I have a friend who has just started homeschooling. She has four kids and they had been going to public school so she needs to get everything. The cost is overwhelming!
Yes, when you have to do four at once and don’t ease into it, it is a bit overwhelming even if you are able to pair some of them up. But, if you think about it, it is still much less expensive than other options, even public school. You don’t have to do the “back to school” shopping and bring in the requested items that will be used by everyone in the classroom. You don’t have to do the fundraising and the fees for any trips or extra activities. You don’t have to pay for gas to get your kids there and back again every day. You just get to buy the things you need for your specific situation and pay for the fees for the activities you are going to do with your kids.
I often get asked “how much does it cost?” and I’ve written a post about it before. With Joel starting preschool next month I have new data for two year’s worth of preschool curriculum. Note: The books/curriculum do get more expensive for the older ages.
3 yr old books – (P3/4)
I pieced together and bought this curriculum from Sonlight and added some workbooks. I updated it for Joel and repurchased the consumables and a couple new books that had been added.
Overall price – $390.63
But, I was able to mostly use this curriculum three times, so price per child – $130.21.
4 yr old books – (P4/5)
I also pieced together and purchased this curriculum from Sonlight. It hasn’t changed since I did it with the olders so I didn’t update it. I did need to repurchase consumables.
Overall price – $431.18
Used three times or price per child – $143.73
I’d say that is pretty affordable. The best part is that I still have the majority of the curriculum and books. My kids reread the stories and pull the games off the shelf often. We let friends borrow or look at them because they are great books! And, if I needed to I could sell them to someone else who needs them to recoup the cost. Homeschooling is a great deal!
Kate W We hybrid homeschool, so our “school” determines the curriculum. The books and uniforms do get expensive, but I can still save them for the next child, buy things second-hand (which our school helps facilitate), and I can sell them later. We do have to pay tuition for our school, but i work there, too, so we get a reduced tuition which is basically covered by my pay. I suspect it’s still cheaper than public school!