Category: Family

Private School vs Public?

I think one of the things I underestimated before becoming a parent was how much a really good education for my children meant to me. Oh sure, I wanted them to be brilliant. I wanted them to do their homework without nagging and of course they would be honor roll students!

I never gave too much thought to how that would happen though. I went to public school and just assumed the same for my own children.

Now, my husband and I still intend to send our children to public school.

However, with our oldest headed off to Kindergarten next year…we’re pausing and wondering if we’re really ready for our son to attend all day public school Kindergarten?

I’ve been a stay at home mom since my son was born. I’ve always worked a bit though. For the first few years it was outside the home two days a week at a local Mother’s Day Out. My son (and eventually my daughter) came with me though and was always just a few classrooms away.

I’ve since left Mother’s Day Out, and now I work from home (on this blog and a few other freelancing projects). My kids do attend preschool outside of the home 5 days a week for about 4 hours a day. It’s truly a blessing.

I can get work done while they are at school, and really devote quality time to them when they come home. It’s really helped with that burnt out feeling I had this past summer.

Next year though, the plan was for my son to attend our neighborhood public school for Kindergarten and my daughter would continue on at our church preschool.

Until I realized that they don’t offer half day Kindergarten any longer. 

Until I did a bit of digging and found out that in our state, a Kindergarten teacher (ONE teacher) can have up to 22 5-year olds in his/her class. 

Until I fell in love with the preschool my children are currently attending. 

Until I realized their preschool offers a half day Kindergarten program. 

This year, the Kindergarten program at our church (where their preschool is) has a ratio of 1 teacher to 4 children. That’s right, there’s a classroom with 8 children and TWO teachers. Sounds a LOT better than 22:1 right?

I recently was told by my son’s current teacher that the max ratio at (let’s just call it…)Church Kindergarten is 1 teacher to 6 children. (They always have 2 teachers in each classroom as well)

Not to mention, we’re Christian. One more year of Jesus in school vs No Jesus Allowed in public school?

It sounds like a no brainer, but we really are a bit conflicted.

Here are our Pros and Cons of going with Private School vs Public for Kindergarten:

Pros

• Half day program
• Low student/teacher ratio
• It’s own home church
• Both kids stay in the same school a year longer
• Jesus!
• We have been SO impressed with what our children have learned this year. I know that they get a great education there

Cons

• Public school is free. Obviously private is not.
• I worry about him missing out on making friends in his school district
• Even though I’ve been reassured, I worry about the curriculum not matching up. He will attend 1st grade in public school, so it’s important he doesn’t end up behind.

Private school vs public school for Kindergarten is NOT an easy decision! But it is one we need to settle on soon. Registration comes up in the spring and I want to feel comfortable and confident in our decision (whatever it might be) by that time.

I’m not going to lie, my little guy has been shielded thus far in life. He has an innocent wonder in his eyes and the sweetest, kindest heart. He has a love for Jesus that is pure and child like and beautiful. I’m not claiming public school will take that away from him. I wonder though if sticking with private kindergarten will be a gentler way to ease him into the world he’s going to find himself in for the next 12 (at least…add 4 to that for college and even more if he goes to grad school!) years?

I’d love for y’all to weigh in with your thoughts/experiences? I know education can be a HOT topic, so let’s be sure we stay respectful and understand that everyone has different beliefs and makes different choices. 

I want to hear from the public schoolers, the private schoolers and yes, the homeschoolers! Chime in and let me know your thoughts! 

I want to take a second to introduce you all to the newest member of the FFF team!

Somer is actually my sister in law (my husband’s little sister) and a dear friend of mine. She’s been working on the site for a couple of weeks  now posting deals and coupons, and I’m so happy to welcome her to the team!

Hi, I’m Somer Shaw and one of my favorite things to do is save money! With an associate’s degree in business and a passion for accounting, I am always on the look-out for where I can save money in my budget.

Although I am a newbie to couponing, I’ve found that couponing for simple things like food and toiletries, or complex online gift shopping , can be much more fun and rewarding when you find it for a great deal!

This is why I love familyfriendlyfrugality.com. I know where to look to catch the best deals at the right time. Whether it’s online, in-store, or on-the-go restaurant savings you can be sure to find it here!

I hope you enjoy my additions to the FFF page and may the best deals find their way into your budget!

Join me in giving Somer a warm welcome!

New to Family Friendly Frugality? My name is Heather and I am the owner and you can read about me here. Katie is our other team member, you can read more about her here.

Welcome to the team Somer!

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day of our lives and forget to stop and smell the roses. The  house needs cleaning, the kids need feeding and the clothes aren’t going to wash themselves.

Ever since I started this website, figuring out how to juggle all my duties has been tough. Working from home presents an interesting dilemma. You can fit work in whenever you want…no rigid hours, no boss to answer to, no real schedule.

The truth is though, as much as those are POSITIVES, they are also big time NEGATIVES. 

You fit in work whenever you want….which means you work…alot. Too much.

You have no rigid hours, which means that you don’t really ever shut things down. The computer is always sitting there, telling you that you could (and probably should) be doing more. 

You have no boss to answer to, except yourself. Who is YOUR harshest critic? Exactly. 

You have no real schedule, which also means that you don’t really have defined work time and play time. It all kind of meshes together, which for some is the best of both worlds. Honestly though, it just leaves me feeling like I’m lacking a bit in every department. I can’t ever sit down and tune out one area of my life while focusing 100% of my attention on another. They consistently mesh and leave me feeling like I’m just skating by, which makes me feel inadequate because mediocrity has always equaled failure in my eyes (see the harshest critic comment above). 

So this year, we’ve enrolled our children in 5 day a week preschool (4 hours a day). I’m not going to lie, it’s been tough for me! I mean, I’m home…right? Shouldn’t my kids be with me? It’s contrary to everything I believe in to send my kids off (especially my 2 year old! I mean goodness, she’s just a BABY!), while I stay home…that’s just not how it works.

Except it does work. It’s only been a bit over a week, and life is slowly starting to come back together around here again. I’m giving more to my family because I’m focusing on work and house while they are away at work and school. When they are at school (kids) and work (husband) I clean my house. I work. When they come home, I can focus on THEM. Not for just 15 minutes here and there in between the load of laundry that needs folding and the pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove that is about to bubble over.

I am learning (slowly) how to manage my time so that when my family is home with me, they are my focus. I sat down yesterday and played Barbies (Mental Note: Buy Barbie Clothes, playing with naked Barbies is a bit awkward)  with my daughter yesterday for 45 minutes. I didn’t have to worry about dinner. I didn’t have to worry about work. Everything in my household and in my work life was completed and on auto pilot.

My QUALITY time with my daughter was a great reminder that the QUANTITY of your time means nothing if it’s not really QUALITY time. 

All this to say, I know I have a lot of work at home moms that read my blog. I know a lot of them are bloggers. I know a lot of them have their children at home with them and struggle with the balance between work and home life. I just want to say, it’s okay to get help. Maybe a preschool situation isn’t right (or feasible) for your family. Maybe it’s a friend you trade off babysitting duties with a few days a week. Maybe it’s hiring someone to do some light cleaning or to mow the lawn. Maybe it’s just getting your kids to pitch in more so the entire burden of running a household is NOT on you!

This isn’t a slam at stay at home moms that don’t work or moms that work outside the home. I’ve done both, and they come with their own struggles and triumphs.

Making the mindset change from being a stay at home mom to being a work from home mom was the best thing I’ve done for my family and for my website. It encouraged me to put up boundaries. It also taught me that it’s okay to get help (including hiring a VA, outsourcing my website design and of course, sending the kids to 5 day a week preschool).

If you are struggling with juggling, sit down and find a way to make your time work for you. Get help, ask for help and accept the help that has been given to you as guilt free as you possibly can (we’re mom’s…some guilt is par for the course 😉 ).

Oh and when you have the choice between Barbies and Conference Calls? Choose Barbies 😉