Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Schools in USA

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The most important thing for any parent is education of their kids. We send our kids to best schools in our country. So when we move to USA, we expect the same. In USA, public school education is free while private schools are expensive with fees from $200 to $2000 or more depending on the grade your child is in and the location of the school. So depending on your budget, you can send him to private or public. Public school normally provides transportation (if your house is more than 1 mile from school). Every school has different criteria about transportation. You will have to check with the school.

My son has been in a public school for the last 2 years. He loves his school and the teachers are really good. Standard of English is very good. Most of the school districts in US have accelerated Maths or accelerated reader programs or gifted child program. They monitor the progress of the child throughout the year and place them in accelerated program(usually starts from fourth grade) which means he/she will be having separate classes covering the next grade curriculum as well as their own grade. This is very beneficial for kids who are ahead of their grade level. Again every school has different programs. You have to check with your school. So when you move here and you think your kid is one level ahead of his class, you can request the school to evaluate him.

When we came here, my daughter was only 2.5 years old so I didn't send her to any school. Now she goes to pre-school 3 times in the week (2.5 hrs per day). You have to search around for the best pre-school within your budget preferably near your house. Pre-schools generally don't provide transportation.

The best thing I feel in USA is the library system. My kids just love going to the library. Every area has one library. It's free and depending on the rules of local library, you can check out any number of books and limited number of DVDs, VHS, CDs, magazines etc. They have lots of kids programs which are usually free. So if your kid is not yet 4 yrs, instead of sending him to school, you can take him for a library program every week which are educational and interactive.

1 comment:

  1. I have read your blog and it is very useful. Please help me with the following:

    1. Should we search for public schools in possible location we would be moving or should we first look for a good school-disrict and then accordingly select a place / city of residence?

    2. What all is required to become a member of the library? We will be moving for first time.

    3. Can you provide some information or possibly start another thread on how to look for best apartments and what all to consider?

    4. Also please provide a thread on most useful goods to carry when relocating to US.

    ReplyDelete