For the people going to those schools, it's chump change. Besides--its totally worth it to start early on snowflake's resume.

I can't wait for us to start genetically engineering kids for perfection.

Weaver95: I can't wait for us to start genetically engineering kids for perfection.

GATTACA for the win.

And I complain about the $800/mo. tab for daycare.

I wouldn't want my boys in one of those schools for free. Snob Central.

Wait a sec.. The "photo goodness" are nothing but screenshots of the preschools' web pages.

WTF? Nice "research" Forbes. cheap bastards

You know what benefits a child more than going to the bestest best and most expensive preeschools? Having a parent that is invested in their kids education more than just dropping them off.

My wife and I looked at the whole elite-preschool thing, and just decided, you know what? Screw it. Let's just not have kids.

Worked out quite nicely.

RodneyToady: My wife and I looked at the whole elite-preschool thing, and just decided, you know what? Screw it. Let's just not have kids.

Worked out quite nicely.

This.

RodneyToady: My wife and I looked at the whole elite-preschool thing, and just decided, you know what? Screw it. Let's just not have kids.

Worked out quite nicely.

Well, it isn't like the nice tax benefits of having children is going to pay for them, that's for sure. Throw in feeding and clothing, and schooling; and before long, you can retire at the ripe young age of 80.

In other news, you can spend as much as you want on just about anything!

I'm finding it very annoying that the older I get the more truth I find in old sayings like "A fool and his money is soon parted".

when your childs preschool teacher is driving around in a 24 karat gold plated mercedes CLK, you might be paying too much...

anybody that pays that much for preschool is retarded.

I honestly don't get what they mean by "you get what you pay for." No where in there did I see anything worth that kind of money except the school is in a nice building. What the hell are they on about?

I didn't even go to preschool...

You know, if you sit down wiht your kid, read, and do arithmetic, an ordinary school will probably give about the same results (sans a sense of entitlement)


.

Joey JoJo Junior Shabadoo: And I complain about the $800/mo. tab for daycare.

I wouldn't want my boys in one of those schools for free. Snob Central.

You're a good parent. When I was very young it was offered to put me into a school like this free of charge; my mother and father decided it would be a socially crippling idea and put me through a "regular" school near where we lived. It's one of the few things I thank them for.

I'd never do it to my children either.

Neko_Kawaii: I didunt evin go to preskool...

FTFY

vodka: I honestly don't get what they mean by "you get what you pay for." No where in there did I see anything worth that kind of money except the school is in a nice building. What the hell are they on about?

Connections. I went to college with people who went to places like this. Many of them were dumb as a box of rocks, but were automatically accepted to a very nice school due to their "pedigree" on paper.

I am ashamed to say that the pre-K (or K?) I went to was a competitor to, and merged with, one of the highlighted schools.

Of course, that was a long, LONG time ago.

$30K for pre-school.
This is the illustration of the phrase "rich don't mean brains."

What is young Monclair Tybalt Fontleroy, VII goign to learn?
Colors, numbers, letters, don't eat paste, share your toys (that won't last), juice time, nap time.

Douche-bags (the parents)

Kids will still be kids. Spend 30K so your kid can flick buggers at each other in a controled enviroment.

/swell

Funsucker: For the people going to those schools, it's chump change.

This where in NYC a salary of 500k/year is considered low (Among people in the financial world that is)

From FTA:
Ethical Culture Fieldston

Where: Manhattan and Bronx, New York

Two schools rolled up into one, Ethical Culture on the Upper West Side and Fieldston in the Bronx, which go from nursery through high school. The tuition for preschool is an astounding $30,440 (if you were wondering, this includes supplies, books, lunch and insurance!). It was founded by Felix Adler in 1878 as a free kindergarten to children of the working poor, and it was then called the "Workingman's School."


I think this school has lost its focus.

DistendedPendulusFrenulum: You know, if you sit down wiht your kid, read, and do arithmetic, an ordinary school will probably give about the same results (sans a sense of entitlement).

But...but my kid is better than all the others and how else will they learn that?

the process for which has been chronicled recently in the documentary "Getting In" on the TLC cable channel.

I watched this program. Unfarkinbeleivable


/Kid goes to public school
//under achieves just like Mom and Dad

FTA: with parents pushing academic learning earlier with the fear that their kids will fall behind if they don't meet major milestones like reading well before what is considered normal.

My mom taught me to read at 3. It's amazing what kids will learn if you put a little time into them. By the fourth child, my mom had no time to teach her kids to read. My sister didn't learn in school either and ended up needing a private tutor at 8. The only difference between us is that my mom really neglected her due to depression.

First the handbag article and now this. Face it, whiners, there are people who can afford things you can not. So.. umm.. keep making with the insults then, if that makes you feel better. Crazy go nuts.

Lets look at the big picture about this. First of all the ones who can actually afford this type of pre education are very well off. Second, I send the precious little snowflake to all of the best schools throuhout his/her life. Thirdly, only to be picked up by a crony to a top executive position in one of thier fortune 500 companies.

Dear parents:
You are the reason why children suck. Because you aren't parenting, you're passing it off on some people who don't know the quirks of your child and don't know how to raise an individual (because they're in charge of many).

Pre-school is one of the biggest loads of sh*t I've personally seen. Do you know what works better than pre-school? As long as you're willing to take your child outside to interact with other people and children... PARENTING works. Reading to your child, helping them learn how to read and do math... you know, all that crazy sh*t? Parents used to do that!

Kat: what you're paying for here is not superior pre-school education, its putting your kids into an elite bracket. these kids will grow up and go to the same prep school together and be bffs with over rich privledged children.

it's networking for the recently potty-trained.

I can see it now...in thirty years, corparate CEOs will be like
"Pee-pants! It's you!"
"Nose-picky!!"
"So how about this merger?"
"Done deal."

Hold me.

/Yes, I said "like"
//Like, bite me
///Didn't, like, go to those elite schools

Bomb Head Mohammed: there are people who can afford things you can not.

I'll tell you something (the following assumes I have kids, which I don't, but just follow with me), if I had $30k laying around, that I could use for pre-school for my child... I'd quit my job and start teaching the child myself. I'd take the child to the park, to places where he can become familiar with his peers and some authority figures.
I could probably have my child doing some division by the time he's in kindergarten, and be comfortable around other children.

Barakku - I believe you just said it the best....good job!

The tuition for preschool is an astounding $30,440 (if you were wondering, this includes supplies, books, lunch and insurance!)

Insurance? Insurance? What will these snowflakes be doing that needs insurance? God knows I didn't, and I fell off more junglegyms and merry-go-rounds than were good for me.

/mom was the lord high priestess of the 'pass the campho-phenique and walk it off' school

If you don't want to deal with all the pedigree bullshiat, move west of the Mississippi. It still exists, but it's not nearly as bad as it is on the east coast.

What really drives me insane, is I've worked with guys from the "elite" schools and for the most part I've been underwhelmed with their performance. I worked with a guy who went to all the "right" school (including Yale) and couldn't figure out how to do any tasks on the job with out EXPLICIT instructions. Same goes for a coder I hired from Standford, but I chalk that up to him being very asocial and not understanding how to relate to people.

Sure I could homeskool them or send them to the place on the corner whit the yellow busses...but then again, I could dress them in Gap Kids. Blech. If they don't go to the best school, no one will see their cute clothes from Kate Mack, Flowers by Zoe, or Room 7. And then nobody will even notice the number after the dot on the Range Rover. God if they were around all day....I'd drink even more than I do now, and that is a lot of Belvedere. When they are playing in their rooms I already have to turn the Bose system up more than halfway. Kayleigh...go play quietly...not near my SmartWater...great...are you happy now? You've spilled water all over Mommy's mac book pro. %^3@-* At least the water is ionized, so it won't damage the electronics, but you must be more careful. Tell Ashlyn that you are both restricted to the east wing for misbehaving until mommy gets back from pilates. Yes, you can bring the Wii from the media room. Do I look like I know how to hook it up? Have the nanny do it. Lula!! The damn kids need you!

Where was I? Yes, school is very important.

Welp I cant afford any of that for my kids, Hell my $380 a month preschool bill is almost more than I can afford now. Best I can do for my kids education is to nag them constantly and what I already have done for them this week. My 10 year old has an old laptop and now my 4 year old has his own computer, broadband for both. Wiki startup page.

I aint rich but I am a geek with access to alot of cheap hardware.

College? Fraid they will have to work 2 jobs and go to community college or join the millitary like I did. Fraid i'll never get them into one them Pres'Tee-Jus universities.

From the article:

"...the cold reality that kindergarten has become the new first grade..."

Didn't we have a list of things that have been overdone? If I recall, "X is the new Y" was one of them, and I cringe when I read it.

That aside, I hope to be able to afford such an education for my kids (private pre-school here runs 8k or so a year) and not to be snooty: the plain reality is that public school, like society, promotes conformity and focuses on average students. I'd like my girls to shoot higher than that.

/just sayin'

Fark those schools. If my kids grow up into mentally slow bugger-eaters.... well then that's just all the more money I'll save on college! (and groceries for that matter)

/will be a great mommy
//heh =P

Does nothing but keep the riff-raff out. By riff-raff, I mean anyone making under $500k/year. Maybe $1mil/yr.

nolanomad: That aside, I hope to be able to afford such an education for my kids (private pre-school here runs 8k or so a year) and not to be snooty: the plain reality is that public school, like society, promotes conformity and focuses on average students. I'd like my girls to shoot higher than that.

Honestly, pre-school is about playing with blocks and having nap time. Paying 8k for that seems a little on the high end for me. While I agree many private schools are better than the public schools (I'm looking at you Hayward), I honestly can say that paying college tuition for preschool is retarded.

Holy crap... my tuition to university is less than that. Heck, 2 years of university is only costing me $30k.

And I'm learning physics and math. Jeez...

WishfulThinker: Sure I could homeskool them or send them to the place on the corner whit the yellow busses...but then again, I could dress them in Gap Kids. Blech. If they don't go to the best school, no one will see their cute clothes from Kate Mack, Flowers by Zoe, or Room 7. And then nobody will even notice the number after the dot on the Range Rover. God if they were around all day....I'd drink even more than I do now, and that is a lot of Belvedere. When they are playing in their rooms I already have to turn the Bose system up more than halfway. Kayleigh...go play quietly...not near my SmartWater...great...are you happy now? You've spilled water all over Mommy's mac book pro. %^3@-* At least the water is ionized, so it won't damage the electronics, but you must be more careful. Tell Ashlyn that you are both restricted to the east wing for misbehaving until mommy gets back from pilates. Yes, you can bring the Wii from the media room. Do I look like I know how to hook it up? Have the nanny do it. Lula!! The damn kids need you!

Where was I? Yes, school is very important.

This post, its full of win.

FreeGovernmentCheese: Lets look at the big picture about this. First of all the ones who can actually afford this type of pre education are very well off. Second, I send the precious little snowflake to all of the best schools throuhout his/her life. Thirdly, only to be picked up by a crony to a top executive position in one of thier fortune 500 companies.

That's if they somehow manage to not get addicted to coke/smack and OD before their 18th birfday.

I currently attend an elite pre-K, so I'm really getting a kick out of this Flintstone phone.

boot20: nolanomad: That aside, I hope to be able to afford such an education for my kids (private pre-school here runs 8k or so a year) and not to be snooty: the plain reality is that public school, like society, promotes conformity and focuses on average students. I'd like my girls to shoot higher than that.

Honestly, pre-school is about playing with blocks and having nap time. Paying 8k for that seems a little on the high end for me. While I agree many private schools are better than the public schools (I'm looking at you Hayward), I honestly can say that paying college tuition for preschool is retarded.

Now I am going to sound snooty: the wife, kids, and I have visited the school in question, and no, it's not just blocks and nap time. The class (all 5 or 6 of them, yes that's the whole class) were a year older than my daughter (so, three-ish) and were as well-spoken as you or I. They were behaved, played together nicely both indoors and out, and the teacher could stand aside and chat with us with little to no concern for keeping an eye on the kids. Do you expect to see that in a public school?

Didn't think so.

/still just sayin'

Canadian Canuck: Holy crap... my tuition to university is less than that. Heck, 2 years of university is only costing me $30k.

And I'm learning physics and math. Jeez...

heck, I'm in grad school and (taking 2 classes/semester because I also work full time) my annual tuition is 4500 before textbooks. What ARE they teaching those kids that's worth so much more than my Master's degree?!

nolanomad: Do you expect to see that in a public school?

Didn't think so.

My nephew, who has Aspergers, is very well spoken, quite well behaved, and the most amazing thing, pretty self reliant. He's been that way since he was about 3.

What I expect in a public school is what I see in Walmart...The lowest common denominator.