public vs. private schools

[prayerfull]

Good Morning!

Do you have children already in school? If so, what was your choice - Public or Private School? Why did you make that decision?

My son will be entering Kindergarten in the fall and my husband and I have made the choice to send him to a private Christian school. Our reasons for making this choice are twofold.

First, Christ is the core of our family. Seeing as how our children are in school at 8am everyday and we don't see them again until around 6pm, that leaves us with somewhere around 5 hours a day (during the week) that we spend with them. If we're going to surround them in a Christian environment and home, but they spend more time at school, then they need to be in a Christian school environment. So that's where the choice for a Christian school comes in. (As opposed to a non-religious based private school).

The second reasoning for choosing a private school has to do with the level of teaching that private schools offer. We live in California. If anyone else lives in Cali, you'll know what I'm talking about. The public schools here are made up with a lot of spanish speaking children. They do not have a separate class for them. Thus, the teachers spend a great deal of their time working on the special needs of those children and less on english speaking students.

What about you?