@SculptorDad Even though the kid drove the bus, DH and I didn’t just sit back quietly for the ride. Playing devil’s advocate was a particularly useful method for us to make sure the kid was really thinking about the many angles of the decision.
I SENT my kids away to outsource my parenting and to get them into Harvard. That may be difficult, considering they are not applying there, but I will be pretty darn ticked if their school doesn’t make it happen somehow.
@AppleNotFar I agree and I did it too. It’s different strategies that we mix depends on situation. Perhaps I feel that it’s a bit too extreme when I hear “our kids did everything and we just sat back,” not that you said it, and wonder if that’s really the best thing. Being able to be independent is one thing. If one should not utilize all available resource is another. I feel that the answer should be somewhere in the middle.
Bravo, @twinsmama!
I keep hearing, “I merely wrote the check!”
I sent my kids to bs by refusing to allow them to go to our local public school. Although their experiences have been positive, in hindsight I wonder if I should have looked into other options. Life is short, you have limited time together. Although my kids have thrived at their schools, it is possible they would have thrived locally as well.
Here is another reason to send kids : Common Core =;
Good or bad, I wanted my kids to have more opportunities than I did at a local public school, meaning better possibilities of attending great colleges. Don’t know if that really panned out, but overall I think they were exposed to a more diverse community, being minorities albeit ORM, felt like they fit in better than in our largely white local community, and were in a class of students who were more interested in their academic work all which served them well.
While common core didn’t enter in to our decision, I was celebrating the day we could leave it behind!
“We didn’t “send” our kids to BS, they 100% led the process and decision to attend.”
Our story, too…buuznkid told us he wanted to go to BS at age 9. I hadn’t even really been exposed to BS at all, nor had my husband. Just something you hear about in movies…Dead Poets Society and what not. He persevered and made it happen. It truly was the best decision for him!
It still makes us laugh when we remember our 13-year old son walking into the kitchen announcing completely out of the blue that he wanted to go to boarding school because “I want to branch out.” LOL. The stuff that comes out of kids’ mouths! But, branch he did, and it was great.
Good reason or bad???
I was tired of feeding his hungry @ss and realized BS tuition was less than my grocery bills?
^^^That’s a real plus. Growing adolescent boys do eat a lot. Not so with girls. And we had one in particular picky eater.
We prefer to say that we shipped our kids to BS… is that bad?
@PhotographerMom, Now I picture you shoving teenage boys into old-fashioned steamer trunks and sitting on the lids to get them to shut.
Yay to no more Common Core and mandated testing!
Because I would rather sell both my kidneys than let my kids attend our LPS 
Our pediatrician actually asked if we had ever considered it as our annual visits often included conversation about school and her daughter, who is similar to my son, was really enjoying BS. As soon as we got in the car, my son started asking me all about it. I actually had to ask him to NOT do all the research until he was done with 6th grade so that I could wrap my brain around it and gather information. I was afraid he’d go down a rabbit hole and find something that wasn’t going to be feasible. That summer, we gave him some parameters, and he took it from there.
@momof3swimmers – ditto. Our LPS was never an option, and ultimately neither the day nor parochial schools that DS could have attended offered the right combination of what he needed.
Among all the excellent reasons listed above, I will say that –
4. Surround them with wise adults who can guide them at an age when they are starting to tune out the specific frequency of their parents’ voices –
was always important, and the faculty was a large part of our evaluation, but I appreciate the scope even more seeing it in action at drop-off and over Parents’ Weekend. It’s not just the teachers and advisor; I feel like all the dorm parents and other faculty are so dedicated and invested in the boys and really want them to succeed in every way, and it’s such a huge commitment to be a BS teacher/coach/advisor/dorm parent/librarian/tutor/faculty member. I know there are stories about the disasters and occasional bad seeds, but from what we’ve seen so far, DS is in good and caring hands.
Have to admit I like the ancillary benefit of DS eating at school, too. He is a big eater, and likes more variety than I can make at home. He thinks it’s strange that some kids order pizza every night, because he loves the food!
We mainly looked into BS because
- BS supports intellectual curiosity and true learning (unlike most public schools)
- Social - wanted DS to be more social than he was being at home and the captive environment helps.
- Teachers/staff taking a true interest in students. Student is not a number, but rather a valued member of the school community.
And yes, I think BS is delivering on all three, and the fringe benefit too!