Need advice - How do you all do it?!?!

[a|ex]

this is a question of financial planning. simple answer, if you can't afford private school, then don't do it. same as asking how can people afford to buy Lamborghini's for their kids? the question one should ask is how motivated are you to afford such luxuries.

my first 2 kids went to private schools. as the next 2 came, we knew it was impossible to continue private schools for all of them. so we sold our home and moved to a location where we could still maintain our lifestyle and not sacrifice the kid's education.

remember one thing, the kids learn more at home than they do at school.

-a|ex

[Vlias]

Hi alex.

We *can* afford it. It's just the reality has hit me about how much money it really is. We will have to decide as a family what's really important to us.

What do people really mean when you all say "most education is done at home". I mean we'll help will homework and provide extra enrichment at home, do museums, travel, etc. But I'm thinking that in terms of the actual curriculum education, we can't possibly teach all of that home. So I think I must be missing your point on that one. Can you explain what you mean?

[globalnomad]

Some of the ways we afford private school for 2 kids:

We don't have tv (hence no cable or satellite bills). Our kids pack their own brown bag lunches instead of us paying for their private school meal plan. We don't take vacations (but do budget for school trips). We don't subscribe to any magazines or newpapers (we read online). We eat out only on birthdays. We shop for clothes at Target (sometimes Goodwill). We don't buy back-to-school anything. Each family member has 3 pairs of shoes (not dozens). Backpacks are used for multiple years. We don't ever "go shopping" at malls as an activity. We use the public library instead of buying books. We wait for movies to come out on DVD. We conserve gasoline as much as possible and we don't drive fancy cars. We are practically Amish when it comes to buying new technology (we are very late adopters). We don't have a housekeeper and we do our own lawn. We only buy grocery store brands and love food mark-downs. We don't buy bottled water. We don't have gym memberships. We avoid impulse shopping for anything. We are excited by free or low-cost activities (like the lectures or concerts at Emory University which are open to the public).

The list goes on and on.

Our priorities are education, not stuff.






Global Nomad

[a|ex]

Originally Posted by Vlias

Hi alex.

We *can* afford it. It's just the reality has hit me about how much money it really is. We will have to decide as a family what's really important to us.

What do people really mean when you all say "most education is done at home". I mean we'll help will homework and provide extra enrichment at home, do museums, travel, etc. But I'm thinking that in terms of the actual curriculum education, we can't possibly teach all of that home. So I think I must be missing your point on that one. Can you explain what you mean?

their desire to learn starts at home. we taught our children how to read and basic math before it was taught in school. simple math drills are done while driving around doing errands. story time with the kids then afterward they read the stories to us. they get to watch as much tv or play whatever video games they want since studying has already been part of their routine. there are things that can't be done at home, such as learning to socialize with peers and lab experiments. don't forget about religion. although i'm catholic and my wife is protestant, we introduced our children to various types of religious beliefs (mostly because of our diverse friends and co-workers). we leave it up to them to decide which religion they prefer.

in the past, my wife yelled at me when i taught my then 6 year old binary math and played multi-syllable word games. by the time she was in middle-school, she tested at college level reading/comp/english. unfortunately, even though her math grades are high, she has no interest in the sciences. she is entering senior in HS.

as others mentioned, there are good public schools. we decided on fayette county schools. i should also add that one of my son has aspergers/adhd and was home schooled (when we lived in Florida). he has attended a private special needs school here in GA and will be entering public middle school this year. he has progressed to the point of no longer requiring medication.

-a|ex

[MyLittlePrincessK]

Okay I finally have a minute to reply. Our DD is an auditory learner, which means basically she is a traditional classroom type kid. The teacher gives the lesson, the practice session, et al and DD has got it. She learns that way (we think). I have read alot of books about learning styles etc. and one of the advantages of a small private school is you can really get some good feedback on how your individual child learns. Also a benefit of the smaller class size -- because DD is fairly able (I am not saying she is gifted, we don't think she is) to pick up on the information presented in the classroom, practice it (via in class and homework) and then successfully pass the test. We have figured out that she is alot like DH in learning style and how she processes information. In order for her to learn she must be in class absorbing the information. Because the teacher only has 18 kids to worry about she can pretty much individually asses each one on a regular basis.


We missed a week in Kindy because we voluntarily kept her out that week on a family vacation and it immediately showed. It was truly amazing. One week of missed class time resulted in a 10-20 point drop on a test score on that particular area that was covered in class for that week. It just reinforced to us that she needs to be in class, every day, all time. This is not true for every child I know. However in a public school setting I don't think we would have gotten the feedback we need to determine how our DD learns. I have visited our local elementary school many times. My good friend and neighbor loves our local elementary school--which for Cobb County I would consider average -- not great like some of East Cobb schools and not even the best of the best in West Cobb (we are in West Cobb) but definitely very average. My neighbor and friend invites us frequently to events and things at this school. The difference in the attitude both of teachers and kids is amazing and honestly the public school kids and teachers are good -- there is nothing wrong with them.

But there is a difference -- especially in how the kids treat each other. Case in point, my same neighbor is sending her rising 6th grader to Trinity Chapel (a local school here in Powder Springs) versus Tapp Middle School. She and her DH toured Trinity and she immediately called me and said I now see exactly why you did what you did with your DD. I said to her, at the time DD was in Kindy and we made the private school choice, that I did not know how to explain the difference in what I saw and experienced (no kids up roaming the room, out in the halls, talking out of turn, et al) but since then I have realized the extent that teachers in our private school go to make sure everybody is included, that learning is happening and that each student is getting what he/she needs from the [SIZE=3]curriculum[/SIZE]. It is not perfect not by a long shot. I am a public school educated person from K-12 so I am not in anyway shape or form against good public education at all.

Take a good look at your kids. One may benefit to an extreme from a private school education, the other may thrive in a public school environment -- alot depends on the child, their personality and how they learn. Montessori, as good as it sounds, would not benefit (from what I now know) our DD in the least -- but for many children it is a great solution. Take a long hard look at each child in your family and you will probably find the answers you need.

[MyLittlePrincessK]

Alex is right in terms of education begins at home. We started early and continue every day. It is all about the mindset. For instance, we have a 45 mintue commute to school (again a choice we made, I work at the same school DD attends). She is not allowed to watch DVD's she listens to audiobooks. Any book of her choosing (we have a Cobb County library card and their collection of audio books on tape and CD are awesome!). We have gone through all of Junie B Jones series, Magic Treehouse, et al. We are working on Nancy Drew even though it is a a bit old for her (rising 2nd grade). She loves them. Other days when she dosen't feel like listening, she reads out loud to me. Sometimes she reads stuff we read 1000 times other times it is her AR book for the week. It has worked well for us and is a good example of how learning begins at home.

[WriterDawg85]

Originally Posted by Vlias

Hi alex.

We *can* afford it. It's just the reality has hit me about how much money it really is. We will have to decide as a family what's really important to us.

What do people really mean when you all say "most education is done at home". I mean we'll help will homework and provide extra enrichment at home, do museums, travel, etc. But I'm thinking that in terms of the actual curriculum education, we can't possibly teach all of that home. So I think I must be missing your point on that one. Can you explain what you mean?

I think what people mean by "most education is done at home" has a broader meaning that the one that you're taking from it. You mentioned earlier that a strong moral and religious education was important to you, and the first and most important place that children learn that is from their parents. What you and your family can teach your child about those things goes far above and beyond what any particular schooling choice will do for them. The same can also be said for a lot of qualities - public school won't make a kid bad and private school won't make him or her good, parenting is what matters the most. Before you seriously compromise your life and budget, it might be useful to consider the role that you can have in doing some of the same religious/moral education.

[Bluefly]

A lot of broke families go to private school: financial aid, loans, and scholarships.