How much do you sacrifice to send Dc to private school?

[VeryTiredMummyOf2]

I have 2 Dc, just want to know what people give up? And is it worth it?

What about if your child was a talented musician or artist? Enjoyed performing/creating. These are relatively poorly paid careers, but the people doing them bring so much joy to others. Should they all pack up and become lawyers ?

Yes, judging by this thread musicians and artists probably aren't up to much bored.

Sorry, don't know how I managed to actually compose that message seeing as though my IQ must be so low and I made such bad career choices!!!!

Never mind Bored there's always Tesco's.

They are hobbies not careers though tbh

[bugrin] [bugrin]

Heswall - you being serious?????

"They may have no legs" has to be my favourite Xeniaism of all time.

There comes a point where you have to be honest with yourself and decide if you are good enough to make a living from art and music. I know a conductor who earns more than your average doctor and many teachers are talented artist as its the only way they can earn a living doing what they love. Talent isn't enough though and you could starve waiting to be discovered

But if you ARE good enough to earn a living, that living (apart from the exceptional soloists etc) does not pay anywhere near as much as other careers.
Look at the pay scale for orchestral musicians in London's top orchestras.
These are people who have studied independently for approx 8-10 years, then 4 years at music college.
There must be loads of professions like this.
Believe me - my bank manager would not consider this to be a hobby.

We have a highly gifted dd (IQ top 99.9th percentile) who is not being provided for at school and were lucky enough to be offered bursary for her at a local prep,however generous as it was it would have meant we would still have to make lots of sacrifices as a family and as we have other children we have decided against this at present,personally i don't feel comfortable with making my other children go without for the sake of their sister.
At the moment we are trying to make up the shortfall education wise at home,however this may not be possible once dd gets to secondary school age but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Should I know what my DS's IQs are?

You can do NFER tests (I think) to see where they are in relation to their peers

Well my mum and dad scrimped and saved for private school. I hated every minute. Hated letting myself in every day because mum was working for my private school fees so always went to an empty house, we never had a holiday.

I was very embarrassed by our rubbish car and small house. I never quite fitted in from school because I did not come from money.

I then left school with not many qualifications my cousin went to the local comp and then on to uni.

I can afford private school for my son without missing out on things but the local comp is a good one and will be fine. If a child wants to learn he will, comp or private.

We could have been like that east how come you didnt get many qualifications though? And do you have a good job now?

I always thought that if you took the private school route you would need to afford the lifestyle as well as the school fees in order for your child to fit in IYKWIM.

If all the other children are going on 5 foreign holidays a year and parents have a brand new car every 6 months, if yours don't is that a problem?

A big part of education is a feeling of belonging at the establishment you are learning at.

Well in my experience not ALL the childen have that lifestyle Sparkling sure the majority do...but not all. It was something I was more and more aware of when my DD came into year 2...she was the only child for instance who had never been skiing. But they weren't all pony club members.

I understand where you're coming from eastnorth, but you surely cant blame your parents for trying to do their best by you ?

FWIW, I completely agree with Xenia, & really struggle to understand why intelligent women give it all up for a guy? No one ever expects a bloke to sacrifice things for the person they love, but women seem to do it all the time & then can end up up shit creek??

No judgement on anyone, I just struggle to understand a lot of women & the vulnerable position they put themselves in.

I hope I wasn't making a huge sweeping generalisation Awkward. I can only go on what I have seen round here.

I have my own company now which is doing well. My only gift is I can talk and sell things, and I took a chance and it paid off. So not one of those really clever jobs no.

We sacrifice holidays abroad, and now rent having sold our house. We probably won't buy a house now until dc3 is well through school. It's tough, but we are not alone at their school.

Tooblunt I know my parents were only doing their best for me. My point was you do not need a private education to get a good education.

EastNorth Are you sure your private education did not give you the confidence you need to be able to sell things and talk well? It's one of the things most people know about a prvate education...it gives confidence.

No I was shy at school and under confident my confidence came with my first job at sixteen.

I agree with that Eastnorth, but still struggle to appreciate the comprehensive system. I'm from N Ireland & were it not for the 11+ system & grammar school, would have achieved nowhere near as much as I have. That's why I do understand some of where you're coming from as I definitely felt like the poorest child in school, but know that there's no way id be in my current position had it not been for an amazing grammar school that made me believe I could do / be whatever I wanted, without question.