Random Thoughts

[chrisnu]

Just curious-- was anyone here home schooled? Or did anyone attend private school (pre-college?)

I went to an Episcopal school from Kindergarten - 4th grade, and was home-schooled from 5th - 12th grade.

Did you guys enjoy it? Would you recommend it? It's practically the norm in Baltimore because the public schools are so horrifying, but I have no real conception about them or how they work. Most of my information comes from television, which is not historically accurate in portraying high schools.

I enjoyed attending the Episcopal school, and would recommend it. I received a good education there, and considered my social development there to be fairly normal, even if I was a bit of an outsider.

I would never in a trillion years recommend home-schooling, unless you are qualified to teach your children. I also couldn't imagine anything worse for the social development of a child, outside of forced child labor. It would be vitally important to be involved in extracurricular activities. Outside of church, I was not.

[EyesWideOpen]

I went to a private Christian school for 8th grade and a Catholic school for 9th grade.

[Ezee E]

I'd definitely prefer it over homeschooling, which I would agree with chrisnu on his reasoning. Kids may come out smarter, but if they aren't involved in extracurricular activities with other people, they end up suffering in the long run when introduced to the real world.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Homeschooling sounds like hell. I'm sure there are exceptions, but for my situation... it would be hell.

[Duncan]

I only spent one semester in the Ontario public school system when I was, like, six, but it was awful enough that my parents refused to ever send me back there. Otherwise, I've been in private schools my whole life. Definitely some drawbacks, but I got an excellent education, I think.

[[ETM]]

Dear Telenor,

Why are you configuring my MMS service at 3AM? I could have easily been a normal person and asleep.

Sincerely,
What the Fuck?

[Melville]

I was home-schooled from grades 1 through 9. And by that I mean I ran around doing whatever I wanted. I don't think it was beneficial for my social skills.

[megladon8]

I went through the public school system from kindergarten right through high school.

The only problems I had were my own. From halfway through grade 10 right to the end of high school, I just didn't care. I was on a cocktail of anti-depressants and smoking a lot of pot. I regularly didn't go to bed until 4am, so would end up sleeping through all my classes and doing the bare minimum to get by.

[Spinal]

I really hope Asia Argento accepts my friend request. I know I could whip her butt at Lexulous.

[MadMan]

I'm thankful that my parents didn't send me to one of those Lutheran church schools. I would have gotten bored and started rebelling soon afterwards. Instead I got good grades in high school and made friends. The drinking merely started senior year...

[ledfloyd]

I really hope Asia Argento accepts my friend request. I know I could whip her butt at Lexulous.

i just tried adding her and got this "This Request Can't Be Sent
Do you know this user personally? To prevent misuse of Facebook, this request can't be sent. To learn more, please visit the Help Center. If you believe you're seeing this message in error, you can report the problem." :sad:

[endingcredits]

I went to a private parochial school from grades 0 to 4 and public from 5 to 11. I hated them both.

[Ivan Drago]

I really hope Asia Argento accepts my friend request. I know I could whip her butt at Lexulous.

Would you help out her farm in Farmville?

[Mara]

I e-mail stuff to myself all the time, either from one account to another, or to the same account if I want things available on another computer.

It's awkward, though, because I'm uncertain about the courtesy. I feel ridiculous adding a little note to myself ("Here you go! Have a great day!") but leaving the subject line blank and not having any content feels cold.

[ledfloyd]

I e-mail stuff to myself all the time, either from one account to another, or to the same account if I want things available on another computer.

It's awkward, though, because I'm uncertain about the courtesy. I feel ridiculous adding a little note to myself ("Here you go! Have a great day!") but leaving the subject line blank and not having any content feels cold.

this is a great idea. i was just thinking about opening a dropbox thingy to store some files. i'll just email them to myself!

[number8]

I just use Google Docs.

[Mara]

I just use Google Docs.

That would probably quell the sighing of my inner Emily Post.

I often e-mail links, though, so I can check them out at home when I have more time.

[number8]

I use Chrome as my browser at work and at home. It syncs bookmarks automatically.

[Mara]

I use Chrome as my browser at work and at home. It syncs bookmarks automatically.

I'd actually have to get permission to download that at work, but I may ask. It would simplify things.

[[ETM]]

It's easier to just save stuff in drafts in Gmail.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Just curious-- was anyone here home schooled? Or did anyone attend private school (pre-college?)

And, did anyone have a nanny? (I recently found out that a friend is considering naming his daughter after the nanny he had while growing up in Peru. I can't figure out how I feel about that.)

I attended public schools for the first 9 years of my education, and upon becoming a drug-addled mess, I was moved to a private Lutheran school for the last three years of high school. Without that private school, I wouldn't have graduated. Naturally, I hated it when I was there, as I hated school in general, but now I'm very happy to have went there. They kept me in line and helped me succeed, and I'm grateful to the attention they gave me, an attention that was nonexistent in the public school system.

Now, as I've made routinely obvious, I live in a really shitty town, and so the public schools in Saginaw may be much worse than the public schools somewhere else. But here, no one in a public school gives a shit. I would skip class, and my teachers would walk by me in the hallway, know I was supposed to be in their class, and just smile and say hello. I'm not saying it's their fault that I was doing so miserably, it was my responsibility to get to class and do the work, but the general apathy by everyone at the school sure didn't help.

I'm not a very religious person, and I had run-ins with some of the staff at the private school, but for the most part they were a very accepting and caring group of people. When I run into a former teacher or administrator, even the ones I didn't get along with while attending, they never fail to come up and talk to me, ask me how I am and what I'm up to, whereas when I see teachers I had in the public school system, more often than not they don't have a clue who I am, or at least act as if they don't.

For these reasons alone, I had my kids in a private school until we moved out of Saginaw. The public schools in Freeland are some of the best in the state, and both of my kids are loving it thus far. So, I guess I would advise anyone who is living in a city or district with a reputation for poor public schooling, find a way to make private schools work for you. If you live in a city or district with reputable public schools, that works just fine.

[Mara]

My youngest sister went to a private boarding school for her senior year in high school, not because of bad grades or bad schools, but because of escalating and alarming conflicts with my parents and with behavioral problems.

It was a Quaker school, and although my sister isn't religious, the spirituality and serenity of the atmosphere seemed to speak to her, and she calmed down and became notably happier. It really ended up being the best thing for everyone, although I had serious reservations at the time.

And, of course, it was ridiculously expensive.

[Mara]

I guess the problem was that she would listen to the school when she wouldn't listen to my parents. At home, there would be a complete meltdown, with screamed accusations and profanity if she was asked to do the dishes. At the school, she was happily mucking out the goat stalls.

[monolith94]

If I have a kid, I probably won't be able to afford a private school, and I likely won't have the time to do dedicated home schooling, so I guess the best I'll be able to do if I happen to live in a place with shitty public schools is supplement his/her education at home. I think that getting kids hooked on books at an early age is key, or at least it was for me.

[Spinal]

My kid goes to public school, but he does not go to the public school in our neighborhood. It involves us driving him in every day about 10-15 minutes, but we've really been pleased with the community there. Do a little research and you can work these things out.