what do you spend??

[ProudGrandma]

Approx. and on average, what do you spend for each kid for school for a year?? I know some years are more than others...if you have high schoolers, that is probably more expensive too...I have 3 elementary students...and I am trying to decide if I end up spending about $100 per kid per year...is that good or not so good???

[texasmama]

I will have three elementary students next year and not counting outside activities (piano lessons and such), I will spend about $750 total for my three students (rough estimate). Using the curriculums we use, I couldn't do it for what you are spending.

[Catiejoy]

living books curriculum announced on a recent webinar that the average homeschool family spends 600, as oppose to the public school spending 9000_ I personally spend about $600 for three high school

students

[mycalling]

I spend about $500 per year for all of them (2 dc HSed for 2yrs, 3 this year, and 5 for next). I try to buy non-consumables and I have much of HSing planned out through high school, so I can safely predict it will probably stay at about $500yr...maybe up to $700 with H.S. science labs. ETA: Oops! I forgot the yet-to-be-purchased Chem set for this coming year...I'll say $600 for next year instead.

Edited May 24, 2010 by MyCalling

[justamouse]

I have no idea, and frankly, I don't want to know. :001_smile: It could be skeery down that rabbit hole.

[Gooblink]

On supplies, curriculum, classes and supplemental resources, I spend between $150-$250 per month.

 

 

Having said that, I'm a curriculum junkie and would rather buy books than clothing. :)

[ProudGrandma]

wow...ok...now I sort of know what to expect as I am planning the curriculum...and I won't freak out quite so badly as the costs go up and up...UGH! It sure is a good thing that it is worth all of that money to educate our kids. THANKS ladies for your honesty on this one...I really appreciate it...talking money can be a sticky topic sometimes.

[hsmom3tn]

I will have two 5th graders and a 7th grader in the fall. If I count what I have spent for us to work on over the summer, plus what I have bought and will buy for the upcoming school year, it will be at least $900. It might end up being more. :blush:

 

A friend is letting me borrow the math and science that I will need for DS, and that is going to save me a lot of money. Still, though, this will be our most expensive year so far. I'm hoping to finish a few things over the summer and be able to sell them to the last minute shoppers. :D

[Guest ToGMom]

I have no idea, and frankly, I don't want to know. :001_smile: It could be skeery down that rabbit hole.

 

 

:lol:...:iagree:...:leaving:

[hsmom3tn]

On supplies, curriculum, classes and supplemental resources, I spend between $150-$250 per month.

 

 

Oh, wow, I didn't even factor all that stuff in...

 

Between bowling, basketball, and science classes, that will be another $1200 for the year. I don't even want to think about how much more we'll spend on Boy Scouts stuff.... plus DS is now interested in archery...:eek:

[christine in al]

I'll spend several hundred on each child after,

science tutor, piano, taekwondo, soccer, 200.00 for access to Discovery Education Streaming, field trips, art class.

and curricula.

 

Writing with Ease,

michael clay thompson

Right Start Math

Galore Park Junior Maths

Evan Moor Daily word problems

Key to series

Latin Prep and Latin Exercises

Getting Started in Latin

First Language Lessons

L'art d'Lire

Petit Pont

Geography curriculum that I can't remember right now.

 

I buy lots used, and we eat cheap, and dress REALLY cheaply

I probably spend 700 per child.

We think of this as private school

~c.

[StartingOver]

I alot a $1000 per year per child. The years that we don't use it all, I save it up for science labs or community college later LOL.

[mycalling]

Wow, I'm feeling really cheap. I'll send DH this way before I start curricula shopping next time! I might not get the smirky eye roll because he thinks I'm obsessed...hey, this obsession can be a lot more expensive!:D

[ProudGrandma]

I wasn't even thinking about the "extras" when I asked this question...I was realy only thinking about the books and supplies to use the books.

[jenn-]

I will spend between $600-$800 total on curriculum alone for the 4 kids. DD is a competitive gymnast so our extra curriculars are quite high in addition.

[AngieW in Texas]

It was cheap when my kids were little. As they have gotten older, costs have gone up.

 

Projected costs for next year with 12th grader, 10th grader, and 7th grader:

7th grader

OM6 used - $40, just have bought it yesterday

Lial's BCM used - $25, already bought it along with solutions and DVT

Key to Algebra - $24, estimated cost for what she'll use next year

Prentice Hall Science Explorer - $0, already own it from using it with my middle dd

 

10th

OM English 10 - $60 new for syllabus and TM combined, already own all the novels

OM world history - $50 new for syllabus and TM combined, $50 for used text on amazon

Giancoli's Physics - already own it because I'm using it this year with oldest

LabPaq - $179, used Castle Heights this year with oldest, but haven't been happy with it

KB Algebra II - $60 (bought it with the printed text because of difficulties with tracking when copying from computer)

Foundations in Personal Finance - already own it from using it with oldest, I think the extra workbook was $10

Alfred's All-in-one Piano Course - $15

 

12th

Japanese III and IV at cc - free, continues with same books we already have

English I and II at cc - free, but don't know how much the texts will cost

Physics I and II at cc - $464 tuition&fees, not sure about texts

Elementary Statistics at cc - $174 tuition&fees, not sure about texts

Calculus I at cc - $174 tuition&fees, not sure about texts

Thinkwell Government - $70 at homeschool buyer's co-op

Thinkwell Economics - $70 at homeschool buyer's co-op

I'll estimate $400 for books for the cc courses above.

 

$90 estimate for 7th grader

$375 estimate for 10th grader

$1355 estimate for 12th grader

 

This doesn't take into account $90/month for private guitar lessons for 7th grader, $60/month for tumbling for 10th grader, and $20/month for 7th and 10th grader to be added to my gym membership (they both asked to join the gym with me). I don't consider these to be school expenses, because they'd happen whether or not they were in school.

[babysparkler]

We budget $1200 for our 3 school-aged kids... that includes chess tournaments, scouts, co-op, testing, etc.

[QueenCat]

Not counting things we would still do if ds was in public school (i.e. Scouts, piano, youth group activities), we spend about $2000/year. About half of that is for the tutorial he attends once a week. The rest is for books, supplies and field trips.

[m0mmaBuck]

Not counting field trips, memberships, outside clubs, etc... Just curriculum and related materials... $300 on the 3rd grader and another $100 on the pre-K. We have an awesome library so I don't really have to buy books.

[mycalling]

Japanese III and IV at cc - free, continues with same books we already have

English I and II at cc - free, but don't know how much the texts will cost

Physics I and II at cc - $464 tuition&fees, not sure about texts

Elementary Statistics at cc - $174 tuition&fees, not sure about texts

Calculus I at cc - $174 tuition&fees, not sure about texts

Why are some classes free and some expensive at the CC? Are these taken at the same CC?

[jewellsmommy]

We use TOG and it has a high book requirement. I hunt for bargains on ebay, utilize teacher discounts, shop used and so on. Even with all that, I still spend about $500 a year for 1 child. That is curriculum and books only. I resale whatever I can and that helps a lot.

[susancollins]

I spend two hundred a month for a total of $2400 a year that is what my husband and I agreed upon in the budget. This does not include extras like horseback riding, co-ops, and field trips. I sell what we use on ebay and to other local homeschoolers so I can buy extras.

[funschooler5]

I spend about $500-$600 a year for all three kids (for curriculum). My oldest takes flute lessons for $40/mth. DS takes an art class for $35 per term (every four months or so). And they periodically take swimming lessons ($35 each session). Some times we can't afford the extra-curricular stuff, but I try to make it so each kid has one extra thing to do, even if it's not a year-round thing.

[Snickerdoodle]

I have no idea, and frankly, I don't want to know. :001_smile: It could be skeery down that rabbit hole.

 

So true.

[Momma2Many66]

I budget $1000 a year combined for my four children. I reuse and pass down whatever I can and I only purchase curriculum after a lot of thought and very careful research. Actually, the $1000 is very generous now, years ago I did it on so very much less.

 

I buy tons of my books and homeschool resources at yard sales, used book sales, library sales, thrift stores and The GoodWill. That way I can save tons of money and provide my children with a very rich library full of books & educational videos/dvd's for only 25 cents to $1.00 each.

 

That $1000 also counts towards any educational games, toys or manipulatives I purchase too.

 

I purchase most of my educational games, toys and manipulatives very cheaply at our local GoodWill for very little money. I have found such wonderful things as Snap Circuit Sets, Playmobil Sets, Lego Simple Machine Sets, Puzzles, Games, Puppets, Science Kits and Knex Educational Sets for less then $2.00 each in great condition.

 

So that adds up to about $250 per child per year, not too bad compared to what I used to spend for my oldest two children on Catholic School years ago.

 

This does not include any extracurricular activities or field trips. We do homeschool bowling league which will be an additonal $200 per year combined for the four of them. I also do two or three field trips a year that cost about $50 per family, but most of our field trips though are free.

 

I stick to a budget, that way I don't go over and I stay on track with Dave Ramsey's financial program ( we are on baby step 6). If I need something extra that wasn't expected or realized, I sell some of my extra items or put something on Ebay to earn the additonal funds needed.

[Pretty in Pink]

I just spent 1300.00 on curriculum for the '10-'11 school year. That is for three kids, grades 7, 2, and K. The bulk of that was for my eldest child. This total does not include outside lessons or art supplies. This is just for curriculum and a pretty expensive chem set.

[cjbeach]

This is going to be a painful year on my wallet. At least one SL core, possibly 2. Probably IEW and Classical Conversations. :ack2:

[elegantlion]

I spend about $1000.00/year, not including outside activities, which we don't have at the moment. I also buy a lot for my own self-education. For ds it averages about $700 per year the other $300 being spent on me.

[joannqn]

My total for next year is $980.62 not counting any tax or shipping that I may need to pay. The covers two elementary students. That does not cover the $1,000 we will spend on my son's taekwondo.

[mbeaser]

I set my budget at around $600 for the year (at $50 per month), but I've got *lots* of books that I picked up over the years that we use, especially for history and science stuff. We've got 2.5 bookcases full of curriculum and books for the kids, so that helps keep current costs lower, plus the only thing the kids get to write in is math workbook :D . I know that costs will rise as we head towards high school, but I also try to keep at least a year ahead of curriculum purchases so that I can make sure something is going to work for us. DD is at least somewhat accelerated, so that can mean that what I thought was for a year or 2 in the future could get bumped up more than a little bit (She'd be finishing 1st grade in public school and I just asked her what her favorite subject was...the answer? "Multiplication, because it's easy" :001_huh: ) I have to test my kids as part of my divorce decree, but I budget the testing separately (its $40 per kid, so currently $80 per year).

[MaMa2005]

DH and I sat down just last week to determine the budget for the 2010-2011 year. Here is our breakdown:

 

Curriculum ~ $400

Extracurricular Activities on Tuesday ~ $750

Extracurricular Activities on Friday ~ $700

Co - Op ~ $50

Chinese School/Private Chinese Lessons ~ $500

Private Spanish Lessons ~ $0 (thanks to a wonderful DIL);)

 

Total for the entire school year ~ $2400

 

Compared to a private school that still wouldn't meet DS's needs, homeschooling is a BARGAIN!!!:001_smile:

[Lilymax]

Let's see...

 

About $100 each for co-op classes...

 

$150-ish each for Teaching Textbooks Math

 

Around $100 each for other curricula/workbooks, etc.

 

I'll add in an extra $50 for field trips and other incidental costs. So about $400 per kid, per year.

 

NOT bad, considering that private school was over $400 a month! PER kid!

[Jennifer in NH]

I think I have been averaging about $1,500 each year total for 2 children.. Some of that will be used for my 3rd child. Some of it will be sold eventually to recoop some costs. I could do it for quite a bit less if we made good(and consistant) use of our library. What others might pay for fad shoes and different outfits for school, I spend on books..it is an addiction. My kids do have clothes and shoes though.

[Audrey]

Approx. and on average, what do you spend for each kid for school for a year?? I know some years are more than others...if you have high schoolers, that is probably more expensive too...I have 3 elementary students...and I am trying to decide if I end up spending about $100 per kid per year...is that good or not so good???

 

That sounds pretty good to me. I have one kid (grade 5 now) and I spend around $500/year. But, I've mostly bought new curriculum partly because buying used is really limited up here, and partly because I'm a little gun-shy about buying from unknown parties.

[Bee]

More for any outside activities. With only 1 child hsing, for 9th grade next year I ''ll be spending about $1200 on curriculum. I've decided that it's worth paying the money for curriculum that we will actually use rather than trying to be cheaper and getting something that just doesn't fit our needs.

[Peela]

Approx. and on average, what do you spend for each kid for school for a year?? I know some years are more than others...if you have high schoolers, that is probably more expensive too...I have 3 elementary students...and I am trying to decide if I end up spending about $100 per kid per year...is that good or not so good???

 

In past years...thousands of $, because I could and I was a curriculum junkie, and, because its expensive to get U.S. curriculum in Australia.

 

This year...with highschoolers...a few hundred at most and much of that was bought previously. Its the correspondence courses that cost now. I dont buy curriculum much- I use what I have.

 

I have always felt you could homeschool very inexpensively if you wanted...but I had money to spend and I spent it, and it seemed essential at the time.

[Jolash]

I've spent $700+ for next year on curriculum. The largest chunk of that was for My Father's World Creation to the Greeks curriculum we're trying next year. There's also piano lessons ($600) and extras, like museum memberships, sports fees, etc.

 

I don't try to be a spendthrift, but I don't want to skimp either - we look on this expense as an investment in ds's education, just as if we were paying private school tuition - and it's far, far less than that.

[Wendi]

My ds will be in 8th grade. I've spent:

 

$45 on Bible curriculum

$29 on IEW writing book

$45 on literature textbook

$240 on Brimwood Press kit (plus book about making hats with duct tape)

$75 on Teaching Textbook

$50 on Japanese text and workbook

 

So ... almost $400. Plus, ds will be in co-op for three classes next year, costing about $120 a month. And private guitar lessons, about $100 a month.

 

Wendi

[Just Robyn]

I have three kids and we spend... a lot. My older two share or pass down curriculum, but my youngest is so different from them and will be using Oak Meadow. His alone for next year was $465 (including TMs, shipping, and an extra craft kit so my older two could do crafts with us).

 

Here are lists of what we're planning so far for the older two:

 

Oldest DS

 

Middle DS

[AngieW in Texas]

Under dual credit rules, the first two classes are free. All classes after that are charged at the normal rate. Right now I only know for sure that my dd can take 2 classes. We are waiting for approval from the dean to see if she can take an additional 2 classes. The first two classes I listed (the ones I marked as free) are the two that she'll take no matter what.

[katemary63]

On JUST curriculum and books I spend about $500/ year for 1 kid.

[coralloyd]

This next year I will spend $600 for my 2 school age kids. I could get by on just $400 though.

[TCoppock]

OK I probably don't really want to know but I will break down what I have purchased so far. I generally purchase used as most of my prices reflect.

 

TOG for History, Bible, and Literature. Program with extras just over $285

Books so far $120 and I still need quite a few more that my library doesn't carry.

Rod and Staff Grammar $25.00

Spelling Workout will probably purchased new from Amazon unless I can find it here used so $27.00

IEW SWI and SICC $300

Rod and Staff Math $25 and Chalkdust $60

Apologia Science $20 Supplement Astronomy book $20-This will only last us 1/2 the year. I am unsure of what we will use after. Considering FLVS, which would be free, or BJU.

Latina Christiana 1 $67, Ludere Latine $12, Lingua Angelica I am hoping to pick up used for $20

Rosetta Stone French $30 for a group license over the summer and hoping to find First Start French for $20

 

So it seems right now I am at about $1000 for the year on things I will be using. Unfortunately, I made some unwise purchases we won't be using that set me back even more. This also does not include co-op, extra curricular, or supplies needed. I am hoping to keep things under $2000.

 

ETA: I could spend a lot less and have in the past but, DH and I felt we needed something more for DS now he would be going into middle school. I'm working extra shifts at work to make up the difference in costs. We school year round and start programs at different times so I can really spread out most of the costs. 2009-2010 school year I probably spent around $1000 total including supplies and co-op but again not extra curriculars. I don't like firguring them in because DS would go regardless of where he was schooling.

Edited May 25, 2010 by TCoppock

[Meriwether]

I'll spend at least $2,000 dollars this year. I buy for all four kids, even though my youngest is an infant, so that works out to at least 500 per child. But that includes boxes and boxes of books. If a curriculum recommends Curious George, I buy Curious George and will look for any other Curious George books to go along with it. So instead of one Boxcar Children book, I have about 40. I do buy used and get the best price I can. I've never broken down whether something is actual curriculum (like a textbook) or a book, game, toy that we use for school. For example, I just spent 100.00 on the complete Sugar Creek Gang for my daughter. It isn't part of her curriculum, but it is part of her summer reading program.

 

I'm the person who will buy used lots of BF, WP and TOG books just to have them available for the kids. Dh is very agreeable about it. If we ever need to reduce expenses, I will, but I don't mind spending our money this way. I skimp in other ways to pay for my book habit.

 

The good news is - I could probably sell the contents of my library for close to 10,000 dollars.

 

The bad news is - I have no desire to sell.

[ubermomto5]

previous to this year, with three kids 7th and under, i spent less than $300 per year. it worked out just fine, shopping ebay and thrift stores for what i needed. it sure made me discerning! this year i've signed on with a charter school and honestly, i have more money than i know what to do with. we almost have too many supplies, though it has paid for lessons of all kinds and lots of really nice art supplies, both things we would have done without. this year i spent $7200 on 4 kids. big difference!

[RahRah]

I'm new to this, and that may be why I'm spending as much as I have so far in the last month or so.....probably almost $2,000 - but that includes a lot of stuff for beyond this year.

 

Story of the World - all four sets (book, activity book and test book) + CD's

Saxon Math - 1, 2, and 3

RealScience4Kids - Bundle bio, chem and physics

Earth Science and Solar System for next year

Assorted encyclopedia books for next four years

 

That and I've been buying books since DS was born and will probably continue with that for a long time - kid's got quite a library already!

[Nibo]

Holy Moly, I am so glad that I found this thread! I am getting together a budget for possibly HSing this coming year (5th grade) as part of my arsenal to sway my husband to HSing. I was looking really hard at Sonlight, but now I am going to realllllllllly look hard at other options. Hmmmm, you ladies make me think! I am sure my husband and our bank account will thank you when I finally make up my mind. :) LOL

[Mynyel]

Approx. and on average, what do you spend for each kid for school for a year?? I know some years are more than others...if you have high schoolers, that is probably more expensive too...I have 3 elementary students...and I am trying to decide if I end up spending about $100 per kid per year...is that good or not so good???

 

 

If you only spend $100 per kid you are doing awesome. I spend half that on math alone for each kid.

 

I buy used, so I would say for all subjects (If I don't switch mid year or ever every 3 months :glare:) I spend about...:blink::eek: I just did the math..about $800 for two kids for the year.

 

Guess it isn't that bad for a whole school year but....*boggle*

[Quiver0f10]

Waaaay too much :svengo: We have been using TOG and I buy all the books so that in addition to everything else has really increased our expenses the last few years. I am looking at other options for various reasons but expense is definitely one of them.

[Desert Rat]

I spend about $500 for 2 dc, 5th grade and 2nd grade next year. That doesn't not include sports activities or field trips, just curric. and supplies. HTH