3 replies to this topic

[happymom]

Where to send our first one for Kindergarten, SGJ or Phoenix?  We would really appreciate any thoughts you have!

 

SGJ is a great school but the kindergarten program is only 3 hours.  We both work so my son would be in student care where kids are not grouped by age from 12:00-5:00.  That's a long time and we are worried a little for him to be the youngest kid there.

 

We are thinking maybe we could send him to Phoenix for a year or two, and transfer him back to SGJ.  By then he's older and he would only need to spend about 3 hours in student care.  But will he have trouble fitting in academically and socially? I heard after a couple of years in Phoenix, some kids go to the gifted class in Theodore Judah in order to stay challenged...

 

 

[tony]

There are other options. Folsom has four Montessori schools (I don't have personal experience with any of them, but have heard good things about a couple of them), and on the religious side, St. John Notre Dame Catholic School has an excellent Kindergarten (and Junior K).

[mac_convert]

The Kindergarten students who go to student care are separated by age most of the time. Students are by themselves until 1:52 when 1/2 of the first and second grade students are dismissed. The Kinders have a rest time after lunch. I have been told it is about a difference in a cup of coffee for a 1/2 day Kinderprogram and daycare than it is to have a child in full day K. 

 

Students who come from the private schools are not always as prepared or advance as the the schools may lead you to believe.  The most important thing you can do is be active in your child's life and his or her school experience.

Where to send our first one for Kindergarten, SGJ or Phoenix?  We would really appreciate any thoughts you have!

 

SGJ is a great school but the kindergarten program is only 3 hours.  We both work so my son would be in student care where kids are not grouped by age from 12:00-5:00.  That's a long time and we are worried a little for him to be the youngest kid there.

 

We are thinking maybe we could send him to Phoenix for a year or two, and transfer him back to SGJ.  By then he's older and he would only need to spend about 3 hours in student care.  But will he have trouble fitting in academically and socially? I heard after a couple of years in Phoenix, some kids go to the gifted class in Theodore Judah in order to stay challenged...

 

 

[Barb J]

If I had to put my child in before/after school care I would definitely go the private route and do the all day Kindergarten - I would not want to have to bus my child to/from school and if they are there all day anyway, I'd rather that my son be "learning." 

 

That being said, private does not always mean your child will be challenged more so than public.  My son is in K right now in public school and his friend is in a very costly private all day Kindergarten.  My son's school has already got all the kids reading (at their various levels) and his friends school hasn't even started reading yet.  His mother is paying additional money to purchase various programs on the computer that my sons public school provides for us.  Comparing the work the two boys are doing - my son is being challenged exponentially more so than the private school.  But on the flip side, she is fine with the curriculum because her biggest concern was smaller class size - something that private school offers that public school cannot.

 

So it really depends....

 

Barb J