Is it better to be a stay at home mom and send your children to public school or work & send them to private?

Question

Your opinion? If you could be more involved in the school as a stay at home parent and send your child to an average public school for elementary school or go back to work full time and send your child to a good Catholic Private school (for example $8,000 a year per child), which would you do, and why? Or would you home school your children?

Answer 1

I think it depends on the public schools in your area. I would have loved to attended a private school since I attended public schools and charter schools in my county and was disappointed (education here in Florida isn't the greatest).

As someone who just graduated from high school and started college, I felt like I wasn't prepared. If the public schools in your area have many Honor and Advanced Placement courses that can challenge your children then do that! But since they are still in elementary school does it really matter that much? Even a parent can teach their children the basics they learn in grade school. I would have enjoyed my parents more in my life when I was younger, they were always off working. If I was you I would be a stay at home parent and send your children to a regular school and then as they get older put them in schools that challenge them.

But you're the parent! You know whats best for your kids. :) :) :)

Answer 2

I think that people have a mistaken opinion of private schools.  Just because you are paying for it, does not make it better.  I'm not saying that all private schools are not as good as public, but they may not be any better.  Also, if your child has any learning disabilities, the private school is under no obligation to give your child any extra help as they do in public school.  That said, of course there are public school that are horrible.  Do some research, go to the websites http://www.greatschools.net and /http://schooltree.org/ they rate most schools throughout the U.S and offer a lot of information.  Then you can see how your local school rates and you may be able to see how the local private schools rate.  Not all private schools are included.  I believe though that your children would prefer you to be at home.

Answer 3

I think it is better to be at home and work.  It is the best of both worlds and it is what I did an now I can afford for my children to both go to private school at $18,000 a year.

I tried over 15 opportunities in the course of 2 years so I have some great information for you plus a list of top 10 work at home scams!

I am a mother of two little girls who are actually tugging on my arm as I write this so I will try to be brief. Many people are looking for work from home companies. All the scams definitely create a big problem but also, there is a problem of people misunderstanding the difference between work from home "jobs" and work from home opportunities. There really are not work from home “jobs”. To get that you have to start working for a company in their offices first, then they MAY allow you to take the job home.

Most of the work from home opportunities that are legitimate offers are not an hourly pay type job. They are business opportunities that help you in starting your own business from your home. What you should do first is to decide if you are simply looking for an hourly rate type job or if you are looking for more of an opportunity for additional income such as what you would make in your own business being your own boss from home. Small home businesses have some small costs involved, less than $500 to start is reasonable and I would stay away from those wanting $1000-$5000. It doesn’t cost that much to start and run a home business so you shouldn’t pay it.

If you are coming across places that say free then I would RUN don’t walk the other way! They never are. I tried them many a times and 3 weeks later I had to buy this and 6 weeks later that. After 6 months these “free businesses” had cost me over $800 on average.

After trying 15 things I now work about 18-25 hours per week for a National Medical Benefits Company. This is a nationally known and reputable home business which is what you need to make sure you are looking for. I have been with the company almost a year and a half now and I make over $4500 a month! In your first month, depending on how many hours you can work, I have seen people make anywhere from $500 to over $2500. And your income will increase each month because you get paid residual income as well.

The best part is they have 401(k), direct deposit, life insurance and a benefits package most of which you get from day one. In addition, there are no products, no hard selling or pushing, no cold calling, no home parties and no telemarketing! That was VERY important to me. I absolutely love working with them and I can't believe I am making what I am making and in so few hours per week. The neat thing is there are other people on your team that you work with so you are never alone. You have great team support and you get to know the other people on your team pretty well.

I was a bit apprehensive at first because I know a lot of companies are not legit but this company is the number one National Medical Benefits Company in the US. They are a member of the US Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Dental Plans and the owner of the company actually sits on the board of The Consumer Health Alliance to which we are also members. Also they were featured in “The New York Times”, “Wall Street Journal” “Time Magazine” “American Medical Review” and even in the May 2008 issue of “Parents Magazine”. Even “60 Minutes” did a big special on this home based business.

Even more then all this is they are accepted at over 100,000 retailers nationwide. These are fortune 500 companies like Sears, Target, K-mart, Rite Aid, CVS, Wal-mart, Publix and more. These companies would never work with a company that was anything less than reputable.

You can research the company at www.workathomeplus.net



TOP 10 WORK AT HOME SCAMS:

10. Craft Assembly

9. Medical Billing

8. Email/Rebate Processing

7. "A List of Companies Looking for Home workers!"

6. "Just Call This 1-900 Number For More Information..."

5. Typing At Home / Data Entry

4. "Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine!"

3. Pyramid Schemes (this is NOT the same as Multi-Level Marketing MLM)

2. Chain Letters/Emails ("Make Money Fast")

1. Envelope Stuffing

Please beware of these scams. There are some legit home businesses out there so be careful. Look for companies in business over 10 years. Look for companies with a needed product or service, something you would be proud to represent. Look for companies that have a national reputation and are members of the US Chamber of Commerce.

As for those of you who say…..”I want to work from home but I don’t want to have to pay for anything”. Well, that’s great! But it will never happen. Let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If  it is a true honest home business you need to expect to pay. Mr. Walt Disney didn’t start the Disney empire “without paying for anything”. Neither did Mr. Sam Walton, owner of Wal-Mart.

If you want to learn about REAL home businesses visit: workathomeplus.net

www.workathomeplus.net.

Good luck to you in your search. Also feel free to contact me at any time with your questions! [e-mail]

This answer has been chosen as a “Best Answer” 47 times!

Answer 4

I am a mother of 3 and worked until my oldest was 4 1/2.  At that time, I quit my job as a teacher to be a full-time stay-at-home mom.  My youngest started kindergarten today.  I have volunteered in my children's classrooms for the past 2 years and will continue to do so this year.  Volunteering is one of the most satisfying experiences you will ever have!  You get to know all of your children's classmates on a personal level and it allows you to participate in your children's lives on a whole new level.  There are many wonderful public schools out there!  Do some research. Talk to some parents who have children attending the schools.  This is the era of choice.  If you live in a district that is unsatisfactory, you can open enroll and choose a school that works for you.  No school is perfect, but with parental involvement, all schools are made better!

Answer 5

I do homeschool my children.  It is the best option for our family.

They get a customized education instead of a cookie cutter one, with 100% parent involvement WITHOUT the inflated tuition.  

They learn about the real world by living in it, rather than reading about it in an artificial, forced-socialization environment.  Where else in life are you segregated solely based on your year of birth and neighborhood?  Public school is not the only, and is certainly not the best, option for socialization.

Answer 6

It depends on the schools and on the kids, and I would go and interview and observe any schools you are considering.  My eldest would had some early learning issues which might have benefited from being homeschooled, except that she was compulsively social and would have absolutely hated not having kids around most of the day.  I ended up doing a lot of tutoring until she was up to par, but kept her in formal school systems.  As to the public private thing, I have tried both public and private schools.  In some places the public schools were better than the private ones; in others it was the reverse. I am myself Catholic and I tithe, so that the local Catholic school system is free to me, but there was a time when I sent one kid to the Catholic school, and the other to nonreligious private school. (The local public schools at that time and place were bad in all respects.)  The secular private school was more academically challenging but had a problem with drugs and alcohol.  My risk taker therefore got sent to the Catholic school, my cautious kid to the other.  

Answer 7

Well, seeing as I'm not Catholic (nor Christian), no child of mind would ever be accepted to a Catholic private school.  ;)  I don't much care for the whole concept of religious educational institutions, anyway, regardless of faith.

Beyond that, the private schools are only moderated better that the public schools in my area.

I would never, EVER home school.  1) because I'm not qualified, and 2) because home-school children miss out on a lot early socialization that is very important to their emotional and social development.  When you shield your child from the world, they never learn to function in it properly without you.

And finally, I don't think I could tolerate being a stay at home mom once my kids were school-aged and gone most of the day.  I'd be bored out of my mind.  My own mother went back to work for that very reason once my sister and I were both in school.