100k HHI in suburban envirnoment, and we live like kings. AMA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^I’m not homeschooling my children because I believe in letting experts and professionals be, well, experts and professionals. Of course, I also live in Fairfax County, not Delaware.

OP stated that they, and their spouse, are both professional educators. Im generally Not a fan of homeschooling (I feel kids suffer when parents who know nothing about educational technique, the topics they are teaching, etc decide to homeschool because “the system sucks”) but in this case, whats wrong with two trained education professionals homeschooling their kids?

According to an educational consultant I know (neighbor), I learned that homeschooling is no longer just for uber-religious families.

For some well-off families, they choose home-schooling because their child is struggling in a particular school, or because their child is particularly bright.

In Potomac where we live (where houses are $800K and more), I do know some homeschooling families that do not seem super-religious. And I suspect that they could afford private school.

See this article from the Wall Street Journal (Feb 18, 2016) "Haute Home Schools Designed to Give Kids a Bespoke Education: Some affluent parents are buying and building homes in which almost every room is a classroom—for everything from math to music." (I did not include a link because I think that the moderator does not allow that for certain publications.)

[Anonymous]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I don't believe that $100,000 could buy any more than a very modest home even 10 years ago and even in a small town.

I'm from a mid-sized city in the Midwest, and 10 years ago, you could only get a very modest home for $100,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^I’m not homeschooling my children because I believe in letting experts and professionals be, well, experts and professionals. Of course, I also live in Fairfax County, not Delaware.

OP stated that they, and their spouse, are both professional educators. Im generally Not a fan of homeschooling (I feel kids suffer when parents who know nothing about educational technique, the topics they are teaching, etc decide to homeschool because “the system sucks”) but in this case, whats wrong with two trained education professionals homeschooling their kids?

According to an educational consultant I know (neighbor), I learned that homeschooling is no longer just for uber-religious families.

For some well-off families, they choose home-schooling because their child is struggling in a particular school, or because their child is particularly bright.

In Potomac where we live (where houses are $800K and more), I do know some homeschooling families that do not seem super-religious. And I suspect that they could afford private school.

See this article from the Wall Street Journal (Feb 18, 2016) "Haute Home Schools Designed to Give Kids a Bespoke Education: Some affluent parents are buying and building homes in which almost every room is a classroom—for everything from math to music." (I did not include a link because I think that the moderator does not allow that for certain publications.)

I know someone who has 7 kids and lives in San Francisco (a topic all by itself) and they homeschool. They are not particularly religious. They use an online program (K-12?) at home, and I understand it has accountability built in. Mom says the reason they do it that time is at a premium for them, and regular school wastes too much time. At home, the kids finish learning whatever was planned for a 7-hr day at school in two hours. They then use the rest of the time for extracurriculars, museums, trips, playdates etc. So it can work for people for reasons that have nothing to do with religion.

And I can totally see that. I work. But if I didn't work, i fully believe that one on one, any first grader could cover the essence of one school day in like 90 minutes. Imagine everything else you can do for that child's education during that day!

[Anonymous]

I really don't understand your comments on getting old/end of life. My grandmother is 85 and was living at home. She fell, broke her hip, and now cannot walk, go to the bathroom, etc., without help. We had to move her to an assisted living facility. They take all her Social Security, Medicare, and then she has to pay more for all the living "extras." My grandfather died 20 years ago, so she's all alone, and it didn't make sense to have her stay at her house with home health care. You think you are saving enough for retirement and then stuff like this happens. Mentally she's 100%, but physically she can't take care of herself anymore. She might live another 5-10 years.

Are you considering that in your retirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^I’m not homeschooling my children because I believe in letting experts and professionals be, well, experts and professionals. Of course, I also live in Fairfax County, not Delaware.

OP stated that they, and their spouse, are both professional educators. Im generally Not a fan of homeschooling (I feel kids suffer when parents who know nothing about educational technique, the topics they are teaching, etc decide to homeschool because “the system sucks”) but in this case, whats wrong with two trained education professionals homeschooling their kids?

According to an educational consultant I know (neighbor), I learned that homeschooling is no longer just for uber-religious families.

For some well-off families, they choose home-schooling because their child is struggling in a particular school, or because their child is particularly bright.

In Potomac where we live (where houses are $800K and more), I do know some homeschooling families that do not seem super-religious. And I suspect that they could afford private school.

See this article from the Wall Street Journal (Feb 18, 2016) "Haute Home Schools Designed to Give Kids a Bespoke Education: Some affluent parents are buying and building homes in which almost every room is a classroom—for everything from math to music." (I did not include a link because I think that the moderator does not allow that for certain publications.)

Based on OP's description of his families' HHI, and the "reasoning" employed in his posts, it's pretty safe to say that neither of the bolded is (or will be) the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny again- I've never actually been to Delaware and I'm sure it's nice but I need to live in a big city because of my job. There's andent many high paying nanny jobs outside SF, LA, NYC and maybe Seattle or places in Texas.

To the nanny whose parents bought her a 4-bedroom condo in SF. Do you think you'd aspire to more of a career if your parents had not bought you that condo? I know that it's very hard work to be a nanny (as we employ a nanny to take care of our 3 kids while we work). But it's not exactly a career with any advancement potential, and families will only be willing to pay so much for a nanny. (Maybe you could start a nanny agency someday?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^I’m not homeschooling my children because I believe in letting experts and professionals be, well, experts and professionals. Of course, I also live in Fairfax County, not Delaware.

OP stated that they, and their spouse, are both professional educators. Im generally Not a fan of homeschooling (I feel kids suffer when parents who know nothing about educational technique, the topics they are teaching, etc decide to homeschool because “the system sucks”) but in this case, whats wrong with two trained education professionals homeschooling their kids?

According to an educational consultant I know (neighbor), I learned that homeschooling is no longer just for uber-religious families.

For some well-off families, they choose home-schooling because their child is struggling in a particular school, or because their child is particularly bright.

In Potomac where we live (where houses are $800K and more), I do know some homeschooling families that do not seem super-religious. And I suspect that they could afford private school.

See this article from the Wall Street Journal (Feb 18, 2016) "Haute Home Schools Designed to Give Kids a Bespoke Education: Some affluent parents are buying and building homes in which almost every room is a classroom—for everything from math to music." (I did not include a link because I think that the moderator does not allow that for certain publications.)

I know someone who has 7 kids and lives in San Francisco (a topic all by itself) and they homeschool. They are not particularly religious. They use an online program (K-12?) at home, and I understand it has accountability built in. Mom says the reason they do it that time is at a premium for them, and regular school wastes too much time. At home, the kids finish learning whatever was planned for a 7-hr day at school in two hours. They then use the rest of the time for extracurriculars, museums, trips, playdates etc. So it can work for people for reasons that have nothing to do with religion.

And I can totally see that. I work. But if I didn't work, i fully believe that one on one, any first grader could cover the essence of one school day in like 90 minutes. Imagine everything else you can do for that child's education during that day!

+1. Yes, we know people whose children are focused on a particular sport (figure skating), and so they chose homeschooling to allow the kids to train during the day. The kids are still great students.

So homeschooling is not just an oddity anymore. (My kids go to private school, and so I have no particular reason to praise homeschooling, other than to say that it can be a good option in some situations.)

[Anonymous]

I salute the OP for being happy on a limited income (even if I disagree with the title of this thread).

I haven't spent a lot of time in Delaware, but live in nearby Bethesda, MD. I can imagine that, living as close as you do to various beaches, that would be an affordable way for the family to get a little vacation time. (For people in the Midwest, where I'm from, a beach vacation was more of a big expense. And since it was always so cold, people ended up splurging a lot to get away from the winter. You'd be surprised how many people from Minnesota spend a huge sum each year to go to Hawaii.) So perhaps that is why they don't seem to need to spend money on vacations.

[Anonymous]

The title and OP are obviously very misleading on a site like DCUM. You have a home that costs $100K. That does not exist in the greater DC metro. End stop. Obviously you can live fine on $100k.