No doubt when one first thinks of homeschooling, time spent is often the foremost consideration. While the time devoted to schooling your own children is time well spent, it isn’t the only cost of homeschooling. Homeschooling isn’t free.
When people talk about teaching their children from home in the
absence of any definite or structured curriculum, it is perhaps
natural to think that homeschooling is cheap. But this is far from
the truth.
The cost of homeschool curriculum and materials used can vary widely and the variance depends a great deal on how much pre-planning the parents want done for them. Just as take-out meals are quick and easy (and costly), so too are pre-packaged curriculum ready to use.
Even for the most frugal of families who use the library, unit studies or an unschooling approach to learning; there could still be argument for the loss of income for the parent who stays home to educate the children. Even if the mother were to have chosen to stay home otherwise, nearly every family buys some books and of course, printing off worksheets or other learning materials still costs in printer ink and paper – there will still be some costs associated with homeschooling.
It is possible to keep your homeschooling costs to an affordable low; depending on the size of your family, the support group, the type of curriculum used and the availability of the curricululm and supporting materials. When successive children can reuse the curriculum, cost goes down. While curriculum is often purchased from curriculum vendors/manufacturers, often at homeschool curriculum fairs (or online!); other source options are a membership in a public library, theater, concerts, ballets and other cultural events also help in cutting costs.
Sometimes, it is even possible to barter expertise. For instance, the mother of an 8-year old gives dancing classes, and her daughter receives drawing classes for free. Support groups allow you to divide the cost of field
trips, science projects and fairs.
Whatever the cost, homeschooling benefits far outweigh these considerations. When you are able to decide what knowledge your child receives and when he or she should be taught and to what extent, it gives you a lot of freedom and a lot of power. Both the children as well as the parents benefit from this mutually enriching experience.
Tags: homeschooling, homeschooling costs