Average cost to home-school?

Question

A friend is going to home school her daughter starting next fall. She will be starting with a kindergarden curriculum. Can anyone give me an average cost for tuition when going through a distance learning program with a private school for it? We found one that was $3650 for the year, is that pretty good or on the high side? Also, anyone with experience going through a private school for this, how much other than the tuition will it likely cost for other supplies and any trips?

TIA

CPR, apparently you don't know an awful lot about homeschooling. Or that there are MANY other ways to get social interactions for children.

OOPS, I forgot to mention we are in Florida.

Jessica, your link is no good :(

Answer 1

$3650 is high. I'm paying just under $2000 for a specialized highschool program for my daughter. I'm thinking, off the top of my head, that going with an umbrella program like you are describing for K should be around $700-900. You might be able to find some less expensive than that.
and as for private school tuition, the schools in my area are around the three grand per year fee, uniforms, meals, field trips, extracurricular activities, not included.

Edit: of course, that fee of 700-900 is for distance enrollment in an umbrella program, like you mentioned. If your friend is interested in putting together her own curriculum, that can be done for next to nothing, utilizing libraries, used text books, internet, things like that, but i didn't get that you were talking about that.

Answer 2

When I went through private school at the time I started the tuition was around $3500-5000(cost back in 1981) and you have to do research for private schools that permit distance learning since a lot of places don't do it because children need to actually be looking at a teacher to learn what they're learning. If you're planning to home school you're going to be fully responsible for any and all costs meaning any field trips are at your expense versus a regular or private the school pays for it and you pay a portion if there's a fee for admission or tickets and lunch.

So you might want to do some serious thinking because you are taking on a huge responsibility here and you have to be prepared financially since you're on your own when you homeschool cost wise where regular and private schools are mandated cost wise by state law. I went on countless field trips in school and one major was to Washington DC with my high school class....what homeschool group can afford to travel to the nation's capital for an educational excursion like that? It cost my school roughly about $10,000 with the fact that students paid their own airfare and outside meals(meaning what the tour company didnt provide out of the cost of trip).

It was a lovely experience with the exception that this was back in 1990 when things were a bit on the cheap side then. I am sure that the cost now is astronomical and if you do field trips you have to have some kind of insurance if kids get hurt or sick where public and private are insured to handle things so they don't get sued. So you have to look at those factors that when you choose homeschooling you're on your own financially.

Answer 3

HI, Betsy,
Wow, that price seems steep. The link that a previous poster wanted was www.abeka.org ... I hope that one works.

Anyhow, I really like Abeka's Master Teacher series. They are DVDs of a classroom situation with all the books and guidance that you need. For K it runs about $950.

For K however, I am comfortable with using a few books and a lot of fun. And it makes the cost under $100 for books. Of course you can spend a mint on fun and games but that can be true homeschooling or not. We use Teach Your Child to Read In 100 Easy Lessons - $20 on Amazon. And a math program can be picked up at your local teaching store. Plus, use the library!!!

Also, go to www.hslda.org to find the laws and such in your state. And to locate a homeschool co-op or support group to join.

Kudos to your friend!

Answer 4

That sounds pretty high to me, esp for kindergarten. I think the national average spent on hs'ed students is $300, although kinder would be cheaper.

If your friend wants to go the video school route with the school grading and keeping the records, I've heard a lot of people like Abeka Academy for that. A lot of kindergarten curricula are what I'd call preschool stuff - colors and shapes - but Abeka is REAL LEARNING in kinder and the early grades. Anyway, I'm thinking it would be about $800 or so for kindergarten from Abeka on video, but my info could be outdated.

As far as cost for other supplies and trips, that varies all over the place. Some people like to just get together for play groups, while others travel and go to museums and science centers and enroll in sports and music lessons and such. We are the second type, and I don't know what we spend on that, but that is not really a hs expense - my kids would want to do this stuff even if they went to school.

Answer 5

Check with others who homeschool in your particular state. In SC, we can homeschool ourselves without using any outside agencies. I joined several groups that offer curriculum swaps and sales. If you want to used a religion-based curriculum, try A Beka, Bob Jones University, Alpha Omega or Sonlight. If you are not interested in a religious format, check out the fes. follett link provided below. I use some A Beka, not because we are religious, but because the curriculum is excellent. I just look past the religious content to the educational content. I also use several other books to which I have the solutions key, teacher key or teacher's edition text. These make it easier in the higher grades where you may have trouble with the answers.

www.homeschoolclassifieds.com
www.vegsource.com/homeschool
www.fes.follett.com

Answer 6

how about FREE!!!!!

www.connectionsacademy.com

it is a vitural public school, a school without walls. All you pay is for the internet (which you have anyway) and phone. And in most states they help out a little bit with that cost ($50 every three months in Ohio) Trips and supplies are up to you, you could go on all the trips and spend a bunch in gas, food, and such. Supplies I really haven't had to use anything that the school didn't send me(beside printer ink so I switched to refilling my own) I have a son in Kindergarten (doing first grade math) and a daughter that is in the fourth grade. Total this year we have maybe spent $50 (pencils, flash cards, index cards, printer paper, fun stickers, batteries for science {fourth grade}
and other odds and ends)

Answer 7

For K I would think that is high. Can I ask if there is a specific reason for using that type of umbrella school for K? It's really not necessary until higher grades. K is pretty easy to teach cheaply at home with basic curriculum (Barnes & Noble, Sonlight, etc) and stuff you already have.

We've never used a private school as it costs to much for our budget -- schooling 4 at once. Friends who have have had good success with Christian Liberty Academy, Seton Hall and others.

Answer 8

Well I like to mix and match my curriculum.
For kindergarten I really like explode the code primers. And Bob Jones math. There is no need to go out and buy a TON of stuff. Really reading writing and arithmetic. The basics. With what I quoted you it would be around $75-$100.

Read read read.
Five in a row is also awesome for a child in K.

Here is the cheapest place to find curriculum(that I have found)
http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php

Here is a neat link to share with other homeschoolers.
http://www.guiltfreehomeschooling.blogspot.com/

And of course a link for an absolutely must have book for someone getting started.
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Rs-Ruth-Beechick/dp/0940319063

Answer 9

I don't know where you are, but did you know that in Canada parents who home-school get a stipend from the government? It's not a fortune, but it's to help offset the cost of educating your child. This is something you should look into.

Answer 10

It's probable to spend a lot of time and income searching for approaches to show your kids how to learn and boost their studying skills. Is difficult to show a small kid how to see, and even alluring them to read is a challenge in itself. Nonetheless it doesn't need to be like that because you got assistance from this program https://tr.im/Wit6w , Children Learning Reading program.
With Children Learning Reading you can teach your son or daughter how to split up appears and separate words in to phonemes, an essential issue whenever your child is merely learning how to spell.
The examining program from Children Learning Reading program makes it easy for children to learn easily and correctly, from easy words to sentences till they understand to read stories.