Group "homeschooling" instead of private kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Anyone else frustrated by the prospect of paying 20-30K a year for KINDERGARTEN? If I knew a few other nearby families who felt like I do, I would try to get four or five of us together, kick in 20K each, and hire a great teacher to teach our kids privately with a 4 or 5 to 1 ration, instead of ratios as high as 12 to 1 as some of the schools I've looked at (19 to 1 if you don't count the "teacher's assistant"). Since kindergarten isn't mandatory in Virginia (where I live), I think this would just be considered a "nanny share" situation, not a school subject to various state regulations.

[Anonymous]

or you could do this really amazing thing and pay $0 and go public?

[Anonymous]

PP i think OP's point is she wants a small student teacher ratio, which clearly you will NOT get at a public school. Maybe you misunderstood her post . . . typical of a public school graduate.

[Anonymous]

Or he could go to a smaller school that doesn't charge that much (Chesterbrook Vienna, Pinecrest, Discovery Oaks) so your child still gets the socialization and learns how to function in a small school setting? Remember that his classmates in 1st will all have had school experience next year.

just a thought

[Anonymous]

OP - you could do it & with the luck of finding a great teacher, it could be a wonderful experience for the kids & families involved.

[Anonymous]

If you found a kindergarten teacher who has health insurance from another source and was willing to lose the security of a Union job, I think you could do it. But you may need to get the teacher set up as a day care. Don't know where the line between nanny share and day care is, but I think with 5 kids you may cross it.

I think you could give the child a school experience by making sure there is school like structure -- hang up your coat, put things away, don't talk out, etc.

[Anonymous]

You could -- you could probably do it for less than $20K each. What would you do the next year? Would you continue to do the group homeschool, in which case would 5 kids be enough? Or would you try to apply to private school at 1st grade? There are spots at some, but it may be harder. I would check that out.

[Anonymous]

With school budgets so tight, there are almost certainly young enthusiastic teachers who can't get permanent jobs who would love to do this. The question is what to do then after kindgergarten, you have to either go public, hope there are spaces in private, or start adhering to licensing.

[Anonymous]

In thinking more about this, I'm not sure my child, who is 5, would be happy spending his days with only 3 or 4 other children, and I wouldn't even describe him as a social child. If there are three boys, is one always going to be left out? Are their enough options to find a friend?

[Anonymous]

OP, there is such a thing somewhere in southern Virginia. There are some parents who pay a teacher to home school their kids. They pay about 10K each, and the kids go to her home. She teaches about 8 kids in grades 5-8, the middle school years. She does the basic subjects, and the parents have to do the extras like PE, art and music on their own. She has the kids from about 8:30 to about 12 noon.
She hauls in 80K like this and then tutors other regular school kids after school. She probably clears 100K. There is a waiting list to get into her "school", since she is so good. She tailors the curriculum to the child, after she tests them.
The other issue is that in some states, home schooling means that the parent actually has to be the one doing the teaching. I am not sure what the rules are in MD for example.

[Anonymous]

This is brilliant. If my DC were in Pre-K instead of already in one of the overpriced kindergartens, I'd sign up!

[Anonymous]

I agree that it could easily be done in K and probably grades 1-3. After that, the small environment can be too much. Tons of studies have shown that home schooling or small classes in the early years are superior to regular school.
I would have no problem with a group of about 8 kids in K, even if there was a gender imbalance, since we are only talking about 3 hours a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In thinking more about this, I'm not sure my child, who is 5, would be happy spending his days with only 3 or 4 other children, and I wouldn't even describe him as a social child. If there are three boys, is one always going to be left out? Are their enough options to find a friend?

No exaggeration, but to home school a kindergartner, you are only talking 2 hours of class time a day. So as I mentioned earlier, the child's life is not as wrapped up in school like with traditional programs. In these situations, I would imagine that the parents come and get the kids after instruction, what you do with the rest of your day is up to you.

[Anonymous]

Isn't the whole point of "homeschooling" to do it yourself-at home? Kind of defeats the purpose if you hire someone to do it, in conjunction with others, with a lesson plan, in a place that isn't your home.

[Anonymous]

That's why "homeschooling" is in quotes, natch