P3/4 Cost Analysis

So . . . since I’m an engineering type and I actually like math and maybe because I haven’t had to think about anything more than how to read lately, I did a cost analysis for P3/4.

One of drawbacks to homeschooling is that you have to buy everything that a school usually has like books and workbooks and materials. Also, some people have a hard time justifying (or can’t afford) the cost of the pre-made curriculums and try to piece together their own through all the free resources out there. I, however, have a high price tag on how much my ‘time’ is worth to me and would rather have someone else do the lesson planning for me, thus one of the reasons why we went with Sonlight.

The P3/4 package on the website today costs $269, which includes a 17% discount if you buy the complete set from them. But the retail price on all the materials is actually about $327. It includes 20 books, two games, an Instructors Guide, and a CD of nursery rhymes. I pieced this core together because we already had a few of the books and I didn’t want duplicates, and as an attempt to spread the cost over time. In the end, with shipping, I still came out to a total of $275. Which means I could have saved a little bit if I had bought the full core through Sonlight.

But, it doesn’t end there. This is one of the benefits of homeschooling, you can reuse the materials that aren’t consumable! Now that I’m using this core with Benjamin, we can divide the cost between the two kids which brings us to about $138 for a full year of preschool curriculum. I think that’s pretty affordable.

There may be a few things that I will purchase before Benjamin is done with this core that will bump this price up a little bit, but I don’t forsee it going over $150. Compare $150 for a year to how much we were paying for our nanny for a month or how much we would be paying if the kids were in a preschool and now I’m much more excited about this whole stay-at-home and homeschool thing.