My son Buddy recently turned 3, so my husband and I have been deciding whether to send our son to preschool or do preschool at home. In Part 1 and Part 2,
I talked about the top two reasons why other moms seem to be sending
their kids to preschool: socialization and time alone for mom. In Part 3, I discussed what kids are learning in preschool and how I can easily teach a preschool curriculum at home.
In this post, I want to talk about one of the major reasons my husband and I decided not to send our son to preschool: money. Let's face it, preschool is expensive. I thought that it was pretty expensive before we started looking into the pros and cons. Now that I know I can easily teach everything at home that my son could learn at preschool, it means that preschool is a luxury, not a necessity, and I think it's extravagant.
I looked up some local preschools, and it looks like for 2 days a week, schools charge around $300. So, if I send my son for 9 months out of the year, we'd be spending $2700! And that doesn't include other expenses that aren't included in tuition, such as gas to drive him back and forth, snacks for the class, supplies, etc. Taking an honest look at our budget, we do not spend $300/mo on any other luxury. We didn't even budget "fun money" until recently. After all, we're living on one income since I stay home with the boys, and we don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on luxuries.
Remember, this series is about my family and how we've come to the decision not to send our son to preschool. For many families, the pros may outweigh the cons. And, many families may have more discretionary income to spend on school. Those families may decide to send their kids to preschool rather than homeschooling. I'm not trying to be judgmental--I'm just presenting the idea that preschool is not mandatory. Many moms (myself included) automatically think we have to send our kids to preschool without really thinking about whether it's necessary or beneficial. I don't want to make decisions about this much money based on "everyone's doing it".
-Lily
Other posts in this series:
Part 1: Why preschool?
Part 2: Socialization and time alone--my response
Part 3: Academics and curriculum
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Image courtesy of chokphoto at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Oh thank you thank you thank you! I have been in the midst of this dilemma for a while, and the only 2 reasons I hear are those you have found and I don't feel they are good enough. I think I will scream if one more person tells me that putting my daughter who had major separation anxiety issues will be the best thing, because although it will be traumatic it will supposedly cure her! It's nice to know I am not alone in wanting to protect her from the bad things she will learn and at the same time have a better reason than me time ....
ReplyDeleteWendy, I'm so glad to hear from you! It's nice to hear from other moms who don't want to send their kids to preschool just because of cultural pressure.
DeleteI actually used to teach preschool, and I feel pretty confident in saying there are more pros than cons to homeschooling for this age group. One big factor for me is the issue of discipline. In many schools, new standards require only "positive discipline," which means that there are no time-outs for bad behavior. Like where I taught, we actually were not allowed to give time-outs. I don't think that this is a good example of How Life Works (in real life, if you do something bad, you get a punishment, not redirection!) Preschool is such a critical age for teaching behavior...I would not consider sending my daughter to a school where she doesn't learn there are consequences to her actions.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I like keeping my boys with me so that I can be in control of everything they're taught--including discipline and consequences.
DeleteGlad you are keeping them home. Please consider sharing your post with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/02/bunnys-bento-box-eco-kids-tuesday.html
ReplyDelete