Does homeschooling have to be expensive?

Question

according to statistics....on wikipedia...homeschoolers are generally upper class whites. can a person of a fixed income afford to homeschool their kids? can you make it as expensive or thrifty as you want and still provide your child with a good education?

Answer 1

absolutely! we haven't bought any of those expensive curriculums. And neither have any of my home schooling friends. Check out yahoo groups for local support groups.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Our annual income is 40,000 a year.  I work less than 40 hours a week for 9 months of the year.  My husband took a job that the only benefit is that our son can come there and do his schoolwork.  (We have a reluctant learner that has to be continually 'encouraged'.)

We use online, library and used books for curriculum.

Don't trust wikipedia.

Answer 3

So much for statistics, or demographics.

Home school families come from all walks of life, ethic as well as cultural back grounds; most live on one income, and simply have different priorities for their families.

Most people we know would fall into the working class, and have 4 to 8 children.

Then we have several small business owners, some who work from their homes,others who own a separate business, as well as a few professionals.

Many home school parents used to teach in the schools, and often times the husband will stay teaching while the mother home schools the children.

Our start up cost was minimal; families will share, borrow, and buy used materials.

Remember, history books, math, and basic science do not need to be revised or updated as the publisher would like you to believe.

You can use the library for many of your literary, and research books, as well as video's when needed.

Libraries have inter-library loan programs for items they do not carry.

There are many discount whole sale companies that sell to home schoolers as well.

We may spend about $100.00 per child per year.

The first year, or two that may have been double; now we may spend $50.00 a year on supplies for all three.

I did buy a boxed curriculum once, and spend $500.00; it was not for us, so I resold part, and kept the readers.

We split them up in 4 years of history reading, because the books were well worth the money we paid.

Home schooling can range from a few dollars to several thousands; anyone can afford home schooling, it is up to you, and the materials you choose to use.

My questions would be, "with all that is not happening in the schools today, how can you not afford to home school"?

Answer 4

Uh huh - and that's why you don't rely on Wikipedia.

Homeschooling isn't expensive - people on fixed incomes can and do homeschool their children. It's really hard to believe that upper class whites are the main homeschoolers - those are the kids who go to private schools, not who are homeschooled. The big thing with homeschooling is, it can be done anywhere -- and can be done out of the country as well. Friends who are missionaries home schooled their kids in Brazil for five years, then came home again and popped the kids back into regular school (which they found boring because the homeschooling was more interesting, they learned more and they didn't have to wait for the rest of the class to catch up.....)

Homeschooling isn't expensive. In some school districts, they will loan students a computer to work on, and with that they can tap into all sorts of educational programs. There are curricula to follow, so it isn't just  question of sitting around and playing on the computer - and there are supervised exams to take, so you know whether the student is actually making progress at the level that is expected.

Home schooling has a lot going for it, and it is open and available to all classes.

Answer 5

Wikipedia's wrong, at least as far as the homeschoolers that I know...we make around $40-42,000 per year, and though it's tight, we homeschool.  I look around to find what I need at a discount, rather than paying full price, and I make a lot of my son's curriculum for the subjects that I'm strong in.

I buy his math and science curricula fully prepared, (taught by DVD, MP3/CDRom supplements, etc.) because those are not my strong points.  (Even these, I am generally able to find at a discount.)  However, his language arts, lit studies, history, geography, and arts are things that are covered all by one curriculum (an integrated study that teaches strong researching skills), which I got for about $40.  This will cover all of those subjects for the next 2-3 years.   We are also regulars at the library - 90% of the books that he needs are there, and we're allowed to check them out for six weeks at a time.

I know folks that homeschool basically for free, and families that spend $500-$1,000 per child.  It really just depends on your needs.  There is a trade off - if you're able to spend the money, you can get a program that requires very little parent prep.  You can do it for free, but it takes research and planning on your part.

Either way can give your child a great education.  My son is currently 2-3 years above grade level in almost every subjects (some of them even further ahead).  He's taking Spanish from a friend who is a native speaker, has taken 2 years of Latin, and is teaching himself Greek.  He loves to learn and often researches things on his own, just for kicks.  (He's 9, about to turn 10.)  He loves the fact that he can study what he wants, at his own pace and according to his interests and development.  He really enjoys getting to dig deeply into a subject until he's satisfied that he's learned everything he wants to.  He knows that he's likely to revisit whatever subject it is in a few years, so he really gets a kick out of building a strong foundation for later research.

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

No

I have a nice site for u where u get  information about All types of HomeSchooling & Free HomeSchooling.

http://www.OnlineStudyInfo.com

Answer 7

It's all up to you!

Anyone can home school, it isn't race, gender, class, or *anything* specific!

If you want to save money, try buying second hand books, checking out your local thrift stores for supplies for subjects like art, performing arts, science, and anything else you feel could be helpful with some hands-on experience.

If you want to save yourself the expense of cost altogether, try an online school, basically all you'll need is a computer with internet access (which I'm assuming you have, seeing you've posted this).

Or, even distance education, if you have a health condition that stops you going to school (mental things like anxiety are accepted as reasons), or you're too far away to reach a school, you get it almost free, and they pay you regularly for the costs of phonecalls, phones, and the internet.

If your child (or if you're the one about to be home schooled) is going to school currently, just save what they have already got to take notes, or use for future reference.

No matter how poor or rich people are, black, white, or Asian, the only thing that matters is intelligence in this area.

Answer 8

You're on Yahoo, right.  All you need is that and a good computer/printer and plenty of pencils and paper.  Search the web.  There are sites on every subject anyone could possible study.  Astronomy is tracking the new comet.  It's great!  You can look at it from your back yard with a pair of cheap binoculars.  There are several groups you can join for free or start your own group in Yahoo group.  Good luck with it.  There are "Garage Sale" groups.  If you put in a request for text books you could probably get them for cheap.

Answer 9

It is completely up to you as to how much or how little you want to spend on homeschooling. You can get almost all your material from libraries used book stores or homeschool groups book sales.

Or you can spend thousands of dollars on materials from online stores and academies featuring the most expensive curriculum you may never even use. When you first begin homeschooling you want to try everything out there to see what works. My best advice is try ebay and go slow. There is so much out there it gets overwelming. Do your research before you commit to any set curriculum.

Answer 10

You can get by without spending a lot of money. Sometimes I have been fortunate to find used books at Thrift Stores. Also, check out some of the Christian Schools in your area and see if they have older or used curriculum or extra books  they would be willing to sell or donate to you. Use your Library, you can get great resource materials there and it's free. You can check out video or DVD documentaries on subjects. Read the material yourself and  make up the questions on your ow.

Good luck with your choice.

We are a family of 5 on one income Homeschooling 3. You can do it.

Answer 11

i say unschool and use the public library!  FREE FREE FREE and in a good system you can find anything and get your library to mail it to them for you to pick up.... inter library loan and they do it from county to county, state to state and SOMETIMES country to country... so yes... you can homeschool or unschool for the cost of gas to the library and a few lined notebooks... you don't need much.... trust me....

Answer 12

In our area, upper-class just doesn't exist. Our family gross income is 32K in a good year with lots of overtime for my husband. His base salary is just 28K. All the homeschoolering families around here are in the general range of 25K to 40K. They are definitely not upper-class in their income. Actually, even in the big city where we used to live, all the homeschoolers we knew probably had about that as well. I am wondering if the data in the Wikipedia article is accurate to modern-day homeschoolers.

We have found ways to keep our costs down yet still provide a great education for the kids. Creativity and the willingness to put sweat equity into a curriculum, co-op, and learning opportunities in the community can save money and often turns the effort to greater profit than buying something ready-made and expensive.

sweat equity (research instead of buy ready made):

Literature: Most of the classics that make up a quality literature curriculum are out of copy-right books. Why pay a publisher lots of money for them to bind these when they are available free (legally) on the internet, in the library, and even in thrift shops for less than 50 cents each. With true investment of time to learn narrative elements and analysis skills (all available free on the internet), you can learn to see the big picture of all analysis instead of the jumble of bits and pieces, one at a time that would be presented one story at a time in most curriculums. I am a big picture person.

Tie in creative writing as you learn the elements of story in literature and you learn to truly observe author's techniques and try them on your own. Learning to analyze good writing is a great way to learn all writing tasks from narratives to essays. Look for the best examples and make them your inspiration. Benjamin Franklin used this very technique in developing his writing skills. Most of the examples heralded as the best writing produced by man are available free on the net's online libraries and can be found as an interlibrary loan if not actually in your local library's collection.

It is amazing how much history can be learned from those who lived it. We loved reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Frankin, Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, and more. History comes alive through their words. That doesn't mean that we never get around to the history textbooks full of their treaty this and and treaty that, but with the money saved by reading the free, primary source autobiographies and all the history absorbed as a base from them, the texts are not so painful to the budget nor to the brain.

Buy used:

Math is the one subject that we have pretty much stuck to texts for. We need the the structure and repetition in our household when it comes to math. The nice thing of it though is that while I felt pretty lost in public high school  math subjects, I understand it pretty well now with teaching it in our homeschool. I actually enjoy math now! To keep costs down, I have bought used texts every time expept the very first one way back 15 years ago.

Community-mindedness:

Science. I am a hands-on kind of person, so we do invest in gear. I love science tools! In addition I have taught all the science co-ops in exchange for everyone sharing the cost of the big tools we need (microscope, digital scale, lab glassware, etc) which we gladly house in the lending library here. Families often pass along their homeschool supplies after their kids graduate as well. They know the equipment will get good care and use and benefit lots of families. I have a whole side of the utility room filled with shelves of science supplies and unit kits organized by topic area. When one of our local families is studying a science topic, they love to request one of the kits that have the accumulated material of many gracious families. Most of the kits are really nice with tons of activities, articles, books, gear, collections, etc. With a homeschool community view of science tools, a lending library of kits, everyone's expenses are less.

I could go on, but there is enough here to help you realize that you can put some creative energy, elbow grease,  and community-mindedness to work to keep your own and other homeschooler's costs down.

Answer 13

You can actually homeschool completely using the Internet.  You do need to print lessons, but the Internet offers an abundance of materials.  Here are some ideas:

http://homeschooling.suite101.com/articl...

Answer 14

Actually, it can be totally free. My kids are schooled from home, but online through a digital academy that's totally free because it's still public school. Check out this place:

trecadigitalacademy.com

Both of our children do it. All we paid for was the router, to run they're computers off of mine, we pay for 1 internet service, like we always did each month. All we buy extra for them, paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers, crayons, glue, ink and the paper. That's it. Treca supplies the Apple computers, the scanners, the printers, first ink cartridge, and all the schooling lessons. They also provide online teachers, Elluminate classrooms, after school activities and field trips as a class where we can go and meet. They also have a toll free help desk open many additional hours for further assistence. check it out.

Answer 15

Totally, that's why my parents started homeschooling my brother and I (almost 12 years ago, my brother is now in college). Christian School was too expensive, and they just didn't want to send him to a Public School so homeschooling seemed like the best option. It doesn't have to be expensive, they were on a fixed income then and were able to homeschool us, there are magizines you can order discounted books from, but the best places now are eBay.com, eBayexpress.com, half.com, Amazon.com, you can get used books very cheap and even new ones, and still your child can be provided with a good education. Good luck with!! By the way, homeschooling is great. I love being homeschooled : )

Answer 16

The statistics for homeschoolers are a little weird, because many people are registered as private schools, or private charter schools.

I know a family of six, supported by their church, whose kids are smarter than anyone else I know.

People homeschool their kids all different ways. The ones who get on the news are usually the kids who were homeschooled because their parents go to Bermuda every weekend, or because their parents make a hundred grand a day, or because their parents were freaky hicks who wanted to molest them. Most homeschoolers aren't like that, just like most school kids don't have kids, get stoned, high, and drive cars in to walls/pools.

If you use the library, Netflix, and eBay, you could homeschool a high schooler for less than $500 a year. That's how much it costs my family. If you added up how much you're spending in taxes on schools, it's far cheaper. I don't remember the exact statistics but it was at least $1,000 a year, probably more.

Homeschooling only requires a lot of time and money -and in my admittedly limited experience is usually a failure- when you try to import the school system's inefficient bureaucratic method.

Answer 17

I don't think homeschooling is very expensive. Now, my child isn't into chemistry and all that yet though either! But, we get almost all our books from the local library. You don't have to have textbooks to do the schoolwork....now for math you need a textbook but for say science you have the world around you. My daughter planted a garden full of vegetables and sunflowers as her science project to study statistics, hypothesis, and the way plants grow. She learned so much while having lots of fun too. We also use the internet alot and get free worksheets and info just from googling the grade level and what subject we are interested in. The history channel is a great resource. Ummmm oh yeah, the thrift stores and used bookstores are great too. Usually I would say I spend maybe $100 a school year on actually school stuff that's not paper and pencil. My kids are great learners and make life easy!

Answer 18

well, unfortunately, if you want a fully accredited program, it will cost you some $$$ but just remember how much better homeschooling is for your child and that the money is well spent!

Answer 19

We aren't upper class and a lot of homeschoolers I know also aren't. We also don't buy outrageously expensive, use once only curricula. Instead we borrow stuff from others and the library, choose programs that can be used for many kids, split the costs, buy used and search for bargains. I'm 100% positive that my kids are getting a good education without wadding through a $1,000 curriculum.

Answer 20

Our household income is between $30,000 and $35,000 a year, and that includes what I make cleaning houses twice a week.  We manage to homeschool.  We don't homeschool through a correspondence school (tuition is expensive), and we buy used books when we can.  We go the library a lot.  Still, we spend around $700-$1000 a year on our High School Student's curriculum and supplies (we actually buy lab equipment and do the lab sciences).  For the younger kids, (Kindergarten and 2nd Grade) we spend about $450 for both of them together, (not each).  I could get by cheaper, but I would have to be more creative.

The library is a wonderful source of free information... there are also lots of websites that have free resources.  

Check out my blog to see our lapbooks that we made almost completely with stuff we got for free on-line:  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/PathofL...