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If you live in America and you have children, they are required by law to attend school. There are many ways you can satisfy the government’s rules, from free public schools to elite private academies and even home schooling. A small percentage of parents believe they can provide a better education themselves and teach their children at home using a set of government-sanctioned texts.

The overwhelming majority of Americans put their children into local public schools because they are free. The quality of each public school varies widely because every state has the power to dictate its own education policies. The general consensus, however, is that the American education system is broken. It is bogged down by poor teachers who are impossible to fire due to tenure clauses in their contracts, and increasingly less government money spent to support public education.

That being said, America’s public schools are not all that bad, especially if you are coming from a developing country. Children are required to begin school when they turn five or six depending on the state you live in. Kindergarten is the first stage of education, though many parents pay for private preschooling as early as possible.

Preschools are a great way to get children as young as two and three years old introduced to learning and socialising. There are preschools in even the smallest town, and most of them average US$300 a month for daily use. It’s also possible to put your child into a preschool on a drop-in basis just for the day at around US$30 per day.

From age six, children start out in the elementary school level, which typically runs for six years. Then they move into middle school for two years before finishing up in high school for four years from age 14 to 18. Even if there are several elementary schools in your town, you don’t have a choice which one your child will attend. That is determined by the location of your primary residence. This is one reason many concerned parents will choose to live specifically within a certain school district that has a reputation for quality and achievement.

There are also thousands of private schools in America that typically offer a far superior education than the public school system. But private prep schools charge tuition that starts at around US$4,000 a year for the most modest academies. The top private schools in America cost up to US$40,000 a year in tuition alone. But the quality is noticeable, both in terms of the teachers and the facilities and preparation for college.