There are so many questions a homeschooling family has to answer. What we’re doing is unusual. It’s natural that those around us want to know how we do it and why. Questions come from everyone–grandparents, neighbors, friends, the mail lady.
Especially in the first rocky years of grammar school, when you’re still finding the best path for your family, it’s easy to sugarcoat things when these objections have to be answered.
Who me, worry about PE? Why, of course we have it under control! (Or we will, as soon as we figure out how to fit in a karate class between music and Dad’s weekend science sessions. Quick, honey, call the Smiths and find out what they’re doing for PE before anybody catches on that we forgot!)
I have a few objections to the most common responses I’ve encountered to some of these questions. I’m going to do several of these posts, as I get the opportunity. I’ve got oodles of them, and I’d love to know what my homeschooling friends think. Maybe I’m just doing it wrong!
Today’s Homeschooling DLS (Dirty Little Secret): Homeschooling is (kind of) expensive.
One of the most common questions I hear from those considering homeschooling is “How will we ever afford it?”. Naturally, extended family members who aren’t accustomed to such odd lifestyles ask this question because they are seeking reassurance that we’re going to be able to do this without asking them for a loan to cover the cost.
I’ve seen it a thousand times. As soon as anyone raises this objection, the homeschooling community (God bless their well-meaning souls) circles the wagons around this dirty little secret and tells the prospective home-educator: Oh, it’s OK! Homeschooling is very inexpensive. Why, look at all the designer clothes we don’t have to buy to keep up with the Joneses. And we go to The Most Holy Place the public library twice a week! For some reason, we homeschoolers can’t bring ourselves to admit that it puts a crimp in the budget when the taxpayer isn’t footing the school bill. Unfortunately, this is not an inexpensive lifestyle choice, no matter how many corners we try to cut.
Books. Unless you’re a particularly talented and well-trained teacher, you’re going to need curricula. Lots of it. And you’re going to need supplemental books. If you’re not blessed with access to a well-stocked public library, your librarian may not be quite the resource you’re dreaming of, so count on buying many, many books of your own. (Pardon me, while I get down on my knees and thank God for libraries. I don’t want to completely disregard what they do for us!) You’re also going to need books about education—how to teach, how kids learn, dealing with special needs, etc. You probably will want to buy a lot of those to have around for reference.
Art, music, physical education, dance, calculus, etc. If you’re a supernaturally gifted person, you can teach all these things yourself, it’s true. But how many of us can provide more than one or two things off that list to any degree of satisfaction? If you want these things, you’re going to have to hire help. It’s just a fact of homeschooling. You could skip some of those things, and everything will be fine, but most homeschooling families are trying to raise the standard of education, not lower it. Count on shelling out for everything you can bring yourself to admit you’re not capable of teaching.
Field trips. Not expensive, necessarily, but the taxpayer isn’t footing the bill for gassing up the van, and you’re probably not getting the group discount.
Memberships and clubs. Again, this is something lots of people get by without, but I, for one, don’t want to deal with social workers and school superintendents without HSLDA on speed dial. Sometimes bureaucrats don’t understand the law quite as well as they think they do. Also, homeschooler’s associations, interest-oriented clubs, scouts, etc. are all things that may be necessary, depending on the family.
Those are just a few of the things I’ve found myself either needing now, or seeing a need for in the next few years. I don’t want to discourage anybody from privately educating their children. There are lots of ways to keep costs down–from thrift shops, to book exchanges, to do-it-yourself manipulatives. But for the average family it is going to cost thousands of dollars more to educate privately than it would to utilize the public school system. Per year. Per child. It just is! It’s not as expensive as most private schools, but it is still not free.
I firmly believe that almost anybody can find a way to afford to homeschool, and it is worth every penny! I’d rather do this than anything else in the world, and I’d pay a lot more than I already am if I had to. The fact is, though, that there are a lot of financial sacrifices involved. We shouldn’t gloss that over just because we’re afraid someone might be frightened away by the cost. There is a reason my husband and I are still living in a rented home and driving beat up old cars. We’ve chosen it, and we’re not ashamed of where our money is going.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for being honest. Honesty is always better and I’ve noticed when I used to ask questions about homeschooling, how people did circle the wagons.
I wanted to homeschool too and really did think it would be cheaper, but more importantly I wanted to ensure my child was above and beyond the average.
Dh however decided he wanted public school for now until …and see if we need to change course.
He didn’t want to send my son to preschool, so I started to teach him everything he would need for Kindergarten.
He is now awesome. At five years old he is reading books way beyond his age, counts to 100 and I think I should continue with the counting, but ….don’t want to overwhelm him.
Does his shapes and colors. Draws, cuts, the whole shebang and in both Spanish and English.
It makes me feel that I definitely could homeschool my kids. With the necessary supports.
It was just lastnight, dh was musing how good the boy is and he is hoping they’ll recognize how far ahead he is, because at this point he is right at first grade.
Thank you for sharing and I look forward to more of these.
Well Put! Don’t forget, though, family members (when available) can be a cheap resource. We can do a Skype lesson on social sciences, archaeology, and geology when they’re ready, if you like!
Amanda, you are SO gonna be used! Maybe not this year, but soon, and for the rest of your life!
I would urge you and your husband to think and pray about homeschooling. It sounds like you could go far, far beyond what public education can do. If my own education is any indication, he’d just spend most of the day waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. It’s worth it if you can find the money!
Hmm..
Have been calculating the upcoming year’s expenses:
Cost of Homeschool Co-op:
Registration and Insurance: $88 for both semesters
Girl Scouts (for 2 girls): $24
4-H meets for free
starting Science Olympiad this year – cost per child – apprx. $15
Classes for three kids: $219
Total Co-op: $541
HSDLA membership: $108
School Books for two kids in school: $250
Weekly piano lessons would be another $540 per year.
My homeschool year looks like it will cost about $900 for two kids in school, and one tag-a-long preschooler. The baby doesn’t count yet! You can add in $50 of school supplies at the beginning of the year and round up to $1000 to make it even.
It would be closer to $1500 if we do piano lessons.
One way I keep my book costs so low is I keep my eagle eye on the free table at our co-op. Picked up a hard-copy of Saxon Algebra 1/2, a significant value! We also use Grandpa’s old Latin book from the 30′s. If you go on google-books, you can find a lot of old digitized schoolbooks from before the workbook era. I printed out the McGuffie reader and put it in a binder. I only go to the library when I have a book on hold, I don’t depend on it for educational purposes, as the collection is pretty lame.
I did get a grant from the bank of Mom when I found out my 1st grader had dyslexia as there was all this specialized curriculum to get. That would push my curriculum cost to $550.
One thing to remember is that you don’t have to pay the fee they charge at the beginning of the school year in additions to making you buy 5 packs of chlorox wipes, and upteen rolls of paper towels that your kids will never use. Plus, while homeschooling, you’re not being constantly needled to sell junk door-to-door to help the schools.
But no, I’m not doing all the things I wish I could with the kids, but then I think George Washington didn’t get to do Discovery Center programs, or the homeschool YMCA program, expensive field trips (unless you count the French and Indian War) and he turned out ok, right?
So yes, I’ll pay to stick it to government schools any day.
My husband would have probably been wary had we started out homeschooling; I think he had to see it firsthand how pathetic public school was before he would consider homeschooling. Don’t worry, it won’t take long for you too to see how lame public school really is.
Great insights, so so true!
Republican Mother, sounds like you didn’t shell out as much as I did! Yay, you! I’m finding more frugal ways to go about it as I go along, but I’m finding that in our area, there just aren’t as many low-cost opportunities as I’d like. It’s harder than I thought it would be. Based on what the online community told me about the expense, I thought I would get off with a few hundred dollars a year, or maybe a thousand. Last year was about 2x that, and I’m sure I forgot to count something! (I did overpay for some things!) But it’s still worth it. We’d just as soon be poor, anyway. Never have liked hanging out with rich people.
I’m really grateful for my co-op; it’s the least expensive of the co-ops around here and is very flexible. If you only want, or can only afford, a couple of classes, that’s ok. Through my co-op, I’ve gotten a lot of great curriculum hand-me-downs.
I make all my own manipulatives out of play-doh, usually.
Another great resource is the local used bookstore – I can try out a new book for $2-3 and if it doesn’t work out, no big deal.
I really wish we could afford to go on the field trips of my dreams, but we just can’t. Oh well.
Another big expense that I’m trying to brace myself for is the dual-enrollment high school courses. The early elementary grades are nominal in expense compared to the upper grades. That’s something else no one really talks about.
Glad you’re bringing up these issues for those considering homeschooling. The great thing about homeschooling costs is that they’re usually spread out over the year after that initial August book-buying binge, that is!