Confession Re: Redshirting

preston18

One reason I really want N to be able to start kindergarten at 5 is so that I can have thousands back in my budget becasue I'll only have to pay for after school care instead of FT daycare.

 

StellaZ

It's a real concern. Our decision will be made for us - but if I was on the fence it would totally play onto the decision. It was the first thing DH said last night when I did the math and figured out where we stood (in 2015 of course).

Mama_v2.0

...but is K a half day... in other shoes I could see that being a logistics nightmare. (but I guess you could always pay for full day K)... for my district you would need to find care until 9:15 (school starts at 9:30) unless they have before school care too???

WatchPot

Me too!  our school is fullday K so we know we are OK there, but I'd love that $12K a year back.....

Seattle_JiLLn

Mama_v2.0:

...but is K a half day... in other shoes I could see that being a logistics nightmare. (but I guess you could always pay for full day K)... for my district you would need to find care until 9:15 (school starts at 9:30) unless they have before school care too???

That's what I was thinking - it would be harder to figure out before and after school care for the 2 1/2 hour a day "break" from care for K... but I also figure zillions of working parents do it so there's probably more centers set up for this and it all works out somehow.   

indigo91804

Seattle_JiLLn:

Mama_v2.0:

...but is K a half day... in other shoes I could see that being a logistics nightmare. (but I guess you could always pay for full day K)... for my district you would need to find care until 9:15 (school starts at 9:30) unless they have before school care too???

That's what I was thinking - it would be harder to figure out before and after school care for the 2 1/2 hour a day "break" from care for K... but I also figure zillions of working parents do it so there's probably more centers set up for this and it all works out somehow.   

Before and after school care isn't cheap either. Plus full time K in our district is $365 a month. I can't wait until 1st grade!  

preston18

We'd pay for full day and after care at our center now. I know it won't be the full $12k back in my pocket, but almost half. $500 a month buys a lot of shoes, yo!

 

Or a second bathroom more likely.  

Nancy_Drew

I could have written this! My thoughts exactly. Our school has full day kindergarten for 3000k for the year. Sooooooo much cheaper than the current preschool and daycare.

Brynnie2010

Holy crap, you have to pay for kindergarten?!?!

MissLauraQ

I can't wait til Alex goes to Junior High (2 more years) then I don't even have the after school care to pay for!!!  YIPPEEE

MrsEditorJax

Childcare isn't an issue for us, but I do find it interesting that ONE school in our district (one of the wealthier ones) has pay-for full-day kindergarten. There are eight other schools with full day for free, but they're mainly poorer schools or on base. The school we are zoned for has half day right now, but I am hoping that will change by the time C starts school. Otherwise we'll be paying.

Seattle_JiLLn

Brynnie2010:

Holy crap, you have to pay for kindergarten?!?!

No, you don't.  Some school districts do half day.  that's free.  If you want full day, you have to pay extra (and often get in via lottery). 

indigo91804

MrsEditorJax:

Childcare isn't an issue for us, but I do find it interesting that ONE school in our district (one of the wealthier ones) has pay-for full-day kindergarten. There are eight other schools with full day for free, but they're mainly poorer schools or on base. The school we are zoned for has half day right now, but I am hoping that will change by the time C starts school. Otherwise we'll be paying.

Out of the 24 elementary schools in our district, 2 of them have federally subsidized full day kindergarten. The rest are all elective. They have to meet a certain criteria to receive the funding.  

MrsEditorJax

Seattle_JiLLn:

Brynnie2010:

Holy crap, you have to pay for kindergarten?!?!

No, you don't.  Some school districts do half day.  that's free.  If you want full day, you have to pay extra (and often get in via lottery). 

That's not actually true. Well, it is, but not in every district. Brynn and I live in the same district and we only have for-pay at one school. The base schools and Title I (secured through federal funding) schools have free full-day kindergarten.

Seattle_JiLLn

MrsEditorJax:

Seattle_JiLLn:

Brynnie2010:

Holy crap, you have to pay for kindergarten?!?!

No, you don't.  Some school districts do half day.  that's free.  If you want full day, you have to pay extra (and often get in via lottery). 

That's not actually true. Well, it is, but not in every district. Brynn and I live in the same district and we only have for-pay at one school. The base schools and Title I (secured through federal funding) schools have free full-day kindergarten.

I just said some schools have free half day and pay full day.  My point was that no one "has" to pay for kindergarden.  Just the ones that make you pay for full day, then you have a pay option.   

Brynnie2010

I guess one of the good things is that we will most likely always have a school on base as an option.  However, not knowing where we are going to live when Livy actually starts school means that I can't look into schools ahead of time.  Ever.  Lame.  The Army is definitely teaching me to relax a little, since I am usually a "plan ahead" kind of girl.  =P