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Have You Ever Wanted a Refund from Your Kid’s School?

My daughter went to a Temple nursery school. It was sweet and at the time it was a good place for her, but it wasn’t worth the money. When my son was ready for Pre School I sent him to an SRLDP program through LA Unified and  he thrived. I think I donated a few hundred dollars to the PTA over the course of a year.

Recently a New York City parent sued her daughter’s pre school because she didn’t feel like her daughter was prepared for the ERB tests. I get this. I really do. My kids are doing the writing portion of the ERBs today and tomorrow and had their school not prepared them at all for the test I’d be losing it too. I get that the world likes to make fun of moms who want to give their kids every opportunity. I know that we spend too much on school, sports and camps. I know that I’ve morphed into a parody of my former self, that I’m not quite a Tiger Mom but I’m not at all relaxed about my children’s futures.

So I feel torn. I’m sure there’s more to this story than we will ever know, but I understand wanting to get my money’s worth. This Momversation should entertain you, Rebecca and Daphne clearly do not agree with me.

 

11 thoughts on “Have You Ever Wanted a Refund from Your Kid’s School?”

  1. I am not a fan or proponent of spending tons of money on preschool. When my kids were in it I was more concerned about socialization and seeing that they learned how to get along with others. I figured that they would have more than a decade of school afterwards in which to worry about academics.

    Now they attend a private school and are receiving a fantastic education. But frankly if the local public school was up to snuff I would have sent them there.

    All of these tests are overrated anyhow. They don’t provide a real prediction of future success.

  2. Preschool is.. costly here. I wouldn’t say it’s competitive per se… but everybody sends their kid to one or the other. If not by 2, then by 3. It’s rare that a parent waits until pre-k or kindergarten. Yet, we’re in a bit of a different place with my daughter. I’d rather she be taught how to play appropriately, social dynamics, functioning in a group setting … caring for friends… the rules of the game, if you were. I feel like the rest of it will come. But paying a college tuition for preschool? I’m not sure I would, even if I could.

  3. Did I hear that right, Nineteen THOUSAND dollars?

    I’m really bugging out hearing that figure. We spend $60 a month for a 2 day a week preschool. Our daughter is learning to socialize and all of the basic need to know stuff before she starts Kindergarten. And it will be public school from there on out. I’m also the kind of parent that won’t pay for my child’s college tuition. There’s no college fund, never will be. They can earn the scholarships or take out student loans like most people do and honestly, I think they’ll have just as much chance to get into whatever college they can afford no matter what their education costs. Over half of what they’re force to learn in grade school will quickly be forgotten and never applied to real, adult life anyways.

  4. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out “Nursery University”. It’s on Netflix and, bonus, it’s available for streaming.

    I have recently thought that one of the many reasons that a college education is ridiculously expensive right now is that kids aren’t applying to school – their parents are. Parents who don’t want to apply for their children get sucked in because how can an 18-year-old’s application compare to a 45-year-olds?!

    Don’t think that the powers that be don’t know that parents will do anything to live through their kids and it shows in the out of control cost.

  5. It’s really not about getting into Harvard. Instead, it’s about hanging out (or being associated with) the “right” people. If you want to get your Ph.D. at Harvard, and I know people who have in chemistry, it’s all about being a genius and getting extremely good grades in your undergrad program. It’s up to the professor to accept you as a candidate in their lab/Ph.D. program. Doubt they look at their preschool, elementary school or even high school transcripts.

  6. Such a hot topic in my house. I work full time and have to send them to the closest school to my house so I can drop them off and pick them up without being charged with child neglect! It’s by far not the best school around, but it has to do for now. The trade off is that at least it’s affordable…

  7.  When I think my kids are sucking in school I try to remember Matt Stone and Trey Parker (one of whom dropped out of high school) and how they are laughing their asses off to the bank with their South Park dough.  And they have a hit Broadway play about the Mormons.  That just sends me all the way to Celestial Heaven!

  8. This is TOTALLY not a topic in my world here in Minnesota.   My daycare offered to take my child two mornings a week to the pre-k at the Lutheran church down the road.  It cost $80 a month the first year and went up to $100 a month this year.  From what I hear – $100 a month is pretty average for a program like that here. 

  9. I think there are a lot of factors that go into a child be ready for anything and without knowing the situation it’s hard to say you could possibly blame it all on the school.  But my gripe with schools in general is that they are so busy teaching to all these stupid government tests, they can’t teach for the sake of learning and fun anymore.  I know that isn’t their fault though.

  10. i go back and forth on this one. my son is only one yet people have freaked out because we don’t know where he’ll be attending kindergarten. i know the value of a good education but i also know my mom wasn’t under all of this stress and i think i turned out great. that being said, it’s a different time and what is required of the the next generation is totally different. 

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