<p>Dalton - that’s where Josh “Searching for Bobby Fisher” Waitzkin (sp?) went, I think.</p>
<p>Older brother and wife, both Ivys, midtown Manhatn sent DD to private pre-K thru HS, then Ivy. </p>
<p>I and DW, public colleges, sent DS thru local church pre-K thru public HS that bro and I attended, then to Engineering College (pseudo Ivy). </p>
<p>Outcome of child same. Cost way different.</p>
<p>Chedva
</p>
<p>I have had these experiences, but in my experience the outcomes too often don’t seem to match what seemed like the likely path for the child. I can think of so many examples. One little girl in my first neighborhood as a parent really seemed like a slug (that term is only for conversational purposes - she was of course a darling little girl). She was what someone might describe as boring and dull. I remember her mom being very upset once because one of the preschool teachers at the “it” school was very concerned about her readiness for Kindergarten (and expressed it in a not-so-nice way). Kindergarten was a little bumpy for her both academically and socially. Long story short…she is at an ivy league school today. I was shocked when I heard.</p>
<p>I can also think of some of the brightest and most alert little ones who seemed like Harvard material, but instead succumbed to the distractions and temptations of life and ended up somewhere way less impressive. Kids who crushed IQ and achievement tests to get into advanced programs in elementary school. I can think of another young gal who was just accepted to a top five LAC, yet was rejected by this highly competitive and desirable GATE school. I can think of a number of kids who “beat” her in the selection process yet ended up at very above average schools.</p>
<p>I know there are brilliant little ones whose stars shine brightly all the way through, but I’m telling you you can’t count anyone out. I believe the Daltons of the world can consistently spot relatively decent kid material (not necessarily superstars), and the rest is school, family, and community willpower. Kids with some potential are molded by lots of attention and enriched experiences (and an expectation that they will do well). I believe you could take most kids with even slightly above average intelligence, add a reasonable home life, decent nutrition, and a Dalton-type school, and you would get some pretty incredible results.</p>
<p>All this hoopla with head start is just for political reasons that have nothing to do with future of the child. Zero!! You can start with blank (no reading skills, nothing) at 8, and child might be much more advanced very soon, actually in a matter of few months in comparison to another who started at 5. </p>
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<p>I have to disagree with the above. I subbed in a low income elementary school, and I spent 6 weeks in a kindergarten room in April/May. These kids were hopelessly behind already … at FIVE!!! I guess you could have left them alone until 8 and they probably wouldn’t have been any worse off. However, I think early intervention can help kids.</p>
<p>As far as $37,000 preschools go, even if I had it (which I do not, as I don’t earn much more than that amount), there is no way I would ever consider spending that amount on preschool. It just seems stupid to me. However, if someone can afford it and wants to do it, it’s their money to waste. I have nothing against private schools - I paid for my kids to go to a private school. It was expensive, IMO, but certainly not $37,000-kindergarten-expensive. Of course, I am sure there are those who think I wasted my money. I guess it’s all relative.</p>
<p>Friends of ours ignored all the hype of the ‘right preschool’ to get into the ‘right feeder elementary’ school…sent their kids to the local very ordinary public school in lower Manhattan then moved to the burbs for highschool. Both kids now at very tippy top schools (one a top LAC, one just below HYPs). I thought they were crazy at the time taking the ‘risk’ but thank god they had confidence in their kids to do fine without the big price tag. But they had a very intellectually enriched home life, and probably knew they’d move to the burbs for highschool, and so didn’t see the point in wasting money on a feeder elementary school.</p>
<p>We have no regret on the money we spent on our kids’ education. At times, it was hard to make that tuition payment, but we would do it all over again. </p>
<p>Both of our kids were tested by different schools. I have no idea what they were tested on (hard to get any info from a 4 year old) and they were not tutored or prepped. I did bribe them to speak to their testers (my kids didn’t like strangers) by offering some candy afterwards.</p>