Karrie72

Truly lol!

Mummy in the foothills

True, we are in a wonderful school district, no metal detectors of Police needed, but with all the cuts it's getting bad, lack of teachers and massive increase in the number of students per class. Maths skills are taught so well, he's miles ahead of where I was in high school. Dd however I think will not get such a good education here, I already practically home school her after hours, and she's well ahead in reading and such. But if we didn't do that I don't think she'd get much help in school (she goes to 1st grade this year)

Karrie72

Same here...very safe and affluent area of Maine, no metal detectors thankfully but the academics and overall 'feel' of the school just seems off. My son who is going into second is one of the eldest in his grade and pretty great academically. However I do get the sense that the teacher won't/can't get creative to challenge him. My daughter on the other hand has struggled with math and language year after year at least I percieve that she is behind...when I probe the teachers , they just kind of shrug. The weakness I see here across the board are inatention to bad/sloppy handwriting....maybe that doesn't matter anymore but still, very touch/feely writing assignments where ideas matter more than correct spelling, punctuation etc, geography omg! My daughter is 12 and still focusing on the state we live in and immediate surrounding states, ummm there's a whole wide world out there!
I do find too that the kids seems way younger than back home...I struggle with that. Sometimes I love that they are more naive and focused on activities rather than hanging out with their friends. But then again I see plenty of older teens who seem a little too unwordly for their age if you know what I mean. Anyway I'm rambling so I'll stop now lol!

just_jenn

I'm in the inner city here and the schools are *terrible*, hence my original metal detectors comment. Even a lot of the private schools are nothing much to write home about.

That aside though, there are 3 teachers in my husband's American family in affluent areas of NJ and some of the stuff that comes out of their mouths makes me shudder. Typical sample from Sunday gathering from 30-something Sister-in-law with an MA in Education who is currently teaching High School English: "We just watched a movie the last day of the semester. We watched National Treasure--you know, the one where they look for the historical attractions." She meant artifacts, of course. One of the others once asked me how far behind England was in time zones...

I'm not going off on an "Americans are so stupid" rant because I know plenty of very smart individuals. I think Montfan hit the nail on the head. Much of the education over here seems a little unworldly.

Karrie72

I agree, I know many smart and switched on Americans that would put some folks back home to shame! But...I'm finding the education system does emphasize the USA and well it's a government run system so it would I suppose.
I can only say... the day my child told me that they say the Pledge of Allegiance every single day...starting in Kindergarten!! Wow...I was a trifle unnerved by that. I'm a Montessori Preschool teacher and we pledge allegiance to the world...like once a year lol!

cheeky_monkey

Math???..you fell down with the whole spelling arguement there

Mummy in the foothills

That is the correct US spelling though. Argument does it have an 'e'
I love spell check, but it has made me a really lazy speller.

NatalieLucy

Interesting to hear from people about the schools in the US. This is another thing that my husband says is better out here than in the UK... the education. I have no idea where he is getting this information from. The schools where we live don't have the metal detectors which I'm thankful for. I have no idea how good they are though.

Karrie72

Oh wow...good for you for poking fun at me. I've been here for 25 years and that's what we call it here; 'Math'. Honestly if I was an a hole than I'd point out your own spelling mishap but I'm not.

Giantaxe

Why don't you ask him?

sallysimmons

To the OP, it's ludicrous to suggest that you should have thought through the implications of an international marriage when you were young and in love. Maybe if you had got married in your 40s or 50s, but no young person thinks through all the implications of their actions. I certainly know I wouldn't be here in the US if I had thought through how it would all turn out and I know a lot of divorced people who never would have got married had they been thinking straight!

Your husband sounds as though he is getting a lot of misinformation. Maybe he's playing you, but maybe he's just genuinely frightened of the unknown - and truthfully, if he's very conservative in the American sense of the word, England might be a bit of a culture shock for him. But it would probably be good for him to get away from Sean Hannity for a few years

Seriously though, is there any chance you could take him to the UK for a visit and then plan that visit to address some of his concerns? My husband had a hard time visualizing our lives back home, and was set against it for some time. But a visit back helped him start to see how things might be and he came around completely.

NatalieLucy

Thank you everyone for your opinions. I have talked greatly with my husband he has stepped up and has agreed to definitely give it a shot despite his reservations on things. He is scared on change but he's willing to give it a good try.

Sally - he has visited the UK many times and does like it out there. But he's only visited on vacation he does say it'll be a lot different to living out there.

Squirrel

One good thing about the UK education system is the church schools which usually have an excellent reputation, and they are not fee-paying schools (though some may ask for a hundred quid or so for 'extras' but nowhere near the thousands you'd pay in private school fees).

Under the current rules I think they have to take so many pupils of other/no faith than that of the type of school they are. Although some parents go to great lengths to get their kids into faith/church schools by suddenly becoming regular worshippers lol. However in the US there is not this choice, it's either private or the local public school.

I was lucky enough to go to grammar school but I'm pretty sure if they hadn't had the 11 plus in the town where I went to school, my parents would have tried to get my sister and I into a church school.

NatalieLucy

My niece & nephew go to a Church of England school it's a community based school which is very good. Where we are looking at moving to also has a community based Church of England school.

OakvilleSarah

Math is correct, even in Canada. Oh, by the way....you spelt argument incorrectly.