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Private school vs SAHM?
I know this is probably a good problem to have, since if we weren't fairly
stable financially, it wouldn't be an issue at all. There is one specific school which, over the last few years, has been highly recommended by quite a few people who have met DD as the perfect school for her. It's a very well known, very academic private girls school with strong fine arts and foreign language programs, wonderful facilities and staff, and, well, basically _I'D_ love to go back and take some of the classes they've offered. It truly sounds like a wonderful situation for a very gifted little girl who loves science, music, and foreign languages. But it's expensive. Very expensive. Even the application and testing fees to apply are close to $1000. And while they have financial aid, I doubt seriously that we're poor or photogenic enough to qualify. Right now, we can afford for me to be home pretty easily, even with DD in a parochial school near home. I do teach a couple of classes as an adjunct at the university, but that's more for me than for money (I think I figured out that my salary this semester will about cover my gas for my regular driving around). I'm able to volunteer at DD's school (and I'm spending about half the time she's at preschool at her parochial school volunteering in the classes which don't have parent volunteers, and enjoying it), and I'm able to be there after school hours (which right now are 1/2 day) for playdates, music class, and the like. Next year, if she moves to full-day K (still not sure whether we'll be starting her in K at 4 1/2 on a waiver or waiting until she's officially eligible), whether at the parochial school or our neighborhood public school, I'd still have that flexibility. The public school will test her for GT this coming summer with her current preschool teacher's recommendation (her teacher did the paperwork, and they contacted me about it), and if she qualifies, she would enter K early on a gIEP-but given the limited nature of GT in our schools, I'm not expecting much more to be provided than allowing her to enter school with a birthday after the cutoff and her K teacher having a little more information going in, whether or not she actually has resources to do it. The parochial school loves her, and is willing to work with us, but has only one class per grade, and while they're more advanced than the average in the public school, I'm not sure that they'll be able to do much for DD long-term. I've been volunteering in a 3rd grade class, and with 20 students and relatively few supports, it seems like the teacher barely has time to turn around, let alone to do much as far as individualization. The 6th grade class is even worse-25 students, with a teacher who is teaching ALL subjects. Realistically, we could afford the private school, but it would require either cutting new savings down to my husband's 401K at work, and cutting the budget to the bare minimums OR my going back to work full-time (and pretty much endorsing my paycheck over to the school). I strongly suspect that it might take both, given that I know that the school tuition is probably only a small part of the actual costs. Oh, and the "dream school" is about a 30 minute drive away, compared to about a 10 minute one for the parochial school or a walk of maybe a block and a half for the public one. Moving closer to the "dream school" would likely necessitate a larger mortgage payment (and that assumes we could sell this house). As I said, it's a good problem to have-but I can't help but wish DH would get a magic salary increase or that Ed McMahon would appear with a giant check-anything to take this from dream that might be achievable if we gave up a lot to easily reachable. |
#2
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Private school vs SAHM?
Donna Metler wrote:
There is one specific school which, over the last few years, has been highly recommended by quite a few people who have met DD as the perfect school for her. It's a very well known, very academic private girls school with strong fine arts and foreign language programs, wonderful facilities and staff, and, well, basically _I'D_ love to go back and take some of the classes they've offered. It truly sounds like a wonderful situation for a very gifted little girl who loves science, music, and foreign languages. But it's expensive. Very expensive. Even the application and testing fees to apply are close to $1000. And while they have financial aid, I doubt seriously that we're poor or photogenic enough to qualify. Honestly, I think it's a very personal decision. What kind of work schedule would you have? Would it be compatible with her school schedule, or would you need before or after care? In all likelihood, it would definitely eat into your availability (time and energy) to enroll her in after school enrichment activities. Now, if the dream school provides enough real support during the day, the extracurriculars might be less necessary. Another factor to consider is how difficult it would be to get her into the dream school later. If you don't enter in kindy, is it harder to get in? Would she be at a big disadvantage (academically, socially, etc.)? Do you have to make this decision now, or is it a decision that could wait until you have evidence that less expensive options aren't going to do the job? A caveat: check out the school carefully yourself. Many things that look great, or even *are* great for other kids, don't suit the needs of your kid. The devil's in the details, so check them out carefully before you make any big lifestyle-altering changes. I don't think that it's inherently good or bad to choose working full-time in order to provide a better education. Even if you can definitely determine that the more expensive school is really worth the investment, the option of being more available yourself to engage in enrichment activities is usually a viable one (though it too involves some expenditures, depending on what enrichments you choose). I think you have to really ask yourself what suits your personality, your daughter's personality, and your family's lifestyle. Best wishes, Ericka |
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Private school vs SAHM?
Here's one way to look at it, during the olympics there was an article
on one of the news sites about the cost of raising an olympian. I'd put money on there being many potential olympians out there who's parents chose not to spend that money or couldn't, but didn't push and scream for help. So you have to figure out what your aims for her are, she's obviously very bright, probably even super bright, but education isn't necessarily the way that you turn that potential into being a functional adult, which I'm presuming is the ultimate aim for her. I don't know enough about the school to know how it would help her, and I do wonder if some of the problems you've identified about the parochial school would still apply to the dream school, chances are, even there she'll be way above some of he students and what do they have in place to deal with that? If they can deal with that, then maybe that causes another problem, that she won't learn to work for something, to be independent, to direct her own learning etc again, I don't know the school, so maybe it will teach her those things. Me and my sister are both bright, I don't know how that compares to your daughter, but we were definitely a bit precocious! But we have different personalities, at elementary age I got my schooling in public school and I did fine, mostly being one classe ahead of my age. My sister went to a private school that was probably somewhere between the parochial school and the dream school, she also did fine, but we wouldn't have done fine the other way round. I think the teachers at my sister's school would have lynched me! My teachers at the public school dealt with my by handing me an old maths book lying around and letting me stick my nose into that, it's hardly the perfect way to do things, but I did fine and I think did learn a lot more self study skills than my sister, which was something she struggled with for a while. I think I'd be inclined to try public school and see what happens, if that keeps you a SAHM, that gives you the chance to spend time with her, supplement her education, encourage self directed study etc, whilst saving money for if the time comes that the dream school does become the right thing for her. I think that a younger child is much more adaptable so as long as they are watched carefully, which you can do when they are younger I don't think public school versus private school makes such a difference as it can do when they are older. FWIW, it's very common in the UK for a child to go to school within the state system and move over to private at 11, 13 or 16, when the parents do have more of an idea what's best for the child and can then choose a school that's good for them. Cheers Anne |
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