kids the best that I can afford but i'm not so certain that private school is necessarily better. I went to public school and turned out half decent. FWIW i became a dentist. I'm not rich but i do ok.

I sent one kid to private, 3 to public.

The private schools are often times the way for rich people to get their problem kids into some school rather than actually spend time with them at home. So you get a lot of disruptive kids some times.

But they have much better control to kick kids out for minor infractions should they feel the kid is disruptive.

Overall though the question you must ask is: "Which one will give my child the best chance to quit school and play online poker?"

[coesillian]

I did my schooling in Quebec, Canada. In elementary I went to a bit of a unique public school program where from kindergarten to grade 3 it was exclusively french, then from grade 4 to 6 it was one day french and one day english. Within the same small city there were french schools and english schools and I know people from both those schools who are fluent in one language and poor in the other. In that sense I came out way ahead of both of them. They can get by in each language, but when they are doing an interview and they struggle to speak the language fluently they are disadvantaged. Being in Canada, french is the best choice for a second language (more so in Quebec obv), I would assume Spanish would be more useful in the US.

I live and work in Montreal and being fluent in french and english is so valuable to me. I definitely recommend teaching your kid a second language, it'll give him/her a huge leg up on everyone else.

[Nikki_N]

Yeah, not sure about the school systems in Canada. I live in Loudoun County, VA (right outside DC), and it is the richest county in the country, and the public schools here are some of the best in the country, so I have no reason to send them anywhere else (and I am by no means rich, although some of the bastards that live near me are).

A question for anyone that wants to answer. When I lived in Indiana we were going to send our kids (twins) to a private preschool, and they teach them French. Now I can understand it in Canada where it is a part of your heritage and all, but why would you teach kids in America French? I mean, about 136 million people speak French as a first language, compared to over 1 billion that speak Chinese and about 340 million that speak Spanish. Especially for future business, I would think Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese would be way more beneficial than French. I understand that, at least here in the states, French is considered a "cultured" language, but what good will it do in the future business world. Just a question.

Peace.

In Indianapolis, Spanish is the best choice. Our Latino population has exploded in the past decade. We have 200 ESL kids at the school where I work. >190 of them speak Spanish as their first language.

Of course, my 9th grader decided to take German. Go figure.

Here in Canada you take French from grade 1-9 regardless of the school you go to. Je ne parle pas francais.

You took French for 9 years and you don't speak it? Damn! I'm pursuing my bachelors degree in Spanish. I wanted to choose French, but it's not very useful here in the Midwest.

[mrdannyg]

I am Canadian, and was in French Immersion from the earliest it was available.

As far as I'm concerned, the OP's understanding is correct. Immersion in most Canadian schools is basically free private school. You will find a much higher level of learning there. In some smaller schools, it is such a discrepancy that special education classes do not exist - the remedial and non-immersion classes are combined. Even ignoring those highly offensive examples, immersion is a great program regardless of what you think of learning a different language. Immersion programs are designed to provide extra challenge at a younger age, rather than just teach french.

I grew up in Toronto, so what goes for Toronto public schools may not be the same for all. But Toronto public schools are almost aristocratic. It's for people who think public schools are for poor kids and/or that they are better than other people...not for people who want to learn more. Any parents who I've talked to who sent their kids to private school did so because they expected someone with a degree from a recognizable school would have a better chance at getting into a good American university. There is a big difference (in my limited experience) between the public/private decision in Canada and the US.

In my opinion, a private school only makes sense in Canada if you're local school(s) are particularly bad.

You'd be better off saving the money and putting it in an RESP so your kid can take a degree or two without working and start his adult life without significant debt.