How much does it cost to be home schooled?

Question

i have a 13 year old daughter who is in 8th grade this year and makes a/b honer roll. well she came to me earlier and wanted to know if she could have homeschooling well myself i never finished high school. how much would it cost to have someone come to my home and home school my daughter i live in salem va.

Answer 1

Well, if it is legal in your state to homeschool her even though you don't have a diploma then you could do it.  You just have to willing to learn what you don't know or sign up for a co-op that covers the subjects you are weak in.

As far as the cost it depends on what curriculum you use.  They range from about $300 a year for all five subjects up to close to $2000.

Homeschoolers usually don't have someone come in and teach... that WOULD be expensive.

For a legal analysis of Virginia's homeschool laws, go to http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/VA/default...

Click on "Laws, how to homeschool legally in Virginia."

BTW I looked at the laws and there are lots of options, you can homeschool in Virginia without a diploma if you do so under the religious exemption or if you use an approved correspondence course.

For a course your daughter could take independently (a video school) go to http://www.abeka.com  (This is a more expensive option, if your daughter learns well on her own from books you might try another option first.)

For materials to use on your own with your daughter, try these sites:

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com

http://www.rainbowresource.com

http://www.aop.com

I made a typo in the "abeka" link, I've fixed it now.

Answer 2

I'd say that the $1200 estimate is rather low.  An online course (The Morning Star Academy) says that regular tuition is $2495 - they're offering a discount right now.  Most people do use some sort of video or online course, which is clearly cheaper than bringing in someone full time.  However, if you're seriously thinking about bringing someone in even for half days think upwards of this: $5760.  This number is the cost of 180 days of school (this is about the number of days your daughter would be in regular school for a school year) with a teacher who is willing to work for only $8/hr coming in for 4 hours a day.  This does not include any of the textbooks you'd have to buy either.  If the teacher works for $10.50/hr and I'm guessing $400 for textbooks (that's less than I average in college for a semester) and is there for a full 7 hour school day the cost goes up to $13,630 without paying for teacher lunch.

Personally, your daughter sounds motivated, so it'd probably be feasible to have an online homeschool course supplemented by time spent with a teacher - maybe one day a week or an hour or two each day.  (Using my numbers above, now you're looking at $5-6,000.)

Answer 3

I was home schooled along with my three sisters and brother. I don't know how much my parents spent but we never had anyone come teach us in our home. We used ABEKA video courses. And the rest was pretty much self taught. Plus, you get teacher guides with the curriculum so you wont be left in the dark when you do get asked a question.

Answer 4

Private tutoring would probably cost at least $20 an hour.

It is possible for you to teach your own child even if you have not graduated from high school. Many parents study ahead of their kids and teach what they have learned. In all of the studies that have been done, homeschooled students who were taught by parents without a high school diploma did just as well as those whose parents who have a college degree.

The commitment of the parent is the determining factor in whether homeschooling succeeds or fails.  You are qualified to teach your own child. The question is, do you have the time, energy, and resources to do so?

Answer 5

You can teach your daughter by yourself. It requires:

1. Commitment

2. Patience

3. Willing to spend time to teach

You can find home school support groups in your area that will provide you support and help you in teaching subjects that you find difficult to teach.

Answer 6

It is absolutely possible for you to teach your child..even if you have not graduated high school.

Virginia is a GREAT state to homeschool in. Someone above gave you some links already for that state.

You would probably be most comfortable with a "scripted" lesson plan. This means you just pick up the book and read whatever the author wrote for curriculum. This is what teachers do anyway in a public school. When someone earns their teaching degree they have not really been taught to actually "teach." They are taught classroom management and how to put the curriculum together. A parent can do the exact same thing at home.

Some examples of scripted curriculum's are:

Saxon math

Abeka

Rod n Staff

There are many more. You can even buy what they are using in the public schools if you wish.

Virginia has a HUGE homeschool population and they have groups for people who are secular, religious and groups for all different homeschool ideiologies.

Be sure to check yahoogroups for homeschool support groups in your area. There should be specialty groups just for new homeschoolers that give you info on how to get started.

So to answer you original question, homeschooling can be free or super expensive. You can google eight grade lesson plans for any subject and get a million hits. For a first time homeschooler though I would recommend something scripted until you became more comfortable.

Good luck, you can do this!!!

Answer 7

Connections Accademy (your child is enrolled as a public school student but does all the work at home) is free.  There's probably local homeschool charter schools in your area that do the same thing.  They don't cost *you* anything because they're getting paid as if your child was sitting in a classroom.  They provide ALL of the materials - books, workbooks, etc.  Local ones also tend to have on-site classes (in art, music, etc.) and field trips.  Technically this is not homeschooling, just schooling at home, but a lot of families start out this way until they become more comfortable with homeschooling.

I know *a lot* of families that love Oak Meadow.  They have the 8th grade curriculum (including the chapter books needed) for $375.  The Teacher's Manual is an extra $50.

Answer 8

well, you have to buy food (extra) work books, and all of that stuff, plus the teacher so ill say around 1200 bucks at the least