What would YOU have to do to SAH?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2005
What would YOU have to do to SAH?
2476
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 5:09pm

If you're a WOH/WAH mom, what sort of "downsizing" would you need to do in order to afford to be a SAHM? (SAHM defined here as not earning any money)

For me, I would have to put all our non-essential possessions in storage and move in with my parents.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2009
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:07am

"I think it's far less than ideal for schools to require or expect that for the average child on a regular basis."


Why?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:08am

Do you believe that those who don't sit with their children every night to help them work through their homework think differently?


PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:10am
just like I can live with Liza doing it all on her ownesome and maybe not getting the best grade but knowing SHE did the work.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:14am
Exactly the same at my kids' school!
Avatar for mom34101
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:16am

I think private tutoring, etc. is great, in part because it *does* help make up for the large class sizes. And as I mentioned, our district is trying to address the disadvantage that low-income kids come to school with by providing preschool and all-day K. So I'm sure it is possible, if you have enough money and support, for everybody to get the basics at school. In Sweden. ;) But there isn't enough money here, at least in our school district, so it isn't going to happen in our school without parent involvement.

Our school isn't in the highest category on the standardized scores, but in a new measurement the district just developed this year, which considers more than just overall test scores (improvement in individual kids from year to year, how many years kids stay, etc.), we scored in the top ten. So I think we're doing something right.

And no, I wasn't trying to suggest that kids who can barely speak English can't be GT! In fact, our district uses a GT screening test that is supposed to better identify GT low-income kids.

Avatar for mom34101
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:18am
What is the other option for the science fair? I said either kids do it on their own with no help, they do it at home with help, or they don't do it.
Avatar for mom34101
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:20am
I wasn't addressing you, since I wasn't responding to you. But I do consider someone who doesn't think kids should get daily help from parents with homework or with school projects more hands-off than someone who does. I'm not putting a value judgment on it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:20am
I don't think it does put them at more of a disadvantage.
Avatar for mom34101
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:27am

I knew you'd get this! ;)

Avatar for rollmops2009
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2009
Thu, 02-26-2009 - 11:30am
Not really. That is the expectation where Laura is, and was equally the expectation where I grew up. There is always an advantage in growing up in a "house with books" (as it was called when my mom was a kid) and with parents who are literate and cultivated. So, as a kid I did have an advantage, but the other kids still had far more of a fighting chance than they would have had if the parents had been expected to do as much of the teaching as some posters here are describing.

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