Elementary School Greatness?

[gmpe]

We are starting a preliminary review of primary school options for the kids. I realized this evening that I have strong opinions on what makes a great university, high school, and even preschool, but don't have any good ideas on what makes a good primary school. This might be a case of "never seen one" or having exposure to so few, or perhaps they

Comments

[nakor]

Music, especially theory on top of the ubiquitous recorder, violin, and horn.
Tracking for language and math, especially at their end of the spectrum.
Good ties to extension and enrichment beyond the in-school tracks.
A library, meaning a big room full of more books than a child can read, and no
computers outside the checkout desk.
A principal who knows the kids' names, and expects them to use the words ma'am or sir and to shake hands.

Cuisinaire blocks, class pets, class gardens, oscillating elliptical pencil sharpeners in ovoid cases.

[gmpe]

Yeah, I never got the theory part. Got enough music along the way to pass the theory class at MIT easily, but that too late to rewire how my brain reads/looks at/hears music.
I hope we will find tracking is accepted, as I agree on that. You just can't teach some things without it.
Never thought about the tie-in to outside-of-school enrichment. Can you give examples of some things you have seen that were good?
I love the "expects them to use the words ma'am or sir and to shake hands" comment. People don't seem to spend enough time teaching kids common courtesy any more. I hate that I am surprised now when I hear a kid say "You're welcome."
I hadn't heard the term cuisenaire blocks before. Yes, I loved all those blocks when I was a kid. Some of them already have a place in our house. They are great for making little brains work hard. :)

[zenala]

I generally liked the one I went to in Kansas. Being small and very close to home was a bonus (it was the smallest in town, now closed) and at least till they got a new principal when I was in 2nd grade, they allowed for as much acceleration in reading as a child needed (though this meant when the anti-tracking principal came in 2nd grade, I went from the 3rd grade reading book to the 2nd grade reading book, but that gave me more time to develop my skills of pretending to pay attention

[gmpe]

It is good to hear what happens when acceleration and tracking isn't available. It also sounds like some of your success was having the right teachers. While I know there is always an element of that, we are hoping to find a school where our chances of getting the "good" teachers is helped by a supportive administration.

Hearing some of the details like the Lincoln Logs and the math problems and heading to the library to find the "right answer" are super helpful in giving me ideas of some of the kinds of things to look and listen for as we check out various schools.

Thanks!

[zenala]

I think a big thing to look for is if the administrator or teacher can actually discuss day-to-day stuff coherently, not just big overarching philosophy without details as to how it's implemented, or one big special project which is probably not indicative of the rest of the school year.

Also, from my experience substitute teaching, make sure you know what sorts of little policies they have--for example, one teacher left me instructions that the students were only to go to the bathroom at one particular time during the morning, and these were 2nd graders, 7 and 8 year olds. I think I would've had issues with that kind of policy at that age. (Or, as I told the health class I was subbing for, when the topic was Bloom's Taxonomy, you can't be expected to do much higher order thinking if you need to go to the bathroom...)

[jcgbigler]

What works for one child may not work for another, so one child's/parent's outstanding school may be another child's/parent's nightmare

[jcgbigler]

(Continued from previous post.)

I would recommend looking for a school that incorporates problem-solving skills and high-order thinking skills into the learning problem from an early age. Beware of schools that are quick to point out their MCAS scores--they could well be good schools, but they could as easily be schools that teach and drill students in low-level techniques for solving very specific problems. (As zenala said, be skeptical of what administrators try to sell you. Or as I tell my students, be suspicious of anyone who says something that sounds like "Trust me.")

I agree with nakor's comment about music, to which I'd add other performing arts, fine arts, a good health program (beyond the typical gym classes), plenty of field trips to museums, concerts/plays, forests, farms, beaches, etc., and inclusion of important skills/lessons that don't fit into any specific curriculum--such as managing money and credit, internet safety, etc. Also, look at how they deal with profoundly gifted kids--can they find challenging work at an

[gmpe]

Thank you for your thoughts. You were on my list of people I was hoping would reply. I always find your thoughts on schooling very insightful. I absolutely agree that what is best for one isn't for another. Montessori, a blessing for your kids, would be a disaster for ellarree who needs a structured environment, and freedom within it, to be most happy. Her current school uses a lot of the Emilia Reggiano philosophy, which suits her well. I think it will work well for her brother too, although it is hard to tell after only a week and a half. We also know that no school can be "perfect" and that there will be holes that we will need to fill. And yeah, I don't to well with "Trust me" until I actually do trust you

[jcgbigler]

By "a good health program," I mean health classes that actually *teach* kids about the topics they cover (nutrition, drugs, alcohol, sex ed), as opposed to just telling the kids what they should do.

[chenoameg]

A whole lot of people are going to answer by telling you what made their elementary school experience bad. I'm going to try a different approach and try to give you an answer to help you figure out what you think would make a school great

[gmpe]

Great list. I think I need to reread when I am less tired. :) Thanks!