DD is starting Kindergarten in the Fall and we are deciding between our neighborhood public school or a STEM magnet elementary public school. DH likes the STEM focused education but our neighborhood school is much more convenient. I have a friend who sent her son to the STEM school but pulled him out after one year because she thought they gave too much homework. I want DD to be challenged but don't like the idea of too much homework though. Does your LO attend a STEM focused school and if so, what are your likes and dislikes? How do you think they compare to a school that is not STEM focused?
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Do you know more about what the homework is and what the estimated time to complete is? Is it "graded" and what are the consequences if it isn't completed?
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@looch: Good question! She just said overall it is a really great school academically but she personally felt they gave "too much homework" but I have no idea what "too much" really is so it could all be subjective. I don't know anyone else that goes to a STEM focused school so not sure what to expect!
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@dolphin: Are there any local social media sites that you can look at to see if the STEM school has other people complaining about the homework or other things there vs the neighborhood school?
My base school is a STEM magnet and I do not see any complaints on the local boards about the homework there. I have only heard really good things. DS is only 3.5 now so I have no direct experience with the school but talking with teachers there and in the county and seeing the online boards, I do not have an impression that there is more homework there vs other schools. -
@dolphin: My son doesn't go to a STEM focused school, but he goes to a magnet school and the admin decided to stop all homework and do 10 minutes of reading a night.
My view is that if the magnet is lottery and you have a spot, you have nothing to lose by trying it. The neighborhood school is always there if you change your mind.
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Is there a family liaison at the school that you can talk with or a way to connect with more parents at that school? We found that the different elementary schools in our district had different homework policies. I asked about this specifically at all our school tours and we found it really varied by school. There was one school that had no homework at all until grade 5, while others started very early. There is one STEM focused school in our district (not a magnet though), and I have heard complaints about too much homework there, even at the K level, but I don't think it actually has to do with the STEM focus itself, just the policy of that particular school.
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As a teacher, I would be wary of any sort of speciality school at the young grades unless my child already exhibited interests in those things. The arts and humanities are important too and I would want a broad, holistic curriculum.
I taught 5th for 5 years and 8th for 3 years. I am certified k-12 and my school was a "STEM school" for 2 years until the AP who spearheaded it left our school.
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@autumnleaves: Thanks for your input! I've tried looking on social media and reviews of the school and I didn't see any complaints. The reviews are mostly positive!
@looch: DH thought the same thing. We could always try it for one year and see if she likes it. My hesitation with that is DD is a really shy girl and she's already sad about leaving her preschool that she's been at for two years. It takes her a long time to get comfortable and I would hate to pull her out after a year and have her readjust to yet another school. Of course that's life and if it's not a good fit we would but trying to decide if it's worth it.
@DesertDreams88: They also teach arts and music! Yes, I agree having a broad curriculum is important! We like the STEM program because it exposes the kids to stuff they may not typically learn elsewhere (like coding in Kindergarten!).
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I think it really depends on your beliefs and priorities about education, which are going to be different for every family. I'd get more information about what "too much homework" means (personally, I'd fight a school tooth and nail and wouldn't have my kindergartener doing any homework- but thats my personally perspective). I think you also have to consider why it feels important that your kid be exposed to coding (or whatever) in kindergarten.
Education research is pretty clear that early reading isn't causally related to a love of reading later in life, I suspect the same would be true of any formal, structured learning. Its my personal opinion that until kids are older and more developmentally ready, its most important that they have time to move their bodies, be outdoors, learn empathy and other relationship skills, be creative, and get rest. I think those things set them up to be well adjusted, less anxious, more self assured, compassionate people who will be able to find and follow their own interests with passion. I challenge myself personally to try to adjust my definition of "successful" to mean "self assuredness and compassion for others," rather than success financially. Obviously I want my children to be comfortable financially and I do want them to do well in school/work, but I push myself to question why.
That said, I understand that in a changing economy, many people are concerned about their children's life long success and feel that giving them a head start in certain areas is more important. Its fine if this is your belief! But I think the question for you goes into why you think early tech exposure is valuable or important for your child, why/if you want to avoid homework/heavy academic focus at a young age/and what you are hoping for your child's educational experience.
Those are the big questions for you and your family to decide! -
@dolphin: In my mind, it's not about things being "included" - all schools will *say* they have a broad curriculum of course. In reality, a STEM school de-prioritizes some areas to increase the emphasis on other areas... and that change of priorities at the *elementary* level makes me uneasy as an educator. There are only so many instructional minutes in a day. Coding in kindergarten means less time for other things like structured play, social skills, community time, literacy & math instruction, and social studies (which, in kinder, is about community helpers and good citizenship). Just because "arts" and "music" is on the schedule, doesn't mean it gets the time it deserves, if STEM overshadows it and has the priority. Obviously, I have a bias as a social studies teacher and lover of humanities.... but I still wouldn't enroll my child in *any* specialty school unless they exhibited a natural interest in that area.
In your original post you asked, "How do you think they compare to a school that is not STEM focused?" and I think a partial answer is that a neighborhood school will give well-rounded opportunities for children to discover their own interests, whereas a STEM school will gently push them in the direction of STEM regardless if it is a natural skill or passion. I worked at a STEM school for 2 years and that's what I saw.
So, all in all, I would chose the neighborhood school. But, you do you. Everyone has different parenting goals and desires for their children.
ETA: On the flip side, for the STEM school, just ask about their homework policy - they should have a stated policy in writing. It should be max 10 minutes a day per grade level (10 min in 1st, 30 min in 3rd, etc), only reinforce/review previously taught skills (no new skills), and not be graded for accuracy but *maybe* completion. That's a stretch, even.... I'm open to the idea that homework shouldn't be graded at all but encouraged.... I limit homework to 10% of my overall grade, as a middle school teacher.
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@Silva: yes, *love* your answer, wish I had put it so eloquently!
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@Silva: @DesertDreams88: thanks for your input! Yep, totally agree! The "too much homework" is a concern for me. I want my child to play and be a kid and not worry about the pressures of academics especially so early on. We do like the idea of exposing our child to tech, engineering, etc, just to see if she would like it but again, not sure if it's worth choosing over our neighborhood school.
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I just wanted to add my opinion on homework. Our school system starts homework from K. I was extremely leery about it, but actually, I ended up appreciating it. It was generally no more than 5-10 minutes and I was able to see what my son was doing and how he was progressing. In K, it was just reinforcement of what they had learned that day. Now, I haven't appreciated it as much this year, but I think it's because the teacher is way more disorganized than last year and the homework doesn't always show me the steady progression that I was accustomed to seeing last year. The homework wasn't graded last year or this year.
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@dolphin: what are they doing at the neighborhood school? What info do you have about that? How did it feel when you toured?
We just finished K and I agree with above that the school decision you make is ultimately about your priorities/values/world view as a family and it took more reflecting than I had anticipated!
Ultimately we ended up in an open enrollment to a neighboring public district for Spanish immersion. Half the day is in Spanish but they still had little lessons on “robotics” (sounded like early coding type stuff) for a period of 6-8 weeks. They focus on critical thinking skills vs retention of memorized information and global citizenship (with the Spanish etc) and that ultimately was more in line with my values. Also it was still very activity/play/center based with lots of movement and exploration and my kid learned a ton. So there is a lot of good stuff out there.
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@MamaCate: We liked our neighborhood school when we toured it. It's really diverse and we have a friend who's daughter goes there and said she loved her teacher. The only thing I don't like about it is it's overcrowded. Over 30 something students per class and 1 teacher, but this is pretty common for a lot of public schools in my area.
I love the idea of Spanish immersion! We visited a language immersion school where they offered Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese. You choose one and half the day is only taught in that language and the second half taught in English. I would have loved to send DD there but it was too $$$$.
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