does home school cost any money?

Answer 1

You can spend a lot of money or nearly nothing and still give your kids a great education at home. You have to be more creative with less money, but people who are accustomed to living frugally already know that. If you live in an area with a good library, it is a great access. If you can afford internet access, get it! Otherwise, find a way to get access through the library or somewhere similar and use the internet to find material to use with your children.

Scouting troops, sports teams, and other activities aren't free, but they can be fairly low cost. Church youth activities are usually free or close to it. All of them can be good enrichment activities for your kids.

Tapping other people you know is another option. We've known college professors in various subjects, rocket scientists (really), a couple of biologist, all sorts of programmers/analysts/developers, musicians, speakers of various languages, writers, etc. All of them have been happy to talk with my homeschooled daughter about their work and answer her questions, and would have gone further had she been interested in one of their careers. She's going to shadow a friend who is a photographer at a few shoots soon. Don't overlook those sorts of resources!

Have fun, and good luck! :-)

Answer 2

Yes. The amount depends on which curriculum you use.

I use a fairly expensive one--expensive because I must use specific textbooks, and they must be the current edition. I get my children's classes via satellite, so there is a subscription fee ($40/mo), plus I have registered for some classes. Registration is not mandatory--that $40 gives me access to all the classes they broadcast--but it includes extra materials which, for some classes (high school especially), are necessary. Registration costs $10-$40 per class. There is a website put together by parents who use this curriculum to tell us for which classes we really need to register.

The cost of an old edition is generally 1/2 or less the cost of the current edition, even used. I must use the current edition. Also, I usually get supporting workbooks because the teacher uses them in class or assigns them as homework. I didn't get many of these when I taught them myself.

I will spend about $1600 this year to teach 6 children, two in high school. That's only a little more than the cost of a semester in community college for my oldest, not including transportation.

My first year cost more because I was buying all new books (I got most of them used, but I saved only about 25%). This year (my third year), I already had over 1/2 of the textbooks I need. Next year will be even cheaper.

The first two years, I also had to buy lots of dvd's for recording, as well as a computer capable of the job. I also bought notebooks for storing them ($100 for five). (They are for the dvd's I will use in the current year--the others I store in old cakeboxes.)

Before I switched to the satellite program, my expenses were far less. I could buy older editions, which were generally just fine. I mean, how much does algebra change from year to year? I was also more flexible as to which company's books I used--I could mix and match. I didn't use as many consumables (workbooks).

I am not very organized nor disciplined, and my children are getting a much better education with the satellite program. Even though it is more expensive, it is so worth the cost. Public school would be cheaper, but our family life would have suffered greatly.

You can do a lot of education with free or nearly free resources--think public television, nature shows, museums, cultural shows (a traveling show could be the motivation to study the culture, history, country the group comes from). Yard sales and used book sales are great sources of supplemental books.

For lower grades, you can get your whole curricum for one year in one volume for about $30. It's a series of books called "What your 2nd (3rd, etc.) Grader Needs to Know."

So you can go cheap, or expensive, and you child will get a good education. It depends mostly on what you, the teacher, can use. If you find it just isn't working for your child, you can try something else, but you can adapt many curricula to you child's learning style.

Contact Home School Legal Defense Association (540-338-5600); they can put you in contact with a local group. Attend one of their meetings and meet some people. They can give you practical help. Our group even has some curriculum in their library for checkout.

Answer 3

It can be zero, if you live in a state that has lax laws for homeschooling. Otherwise you need to become a member of the HSLDA for legal protection of your homeschool. There is a yearly due.

Any normal home with children already has books, paper, pens, rulers, calculator and a PC, so you need little. You can get so much from libraries and the Internet....you may do it all without ever buying a curriculum!

I homeschooled 2 children and never spent over $200 per year for everything!!! I purchase excellent textbooks, workbooks, materials, and supplies as well as paid for standardized testing.

There are used books you can buy for $1 or $2, or you can join a homeschool group and share/trade books for free. You can exchange your literature reading and discussion with another family and they can share their knowledge of physics with your children, like an exchange of strengths among homeschooling families. So as a trade, it is free.

Answer 4

It most certainly does! The only question is "how much?" In any case, the cost-conscious homeschooling parent has many options available to homeschool on a budget, as there are plentiful books and websites that offer advice on just how to do that. In any case, I think it is the dedication and committment of the parent that makes a difference rather than the amount of money that goes into homeschooling. So enjoy raising your own kids your way!

Answer 5

It only costs for pencils, paper, crayons, that kind of stuff. If you want low cost, AVOID all the boxed curriculum sets. Find out if your school board has a book depository, or obsolete books warehouse. Take full advantage of the libraray and the internet. It can cost less than public school even, because you don't have to buy $60 worth of school supplies that you never even use. You only have to buy what you need.

Answer 6

Some states fund homeschooling facilitation programs -- like IDEA, which actually exists in several states. If you lived in a state with an IDEA program, you could use the program's allotment to pay for your texts, supplies and instruction.

But if you live in a state without such funding, all of the previous answers apply -- it costs to get the books and supplies.

Answer 7

It does not cost money to homeschool.
It costs money for supplies, online classes, programs, etc.
If money's a problem with homeschooling, try getting used stuff- many places have a used homeschooling supplies sale. Or get them on ebay- great deals there too!

Answer 8

Do the math: Home schooling is cheaper than private school, but can cost more than you think. There are ways to cut the price. Check out my source.

Answer 9

You can spend as much as you want, but you really don't need to buy that much. There's a gob of cool instructional materials out there, but you really only need to buy books and basic supplies. As kids get older, you'll probably spend more on science lab supplies. Our spending on curriculum annually is comparable to what a typical college student spends per semester on books and supplies.

Like most other things, there's a time/money tradeoff. The more time you are willing to spend, the less money you need to spend. If you want to minimize time, you'll spend more money (buying "canned" video or online instruction, etc.).

Answer 10

Well you have to pay for materials.

And, you sometimes have to take classes online and the cheapest ones for those are on BYU online.

But, it is way cheaper than private school.

Heck, it is even cheaper than public school.

As long as your parents support you with the home schooling, you shoudl be alright.