1.2 - Looking for Private Schools

First up—Nameless Private School Number One.

Over dinner at a friend’s house, we listened to a couple, who were extremely pleased with Nameless Private School Number One—excellent, rigorous academic program, disciplined students (I’ll come back to this one in a moment), and strong test results.

Sounded good to us.

Later that week, we made an appointment to visit the school. A very soft-spoken woman (I’ll call her Mrs. Smith) welcomed us to the school and steered us and a group of other parents into a large seating area.

There, we were greeted by Reverend John.

“Let me start off by saying that our school has a very strong academic program and that our students consistently score high on statewide tests,” Reverend John said.

Sounded good so far.

Reverend John continued for approximately three more minutes expanding on the strengths of their academic program.

But, then the shift happened.

Reverend John began the fourth minute of the meet-and-greet with, “Now, let me share our discipline policy.”

Yikes, what was this?

“We firmly believe in ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child.”

Hmmmmmmmm. I’m listening.

“At our school, we have a very strict discipline policy. Let me explain the process.”

He went on for about ten minutes on the levels of discipline: 1) verbal counseling, 2) letter to the parents, and 3) a formal spanking in the principal’s office (paddle and all).

Hmmmmmmmm, I’m not liking this anymore.

It was not lost on me that Reverend John spent about 10 minutes on their spanking policy (oh, by the way, Mrs. Smith would handle all bad girls—comforting, not!) and less than half that time talking to us about their academic program.

Let’s just say that Maria and I ditched them during the classroom tour.

Next up, Nameless Private School Number Two.

Now, this was a nice little school—located a few miles from our house, this school had a fish pond, a small library in a playhouse, classrooms with lots of activity, attentive, kind teachers, and an animal petting area.

This school required a lot of parent participation—nice—and encouraged families to work and interact together.

As we continued through the school tour, we encountered a classroom in which the children were busily working on a science project.

Now, science is definitely a topic of interest for Maria.

As she watched the activity unfold, Maria whispered over to me, “Jeez, is this what they consider a science project.”

“I guess,” I whispered back.

Maria wasn’t really being snide—she was more surprised at the simplicity of the activity used to demonstrate a scientific fact. I think she thought it would take a lot more ingenuity and effort.

We finished up the rest of the tour and got in our car.

“My goodness, even I could do that science activity,” Maria said, weighing the pros and cons of what we would actually be paying for with our private school money.

“Why don’t you?” I replied in my typical combative tone.

My response lit a fire.

“Fine, I will.”

Enter homeschooling.