Educating Our Children

Wow -- I thought that figuring out the best path for my career was laden with difficulty and stress. But, little did I know that the REAL stress comes in trying to figure out what is the optimal way to educate my child. Here are some of the questions Brooke and I have been grappling with:

• At what age should we start worrying about their "academics"?
• At what age should we send them to preschool full-time, or should we ever do that?
• Should we require that the preschool offer things such as Spanish language classes and music classes?
• Assuming we get them onto the right track in preschool, how will the public school kindergarten in our area compare?
• How soon do our public schools offer accelerated tracks and what can we do to ensure that our little boys end up on those accelerated tracks?
• We have a very active and physical little boy -- the balance of academics with physical activity is important for him -- how do we achieve that balance?
• When do we start him in organized sports -- and will that be enough of an outlet for his energy and physicality?
• Learning a foreign language is supposed to be easiest at a young age -- how do we provide that opportunity for our boys, if the public schools do not really have a means for teaching a foreign language except in the upper grades?

The list of questions goes on and on and on. We want the best for our boys, but we also want them to have a real experience of being little boys -- playing in the woods and riding bikes with their friends and making imaginary forts. Once they are in the public school system, can we just sit back and say that the educators know what they are doing and will challenge them adequately, so we, the parents, do not need to worry or supplement or consider sending them to private schools?

What about the studies that say that, economically, it makes more sense to invest $$$ in the early years of school than it does to play "catch up" and pay $$$ for the later years? And, all of this consternation about a proper education for our children is in preparation, ostensibly, for college? Or is it about making sure that they can function well in and contribute to society? And, if it is the latter, then, does it really matter whether Drew learns to read before he reaches kindergarten?

As for college, Brooke and I have a fairly practical approach for our boys -- neither of us cares about whether they go to an Ivy or even a top twenty-five school, for that matter. We want them to go to college first of all, and we want them to go where they feel comfortable, but, most importantly, where they can excel. If they want to (and are able to) go to an Ivy, we'll send them, but, an honors program at the state university and a semester abroad is fine with us as well. I want them to do well in college, and if they want to go to grad school, that is when I think getting into a really good school matters. But, college, as I posted a couple of posts ago, should be time to explore the world of ideas and your place in it.

So, after sending our children to the best public schools in our metro area, can we just sit back on auto-pilot and assume that they will get an adequate education -- that any gaps through the system will be filled in just because we will provide enrichment and perspective for them? Does fretting about their education every step of the way really produce different, better results -- and when we say "better" -- what does that mean, exactly?

Stressful.