Schooling (long)

IN the US, preschool is generally privately paid by parents, and can be
any or all of the years ages 2-5. (This is different than daycare, which
is childcare while parents work.) Preschool is most commonly half day,
though sometimes all day (especially as children approach "real school"
age), anywhere from 2-5 mornings or afternoons per week. It can be a
community-based coop, a church outreach, or quite expensive private
school. It's the whole gamut. It's basically socialization, learning
colors/numbers/prereading skills.

Because it's privately paid and seen as a worthwhile pre-educational
experience, the gov't. authored "Head Start" programs starting in the
1960s to fill the gap between children of parents who could and parents
who couldn't afford preschool. It was felt that students who had
pre-school were more "ready" for learning in first grade.

When I started school in 1960 (I'm showing my age!), kindergarten was
typically the first school experience. Few children went to preschool in
the little working-class town where I grew up. DH, who grew up in a city
and was the child of academics, did go to preschool - a parent-driven
coop preschool, IIRC.

In my experience, schooling in the US was grades 1-12 (ages 6 through
17/18). A lot of school systems offered kindergarten as a pre-school
socialization - learning letters, how to line up, ordering the day
(pledge of allegiance, weather/calendar, etc.). Kindergarten attendance
was not legally REQUIRED until as recently as the 1970s/80s, depending
on where you lived. (Education requirements were state-mandated, not
federally so.)

In the 1990s, there began a push for optional pre-kindergarten and
mandatory all-day kindergarten, and these were, I believe, part of the
"No Child Left Behind" education reform of the GW Bush years. All-day
kindergarten and half-day pre-kindergarten is now the norm in the public
schools, to my knowledge. I don't think pre-K is mandatory; it's an
option for parents who use the public schools rather than private
preschool. Many of the preschools offer kindergarten, and parents often
(in my area, anyway, it could be different elsewhere) keep their
children in the private preschool from age 2 or 3 through kindergarten,
then start the public schools with 1st grade.

Each state used to have its own deadline for age before school entrance.
Here in MD, it used to be 12/31 of the year the child entered school.
Therefore a child could start kindergarten at age 4-3/4 and first grade
at 5-3/4. For some children, this seemed too young for the pressures of
all-day school. Some private schools began to offer "pre-first" grade, a
developmentally appropriate growth year between kindergarten and first
grade. I elected for this with my son, who had a late October BD. (In
contrast, where I grew up in NJ, the child had to be five by 9/30 of the
year he/she started kindergarten. And in the past decade or so, Maryland
has rolled back the age cutoff...I believe it's now sometime before my
young niece's BD in late October, because her parents were perturbed she
wouldn't be able to start public school "on schedule" and would
therefore be one of the oldest students in her grade.)

School attendance is mandatory through age 16, I believe, meaning at age
16 a student can legally "drop out" if they don't intend to graduate.
There's a move afoot to change this to age 18, but I don't think it's
yet in force.

In most places, public school is:
Elementary: Pre-K through grade 5
Middle school - grades 6,7,8
High school, grades 9-12

There is a move now in many places to revert to K-8 elementary schools,
and do away with middle schools.

Hope that helps! And everyone chime in if your area's system is
substantially different.


sue

--
Susan Hartman

Susan Hartman wrote:
IN the US, preschool is generally privately paid by parents, and can be
any or all of the years ages 2-5. (This is different than daycare, which
is childcare while parents work.) Preschool is most commonly half day,
though sometimes all day (especially as children approach "real school"
age), anywhere from 2-5 mornings or afternoons per week. It can be a
community-based coop, a church outreach, or quite expensive private
school. It's the whole gamut. It's basically socialization, learning
colors/numbers/prereading skills.

Because it's privately paid and seen as a worthwhile pre-educational
experience, the gov't. authored "Head Start" programs starting in the
1960s to fill the gap between children of parents who could and parents
who couldn't afford preschool. It was felt that students who had
pre-school were more "ready" for learning in first grade.

When I started school in 1960 (I'm showing my age!), kindergarten was
typically the first school experience. Few children went to preschool in
the little working-class town where I grew up. DH, who grew up in a city
and was the child of academics, did go to preschool - a parent-driven
coop preschool, IIRC.

In my experience, schooling in the US was grades 1-12 (ages 6 through
17/18). A lot of school systems offered kindergarten as a pre-school
socialization - learning letters, how to line up, ordering the day
(pledge of allegiance, weather/calendar, etc.). Kindergarten attendance
was not legally REQUIRED until as recently as the 1970s/80s, depending
on where you lived. (Education requirements were state-mandated, not
federally so.)

In the 1990s, there began a push for optional pre-kindergarten and
mandatory all-day kindergarten, and these were, I believe, part of the
"No Child Left Behind" education reform of the GW Bush years. All-day
kindergarten and half-day pre-kindergarten is now the norm in the public
schools, to my knowledge. I don't think pre-K is mandatory; it's an
option for parents who use the public schools rather than private
preschool. Many of the preschools offer kindergarten, and parents often
(in my area, anyway, it could be different elsewhere) keep their
children in the private preschool from age 2 or 3 through kindergarten,
then start the public schools with 1st grade.

Each state used to have its own deadline for age before school entrance.
Here in MD, it used to be 12/31 of the year the child entered school.
Therefore a child could start kindergarten at age 4-3/4 and first grade
at 5-3/4. For some children, this seemed too young for the pressures of
all-day school. Some private schools began to offer "pre-first" grade, a
developmentally appropriate growth year between kindergarten and first
grade. I elected for this with my son, who had a late October BD. (In
contrast, where I grew up in NJ, the child had to be five by 9/30 of the
year he/she started kindergarten. And in the past decade or so, Maryland
has rolled back the age cutoff...I believe it's now sometime before my
young niece's BD in late October, because her parents were perturbed she
wouldn't be able to start public school "on schedule" and would
therefore be one of the oldest students in her grade.)

School attendance is mandatory through age 16, I believe, meaning at age
16 a student can legally "drop out" if they don't intend to graduate.
There's a move afoot to change this to age 18, but I don't think it's
yet in force.

In most places, public school is:
Elementary: Pre-K through grade 5
Middle school - grades 6,7,8
High school, grades 9-12

There is a move now in many places to revert to K-8 elementary schools,
and do away with middle schools.

Hope that helps! And everyone chime in if your area's system is
substantially different.


sue

Thank you all for the comprehensive explanations of USA schooling. It
sounds an excellent system, although some states are not starting as
young. The UK system was much simpler, but did start with the
pre-school education, which is really necessary to be able to get the
best out of the "real" schooling. There, too, children leave school
early when they want to, which is not a bad thing if they go into other
training. When I was at school, the age at which one could leave
changed from 14 to 15, and later to 16. Unfortunately, most early
leavers just "get a job" - or idle around, unemployed.

I must admit, there seems little point in forcing children to stay at
school when they just make life miserable for teachers and other
students who would want to learn. I'm presuming that some of the films
one sees about this are based on fact.

I hope one day that South Africa will catch up with the rest of the
world, although as always, those with money have far better options than
those without, however deserving.

Joyce in RSA.

New Zealand has, I think, a unique early school system. Legally all
children must in school or doing registered/approved home school by
the time they are six, but can start school once they are five.
Basically the system is

Kindergarten (pre-school) for 3 and 4 yr olds. 3yrs attend several
afternoon sessions during the week, 4yrs attend 5 morning sessions.
Pre-school is not compulsory.
Now here is the biggie
Children start school ON their 5th birthday. This means that the first
school class has new beginners all the way through the year. My
daughter turned 5 a week before the school year ended. She still
started at school, had her week, the summer holidays and then had all
the following year in year 1.

The first class is called "new entrants" or year 0.
The primary schools cover years 0 to 6
Intermediate schools cover years 7 and 8
High schools cover years 9 to 13.

I have always had great respect for the new entrant teachers. At any
time during the year they can have a mixture of children ranging from
just turned 5 with no pre-school and no educational skills, 5yrs who
have been through kinder ready to learn to read & count, other 5yr
olds who have been taught to read at home and nearly 6yr olds who have
basic reading and number skills. They seem to manage extremely well.

The only time when most of the class are roughly the same level is at
the beginning of the school year when a number of kids who have turned
5 over the summer all start together.

I don't know if any other country has a year 13, which consists mainly
of 18yr olds.

Regards, Annette

US schooling varies greatly by state. Hawaii for example instated a
four day week , started with every second Friday off now all Fridays are
what are called furlough Fridays. financial, it was either fire
teachers or cut the school time.
Not all states have the same number of school days per year. Hawaii is I
understand 2nd lowest in number of days spent in school.
I had grand children in the Hawaiian school system last school year.
Ruby

On 7/10/10 2:09 PM, in article ,
"Ruby" wrote:

US schooling varies greatly by state. Hawaii for example instated a
four day week , started with every second Friday off now all Fridays are
what are called furlough Fridays. financial, it was either fire
teachers or cut the school time.
Not all states have the same number of school days per year. Hawaii is I
understand 2nd lowest in number of days spent in school.
I had grand children in the Hawaiian school system last school year.
Ruby

A hockey friend who is an Army wife just left Hawaii for their next posting
(VA). She was mixed on the situation. Oldest boy would have been fine no
matter what, the second was having issues anyway and the youngest would have
been ok. She had liked the teachers the boys had had to date, but worried
about some of the things money was being spent on - just like parents
everywhere.


Cheryl

DD and family are moving to Maryland, near . It looks as if there may be
more resources for DGD who is autistic. Although I was quit impressed
with what they had to offer in Hawaii once all the approvals were done.
The shorter school week did not really affect her children as Kathleen
was in special program and Joshua was in primary. Also in the schools
favour The class sizes were small, 8 for Kathleen and 15 for Joshua (
they had 6 primary's) Josh was very keen to get to school and is
ecstatic that he can read now. once exposed he just seemed to fly with
it on his own as he has with math , into everyday life.
It was difficult for parents who had to find day care for one day a week.

Ruby


Cheryl Isaak wrote:


A hockey friend who is an Army wife just left Hawaii for their next posting
(VA). She was mixed on the situation. Oldest boy would have been fine no
matter what, the second was having issues anyway and the youngest would have
been ok. She had liked the teachers the boys had had to date, but worried
about some of the things money was being spent on - just like parents
everywhere.


Cheryl

On 7/11/2010 10:31 AM, Ruby wrote:

DD and family are moving to Maryland, near . It looks as if there may be
more resources for DGD who is autistic. Although I was quit impressed
with what they had to offer in Hawaii once all the approvals were done.
The shorter school week did not really affect her children as Kathleen
was in special program and Joshua was in primary. Also in the schools
favour The class sizes were small, 8 for Kathleen and 15 for Joshua (
they had 6 primary's) Josh was very keen to get to school and is
ecstatic that he can read now. once exposed he just seemed to fly with
it on his own as he has with math , into everyday life.
It was difficult for parents who had to find day care for one day a week.

Ruby


Near where? I'm in Towson (Baltimore County), and would be happy to
share what I know about public schools in MD systems. I think the
resources in MD systems are really good, compared to most. Schools are
well funded, generally speaking; however, systems are quite uneven in
their delivery of special services. Schools are run on the county level
- no incorporated towns. If DD would like to, have her email me
(suestitcher) for ideas.

(use verizon.net after the @ sign)

cheers,
Sue



--
Susan Hartman

On 7/11/10 11:58 AM, in article
, "Susan Hartman"
wrote:

On 7/11/2010 10:31 AM, Ruby wrote:

DD and family are moving to Maryland, near . It looks as if there may be
more resources for DGD who is autistic. Although I was quit impressed
with what they had to offer in Hawaii once all the approvals were done.
The shorter school week did not really affect her children as Kathleen
was in special program and Joshua was in primary. Also in the schools
favour The class sizes were small, 8 for Kathleen and 15 for Joshua (
they had 6 primary's) Josh was very keen to get to school and is
ecstatic that he can read now. once exposed he just seemed to fly with
it on his own as he has with math , into everyday life.
It was difficult for parents who had to find day care for one day a week.

Ruby


Near where? I'm in Towson (Baltimore County), and would be happy to
share what I know about public schools in MD systems. I think the
resources in MD systems are really good, compared to most. Schools are
well funded, generally speaking; however, systems are quite uneven in
their delivery of special services. Schools are run on the county level
- no incorporated towns. If DD would like to, have her email me
(suestitcher) for ideas.

(use verizon.net after the @ sign)

cheers,
Sue




I think she's in/near Arlington VA. I know they're off doing stuff with her
family right now in KS.

The real question, is will they find hockey teams. I can just imagine her
reaction to hours of driving!

C

Thank you Susan. I will forward the message. they are not in Maryland
yet , just left Hawaii and are spending some time with his folks in
Tennessee. So they have yet to house hunt. But I understand it is
somewhere near Baltimore. she, DD has been doing a lot of research. so I
think she has narrowed it down.
will let you know. Thank you again.
ruby
Susan Hartman wrote:


Near where? I'm in Towson (Baltimore County), and would be happy to
share what I know about public schools in MD systems. I think the
resources in MD systems are really good, compared to most. Schools are
well funded, generally speaking; however, systems are quite uneven in
their delivery of special services. Schools are run on the county
level - no incorporated towns. If DD would like to, have her email me
(suestitcher) for ideas.

(use verizon.net after the @ sign)

cheers,
Sue

UM???

Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 7/11/10 11:58 AM, in article
, "Susan Hartman"
wrote:


On 7/11/2010 10:31 AM, Ruby wrote:

DD and family are moving to Maryland, near . It looks as if there may be
more resources for DGD who is autistic. Although I was quit impressed
with what they had to offer in Hawaii once all the approvals were done.
The shorter school week did not really affect her children as Kathleen
was in special program and Joshua was in primary. Also in the schools
favour The class sizes were small, 8 for Kathleen and 15 for Joshua (
they had 6 primary's) Josh was very keen to get to school and is
ecstatic that he can read now. once exposed he just seemed to fly with
it on his own as he has with math , into everyday life.
It was difficult for parents who had to find day care for one day a week.

Ruby

Near where? I'm in Towson (Baltimore County), and would be happy to
share what I know about public schools in MD systems. I think the
resources in MD systems are really good, compared to most. Schools are
well funded, generally speaking; however, systems are quite uneven in
their delivery of special services. Schools are run on the county level
- no incorporated towns. If DD would like to, have her email me
(suestitcher) for ideas.

(use verizon.net after the @ sign)

cheers,
Sue





I think she's in/near Arlington VA. I know they're off doing stuff with her
family right now in KS.

The real question, is will they find hockey teams. I can just imagine her
reaction to hours of driving!

C