Unless you have wealthy parents, who are generous and believe in education to the point of preparing educational trusts for your children, you will have to think long and hard about your child’s or children’s education. Either you will pay the monthly strokes with your hard earned cash, or you will find a way to subsidize their education, with government funds, or well earned scholarship programs in the private sector.
Education makes a big difference in how people fair throughout the course of their lives. Beyond preparing you for your career, your education also serves to color your life and possibly lead to life long hobbies or interests, which of course make you interesting and interested. These factors affect how people view you and who wants to associate with you. So really education is vital.
Some will actually uproot their family to move to a locale, where their child has a better chance at having quality education. Others will remain where their family or career lies and expect their child’s education to essentially work itself out around the rest of the needs of the family. Moving will simply be out of the question.
For others the obstacle will be money, not location and you may apply to premier day schools or boarding schools and hope for sufficient scholarship funds. If your child excelles in a particular arena like piano, football or swimming for example, the community may solicit you and your child to attend their school.
If your child is exceptionally bright and performs well on standardized tests, your child may rise to the top as a merit scholar. Obvious, but true, merit scholars are admired by admission committees in a manner which can be monetize.
If you find yourself in the position of seeking scholarship funds, don’t forget to bring letters of reference. If you or your child are minorities, make that fact explicit! These institutions are keeping tabs on such stats. Don’t forget a comment from an alumnae sometimes holds more weight than you realize.
Others will seek out the best of the public schools or less expensive charter schools or parochial schools.
Still others will opt to home school their children. The teaching aides and curriculum advancements have been vast in this area, particularly since the advent of the Internet. There are communities of home schooling families that do field trips and athletic events together regularly, so don’t think your child will be completely bereft of socialization.
Home schooling is a huge endeavor and one that taxes your resources more than you may be able to commit to. Check in and question your own capabilities. Are you up to the task? For those that are on board for home schooling, you will have to make space in your home for your classroom. Transitioning your home into a home/school will take time, effort and know-how.
Anyway you cut it, the schooling years will be challenging, fun filled and rewarding. Good luck in deciding what is right for you and your family!
Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC
The Surrogacy Coach from Surrogacy Rocks
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Children
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, Ohio
Leap Into Action!