Quote Originally Posted by 5 Little Monkeys View Post
One of my biggest wants is that when we have a family, I want to be able to have the money for things we will need AND want. Of course we won't be spending money on everything but if I say no to something I want it to be because of our parenting style and NOT because we can't afford it. I can understand your guilt!!

Can she set up a study group with friends and they can help each other out? Growing up, we didn't have tutors or anywhere local to go but if we were having troubles with a course we would ask students who excelled in that area to help out. Also, our teachers were always willing to help over lunch hour and for about an hour after school, free of charge. I grew up in a small town though so maybe this isn't feasible for all teachers? What about help online?

Keep in mind that you will be attending school to better yourself AND your family. Soon you will have a degree and a better paying job which will benefit all of you!!

Speaking of jobs...can she get a job to help pay for her tutoring help?
I'm hoping at High School three will be opportunities to get extra help with peers and teachers. Elementary had extra help French but she said it was a waste of time and no help. She wants to join the creative writing club, so hopefully that will help her with her English and provide her with opportunities to meet students who can help her.

When I have a better paying job, the kids probably wont even be home so sometimes I wish I could have held off longer till they had finished school but it was a tough decision. Part of me wants to drop the schooling and stay working now, but I don't want to show my kids that quitting things when its hard is a good choice. They know how much I want this and also don't want them to feel any kind of responsibility for me choosing to post pone it once again for them. They are older and interpret a lot in ways we don't think.

She has a paper route already that she shares with her brother. They make about 30-40 a month each. Oxford learning is 45 an hour and the recommend 3 per week in high school, rarely 2. I also don't want her to give all her spending money to this if she has no other source of cash because we wont be giving it to her. I don't want her to eventually ditch Oxford Learning because of using every last penny on it. She cant get a better job in Ontario until 15. She does get babysitting jobs sometimes but again, all her wants for the next few years have to come out of her own pocket. I don`t feel guilty about that as that is a great lesson for both of my kids.

The education is a need though and like you said, I too want to only have to say no to something because I choose to not because I`m forced to. I just spoke to Oxford Learning and it will be a minimum of $360 a month for the 2 hours a week. Although, I don`t envision her necessarily needing this extra help forever, just initially going into high school and then maybe later on down the line if she hits any struggles. She is also in the French program and though it is a great program, the English in the curriculum suffers phenomenally.

I`m setting up part time work over the month of July for when I get back from vacation at the end of August so I`ll know more then whether or not it`s doable.