transatlantic_chap

I had started a thread on this before, so I thought I'd open a new one, as I'm sure there are lots of new people who might have insights to share.

For those with kids who have lived in both countries, what are the relative strengths and weaknesses of each system, and how did each affect your children?

I realise that you can't really compare the overall systems, but rather you're looking at personal experiences of one local school district vs. another. Even so, what differences or similarities have been most striking to you?

petitefrancaise

Didn't the last thread, which ran to 8 pages, give you the info you needed?
If you need more specific info, then maybe ask a more specific question? The education subject has been covered a lot in the last month or so.

Pulaski

You can compare the overall system whereas comparing 1:1 experiences of "x local authority schools" in the UK with "Y school district schools" in the US is potentially going to give you an almost infinite number of comparison pairs, almost none of which are going to be of any use to you whatsoever!

smarty156

My kids were in Year 1 (6 years old this February) and Year 5 (10 years old this coming August) in the UK. In the US, due to their ages, they went into Kindergarten and 4th Grade. They are doing things in the US that they were doing a year ago on the UK.
Not necessarily a problem if you're in the US long term but short term a potential issue. This is in one of the top school districts (THE top school district according to one article) in the whole of the US in Westchester County, New York.

bewildering

This is about as useful as asking "Your experience of US weather vs. UK weather".

steveq

Yes, the school system in this town is fantastic. Three miles away, its crap.

GeoffM

Within the same school district things can vary massively.

Within the same school things can vary massively.

Pulaski

And a school can go down hill very fast, even from one year to the next. ..... Conversely, a poor school rarely recovers quickly.

SalopianFunk

I had to take two years of highschool after finishing my GCSEs, which taught me ought but the ability to do the bare minimum to get through - especially easy considering my high school wasn't a particularly good one, which emphasized memorizing test answers over constructing analytical arguments.

I would say, however, that I wouldn't trade my college education here for anywhere though. I happily found what I think was the best place for me, and I think it has prepared me well for graduate school for when I think about doing so.