Being a parent is awesome but man does it suck all at the same time. So many decisions and responsibilities that can alter a child's path in life.
Our oldest is a year out from Kindergarten
We have decided that private school is the way to go and most of the private schools we have available have a pre/transitional kindergarten program so we figure better to have them prep him for their curriculum. So tomorrow the tours and questions begin! Pretty overwhelming for me as I hated school and did just enough to get by. Looking back I wish I would have worked harder. But my wife was a teacher prior to getting into the medical field so most of the decisions will come from her.
While our public schools are decent most of them are slipping because of the philosophy of the district. If a school is high achieving then we need to bus a bunch of kids in from the failing schools because they will magically become high achievers as well
HOGWASH!!!!! By not realizing there will always be those that fail and just try to mix them in with those that excel all you do is create mediocrity. You may have no more failing schools but you also no longer have schools that are excelling.
But I also find religion to be of the utmost importantance and think it is quite beneficial for a fully rounded education. I went to public schools until college and then attended 2 private religious institutions and am glad I did.

I never really thought parenting would be this difficult. Always second guessing oneself and praying you're getting it right.
Pretty solid in the decision to go private. When I was growing up I saw no difference in the private education and the public education where I lived. Here that is a completely different scenario.

Bring your checkbook.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Bring your checkbook.

Checkbook has been out for daycare so it is pretty much a wash.
Fortunately the FSA dependent care money is good up until Kindergarten. Once the 3rd is in Kindergarten will have to figure out what to do with that stipen from work. Hopefully Obamacare will be repealed by then and I can cash it out again.

My kids have gone private since the beginning. They look forward to going to school each day. Even during the summer, as in now, they go there just after noon and stay until 6:00 p.m. - athletics, weight training, socializing. Yeah, it's pricey, but they actually want to go. Both are in the NHS and will be college bound.

No regrets. Not even missing that beach house....

Both my daughters did public school in our local area. IIRC, it is your local area, too. Both were placed in the "advanced" programs from 3rd grade on. Both are now engineers, the youngest having graduated from Purdue with honors.

PM me if you want to talk. I'll gladly buy you lunch, or you and your wife dinner with my wife and I, if you want to talk. There are ways to get true value from our local schools.

You pay out the yahoo for the public school system. I'd like to see you get a return on that money. The dollars you save from private school can be saved for college funding.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Both my daughters did public school in our local area. IIRC, it is your local area, too. Both were placed in the "advanced" programs from 3rd grade on. Both are now engineers, the youngest having graduated from Purdue with honors.

PM me if you want to talk. I'll gladly buy you lunch, or you and your wife dinner with my wife and I, if you want to talk. There are ways to get true value from our local schools.

You pay out the yahoo for the public school system. I'd like to see you get a return on that money. The dollars you save from private school can be saved for college funding.

Sadly a lot has changed with the district. My wife is a product of it and is one of the top in her medical field currently. She was also an educator for the local district before getting into the medical field. So she has a bit of inside knowledge which adds to our wanting to keep them out.
If it were the way it was when your daughters went or when my wife went I think it would be silly to send them to private school but not so much anymore.
Yes, we could send them to any school and they would be able to do well but thankfully we are in a position to afford private school and help make that task is a bit easier as many distractions currently inherent in public schools that aren't there to such an extent at the private schools because they actually get to regulate behavioral issues and what parents say goes much further.
Sure, I won't have my Panamera anytime soon but that amongst other things I am willing to sacrifice.

Well we toured and questioned to death the options we have. Our good friends kids go to our top choice and their youngest will be in the class with our oldest. So we sat down with them for quite awhile today and it only seemed to reaffirm our decision. Then we sat down again and got the inlaws in on it as well. Lots of good things seem to be going for the choice that we have made.
Yup, it is going to cost us but I believe the cost will benefit our boys substantially.
Guess I'll go cut that first check tomorrow.
The start to another chapter in life at times it seems like yesterday I had no real responsibility in life and now here I am happily married with 3 kids and about to cut the first check for my oldest kid to start private school. Pretty soon I guess we'll be sitting at a college commencement.

Find a public district/school you can live with, and move there. Private school is financial suicide.

Ours is a year away from Kindergarten, too.

We're touring a Montessori school, on Friday. It seems like the best option.


Bruce

I sent my kids to private school for the elementary years. It was worth it. We instilled the proper values at home as well. They then went to public high school because the education was better at that level than the public. It was the best of both worlds. Both have postgraduate degrees and proper values. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Find a public district/school you can live with, and move there. Private school is financial suicide.

...or are the government schools indoctrination centers where the financial suicide of an entire nation is not just tolerated but encouraged?

It is unfortunate that private/parochial parents are forced to pay twice.

We have sent our 3 to parochial grade schools and then on to very good private, single-sex high schools. I'd drive carpool right by the public school in my old cars, stopping to wait for the busses I was forced to pay for and all the while know that I was doing what was best for my children.

Congrats, Black92LX. Your children will appreciate what you are doing for them.

Sending your kids to a private school is an extraordinary gift. Lucky kids.

I think you are making a very wise choice. The payoff you will see later, when your kids are driven to attend school and dislike the goof-off crowd. The primary difference is that private school will have you much more involved in your child's education and school. Your values will be reinforced.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Find a public district/school you can live with, and move there. Private school is financial suicide.

I guess for some this is a possibility. But we'll make some personal sacrifices it will be quite a while before I buy another gun without getting rid of another and some other things like a property with acerage.
Eating at home much more frequently, packing my lunch for work. But we're still investing quite heavily for retirement and we'll be cash flowing the cost and not going in debt for it and paying interest so I see no issue for us.

Sure, I have added up the tuition cost for 3 boys to go their entire career at private school and selfishly thought of how many acres that would buy us or what color my Panamera would be or if invested properly how it could easily be a couple million extra for retirement but in the end those are sacrifices we have decided to make for our boys.

Growing up I never dreamed of sending kids to private school and I grew up in a city with crazy amounts of private schools and with more friends at private schools but the public school indoctrination over the past decade sure has been at full speed changing all that.

"Sure, I have added up the tuition cost for 3 boys to go their entire career at private school..."

Yes, but did you ever seriously consider spending that money on incredible after school programs, NatGeo Kids' expeditions, Air & Space Museum workshops, private tutors, etc.?

YOUR money is potentially far better spent "directly" on YOUR children with their lowly public school education.

Disclaimer: Four bright, well-adjusted college grads and/or post college degreed individuals in my immediate family (me, my lovely, and two young men) all products of a lowly public school education.

Especially since your wife is a teacher, why not look into home schooling, comparing her lost income to the tuition might not be such a bad deal, and you have even more control over their learning and indoctrination.

quote:

Originally posted by Cobra21:
Yes, but did you ever seriously consider spending that money on incredible after school programs, NatGeo Kids' expeditions, Air & Space Museum workshops, private tutors, etc.?

Good points. I have very mixed feelings about private schools. I went to public school, and all my kids and nieces/nephews, etc went to public schools and have done very well.
But this is in Utah/Idaho, where the public schools are pretty good and the community values all pretty conservative.
My personal view was that public school represents the reality of the population, and you need to learn how to educate yourself IN SPITE OF the generally dismal level of public education.

I just toured a bunch of schools for pre-k for my little one.

There were two things that stood out at the one we picked vs the others.
1) The teachers were all smiling. Obviously enjoying what they do.
2) Kids were engaged and paying attention.

You're actually paying more than twice. You pay the taxes (usually property taxes) to pay for the public schools. At least you can deduct that on your federal, and maybe state taxes. Then you have to pay for the private school. And that is all out of post tax money, since none of it is deductible. So it's in some ways like paying twice.


Also, if you need to move to a more expensive area to get a better school, you get many more financial benefits than paying for private. First, if you need to spend more on a house and or property taxes, both mortgage interest and property taxes are deductible. Second, a quality school district support property values. So when the kids are done with public school, you can, if you want to at that point, sell of the expensive house in the good school district, move someplace cheaper, and pocket the difference (and given the current tax laws, likely federal tax free.)

The money saved could be put to good use. I bet that the K-12 private school tuition not spent, properly invested, could probably cover college.

As far as the schools "indoctrinating" your kid(s), I find that active, involved parents can easily counteract that. That only really happens if parents abdicate their responsibilities, and let the schools raise their kids, instead of just educate them.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Find a public district/school you can live with, and move there. Private school is financial suicide.

...or are the government schools indoctrination centers where the financial suicide of an entire nation is not just tolerated but encouraged?

It is unfortunate that private/parochial parents are forced to pay twice.

We have sent our 3 to parochial grade schools and then on to very good private, single-sex high schools. I'd drive carpool right by the public school in my old cars, stopping to wait for the busses I was forced to pay for and all the while know that I was doing what was best for my children.

Congrats, Black92LX. Your children will appreciate what you are doing for them.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I sent my kids to private school for the elementary years. It was worth it. We instilled the proper values at home as well. They then went to public high school because the education was better at that level than the public. It was the best of both worlds. Both have postgraduate degrees and proper values. Good luck.

This is what my parents did for my siblings and me. I truly would not have wanted it any other way. The public high school at the time was pretty decent, especially on the athletic side. But for K-8, I'm grateful that my parents sent me to a private catholic school.