Why is homeschooling so expensive?

Answer 1

Sometimes it is extremely expensive. One program in my state, offered by a university, which is used for credit make up in the public schools is around $2000 for six credit hours.
On the other hand K12 is available k-8th grade and is free, along with a loaner computer.
If you are in a state that actually allows freedom in homeschooling (and many do) then it can be as expensive or as "reasonably priced" as you wish it to be.
You can utilize your local library, internet sites, free worksheet generators and even free records management downloads.
Take all that and combine it with curriculum swaps and buying used books, and you can homeschool for next to nothing.
Accredited, all in one programs like Abeka and such are going to run around $1000 per year. If you are in a situation where you need the accreditation (say, your child may need to re enter the public system and you want the transition to go as smoothly as possible) or you need the ease and convenience of having all the management and planning taken care of for you, this is a good option.
But it is not a necessity to have those things, nor is it required to spend that much money per year on homeschooling.

Answer 2

It can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. There is one popular high quality curriculum that runs about $350 dollars a year for all basic subjects, dividing it by 12 months it comes to less than $30 a month. As long as you don't sign up for a correspondence course, you can easily do it for this much or less. There are many boxed curriculums that cost between $200 and $400 per year. Also, you don't even have to pay this much, if you check out used bookstores, library resources, etc. You can save a lot.
http://www.booksamaritan.com provides homeschoolers in need with free curriculum as long as they agree not to sell it but to either return it or pass it on free to another family who needs it.
HOmeschooling can be expensive, it can also be very affordable if you are willing to do a little leg work gathering resources. The library has books on every subject, from math to astronomy. You just have to be willing to visit the library frequently.

Answer 3

All education is expensive because it takes the time of an educated adult teacher who would be being paid for to doing something else, Those who choose to homeschool in the US are turning down a free education (including books and transport) and really shouldn't complain about the costs of their choice.

I wonder how many kids are gaining adequate skills to succeed in our increasingly demanding, high tech society. I met a pair of twins who were home schooled out west and were admitted to Harvard at 17. A great success for homeschooling, I've met others who were getting very little out of school because their parents were disorganized, unable to provide adequate structure and poorly educated themselves.

A wise man once said you should be happy to pay your tuition because learning is the most important part of life.

Answer 4

I am not sure what made you think that home schooling is expensive; we have never spend more than about $400.00 per year to educate the children, and in the last two years it has been $0.00 because we have so much left from previous years.
Add the libraries, book give aways, discounted, or free materials as well as the many web sites, and home schooling costs a fraction of what you would pay for tuition at a private school, or what the public schools spend per pupil.

Answer 5

I don't think it has to be expensive unless you are paying for exams.

I guess if you are buying a ready made curriculum then that would be expensive but there are loads of free resources on the internet, I'm pretty sure there are groups of homeschoolers who share and swap resources and libraries are a wealth of information.

What is it you are finding so expensive?

Answer 6

I homeschooled my 2 kids for 6 years, and had no problem with expenses, and my wife and I were on a fixed income.. but, what we did was look at the places who sold educational materials and bought them on sale..
We also used materials from the libraries, and other places where we could get them at low or no cost..

Answer 7

It is not expensive. Do you think $15.00 is expensive? That's how much I spent on biology and world history for this year. The language arts was borrowed. The math was a purchase I made 3 years ago and never used. I bought it used and don't remember how much I spent on it, but it was not expensive.
Even the boxed curriculum is cheaper than private school.
Our biggest expense is Internet connection and gas to go to library.

Answer 8

It depends. Some people homeschool through free online sites that offer free worksheets. Also, if you go through a charter homeschool site, like www.connectionsacademy.com they will offer to pay for your internet sercvices. Connections Academy is an online school.

Answer 9

The average cost per pupil here in NJ for public schools is around $12,180.
(Source : http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/csg/07/csg1.pl)

Last year, including all types of field trips, we spent about $2,500, for a very low student:teacher ratio and excellent instruction by two parents with an average college GPA of 3.8. (Teacher grads in NJ are required to have at least a 2.75, and the current push is to lower that to a 2.5 !)

I don't think homeschooling is very expensive at all, and the results are fabulous!

Answer 10

It can be either way - I know families that do it completely for free, with online resources and the library. We probably have 50-100 library books, CDs, Audios, DVDs, etc. checked out at any given time; I put together units for my son, so a lot of that is free - it just costs my research time.

There are places to get your books second-hand, in nearly pristine condition, which can save you 50%; purchasing at convention can save you at least 20%. I also share resources with a friend - her kids are the same age as mine - we go in halves on it and work as a co op.

There are plenty of ways to do it for less, you've just got to be willing to get creative and put in the legwork.