College Planning: Understanding the Value of Education
The basic costs of college are tuition (fees charged for instruction and use of facilities like the library), fees (costs for student activities, athletic activities and special events) and other expenses like charges for school supplies and other educational supplies.
The books, which are an integral part of traditional education, becomes an expensive proposition once your child goes to school. In a home-school, you have the right to choose the books for your child. You have an opportunity to enroll your home-school child for an online diploma as well. The books that you buy for your child can include anything from math, mental teasers, puzzles, language and grammar books or books on great literature, stories, self-help and do it yourself books.
Over three quarters of students in two and four year colleges enroll themselves in state or other public colleges. Since public schools get a large proportion of their budgets from the state or the local government, they charge more to students who come from out of states.
The private institutions charge the same fees for the local students as well as those who come from out of the state. They do not get any money from the government and so they charge the students excessively. The average cost of books, utensils, transportation, and personal expenses together with tuition and other fees can come to approximately $22,500 for a private four year college term.
You need to save money for your child if you want to put your child in the public school, private school or home-school. You can set aside a certain amount every month or each pay-day so that you can accumulate a fund reserve for your child's educational needs. Colleges of the same type have more or less the same cost and the child can attend the college which charges a little less. You can also think along the lines of the savings method used or what kind of investments to make. You should look at the risk, return, liquidity and term of the investment period. You can get work study programs (where the money earned for student working can be paid to pay off education fees), merit based and need based financial aids as well.
The home-school supplies can include an array of fantastic things like different varieties of pencils, erasers, sharpeners, pencil grips and motivational items. The home-school books make learning an interesting experience wherein you get a chance to build meaningful relationship with your child. As a parent, you need to prepare him for the best home-school curriculum programs that works best for your child. The home-school should make the child feel like they are “at school” in home.
A multitude of curriculums and about 22,000 home-school materials are being marketed and sold by websites as well as publishers. In the past few years, due to the steeping cost of education, schools have slashed down the budget available for creative activities like arts and crafts education for children. The traditional method of education, which pays more attention on the curriculum education, has smartly sidelined the investment for arts and crafts for children. The home-school environment gives more importance for the child to gain knowledge, rather than strive for the next grade. Without the unnecessary pressure and budgetary limitation, home-school makes a significant development for personality development of the child.
Go through some of the exciting books which are a part of the home-schooling curriculum. You will be exposed to a world of attractive items and books like mental teasers, puzzles and story books. Listen to an audio tape or watch a video which tells you about the benefits of home-school and how it can save money for you and your child. With such a plethora of home-school materials for your child's education, it is no doubt a wise decision to go for home-school for the overall development. Your investment will be mainly for the home-school supplies and books, but it will be worth the investment. Talk to other parents who have had interesting and loving experiences to share with home-schooling, and then make an educated decision.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.