Financial Aspects of Homeschooling

If you have contemplated home schooling your child, or children, at all, you will likely have thought about how it will affect your income and bills. This may be the first, or last of your concerns, but it does deserve careful consideration. Homeschooling as a single parent is even more challenging, but I do know people who have made it work for them.

A word from personal experience. Our choice to home school was largely initiated by the poor standard of our public school district we were zoned for. Alternatives: private school or home school. Since our main income covered main living expenses, the only way to send them to a private school would have been a second income. Private school/daycare ran at about $ 400 to 450 per month per child. With three children we would have had to create an extra $ 1300 per month, after taxes, just for education. Add to that the cost for an additional car, and there is another full time job to provide for that. In our case the emotional price tag was too high. One parent gone all day to provide the essentials for living, with the other gone all day to provide enough money for quality schooling, and the children gone all day to school or day care – that just was not the kind of family life we envisioned. So we decided to forgo the extra income and extra vehicle, and I would stay at home to teach instead.

So how much does it actually cost to teach your children at home? Likely as much, or only a little more than public school, but much less than hundreds of dollars a month.

Things to consider!

Costs of homeschooling your children

• Cost for textbooks – your own teacher manuals, and workbooks for your children

  Since home schooling teachers tend to be conscientious there is usually not a problem buying teacher manuals second hand, from places such as Amazon Home Schooling , Ebay, or, my personal favorite, homeschoolclassifieds.com.

• It pays to buy at least Math and Language workbooks new. Why? After homeschooling several children for nearly six years I have come to realize that time is of the essence. I can purchase a beautifully illustrated workbook that lasts the whole school year for $ 10 to $ 15. Of course I could print all the information off free websites. Yet when I add the cost of paper, ink, and, most of all, my time, there is simply no way I could match the value. Even at minimum wage, two hours would not be enough to reproduce a year's worth of practice material!

• “Regular” school supplies - pens, notebooks, markers and the like: about the same expense as your public schooler, minus the tons of tissue boxes and toilet paper. I was simply flabbergasted at some of the items my neighbor mentioned her children had listed on her back-to-school supply list.

• If you opt to use a comprehensive online curriculum that is not free, you will have to consider your monthly cost plus a little extra for printing and practice supplies. Depending on the program it can start with as little as $ 20/month.

• Extras: sports program, music lesson, zoo membership etc. Plan in a little extra for these, plus occasional field trips.

Money saving benefits for homeschooling parents

• “Book-Buddy” Programs

  Depending on your state and region, many restaurants, pizza parlors and ice cream places offer free meals as incentive for book reading. While these programs are not limited to home schoolers, this seems to be the majority group to take advantage of them.

• Go shopping early. Have you noticed that many grocery stores will put out their “priced to sell” items in the mornings? Hamburger meat that needs to go that day at a fraction of its regular price. Inventory items that are being discontinued. Since you are on nobody's schedule but your own, take the kids bargain shopping and turn it into a lesson in economic along the way.

• Fun food sampling: Shopped at Sam's or Costco's lately? A home schooler I know will turn her regular shopping time at Sam's into a fun food snack outing for her kids, with all the free sample stands throughout the store.

• Discounts at sports clubs. Many sports facilities offer discounted rates for home schoolers. Why? Because they'd rather fill a 1:00 pm slot for ballet or fencing lessons in their schedule at a discounted rate than not make any money at all. Take advantage of it!

• Less cost of eating out. Home cooking pays! Compare the cost of the simplest fast-food take-out meal with the of cost food at home. I can feed five people a delicious, and nutritious, meal for what would feed maybe two eating out.

If you are a home schooler and have your own tips, I would like to hear from you! Share your thoughts and experiences so that others may benefit from your expertise.

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