How much do you spend in homeschool each year per child ?

Question

If you spend less than $200 , please tell me your secrets !!! And how do your children score on tests, are they at the grade level ?

Answer 1

Now that my son is starting jr. high and high school level work, we spend about $300-500 per year.  Up until now, we easily spent less than $200 per year.

(I am including supply fees like ink and such, tuition for outside classes and lessons, and fees that he pays for opportunities through Scouts.  Books, I would say we pay about $150-200 or so per year.)

We do it by not using a full boxed curriculum.  I buy what we absolutely need to at discount and format everything else on my own.  I put together unit studies (free except for materials, which are way cheap), lapbooks (cardstock, tape, and file folders), notebooks (binders and paper), and we use the library extensively.  I almost never buy lit books for more than $2.00 - our library book sale is a gold mine, and it's a continual thing.

You just learn to bargain shop and put things together yourself.  During the younger years, you almost don't need a curriculum - a computer, a math book, and a library card will do you.  As they get older, you learn to buy what is necessary and share, discount shop, and trade for everything else.

Edit - he's now 10, testing above grade level in pretty much every subject.

Answer 2

On actual curriculum, we spend less than $2.  Here's a website with bunch of money saving ideas for you:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Good luck!

Answer 3

Is that counting things like swimming lessons and soccer?

If not (those add up), it costs whatever paper, ink cartridges, etc. cost, and now and then math books. They chose A Beka workbooks late this year, so they'll keep using those plus stuff I already have this coming year. For English, there are lots of books in the library and lots of paper and pens to write with. They also have A Beka cursive practice books. For science, we do as we please--sometimes I purchase inexpensive kits. There are lots of science books and videos at the library. Same for social studies--plus lots of places around town to practice things like map skills or learn about history. Even just reading novels to them that are set in a different time brings up all kinds of historical talk.

Other than that, there are art supplies and we have musical instruments galore and listen to lots of music and there are fantastic books at the library on artists or technique... You don't have to have a set program if you don't want one.

As for testing, my kids aren't legally required to do testing and I see no need for it. However, I know my daughter would be above grade level in reading and writing and at or above grade level for math. For my son, he'd be below grade level, but he's only 7, a "typical" boy who very much has his own pattern and I feel no need to rush things with him--he will leap ahead when he's really ready. That's always been his style--be behind for a bit, then catch up really quickly or even move ahead.

Answer 4

Less than $200. here.   Our main expense is the monthly internet bill for connection which I don't count as homeschool expense.

We are relaxed-eclectic which means that we use whatever we have available and we don't 'sweat it' if it doesn't get done today.  

We have a wonderful local library and county library system.  We can search for books, video and audio online and place holds.  They call us when an item comes in from any of the libraries in the system and we can pick the item up at local branch.

My son scores well on the standardized test.   He  does not study for the test as he was forced to do in public school.   My son's scores went up after being homeschooled for 6 months and went up even more in the 2nd year of homeschooling.   We started homeschooling in the 8th grade.

Answer 5

Our budget this year is $3000 for one child, up from $2500 the previous 5 years.  That's for curriculum, outside classes/camps, home library materials (books, magazines, CD-roms), online subscriptions (Cosmeo, Explore Learning, Brain Pop), sports activities, standardized/talent search testing, and our HS'ing co-op.

My son is not working at grade level.  He's 10 and has classes from 6th grade to college level.  The high school materials/courses are expensive, so that bumps up our budget also.

As for test scores, he scored at the 99th percentile on the ITBS from Kdg-2nd.  Then he took the EXPLORE test in 3rd & 4th.  Both years he scored better than 90% (composite score) of the typical test takers for that test - 8th graders.  He scored better than 99% of them in Science & Grammar.  This year, as a 5th grader, he'll take the ACT test.  EXPLORE and ACT are taken through an academic talent search.

EDITED to ADD:  My amount above also includes membership fees to ASTC (science centers), AZA (zoos), & ACM (children's museums) reciprocal memberships.

Answer 6

When my kids were in elementary, I spent about $500 year total, and I have 2 kids.  I would buy some science/history/readers used [although bear in mind that since we did that stuff together, I would get 3 identical ones...], but would buy a lot of extra stuff for art and science experiments, plus I do subjects like logic that aren't always done.

Now that my kids are both in high school, I have NO IDEA what I spend.  The books are more expensive, but I can sometimes get $45 texts for $5 plus shipping online, and since I now know I will be hsing till they graduate, I can buy ahead.  This adds up to not knowing what I spend...

As to how they score on tests, they took the Iowa tests in the spring; they were at the tail end of grades 8 & 9, and were ages 12 & 13.  They scored 13+ in every single subject, which is as high as the scoring goes; in other words, they outscored the test's ability to measure them.  So they won't be taking the Iowa test again - I might be able to find some other way to test them, or then again I might not.

Answer 7

We spend about in the same range as hsmom... above - if I don't add in the annual expense of a residential education camp or two (which we consider an important component for our circumstances).

Test scores?  Our rising sophomore scored well above the national median (for high school seniors) on the ACT at age 14.

Answer 8

I will spend almost exactly 200 a year.  Although the cost to train up your own child is priceless.  I would save up my life's worth to homeschool my child!

Answer 9

To be honest it's like shopping for christmas, I don't really WANT to know. Almost certainly WAY too much! For example 1 years membership of the National History Museum for dd and me cost £60 (approx $120), it'll mean we get into everything free and there's a 10% discount on the shop and cafe, but still those kinds of things soon add up.

I'm also a hopeless a book addict, always have been, so dd has an extensive, maybe excessive, and always growing library of reference books (in my defence I make very good use of local charity shops for most of them).

No, the more I think about it the more I really don't want to know what it's adding up to per year.

Answer 10

My parents spend approx. $50 per kid per year to home-educate us.

The secret? Well, there are nine of us so that adds up to $450/year. Also, we're cattlekids; growing up on a cattle station and destined to spend our lives in the cattle industry. That means 95% of the resources* needed for our education already exist in our environment, as part of the business.

(*aircraft (I'm currently learning to fly - roll on when I'm 17 and can *finally* solo and get my licence! ); cattle; machinery; land etc, etc)

As unschoolers, we don't bother with testing, grades etc. I don't know for sure what year (?year 10) other kids my age are in at school; let alone whether I'm somehow at the same level on something that is, after all, a purely artificial and arbitrary scale of academic achievement.

Answer 11

Approximately $70.00.

Answer 12

This year, we spent $109.84! We ordered all the supplies from Christian Book Dist., and when I realized that the history product we ordered required a whole bookshelf of books we did not have, I went hunting online. That's when I found Old Fashioned Education.

Thankfully, two of the items we purchased were the Ray's Arithmetic set and the McGuffey's Reader set. Using them 1-12 grade, it comes to $7.50 a year! (They are meant to be used K-12.)

Next year will be much cheaper, as we will be using more of the OFE curriculum than this year.

I broke down our cost per subject this year and put it on my blog. :) http://dancingamonginfiniteloveyahwehs.b...