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Our boys have transferred to a public charter school based on the principles of nonviolent communication and educating the whole child...we're in love!

You might want to list another option -- Independent Private school (that is neither parochial nor philosphy-specific like Montessori or Waldorf).

I find the wording of the responses interesting -- "We're a Waldorf family" "Montessori family." My son and I went to Waldorf parent-child classes, and then Montessori parent-child classes. Waldorf was specifically difficult for me to let go, until I realized that my hesitation to NOT send him to Waldorf was more wrapped up in my own identity ("What ARE we if we're not a Waldorf family?") rather than what happened to be the best option for my son, as a whole. (In my case, Waldorf: loved the philosophy, didn't like the way our particular school was administered/had questions about some of the teachers; Montessori (loved the philosphy and some of the schools, couldn't find any options for a preschool less than 5 days a week for my youngish 3-year old); Public school (didn't get into our neighborhood program); Private (happened upon a school that was a good fit for us, and is progressive in a "mixture of best practices" kind of way but isn't nearby, so we may ultimately move for school). Or we may do radical unschooling at home, that is, out in the world :). I've been reading a lot about that, and there is a great community of unschoolers in my city.

Yes, hopefully one's children's school reflects one's values at home. But prgamatism and luck play into it. And it is important to separate out how we would like our family to self-identify versus what's the best fit for one's child.

We looked at many different options for our children. Especially Montessori, public school ended up being the best choice for them. I admire those who home-school but know that I would not be able to do that good of a job. So instead they do public school and we supplement and direct at home. We often choose their books and have discussions at home. We also do math for fun and have been teaching them algebra and more advanced math since they were quite young. So far we are confident in our choice and our children are doing well.

In Milwaukee we have public Montessori and Waldorf schools...wrap your head around that! In reality, most families find the best school for their kid...and different kids may have different needs. My neighbors home school their son, but not their daughter, for example.

I selected Montessori as a response, but it's a public school Montessori.

My sisters currently attend and I graduated from a private, non-denominational Christian school. This type of school, common in my area, does not fall into any of these categories.

We're in a private co-op preschool, but we'll be going to public school for Kinder.