So it turns out we are the kind of parents who are seriously considering signing their 3 year old up for music lessons. We have looked into the Suzuki method and are impressed. But the costs involved (in our local., highly-rated music school in London at least) are considerable.
£50 a week for 30 mins private lesson and 30 min group lesson
£30 a month for instrument hire (string instrument)
an estimated £200 a year in additional costs
Plus £300 additional costs in the first year
That is a total annual cost of £3000 in the first year, going down to £2700 in the years after that.
I would be interested to hear from Suzuki parents: have you found the expense worth it? Are these costs representative or are they higher than normal? Are there other costs we have not taken into account? Have you found cheaper alternatives?