Best investment for your child's education that have been well worth spending cash on

[bestinvestmentforchild]

My parents live abroad and have recently offered to pay for my DC to go to private school (one DC is y11 and the other y9)
DC don't want to go - we have really great state offerings nearby - both thriving academically - they have friendship groups etc
I am main breadwinner but was out of work for a bit - it's been a very tough time financially since covid and aren't able to splurge ourselves on life experiences for the DC e.g. big holidays etc

Don't want to turn parents down flat. Just wondering what other things that you've spent money on that were a good investment that we could suggest might work as a compromise - tutor/summer school type thing.
I do realise this is a how long is a piece of string kind of thread but thought it may be interesting.

Thanks for all the answers so far.
Thanks Errol -yes they're happy and the schools seem to be doing well in bringing out results though I know y9 it's early to tell.

The other issue is the private schools within striking distance are quite swish not the beaten up 10 year old volvo kind that MN always harps on about-but instead matching his and hers range rovers so DC might possibly struggle to keep up with the kids there a bit too. They can manage socially in the schools we're in now. - that's something I think can be taken into consideration.

So I'm thinking of things for the kids that would benefit them and add in an extras way that you get at a private school.

Tutoring. Money for university or whatever else they want to do after 18, so that they don't need to work endlessly while trying to get their degree or training. Invest some of it so they can get a head start on saving for housing deposits and things like this.

Music lessons are nice if your kids actually want to learn music. There is no evidence that music lessons make you cleverer in some sort of general sense, so if none of you is especially into music, don't bother.

Tutoring and drama classes.

Yr11 & yr 9 is a bit late for anything school related. Your options are support at university, house deposits, driving lessons etc. Don't move your dcs if they are happy & doing well.

Why are people suggesting music lessons? How does that help academically?
i would suggest driving lessons..driving opens up the world and makes someone more employable!

I'm also baffled as to why people are going on about "music lessons." We're not talking about a pair of preschoolers here. If the OP's teenagers were genuinely interested in learning the guitar or something like that, she'd probably be finding a way to facilitate this already. And good luck with trying to force a teenager to learn an instrument if they are not interested.

Mumsnet does seem to have an unusually high number of parents with incredibly musical kids who are doing all these exams and performances, but in the normal world, most kids who learn the piano or violin quit when they are teenagers and have to start getting serious about exams. Being very good at an instrument can sometimes pave the way to getting a school scholarship, but a kid would need to have started learning at an early age if their parents are serious about them doing this.

Ask them (the children), and maybe their teachers.

Some form of extra curricular activities, maybe an activity holiday, these are not always outdoor things there can be things like computing.

Theatre tickets, museum trips (I know most museums are free but they can be miles away and may need an overnight trip).

A school near me that was private and is now a free school does Easter and Summer camps with lots of activities.

Engaging seriously in music shows up in educational literature as improving achievement in maths and also in emotional wellbeing, apart from its own value as a creative and non-linguistic pleasure. It's essentially learning another language, and tends to be taught well in this country and better supported in schools, unlike other languages. That's why the first extracurricular i would think of for any child is music. In terms of value, my son got five 1:1 music lessons for the cost of every driving lesson. That's why.

Indeed. All the performing arts in schools can have a dramatic effect on student confidence, public speaking and performance. Being able to stand before a crowd, and being able to sing, play, or act through their nerves. It is a magical element to a strong education that sets you up for life.

Obviously a lot depend on the child, not everyone is a musician or dancer so some lessons are a waste of money.

But I would say extra curricular classes in general. DD loves performing so theatre and Lamda classes plus musical production are great for her and also a huge boost in confidence speaking in front of a group.

Sport clubs may start innocently cheap but if they are talented and go for competitions, meets you have expenses for kits, travel (incl. overnight), extra training sessions.

Scouting is a great way to learn independence, work in a team, being pushed out of your comfort zone. While annual fees may be small, there are often camps, trips, equipment to pay for.

We are history nerds so DD definitely benefited from our memberships and annual passes for various museums etc. It gave her a lot broader way of thinking about the past than what the school focuses on.

The best thing your parents could do for your DC is invest the money they would have spent on private school fees for house deposits. That would be life changing.

Just keep talking with your DC, going to new places and sharing observations about what you see. Museums, parks, woods are all free.

Tuition as needed

Are they likely to go to go to uni, and if so, how much of the student loan will they get (it depends on your income). The parental contribution is up to 5,000 a year (and students may still need jobs to cover their rent). So there's that.

And then house deposits.

Tutoring when they get to year 11

Plus hobbies, giving your dc the opportunity to experience a wide range of hobbies I think is just as valuable as schooling.

I put dd2 through 11 plus tutoring. In the end she didn't want the exam or the grammar and hey ho but my goodness the impact on her academic work at school was huge - really brought her out of herself in terms of confidence in maths especially. She's flying now and I'd pay the money again in a heartbeat.

With your dc ages I would say tutor around GCSEs - can't lose

We have a son in Highers year (Scotland) who also does a lot of sport. He has tutors in his 2 weakest subjects plus we pay for physio / personal training and extra sessions at his sports clubs. Still all comes to a lot less than a year of private school fees!

I think your parents could save the money for university or house deposit.

If they wanted to enhance their grandkids life, i agree with paying for extra curricular activities.

This is my kids;
DD did martial arts and had a fantastic friendship group throughout her teenage years. She's now at university and and has joined a local club there- she already knew some of the people from competition ect. I think it's important to have a hobby/ interest outside of learning.

DS joined the cadets last year... not my thing, but it comes with great opportunities (flying, DoE, ...) that he enjoys doing. Again, he has a lovely friendship group outside of school.

Placemarking for ideas.

Following

Life experiences, such as travel and exposure to cultural events including musicals, concerts, matches etc. We try to visit cities if we can or get some exposure to culture if abroad. We always try to learn some of the local language. Mine are still in school so i can't say how they will 'turn out' but I can see already the pieces of information coming together. Like when they hear something on the news and they have context for that place or the people who live there from a previous experience.

Having a house full of books and regular trips to the library is important to me. You can't make a child a reader but two out of 3 of mine are avid readers and doing very well in English and I think the constant exposure helps.

Recently DH and I decided to get a paper newspaper delivered instead of him scrolling through his phone, mostly news but could have been tiktok for all the kids knew. Dh now leaves newspapers open lying around in the hope that someone accidently reads a headline now and again while eating breakfast. It works! They ask questions they wouldn't have asked otherwise.

Saying yes as much as possible to extra curricular stuff like drama classes, scouts etc.

Are your children likely to go to uni? Could your parents hold the money back and save it for uni if they specifically want it spent on education? Uni is so expensive now it would be a massive help.