Best return on investment: nanny, private elementary/middle/high school, or private college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does one measure the "return on investment" in one's children?

How they turn out, maybe. Good question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An educated and experienced nanny without a doubt is worth the investment. The first five years are the most important and the first two years contain over 80% of the brain growth and synapses.

Agreed. A good nanny is priceless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An educated and experienced nanny without a doubt is worth the investment. The first five years are the most important and the first two years contain over 80% of the brain growth and synapses.

Agreed. A good nanny is priceless.

I agree 100%. A good nanny who narrates for, reads to, talks to and plays with your child is the most important investment you can make in your child's educational future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After just having high-caliber conversations with your kids at the dinner table, I would say:

#1: Invest in MS through HS. If your kid is going to a school where expectations are low, there's little chance to be creative, and the general culture is one of mediocrity, then I'd say get the heck out of Dodge. Sorry to say, IMO most DCPS fall into this category. Invest in knowing your kids' teachers, and try to help them get into the best classes with the best instructors from start to finish.

#2: Invest in educational experiences in the summer. Send your kid abroad to learn a foreign language; volunteer in the National Park Service; do Outward Bound; whatever. Note that the experiences don't have to be academic ones, but it ain't a ad idea to find university-based summer programs so your child grows up feeling like a college/university campus is familiar and "fits".

#3: Take a really great parenting class or see a family therapist if your relationship with your kid needs some sprucing up. Don't underestimate how important you are.

That's where I'd put my $$$.

Absolutely agree with this.

[Anonymous]

The first few years set the stage for all of life. I see little children who are mostly happy and confident, or mostly afraid and fearful. Those who obey their parents/teachers, and those who don't.

These patterns get established very early on.

[Anonymous]

When there's poor quality of care during infancy/toddlerhood, you can spend forever trying to fix it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An educated and experienced nanny without a doubt is worth the investment. The first five years are the most important and the first two years contain over 80% of the brain growth and synapses.

Agreed. A good nanny is priceless.

I agree 100%. A good nanny who narrates for, reads to, talks to and plays with your child is the most important investment you can make in your child's educational future.

+1,000,000. I don't understand why parents would skimp on a good, educated nanny.

[Anonymous]

Not reading all these responses but this is a silky question. The answer depends on the specific school(s) and childcare providers. Some public schools are great; some suck. Same with private schools. Same with colleges. Same with nannies. Same with daycare. And it will vary by child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not reading all these responses but this is a silky question. The answer depends on the specific school(s) and childcare providers. Some public schools are great; some suck. Same with private schools. Same with colleges. Same with nannies. Same with daycare. And it will vary by child.

On one hand, I agree with you. On the other hand, what you do in the beginning always matters most. If there's a poor beginning, the best college can't erase the damage, let alone getting into college.

[Anonymous]

Daycare, public elementary school, public high school, public college and then invest all of the money you are saving and buy them a house when they graduate from college.

[Anonymous]

This has to be one of the most pointless and impossible to answer questions ever. Your child is a human, not an investment. You can't apply some kind of market analysis to raising a human being.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has to be one of the most pointless and impossible to answer questions ever. Your child is a human, not an investment. You can't apply some kind of market analysis to raising a human being.

You'd be surprised how many parents we see doing just that. Sad. So many parents don't know much about their own children. It takes time to get to know another human being. And I don't mean "quality time." That's nothing but a code for "not much time."
-Professional Nanny

[Anonymous]

Put money in a 529. Don't waste it on nannies and private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put money in a 529. Don't waste it on nannies and private schools.

You really believe poor quality care doesn't matter?

[Anonymous]

I'd like to say private university, but again, it depends. Are you spending $60K on Harvard, Yale, etc. or $60K on Santa Clara University (yes, it's $60K I looked it up). If the latter, then you'd be better off spending it on the other two options. Is your child a typical high achiever and do you live in a good school district? If so, you'd be best off going public. Private would be a good choice if there was something your child needed he couldn't get in public HS.