QOTW: "Education"

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
QOTW: "Education"
25
Mon, 01-08-2007 - 8:09am

BOARD QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
(Thank you to the board member who posted this board topic for us)


"For education preferences - are you working at or have you even looked at alternatives to regular/ parochial schools?


Are you planning to push your kids to college? Do you think it's imperative they go?


We recently had the prophet of our church tell our youth (ages 12- 18) to sacrifice EVERYTHING for a good secondary education - and for parents to do the same. He went on to say that it is THE most important thing next to religion and morality for every person to obtain. Interesting."


Did you go to college?


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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-17-2004
Mon, 01-08-2007 - 5:02pm

"and many who would benefit more from trade schools or with other opportunities, nothing wrong with that!"

Relevant to the topic. I was recently at a Christmas party and was talking to a man that just started doing marketing for the local regional vocational school. This is an alternative regional high school that teaches the kids a trade. He told me that 60% of their graduates go on to college to get a degree in business. They don't want to just work at their trade, but run their own company.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 01-08-2007 - 5:22pm

"For education preferences - are you working at or have you even looked at alternatives to regular/ parochial schools?

The only alternate to public schools (we're in a really good school system) that I've considered was homeschooling, but I feel it is more beneficial for our family for Aly to attend the local public elementary school. I am considering have her attend a different middle school and possibly a different high school, but we're a year and a half away from that and I don't have a permanent position yet. As long as I am employed by the school system, she can go to any school I choose to drive her to.

Are you planning to push your kids to college? Do you think it's imperative they go?

Yes and yes.

We recently had the prophet of our church tell our youth (ages 12- 18) to sacrifice EVERYTHING for a good secondary education - and for parents to do the same. He went on to say that it is THE most important thing next to religion and morality for every person to obtain. Interesting."

Did you go to college? Do you think it is more important for kids to go now than it was when you were in that position?

Yes I went to college right out of high school and finished with an Associate's degree. I went back to college and finished with a Bachelor's degree. I plan to get a Master's and "plus 30". I guess I'm young enough that I don't see much of a difference of importance of college...I think it's still about the same--important for many professions but definitely not all, but still good to have no matter what. It was important for ME to go to college--my grandparents saved & paid for college for all 5 grandchildren, however I was the first to graduate with an Associate's degree and the first to graduate with a Bachelor's degree--I think one older cousin finished with an Associate's degree, but after I got mine. I was also expected to by teachers and other adults in my life, so I didn't "quit" college early on until I at least finished with my Associate's.

Will you pay for your childs education or do you think it is more important for them to fund their own education?(DH recently read an article in his FORTUNE magazine that said it is more important for adults to save for retirement than it is to save for their child's education as there are many forms of help available to them)

Well, I definitely think if there's ownership of the education (child paying own way), it's more appreciated (as is maturity, but that's a different story). I definitely hope to be able to help her through much of the paperwork and I hope that she can get good scholarships, too. At this point, I really don't know what we'll do. We're hoping for academic scholarships! But, if we have to pay, then we'll find a way and it may be a joint effort.

Alysha


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2003
Mon, 01-08-2007 - 5:52pm

"For education preferences - are you working at or have you even looked at alternatives to regular/ parochial schools?


Alll my kids have gone to public school and all are now homeschooling. Our reasons for homeschooling have varied for each child but have included bullying, frustration with the spec.ed system and really bad teachers.


Are you planning to push your kids to college? Do you think it's imperative they go?


It is imperative that they get some kind of post-secondary education. I don't care what they take but they need to have a marketable skill.


We recently had the prophet of our church tell our youth (ages 12- 18) to sacrifice EVERYTHING for a good secondary education - and for parents to do the same. He went on to say that it is THE most important thing next to religion and morality for every person to obtain. Interesting."


I agree


Did you go to college?

Linda
mom to
Alex (16), Rachel (14), Matthew (12)


iVillage Member
Registered: 01-17-2004
Mon, 01-08-2007 - 6:03pm

"We will help as much as we can but do not plan on paying the entire thing. We live within an hour's commute of 3 universites and 3 colleges so hopefully our children will be able to continue to live at home while they attend school, which will help cut down the expense. ."

Halarious. I live within walking distance of a college, and when my daughter said that she could to to school there and live at home, I laughed. No way! I am shipping her off somewhere, but she is NOT living at home while in college.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 01-08-2007 - 6:26pm

Wow, that's awesome! So even going to trade school doesn't mean you'll be stuck in your trade, you can use that as a stepping stone to something further!

Denise

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2006
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 1:08am

"For education preferences - are you working at or have you even looked at alternatives to regular/ parochial schools? I have thought about homeschooling since I have a few friends who do it..If I could afford it though they would probably go to private school.


Are you planning to push your kids to college? Do you think it's imperative they go? I do push education on my kids and going to college and how important it is. Even if they go to a community college and get at least an AA degree I'm fine with it. Just go to college!


We recently had the prophet of our church tell our youth (ages 12- 18) to sacrifice EVERYTHING for a good secondary education - and for parents to do the same. He went on to say that it is THE most important thing next to religion and morality for every person to obtain. Interesting."


Did you go to college?

Brittany "MomtofiveDrews"

Kiana "Hooprincess" 13 yrs old

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2005
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 2:09am
I recently read and article in our local parent magazine about saving for college. It said "you should start saving the moment the HPT is positive". I wish I had I do believe in a college education and personally I think that parents should encourage it and they should help with the financial responsiblities. There are tons of grants, financial aid and other programs to help out but this artcle also said the "you should save 3/4 of the perspective colleges tuition". They also said you should have your child look into schools that aren't out of yours and their budget. Ivy League isn't always the best choice!
Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 9:26am

I wanted to echo a thought about living away from home. I think a huge benefit of college is living on their own and managing their lives on their own. I will not encourage my kids to commute to school and live at home. Even if they stay in the dc/baltimore area, they will live at school. This past summer my 12 yo went to a 3 week camp through johns hopkins and stayed at a dorm and loved it. He had talked about wanting to stay home - lol at 12 I didn't take him seriously.

As far as the financing. We will be able to cover the cost of the average private school which is currently $26,000/yr. Anything over that will probably be on them if we can't come up with the extra funds. Right now he says he wants to go to johns hopkins, which I believe is in the 40,000 range. However, hubby says he wants them to go to the best school they can and will pay for it. I guess we'll have to dust off the printing press in the basement.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 9:38am

I don't like dorms. They are 80% party (tons of alcohol and

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 01-09-2007 - 10:14am

She can bunk with me Tam, maybe we could trade kids for a few years, Hugh could go to school in your area, lol.


I lived at home my first two years of college and it was awesome.

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