Um... this costs HOW MUCH?!

[sparklett]

So we're 100% SOLD on Montessori and DS (3 years) will be starting this fall.

BUT HOLY COW, THIS IS EXPENSIVE!!

How do you afford it? Is there some sort of secret scholarship that I'm not aware of?

We're going to relocate and the area we're looking at has tuition costs starting at $7800 per year for half time and $9400 per year for full time. With fees like this, how is Montessori supposed to be accessible for middle-class families??

I'm actually narrowing my job search based on places that don't have such high tuition for DS. I actually found one great little community where the tuition was only $390.00 per month.

If we have to live in a community with a higher cost of living, do you have any tips on how to reduce our tuition fees? This is so important to us that we're cutting our housing budget in half (almost) to pay for DS's schooling.

[AllyRae]

DS's tuition is going up to $14,000 a year next year. The only reason he's able to go to a montessori school is because the state gives him a scholarship due to his autism. I'd love to send the girls too, but no way can we afford it. We are going to homeschool them instead.

It makes me so sad that in the US, Montessori is reserved for the "elite" families a lot of the time, when other countries use montessori in their public schools. Maria Montessori never intended for montessori to be only for the wealthiest children. /vent.

Does the school you're looking at have financial aid? Some do, and that can help a lot. But other than that, I have no idea, because the only montessori school near us is really really expensive.

[Altair]

Ahh, my local one is $29,000. Yea, you read that right.

http://www.bhmsny.org/admissions/tui...nancialaid.asp

[sparklett]

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who is having problems with this! Thanks for your reply.

I looked at FIVE schools and not a single one offers tuition assistance. Two programs offer a greatly reduced rate for Spanish-speaking students, but DS doesn't fall into that category. Of course, if we do end up relocating to this area, I will ask them about tuition help in person and see what they say.

It's quite discouraging... do we sacrifice living in a better neighborhood so DS can attend a good school? And how long can we do that? What happens when we have another child? How on earth would we afford TWO kids in Montessori?

[Drummer's Wife]

I am getting ready to pay $600 a month for my 3 yo in the fall. I figure it's cheaper than daycare (I will be in school myself), and it's located at my older kids' public Montessori school. Once they are of kindergarten age, it's free - so I will only have two years of paying tuition. In the fall I will have four kids there - ages 3, 5, 7, and 9 - so I tell myself $600 divided by 4 is not too much, yk? We would never be able to pay for private Montessori for all of them, that's for sure.


There really does need to be more public M schools - we came from CO and there were quite a few there, it was just hard to get a spot. I was sad to have to leave DD's school then, but we lucked out when they started a M program at our local school here in NM.

[sparklett]

Originally Posted by Altair

Ahh, my local one is $29,000. Yea, you read that right.

http://www.bhmsny.org/admissions/tui...nancialaid.asp

holy.cow.

[sparklett]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

I am getting ready to pay $600 a month for my 3 yo in the fall. I figure it's cheaper than daycare (I will be in school myself),

$600 seems almost reasonable after some of the stuff I've seen. I was really hoping for $500 but it looks like the only way we'll get that is if we stay in this community/region and that is sooooooo not happening since there's no jobs around here.

And yes, it's absolutely cheaper than daycare, but DS will only be in a half-time program since DH is a SAHD. So we're looking at almost $700 a month half time. Oy vey!

[jenfl]

We couldn't afford it -- we took part of the cost of one year of tuition and bought the materials to supply a 3-6 classroom that we'll use to teach DD and DS at home.

[MattBronsil]

Originally Posted by AllyRae

DS's tuition is going up to $14,000 a year next year. The only reason he's able to go to a montessori school is because the state gives him a scholarship due to his autism. I'd love to send the girls too, but no way can we afford it. We are going to homeschool them instead.

It makes me so sad that in the US, Montessori is reserved for the "elite" families a lot of the time, when other countries use montessori in their public schools. Maria Montessori never intended for montessori to be only for the wealthiest children. /vent.

Does the school you're looking at have financial aid? Some do, and that can help a lot. But other than that, I have no idea, because the only montessori school near us is really really expensive.

Just curious...which countries use Montessori more in the public schools than US does?

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by jenfl

We couldn't afford it -- we took part of the cost of one year of tuition and bought the materials to supply a 3-6 classroom that we'll use to teach DD and DS at home.

May I ask what supplies & resources you are using? I have been interested in Montessori at home for ages, but it is all so expensive and overwhelming. I had some Montessori education as a child, so I was exposed to it a lot.

There are no Montessori schools here, but where we used to live it was about $500 a year per child. That's a lot to me. I can't imagine $29k!

[lach]

That's about what DD's school next year will cost, and it's the cheapest private school in the area! Except the catholic schools, which we wouldn't use.

The one that we're transferring her out of costs twice that, and the other private schools with preschools attached cost between $17k and $30k a year for preschool.

It's ridiculous.

[SomedayMom]

Ours is going to be 15,500 for full time next year. My older son will be in K so he'll be full time. My little one is going half days which is less. There is a range for Montessori around here and ours is on the high end of it. The least expensive school I looked at was around 11K though. Our general area is fairly affluent. I did not price schools in other areas b/c I wouldn't want to travel that much. We are fortunate to have the disposable income, but our school does offer financial aid. There is at least 1 Montessori charter school in the metro area, but it seems that if you live in an excellent school district (which we do), traditional is really your only public option. Since Montessori is what we want for our kids, it's working well and they are supremely happy...we pay.

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by kittywitty

May I ask what supplies & resources you are using? I have been interested in Montessori at home for ages, but it is all so expensive and overwhelming. I had some Montessori education as a child, so I was exposed to it a lot.

I've got pictures and information about my purchase here:
http://homemade-homeschool.blogspot....als%20purchase

[tatermom]

We've paid $1800 a month all this year for both boys' tuition in a full time M program (total tuition is around $8200 per year for each kid). This is not sustainable for us, since we've used up all our savings and are not quite breaking even each month (i.e. we're going into debt to send our kids to Montessori preschool!). We've gone back and forth on whether we should put our older DS into the regular public school for K for next year, but instead I've just worked out an arrangement with the Montessori school where I'll be volunteering on a regular schedule in the classroom in exchange for a considerable discount on tuition. You might try talking to the school about some kind of arrangement like that...

Good luck! I really wish more public schools offered a Montessori approach.

[mattemma04]

We borrow money from family since we are a family of 4 living on 30k a year.I do know that in our area you can apply for tuition help through the school.Also some kids can go for free if they are coming from a public school that does not have a good state rating.

[goodygumdrops]

I send my son and I pay about 900 a month. When he moves up into the 3-6 year old room, any day now, I'll pay about 650. I guess that's not too bad considering. I do have him on the waiting list at my college daycare which runs about 500 for full time care.

[momtoS]

Originally Posted by AllyRae

DS's tuition is going up to $14,000 a year next year. The only reason he's able to go to a montessori school is because the state gives him a scholarship due to his autism..

Interesting...our local Montessori does not allow children will special needs to register and my neighbour tried to fight it but they said they also do not allow any type of therapists into the building. I thought maybe it was the same at all the schools.

[tinyblackdot]

That is just absolutly rediculious!!!

I am freaking out about where my dd will be going to school and what we will do, i understand that they are a business and all, but it just seems ridiculous that they expect people to pay that much!

And it seems like a lot of the "Montessori" schools here are just college prep schools for the elite rich in disguise.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by momtoS

Interesting...our local Montessori does not allow children will special needs to register and my neighbour tried to fight it but they said they also do not allow any type of therapists into the building. I thought maybe it was the same at all the schools.

That is too bad b/c Montessori is often ideal for special needs kids. Maria Montessori designed a lot of the materials/presentations with these kids in mind. My 5 yo will be receiving therapy twice a week at his M school starting in August. For private schools not being equipped to work with special needs kids, I'd guess they just don't want to hire therapists due to cost.

[RiverTam]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

That is too bad b/c Montessori is often ideal for special needs kids. Maria Montessori designed a lot of the materials/presentations with these kids in mind. My 5 yo will be receiving therapy twice a week at his M school starting in August. For private schools not being equipped to work with special needs kids, I'd guess they just don't want to hire therapists due to cost.

Absolutely. We've had kids with Downs and kids with ASD and kids with ADHD at our school.

They don't have to hire therapists. If the kids is eligible for special services at public school, the public school district is obligated to provide it to him/her, even if he/she is enrolled in a private school. This comes up most often at our school with speech and language services. Our directress simply makes a referral to the public school district and they contact the parents and the school to schedule the assessment.