It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 2:36 am

HSC AffiliatesClick here for our affiliate link to Christianbook.comDonate to HSC





Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:08 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm
Posts: 8115
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bus ... s/2585331/

The average family spends about $ 600 on "back to school" for kids in traditional school. That includes fees, supplies, & clothes. It does not include curriculum purchases.

I figure I'm coming in at somewhere around 30 to 40 this year for supplies, curriculum, books, and clothes. OH - and I don't have to pay for childcare!

WHY do people think that homeschooling is the expensive option? I get it when both parents HAVE to work and therefore cannot afford to lose a salary, but if that's not the case, why do people think homeschooling is so expensive?

_________________
http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:48 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm
Posts: 8837
:D 8-) :D Homeschooling CAN be expensive. There's so much stuff to do and buy and play with!!!!!

But it certainly doesn't have to be expensive. A couple of years I used library books and only bo't little extras here and there that I would probably buy just for fun anyway.

And yeah, that's probably about $600 per student! How many outfits? Gym shoes, instrument rental, notebooks, backpacks, sports equipment/clothing, lunch box, insurance, crayons/markers, erasers, SNACKS for the CLASS, tissue boxes....


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:10 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:01 pm
Posts: 2491
Anna1111 wrote:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/24/prices-jump-for-back-to-school-supplies/2585331/

The average family spends about $ 600 on "back to school" for kids in traditional school. That includes fees, supplies, & clothes. It does not include curriculum purchases.

I figure I'm coming in at somewhere around 30 to 40 this year for supplies, curriculum, books, and clothes. OH - and I don't have to pay for childcare!

WHY do people think that homeschooling is the expensive option? I get it when both parents HAVE to work and therefore cannot afford to lose a salary, but if that's not the case, why do people think homeschooling is so expensive?



I'm embarrassed to say that my first time homechooling my daughter when she was in 1st grade came real close to about $1,000 by the time I bought all the fancy curriculum. I bought the most expensive phonics program out there for "English and Reading," then I spent another $150 for her math curriculum (MUS) and for the blocks. Then, I spent more more money on a set science curriculum. Plus, all the reading books to along with everything else. What a mess. I did not make that same mistake, ever again. I used the library more, went to the used book sales, homeschool fairs, swapped with friends, and went to the local school supply store for workbooks and other learning tools as we progressed. By the time my son was in 1st grade, I went with a completely different mind set and was able to school him much cheaper.

_________________
Prayer should be your first response.
Not your last resort.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 10:43 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm
Posts: 8115
Well, don't feel too bad, Stacy - you were still MILES ahead of our school district here. They spend 14,000 PLUS on EVERY STUDENT!

I have NO idea where they put it! I'm pretty sure that it's not all going to teacher's salaries! (25 kids: 1 teacher x 14k would equal about 1/3 Million!)

So, if you spent 1k - well in the grand scheme of things, it's not so bad. You're only 400 above the average "back to school" expenses that DON'T include curriculum!

(I hope my tongue-in-cheek, cynical humor is coming thru here . . . )

_________________
http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 8:36 am 
Offline
Site Owner
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:45 am
Posts: 2924
Homeschooling can get pretty expensive if you do classes through some of the organized programs like Classical Conversations or the homeschooling "schools." There is a classical school in the next county that caters to homeschoolers and it's really expensive! With all the resources on the internet, there is no reason to spend much on homeschooling at all! If you are creative and have an internet connection, you can do it free!

_________________
******
"Like" us on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/HomeschoolChristiancom


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 12:50 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm
Posts: 5828
The first year I ever bought any curriculum was in 2006. I bought a lot of used books from the used book sale. Up until then, we used the library and online resources.
Often I put together my own "tests" (but quickly outgrew that! lol!) We paid next to nothing for school up to that year. Just bought notebooks, paper, art supplies, etc.
Mostly the Charlotte Mason approach, which I love!

The Lord works in mysterious ways, though. Dh died after only our first week of school in 2006. The kids did a lot of "just read this and answer the questions at the end" type of schooling that year.
I was glad to have the books at that time in our lives.
Still, I didn't pay more than $200 for all of the books for 3 kids for the entire year.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 4:30 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm
Posts: 8115
Martha R. wrote:
Homeschooling can get pretty expensive if you do classes through some of the organized programs like Classical Conversations or the homeschooling "schools." There is a classical school in the next county that caters to homeschoolers and it's really expensive! With all the resources on the internet, there is no reason to spend much on homeschooling at all! If you are creative and have an internet connection, you can do it free!


I didn't know anything about the fee schedule for CC - so I looked it up after you mentioned it. I found this link http://theten0clockscholar.blogspot.com ... sical.html which seems to indicate that it's under $500/year/kid. While that seems very expensive to *me* (the girl who buys many of her HS books for 29cents at the thrift store), it's still WAY under the average public school "back to school" expenditure - which doesn't even cover curriculum & instruction (14k/kid/year of tax money)

Now, granted, if you do CC AND buy a designer wardrobe brand new for your kid, you *could* go over the public school "back to school" costs, as published by the National Retail Federation

Which is all to say, Martha, that I *agree* with you - this stuff *can* be done for cheap or for free! but, even the "high end" stuff isn't that bad in comparison to public school costs.

_________________
http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:49 pm 
Offline
Site Owner
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:45 am
Posts: 2924
High school level for CC is more expensive!

_________________
******
"Like" us on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/HomeschoolChristiancom


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:03 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:05 pm
Posts: 3524
Location: Central TX
I tried free online curriculum last year and for the most part, I don't like it. For me, paying a little extra money if you can is worth it. We usually spend around $400 a year for curriculum, but now ds is about to start his own science curriculum, where before I was using one book for both children. But he's getting older and it's inevitable that they can't do every subject together anymore. But it's nice that I can reuse it for dd. I don't have to pay much for her this year because I already have most of the books and stuff I need for her, from when ds used it. I also buy as many books as I can at the big used book sale they have every summer, saves a ton of money. I have learned that I am not very creative and need some structure and for that I have to pay a little extra. For example, science experiment kits. They say you just need stuff you have lying around your house, but they lie. I went one year without buying the kit, trying to save money, and we ended up not doing most of the experiments because I couldn't find or forgot to look for the stuff needed. So, I have learned that for me personally, some things are worth the extra money. I know other people are more resourceful, structured, and creative, but I'm not. But I could not see spending more than about $500 - $600 for school, especially not $1,000.

_________________
Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: How can you AFFORD to homeschool?
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 2:55 am 
Offline

Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:31 am
Posts: 12
I completely agree with you. I usually get two reactions - either they assume I'm selfish and so to save money I'm homeschooling my kids, or they assume that homeschooling is a financial nightmare. Apart from curriculum, there are so many free resources, pinterest is a great source for activities and ideas as well (you'll probably find me fangirling about it in most of my posts!). The BEST part of all is that I get to spend so much time with my kids. I can watch them grow and learn and blossom. And that, that is priceless!


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Theme designed by stylerbb.net © 2008
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]