POLL: How much do you spend for all your dc each yr for 1st-8th grade ?

[blessedmom3]

How many homeschooled children ?

 

Excluding classes but including read alouds , readers , manipulatives,etc

 

I think I spend about $600 for all . I have 3 dc.

[Dinsfamily]

I didn't vote because I buy so many non-consumables. I've spent about $800/year on my oldest, but I'll only spend about $60 on each add'l child per year at most. I'll be recycling curriculum for the first time next year and I'm excited to just pull it off the shelf. I could have spent a lot less on my oldest if he'd stop finishing math programs so quickly.

[Georgiana Daniels]

I'm interested to see where everyone falls on the spectrum. Sometimes I feel a wee bit of guilt about the money we spend (and I may have underestimated in the poll, now that I'm reaallly thinking on it.)

[nukeswife]

I usually spend between $700 and $1000, but that should be going down since I'll finally be able to re-use some of oldest son's stuff with his siblings.

[kalanamak]

500-700$, but that does not include athletics (YMCA, supplies like boots and a kayak (which hubby does used), ski lifts) nor the annual field trip (which we made very short this year because our house hasn't sold:001_huh:).

 

Since we moved right down the lane from a small branch of a nice library system, my expenses are plummeting. I'm shooting for less than 300 next year.

[Free Indeed]

Between $500-$700 for 4-5 (I am teaching a little boy who is living with us right now) kids.

[Celia]

Well, I have 3 dc, but only one who's in 1st grade - the others aren't school aged yet. So far, it's been a tad pricey, to the tune of about $700 but I think that's due to getting my feet under me, as far as learning what works for him, and making a few poor (and expensive) curriculum choices. I can't believe now that I thought the K-1 combo kit of SSRW would be a good idea for my ds, who has motor skill delays! For my next kids, it'll be quite a lot less expensive as we already have the books. When my dd hits first grade, I'll spend $100 max. Thinking now about what I need to buy for next year for my ds for grade 2 and my dd for K, I'll probably spend $200 or so, and that will be mostly on books for history as our library stinks. Unless I decide to continue using RS - I imagine level c is pricey just as A and B were. SO maybe double that. LOL

Edited December 4, 2010 by Celia

[bluemongoose]

I voted in the 700-1000 category. I am only schooling 1 child-2nd grade level. However, many of my items are non-consumables. We are using TOG which is spendy for the curriculum the 1st 4 years to get the 4 year plans, plus all the books. PR is also not cheap! And of course math and science have non consumable books. Many of these things I will use down the line with my other kids, so the cost will average out a little better in the future. As this is my first, it is kind of expensive since we are just starting out!

[LunaLee]

I'm in the over $1500 catagory. However, that includes art, lego & latin classes, and art supplies in addition to curriculum, science kits, and my Discovery Streaming subscription.

 

Also, because my dc are so different, their age span so large, and the fact that we didn't start homeschooling dd until 7th grade, I have not been able to re-use any of her curriculum (except SOTW) with him. That will probably change later down the road as I forsee re-using some of her Oak Meadow & LoF with him. I haven't decided yet though, again because of the age gap, if I shouldn't just sell her stuff and then re-buy as he is ready for it. 5 Years is a really long time...

Edited December 4, 2010 by LunaLee

[elegantlion]

I voted 700-1000, for one child. When he was younger it was cheaper, around 300-500. Now that we've added two languages and buy most of our literature (lousy library) the price has increased.

 

I consider it an investment and always do a lot of research before purchasing. It's rare if something I buy doesn't get used.

[radiobrain]

I voted 500-700$, but that is an early morning guesstimate.

 

I have 2 middle school age children.

 

I can be very creative about things, so I am sure that I don't spend that much, but I know that our history is approx. $200 per year, but that is for both kids.

 

I try to get as much stuff used as possible, use the same text for both kids, use a whiteboard and for our outside science classes, I joined the board of the program, so I get their classes for free. I won a museum membership, and an expensive foreign language program. My dad bought a year of Thinkwell for us next year.

 

So... I probably spend a bit less, but I know for a fact that I am getting at least 3X the value.

[Heather in Neverland]

I need the option that says "I don't want to think about it" :tongue_smilie:

[Jane Elliot]

I put over $1500. That's in spite of the fact that I have all kinds of stuff lying around here from my older kids. I have 4 kids currently in the 1st-8th grades. We do no outside classes.

[susankenny]

We spend about $400 - $500 each year for two children. The amount isn't evenly split though. My first grader is less because I reuse curriculum with him from my oldest child.

 

Susan

[Tabrett]

I voted $300-$500, but probably stay more in the $300 range.

 

I buy everything used except consumables. I sell everything I don't use to buy new used :D. I combine as much a possible.

 

This amount will go up when dc start to reach 3rd and 4th grades because I don't like to use the library and will need to buy many more living books for my curriculum.

 

I really wish I could afford to buy new and support the curriculum authors. I do try to buy my consumables from the curriculum company I use. I buy my SP math book from HOD and any other items I can't find used. This is the only way I can show any support for the company.

[Hedgehogs4]

we have CC tuition and fees, and i buy many of the books that most people would check out of the library, plus curricula.

[MissKNG]

I really don't know. I buy a lot of read aloud materials that both girls enjoy and books that are just for my big girl (on top of avid library use). My big girl also goes through plenty of math programs and we use a lot of science materials.

 

Recently, I've been spending money on history - which we are going to start in January. I've been buying a lot of books and kits for that.

 

It adds up for me because I like to have the books and materials on hand rather than running to the library if we need something.

 

I do sell a lot of stuff too. And I find brand new stuff for sale on different forums - so it's cheaper there. I also find great deals on ebay...like the entire Magic School Bus chapter book set for like $3.00 per book (brand new, still in shrink wrap)! WOW!

[Quad Shot Academy]

I spent about $300 per year with my oldest k-6th. It is about $100 per extra child to refill consumables. I found that 7th grade curriculum is way more expensive though. I think I spent about $500 on 7th grade.

[Sasharowan]

I have 4 kids 14-4. Next year is the most expensive at $1000.00. But that is with 1 in high school and the almost 5yo starting some academics. Starting MCT and having to by 2 levels is a large part of it. For most programs, I only need to buy new for the oldest and student manuals for the rest.

[Farrar]

It's always hard to tease out the actual cost of "homeschooling." I include our activities as an essential part, but many of them are things I would do with the kids even if they were in school. Ditto things like museum memberships. And I know I buy *more* books for them because we homeschool, but I would buy them books anyway. So... that's tough to calculate.

[AudreyTN]

$700-1000, but that's being generous. I probably don't spend that much. I allow $500 at tax return. If something doesn't work I have to sell it to get money to buy something else, so I don't count that 2nd cost.

 

I have 3 school age children, but I did also buy a PreK program this year for the 3yo (almost 4) with that money.

[Jayne J]

I've got three, but only 2 are school age. Excluding things that I'd do or have even if they were in ps (like dance lessons and music lessons, art supplies etc.) I estimated 500$-700$. I spent about 500$ on my main orders for this year and also add things in here and there as the need arises. The biggest expense is my DS in "2nd grade", since I generally try to stick with non-consumable stuff. I have also been known to do work orally, photocopy and/or have kids write on seperate pieces of paper to keep consumables usable. At this rate I may not have to buy much or anything for dd2! Which means I can blow the budget on library builders and science kits!

[mammaofbean]

including academic specific book buying- $200 - $300. i only have two kids, age 3 and 6. actually bump that up another 50-100 per year for library fines. ha!

 

that doesn't include classes . . . including all classes, activities, camps and sports we are looking at about $6000. holy crud! i have never added it up that way before. ha! don't tell dh or he will decide that maybe we can afford private school. luckily my mother has chipped in about 1k so far this year.

 

don't make me calculate my gas spending or i may have a heart attack.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I put $500-700 although we stay as close as possible to $500 for 3 school age kids. It used to be $300-$400 when the kids were all grammar age, but the cost for my oldest seems to go up little by little each year.

[boscopup]

I think I spent about $400 recently to get started with first grade materials (some of that including things like history encyclopedias, Bible story books, etc. that will be reused every year, plus other general reference books that *I* wanted), including some preK things also. I really had nothing. LOL. For 2nd grade, I'll probably only need about $200 for curriculum. And that's buying everything new. When the next kid comes along to use these materials, we'll have very little to buy for that child. I chose mostly reuseable materials.

 

Thankfully, we're coming out of private school with a $5k tuition, so we're saving tons and tons of money! That part alone makes me somewhat glad we did private school for a year and a half, so DH won't worry about how much we're spending each year on homeschool. :lol:

 

I have not included zoo membership and the like, but some of those we usually have anyway, regardless of school choice. I'll also need to add a little over $100 for cover school (required here) and $15 for a library card in the next county over that has a good library system. I'm not planning to do any co-ops or other homeschooling specific extra-curriculars at this time.

[Homeschooling6]

Too much;)

[LisaKinVA]

I have 3 in school right now, 4th starting next year... we have budgeted $2,000 (excluding two on-line classes), but I'm hoping to get some things used & on-sale...

[abbeyej]

I need the option that says "I don't want to think about it" :tongue_smilie:

 

Indeed! I also find that it varies widely year-to-year. Some years seem to be transitional, and we need a lot of things. Other years, we can continue with some things or things from child 1 can be used by child 2, and it's just not as extreme... I know I COULD spend less and do a good job. But I'm lucky enough to have a reasonable amount of discretionary money associated with school, and it does make my life easier to have that flexibility.

[TheAutumnOak]

I feel like we are spending alot now because we are just starting with this style...We do not have outside classes at the moment, but I voted for $1000 - $1500...I am not sure, but I did not want to underestimate...I have 3 boys...