s/o Homeschooling Cheaper than Public School?!?

[TheAutumnOak]

How can homeschooling be cheaper than public school financially?...I read the other thread about the costs, and I still just don't get it...Does it just boil down to curricula choices, because I can't see homeschooling being cheaper than public school, especially if you were going to work even part time while kids are in school...

 

As a homeschooler, I still have to pay for...

- School Supplies

- Food for Lunch

- Books/Curricula

- Some kind of Clothes/Coats/Raingear

- Field Trips

 

I am sure I am missing something...To add to that, some take outside classes (we don't at this point), and that can get expensive...

 

Please don't get me wrong...I love homeschooling and think it is a better option for us for many reasons, but saving money is not one of the reasons...

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

How can homeschooling be cheaper than public school financially?...I read the other thread about the costs, and I still just don't get it...Does it just boil down to curricula choices, because I can't see homeschooling being cheaper than public school, especially if you were going to work even part time while kids are in school...

 

As a homeschooler, I still have to pay for...

- School Supplies

- Food for Lunch

- Books/Curricula

- Some kind of Clothes/Coats/Raingear

- Field Trips

 

I am sure I am missing something...To add to that, some take outside classes (we don't at this point), and that can get expensive...

 

Please don't get me wrong...I love homeschooling and think it is a better option for us for many reasons, but saving money is not one of the reasons...

 

 

Some of the differences are:

 

You can choose your own supply list and not be forced to buy a huge list of supplies that you are not sure your child will even get to use (as happened to me when my sons were in K and 1st. I spent over $200 on their supply lists and never saw any evidence that they were being used.) In addition to the supply lists, I had to pay $50.00 per kid for "additional supplies" provided by the school.

 

In our district, school lunches are pretty gross, so I packed every day. Had to buy lunch boxes and ice packs (lunches were kept in a non-refrigerated bin at school until lunch time.) Having to buy "pack" friendly foods/containers was pricier than just serving lunch at home. Same goes for whatever lunch the working mom is going to be eating.

 

Clothes- my kids can wear a shirt that is a little worn out or a pair of sweatpants with a hole in one knee at home. If I had to have them in presentable clothes for school everyday, I'd be spending a lot more. They are very tough on clothes. In addition, the working mom has to have nice clothes for work, and possibly pantyhose, shoes, etc.

 

Field trips- usually schools charge a fee for field trips. Homeschoolers can determine which field trips they want to participate in, and can choose lots and lots of free/low cost field trips.

 

Also, the specific mom who was the OP had a young child that would need daycare. Also, I think at least 2 of her other kids would need surround care at school (assuming she would work full time). That alone can make it not worth working outside the home. Here, full time childcare averages $150/week and before/after care averages about $300/month. PER KID! That's a lot of money.

 

Also, there are the transportation/parking costs to be considered for the working parent. Gas for the car, bus/train fare, parking, etc.

 

It also depends on the earning potential of the working parent. In our family, if I worked, it would take us into a higher tax bracket, so much of the benefit of my salary would be eaten up in taxes. I worked full time outside the home when my kids were 2 and 3. After day care and the higher amount of taxes we paid, I made like $200.00 a month. That was not worth it for the lack of time with my kids, the added stress of having to do EVERYTHING on the weekends- shopping, cleaning, fun, etc.

[lisamarie]

Last year DD went to our local PS for half day kindergarten and took the bus. They didn't ask for any school supplies. The only cost was 2 boxes of cereal for the entire year.

 

My DS went to a charter school 3 years ago. The only major expenses were gas money-no bus service-and uniforms (khakis and polos). He did have a very reasonable supply list which set us back about $30 and then about $10 for field trips. I would say in total I spent $150 on him outside of gas money.

 

I definitely spent more money HSing than sending my kids to either of those schools. And I'm only counting middle of the road curriculum in that figure. My kids did do soccer and took 2 sessions of swim lessons, but I would have done that either way so I don't count that.

[radiobrain]

Well, it is definitely cheaper than private school, but public school?

 

Hmmm, let me think. In PS, I would have to buy a lot more clothes and odd things that I don't buy now. There is that giant communal school supply list, which is much larger than my personal school/home office supply list. There are still "school fees" at most PS that include all sorts of things... my neighbor's fees are around $150 per kid, easy. I believe that field trips are extra and not included in that student fee, and even though they only go on 1-2 field trips a year, they are spendy. I think that PS costs less than HSing on the surface, but you can HS practically for free if you need to, and you can spend way more $$ than necessary too.

 

I think it is a goofy thing to even compare, personally.

 

I think that what might be referred to is the actual cost of PS per child vs. HSing. What is the average now like $11K per student? I would have trouble spending that much! I think that whoever is saying that is looking at it strangely, that's all.

[Carrie12345]

I haven't done the actual math, but I would have to factor in fundraisers for each child, as well as gas to/from the bus stop (and running the heat for up to 20 minutes at drop off and pick up through most of the school year) and to/from any special events/clubs/activities for each child.

With our location, that's a genuine chunk of change!!!

[Jenny in Florida]

It depends, I think, on both your earning potential (assuming the parent who would otherwise work is the one who homeschools) and the ages of your children.

 

We figured out a long time ago that as long as our kids were young enough to need child care for before and/or after school and for summers and school breaks, it didn't make a lot of financial sense for me to work. If I had never quit working when the kids were born and had continued to get raises for all of the intervening years, that might have been different. But once I was out of the workforce for three or four years, I lost ground in terms of salary.

 

Plus, as I mentioned in the other thread, having me home full time allows my husband to focus on his job and earn more money. I worked part time for several years, and I made so much less per hour that, if he had a chance to work overtime on a day when I was scheduled, it would cost us money for him to cover childcare while I went to work. By the time I quit that job, I had so many black marks on my record from calling in under those circumstances or because the kids were sick or whatever that the company would not, in theory, re-hire me if I were to apply now.

 

We've always spent less on curriculum than the national averages show public school parents spending on supplies and fees. For example, Huntington Bank's "backpack index" for this year estimates a total of over $600 to send a child to a public middle school. Counting all of the curriculum and books and supplies (right down to paper and printer ink), I've spent under $500 for my son for this year.

 

And having me and the kids home brings a variety of other savings (fewer and less expensive clothes for all of us, me home to handle chores we might otherwise have to hire out, no school fundraisers wrapping paper to buy, schedule flexible enough to let us do outings and vacations off season, etc.).

 

Now that my kids are old enough not to require babysitting before and after school (assuming that we are willing to believe my son could handle doing the latch-key thing), the equation changes. However, I remember all too well how much trouble my friends and I got into hanging out in empty houses after (and during) school when we were teens. So, that makes me more than a little nervous. On paper, it would be more financially logical to send him to school and me to work, even at a relatively low-paying job. But I'm not convinced the fall-out would be worth it for a few years of salary.

[Lily_Grace]

Well, it's very comparable, I think.

 

Last year we bought initial school supplies ($35) and school clothes ($100 for orchestra - 2 sets as he grew). Then we gave him an allowance of $60/mo to cover hot lunches, extra school supplies, fundraisers and the like. All totaled it came to around $735. I don't count in that cold lunches, lunch box, backpack or general clothing because we would have bought those things anyway.

 

This year I spent $450 on curriculum and our co-op fees will run about $300 a semester for the classes he's chosen (specialties he can't get at home). We'll probably spend about another $60 a month on project supplies, field trips, and odds and ends. If we chose not to do co-op or field trips the costs would be about the same as public school, I think.

[DarlaS]

If it costs less, it sure doesn't cost ME less. I don't spend as much as the state spends. Maybe that's what people are talking about?

 

I dress my kids decently anyway, so we still do back-to-school shopping. (I don't do expensive clothes, and don't worry about trends, but I do make sure they can get dressed every day.)

 

I also am in charge of feeding them lunch either way. How would any school lunch be cheaper (unless your kid qualified for free lunch)? When I went to school, I seldom had cafeteria lunch as my mom packed my lunch to save money.

 

I buy school supplies, including supplies for me (comb binders etc), books (our library is small), curricula + teacher materials, science supplies and equipment, all art supplies, printer ink, fuel for field trips. Counting only things I would not buy if not homeschooling, I spend way more.

 

Also, I'm not sure what job expenses could conceivably have to do with cost of school?? You're not forced to go back to work if you put your kids in school. Some homeschool moms also work full time. :confused:

 

I have seen others count museum memberships and music lessons in their cost of homeschooling. I don't think that counts either since public schoolers do those things too.

[KarenNC]

I've been considering this lately as look toward high school with our only child, and it really so much depends on the age of the child, options available in the community, goals, etc. I am strongly considering a public charter for high school because I don't think I can afford to provide the level of education I want for her in high school (particularly lab sciences, foreign language, art, AP classes). In our case, I'm comparing it with a local public charter about 30 min away which focuses on rigorous college prep. Because of the distance and that the charters don't provide transportation, either way will be more costly than sending her to the local public high school.

 

We've homeschooled since she was 4 and now she's in 6th grade. I still buy school supplies, have to have a lunch box/ice packs (for packing lunches for summer camp or packing to take to the park/on field trips), a backpack (to carry supplies to group classes/activities/summer camp). Since I have one kid, curricula can't be used multiple times---I buy used when I can and resell, but it still gets expensive.

 

Other considerations for us are that the most inexpensive high school options for group activities (really all the local homeschool high school offerings) are heavily evangelical Christian-specific and we are very actively other than Christian (as opposed to just not Christian). Choosing to participate in those and working to "fly under the radar" in order to fit in religiously would be a heavy intangible cost to my daughter to continuing to homeschool. There's online as an option (again, expensive), but that doesn't provide some of the opportunities.

[Tarreymere]

When my older kids were in school, just the new clothes and shoes alone cost more than I now spend on curriculum every year. My older kids were girls and you just can't send girls to school in play jeans and any old top, they get really upset about that :glare:. We generally spent about $500 per kid for new clothing, coats, socks, two pairs of shoes (they were very particular about brand), new backpack, ect. Believe it or not, the other kids would even tease kids about the brand of underwear they were wearing when they changed for gym class, so even their underwear had to be new and a certain brand. Now I could have just said 'deal with it', but as a female myself I understand exactly where they were coming from so we did try to make sure they had new things within reason. As a comparison, this year I spent under $200 per kid on curriculum and most of that was for used 'nice to have but not necessary' things. We don't have a co-op or special academic classes, and I am very confident of teaching just about anything that is considered high school level, and we are not interested in AP credit, so I am not anticipating any expenses for that kind of thing. We may have some expenses for lab equipment down the road but it will be used lab equipment.

 

I sure spend a lot less for curriculum and supplies now than I did on clothes (and curriculum can be handed down without drama, plus a lot of what I use is either free or used) and the kids are okay with wearing thrift shop clothes without the daily peer pressure and teasing. I don't buy new clothes, coats, or shoes now, and they have to keep the same backpack and the underwear is store brand.

 

I'm not even getting into the cost of lunches (mine wouldn't eat the $2.00 lunch, they wanted the salad bar or the pizza or something that cost more and I sure didn't blame them for that either), or the fund raisers. Our public school did not have a microwave available for the kids to use, so our main source of food for lunches, leftovers, would not be an option. Mine didn't like packed lunches and they would usually get squashed or warm and taste funny, and when I was working I didn't like to eat a packed lunch either so I couldn't see making them pack.

 

I did make more when I worked full time, but we also had two cars then, we paid more in gas, I had expenses at work for clothing, lunches, equipment, ect. The stress of trying to maintain the house on the weekend was also a factor, and even though I have a 'helpful' husband it wasn't like he had the same ideas I have about what clean means. My kids are spread out in age (there are ten of them) so I would still have one of daycare age now and that would be at least $100 per week, plus I would still need before and afterschool care for another.

 

Now with me home, I am able to do a lot of things to actually save money in addition to not having the costs associated with working. For example, cooking and baking from scratch save a ton of money. I can keep the wood stove going during the day, which saves us a lot on propane. I can hang my laundry outside to dry, I can can garden produce, I can sew. I would not bother to do any of that if I was working and had to do all of the basic cleaning and shopping (and parenting) on the weekend. When I worked believe me we had a lot of take-out, went out to eat a lot more just because I was too tired to cook, and when I did cook I used a lot more convenience foods.

 

I agree that homeschooling is worth it for other reasons, but for us it is also a financial savings BECAUSE I can do it WHILE I am at home doing other things to help save money for the family, and because we spend less on the kids per year overall than we did when they went to public school.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Rainefox

[LisaKinVA]

We spend roughly $3000 on school each year... not including clothes and food (that would happen anyway). My clothing budget is probably smaller since my chidlren are at home.

 

The cost difference (if one factors in increased clothing costs for public school), is probably about $1500 more to homeschool. The other non-monetary costs to our family by sending my children to public school, I can't even begin to calculate.

[KarenNC]

We've always spent less on curriculum than the national averages show public school parents spending on supplies and fees. For example, Huntington Bank's "backpack index" for this year estimates a total of over $600 to send a child to a public middle school. Counting all of the curriculum and books and supplies (right down to paper and printer ink), I've spent under $500 for my son for this year.

 

I also looked at the "backpack index," and I don't see it as a reasonable comparison for the way real people operate (at least the ones I know, both those with kids in public school and homeschoolers). For middle school, the costs would not be comparable for us. Over $300 of the $611 comes off the top because she would not be participating in band. I would shop the loss leader school supplies just as I do now, so those costs would be considerably lower. Most supplies in that list can be had for 50 cents or less if buying during the sales in July/August (often for a penny each). Many of the supplies are not every year, and probably carry over from elementary school (protractor, compass, scissors, ring binders, dividers, ruler, pencil pouch, book covers, etc.). So, yes, I definitely will be spending more to homeschool even though I'm as cheap as they come;). I could bring the cost down by participating in no outside classes/activities, doing only free field trips, using books exclusively from the library, not buying curricula but using that freely online (though you have to count hidden printing costs), etc----but that would not fit my goal of providing what I consider to be a better education than the public school could provide. In that case, one of the main reasons I homeschool would no longer be valid.

 

At the high school level, again, over half of the estimated cost comes from the assumption that your child will participate in band ($430) and in sports ($100). If you are doing that as a homeschooler, you would still have those costs, if not more, to participate in a private equivalent. The college prep costs would happen either way, as homeschoolers also have to pay the AP test fees, for SAT prep books if they want them, AP study books, etc in addition to the AP classes, which run $400 to $600 or more dollars each privately.

[Wabi Sabi]

I agree with the OP. When ds went to PS last year I spent maybe $20 on school supplies. This year I've spent much more than that for supplies here at home. Book rental fees were about $100.

 

Transportation was free- he was picked up by the bus right outside our front door. He'd be eating lunch regardless of whether he was at home or school (and if he was at school the lunch he'd pack would be pretty much the same thing he eats here at home- a sandwich, a yogurt, some fruit, maybe leftovers in a Thermos, etc.) As a homeschooler he still has a backpack and a lunchbox. Public schools here do MAYBE one field trip a year to the tune of about $5. He's going to have to be clothed regardless as well and no, just because he's in school doesn't mean that we automatically spend more. I'm a bargain shopper and my kids still dress very nicely. I've trained my eye quite nicely to be able to see the "good" stuff amidst all the junk on the Goodwill rack. ;-)

 

So, we're up to about $125 for basic public school costs. I've spent much more than that on curriculum and supplies this year. Gas alone to get to and from HS activities probably costs me that much in one month! Can HSing be done free or on the super-cheap? Sure, but I personally have no interest in having to HS in that manner.

 

So, yes, I definitely will be spending more to homeschool even though I'm as cheap as they come;). I could bring the cost down by participating in no outside classes/activities, doing only free field trips, using books exclusively from the library, not buying curricula but using that freely online (though you have to count hidden printing costs), etc----but that would not fit my goal of providing what I consider to be a better education than the public school could provide. In that case, one of the main reasons I homeschool would no longer be valid.

 

100% agreed.

[bettyandbob]

I used to homeschool. I do not spend more on clothing now than I did before and I have a teenage dd who presumably is at an age where a girls wants a lot of clothing. We assess her closet which contains a mix of hand me downs and discount store apparel. If she needs something, I buy it. Most likely I buy it at a discount place, but I may shop based on quality as I did recently for hiking boots. If she wants something she buys it with her money (pet sitting). Last summer she went to Payless and bought several pairs of shoes to fill her wardrobe.

 

Older ds wear t shirts and jeans daily, as he did at home.

 

So, I don't get the "spending more money on clothes" when kids are in ps.

 

I spent on curriculum. I know some people could hs with the library and whatever they found cheaply. I had very specific reasons for hs and my dc had very specific needs. I searched for the cheapest places to get what they needed, but that still added up. And I did use the library too.

 

Sports. My dc do extracurriculars whether home or in ps. Ps activity fees are cheaper than local rec leagues and exponentially cheaper than club sports. Ps music costs are cheaper as well.

 

My dc have food and allergy issues. I always make lunch.

 

If I stay home, volunteer a lot to fill my time, but do nothing for pay ps is still cheaper for my family.

 

However, finances were not a driving force in the consideration to homeschool. Other things my dc needed were.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I agree with the OP. When ds went to PS last year I spent maybe $20 on school supplies. This year I've spent much more than that for supplies here at home. Book rental fees were about $100.

 

Transportation was free- he was picked up by the bus right outside our front door. He'd be eating lunch regardless of whether he was at home or school (and if he was at school the lunch he'd pack would be pretty much the same thing he eats here at home- a sandwich, a yogurt, some fruit, maybe leftovers in a Thermos, etc.) As a homeschooler he still has a backpack and a lunchbox. Public schools here do MAYBE one field trip a year to the tune of about $5. He's going to have to be clothed regardless as well and no, just because he's in school doesn't mean that we automatically spend more. I'm a bargain shopper and my kids still dress very nicely. I've trained my eye quite nicely to be able to see the "good" stuff amidst all the junk on the Goodwill rack. ;-)

 

So, we're up to about $125 for basic public school costs. I've spent much more than that on curriculum and supplies this year. Gas alone to get to and from HS activities probably costs me that much in one month! Can HSing be done free or on the super-cheap? Sure, but I personally have no interest in having to HS in that manner.

 

 

 

100% agreed.

 

But you are not taking into account the childcare costs that the original poster would be paying. Or the possibility of her family paying higher taxes because she works. These are more important financial factors than lunch, clothes, supplies, etc. in considering whether sending your kids to PS is cheaper than homeschooling.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I would shop the loss leader school supplies just as I do now, so those costs would be considerably lower. Most supplies in that list can be had for 50 cents or less if buying during the sales in July/August (often for a penny each). Many of the supplies are not every year, and probably carry over from elementary school (protractor, compass, scissors, ring binders, dividers, ruler, pencil pouch, book covers, etc.).

 

When my kids had supply lists from their teachers, we had very specific brand names and quantities we were required to buy. I've posted before how ds1's K teacher wanted 2 packs of Polaroid film from each kid at $16.00 a pop. Ds2's K teacher wanted 24 packs of Crayola crayons, 16 pack of Crayola twistable crayons, 16 pack of Crayola twistable colored pencils, and 10 pack Crayola markers, in addition to about 30 other items. HAD to be Fiskars scissors, etc. THEN, you weren't allowed to label anything, because all the supplies were communal. You couldn't keep anything for the next year, because the kids didn't have their OWN supplies.

[Wabi Sabi]

But you are not taking into account the childcare costs that the original poster would be paying. Or the possibility of her family paying higher taxes because she works. These are more important financial factors than lunch, clothes, supplies, etc. in considering whether sending your kids to PS is cheaper than homeschooling.

 

I understood the OP in this post to be speaking specifically to the cost of schooling at home vs. public schooling. Whether or not to return to work, adding in the cost of childcare, etc. is a entirely separate issue, IMO.

 

And, as long as we're addressing the work issue, it's entirely possible to work full-time and not need childcare at all regardless of whether your children are being taught at home or at school. It sometimes takes a little thinking outside of the box but there are many other ways for someone to earn a salary besides a M-F, 9-5 job.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I understood the OP in this post to be speaking specifically to the cost of schooling at home vs. public schooling. Whether or not to return to work, adding in the cost of childcare, etc. is a entirely separate issue, IMO.

 

And, as long as we're addressing the work issue, it's entirely possible to work full-time and not need childcare at all regardless of whether your children are being taught at home or at school. It sometimes takes a little thinking outside of the box but there are many other ways for someone to earn a salary besides a M-F, 9-5 job.

 

Here is her original post:

 

Is homeschool cheaper than public school?

My husband has always been really supportive of homeschooling, but with the economy the way it is, he is feeling the pinch and seems to be convinced that public school would be cheaper. He is thinking that putting the kids in school and me going back to work would make things better.

 

I am very frugal in homeschooling...usually only buy used, hand down, etc.

 

Anyone have any resources that would help me show him that it really would NOT be cheaper to have 7 kids in the school system and 1 in daycare?

 

I know that my high schooler is taking 2 classes in the local school and our fees were $70 just for those 2 classes!

__________________

Mama to the Newton 10! A (24), S(22), C(14), H(12), L (11), E (10), B (8), W (6), A (5), and L (3mths)

 

She specifically mentions 1 in daycare. Unless you have family members willing to watch your kids for free, daycare costs eats up a lot of salary.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I feel like I'm coming across as being hostile to working outside the home. I'm really not. I did it. It was so not worth it FOR OUR FAMILY. It might be worth it for other families. I totally respect every person's choice.

[Zebra]

The public schools do spend more per child on kids than homeschoolers generally do. As far as the costs that parents have to kick in, I don't know. It depends on the parent and each situation. What I do know is I control exactly how the money is spent. If I want DD to take a dance class, she does. If DD has a hole in her shirt and I don't have the money to replace it, then I don't have to.

 

I think it's also really hard to quantify the stress factor and the better education factor too. My dd is getting a better education. Our family is far less stressed, and enjoys a better quality of life because of homeschooling. Are we healthier, do we just like our lives better...how do you put a dollar amount on that? I can't, but my sense is overall homeschooling is much cheaper for us.

 

In some ways it's like comparing apples and oranges, IMHO. But it is an interesting topic to think about.

[Wabi Sabi]

Here is her original post:

 

Is homeschool cheaper than public school?

My husband has always been really supportive of homeschooling, but with the economy the way it is, he is feeling the pinch and seems to be convinced that public school would be cheaper. He is thinking that putting the kids in school and me going back to work would make things better.

 

I am very frugal in homeschooling...usually only buy used, hand down, etc.

 

Anyone have any resources that would help me show him that it really would NOT be cheaper to have 7 kids in the school system and 1 in daycare?

 

I know that my high schooler is taking 2 classes in the local school and our fees were $70 just for those 2 classes!

__________________

Mama to the Newton 10! A (24), S(22), C(14), H(12), L (11), E (10), B (8), W (6), A (5), and L (3mths)

 

She specifically mentions 1 in daycare. Unless you have family members willing to watch your kids for free, daycare costs eats up a lot of salary.

 

No, I'm referring to this particular thread on which we are currently posting.

 

FWIW, I don't have any family members to watch my kids and I've never spent a dime on daycare despite having worked FT since having children. You can open a home daycare, find a job that allows you to take your child to work, work opposite shifts from your spouse, find some other sort of job that allows you to work from home, etc. Again, it requires thinking outside the M-F, 9-5 box.

[bairnmama]

Here is her original post:

 

Is homeschool cheaper than public school?

My husband has always been really supportive of homeschooling, but with the economy the way it is, he is feeling the pinch and seems to be convinced that public school would be cheaper. He is thinking that putting the kids in school and me going back to work would make things better.

 

I am very frugal in homeschooling...usually only buy used, hand down, etc.

 

Anyone have any resources that would help me show him that it really would NOT be cheaper to have 7 kids in the school system and 1 in daycare?

 

I know that my high schooler is taking 2 classes in the local school and our fees were $70 just for those 2 classes!

__________________

Mama to the Newton 10! A (24), S(22), C(14), H(12), L (11), E (10), B (8), W (6), A (5), and L (3mths)

 

She specifically mentions 1 in daycare. Unless you have family members willing to watch your kids for free, daycare costs eats up a lot of salary.

 

That was the original post for the other thread... not this one. This OP was commenting that she didn't see how people in the other thread could say homeschool was cheaper.

[nowimscrappin]

But you are not taking into account the childcare costs that the original poster would be paying. Or the possibility of her family paying higher taxes because she works. These are more important financial factors than lunch, clothes, supplies, etc. in considering whether sending your kids to PS is cheaper than homeschooling.

 

 

Here's what I don't understand. No one asked about going back to work

 

What about a straight comparison of public school costs vs. homeschool costs and nothing the mom does changes (she stays at home while her kids were at school).

 

I have paid upwards of $500+ a year for homeschool curriculum. IEW class was typically $300 and art class is about $200. But, even taking out IEW and art, homeschool was more expensive

 

You don't HAVE to buy nicer clothes - you choose to. Your kids don't HAVE to eat school lunches - you allow them to. My kid says he doesn't like x, y, z - he packs his lunch. You don't have to DRIVE your child to the bus stop - you choose to. You are choosing to make arguments that would make public school more expensive.

 

My public school supplies were about $75. No additional fees. I don't participate in the fundraiser - as that is my choice and I tell the principal each year why. My child will walk to the bus stop and walk home. I may have to go get him once in a while, but that is much less than the driving I do to art, writing, PE co-op and other things that I do in homeschool to make sure my child gets social interaction with other kids. He gets that in public school for free.

 

If you did a line by line, balance sheet comparison of public vs homeschooling, there are very few cases that I believe homeschooling is cheaper. If you already own your curriculum for all of your kids, I can see that being the case, but if you are buying curriculum for a child each year, even on the cheap, its going to be more than $75 (in my example)

[The Girls' Mom]

When my girls were in PS, we were nickel and dimed to death. There aren't just the normal beginning of school fees and supplies. There are fees for field trips, fundraisers, class parties, projects that have to be done, special event t-shirts to buy, school supplies scattered throughout the year, etc. There are school clothes, which they need more of and more often than they do when they are at home. Transportation costs, AND for us the cost of doctor visits because they bring home every bug that floats through the school and give it to their mom :glare: Then factor in extra curricular activities. I just went through and shredded years worth of carbons from checks I had written. Even my girls were amazed at how many were written to XYZ school for various things, from when they were in school.

 

For us it's cheaper or at most break even. I'm pretty frugal with curriculum purchases. I could definitely make it MUCH cheaper if I chose to.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

That was the original post for the other thread... not this one. This OP was commenting that she didn't see how people in the other thread could say homeschool was cheaper.

 

In either post, there are arguments for both sides, whether or not you consider childcare. In our affluent neighborhood public schools, whether I worked outside the home or not, I would be paying slightly more out of pocket to send the kids to ps than I do on pure homeschooling expenses. I sent them to ps for 2 years. That's how I know.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

How can homeschooling be cheaper than public school financially?...I read the other thread about the costs, and I still just don't get it...Does it just boil down to curricula choices, because I can't see homeschooling being cheaper than public school, especially if you were going to work even part time while kids are in school...

 

And in this original post, the OP is also not taking into consideration having to pay child care, even when working part time.

 

 

ETA: I'm gonna go do laundry now. I can't seem to stop posting on this one! :auto:

Edited August 24, 2011 by thescrappyhomeschooler

[Mosaicmind]

Well, besides the cost to send them which I stated in the other thread would be $2000 and that doesn't count clothes, shoes, lunches, and field trips. We live in one of the very few states that charges a book rental fee and that alone for 7 kids could possibly cost me $5000 depending on the classes my oldest 3 would have taken in highschool.

 

Two years ago all of the kids were in school and by October I had all of the kids home for almost 3 months in total because my dd who was in middle school at the time got the H1N1 virus and was extremely sick. I was even interviewed for the news. So, lets add those dr bills and medicine to that total because that is the only year my kids have ever been that sick and I am confident that we would not have gotten that sick had they not been in school. Maybe at church but I will tell you that people send their kids to school sick because they have to because they can't miss work. It was determined that one boy in my dd's class had started the virus in the school and she was the second one to get sick.

 

No, I would not spend that much homeschooling my kids. I can't in fact, we don't have that kind of money. I have never spend even $2000 in one year to educate all of my kids and that includes clothes, shoes, curriculum and supplies. I won't count food because I would purchase that anyway if they were in or out of school.

[Jann in TX]

My youngest is in PS this year.

 

I spent $20 on school supplies.

 

Her summer clothes still fit (a miracle in itself!)-- no new 'back to school' ones needed.

 

School asked for $15 for gym uniform.

 

I do not participate in PTO fund raisers.

 

She takes her lunch most days.

 

I spent a lot more homeschooling her older sisters!

[Jenny in Florida]

At the high school level, again, over half of the estimated cost comes from the assumption that your child will participate in band ($430) and in sports ($100). If you are doing that as a homeschooler, you would still have those costs, if not more, to participate in a private equivalent. The college prep costs would happen either way, as homeschoolers also have to pay the AP test fees, for SAT prep books if they want them, AP study books, etc in addition to the AP classes, which run $400 to $600 or more dollars each privately.

 

It's going to vary from family to family, of course. But things like that "instrument rental fee" do add up to more than it costs me to provide music instruction at home. For example, my husband bought us a used piano several years ago when a local college got new instruments. He paid about $300 for it, which is roughly comparable to a single year of renting an instrument according to these lists.

 

My daughter did one AP class. She did it online through FLVS. It was free.

 

We're planning on more for my son, but we may well plan his own study at home if he can't take the FLVS classes. There is no way I'd pay $400 for an outside class.

 

The way I look at it, the basic supplies on the high school backpack index add up to $290. That is not counting field trips and instrument rentals and sports fees and "pay to play" fees (whatever that means). And there are a lot of items on there that my kid doesn't even need: backpack, red pens, pencil case, combination lock, three-hole punch, spiral notebooks, composition books, sketchbook, assignment book, etc. He also needs fewer of a lot of things like pens, since they are kept in one place here, don't get lost and don't have to be shared.

 

Around here, $290 is about what I spend on a full year of curriculum, much of which I can then re-sell or re-swap once we're done with it.

 

We seriously considered sending my son to the performing arts magnet school this year. In addition to the basic public school supply and activity fees, we would have been required to have him study music and dance privately, just as we do now. So, for us, sending him to that school would have cost us more than just keeping him home.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Okay, I lied. I had to post about this one because I hadn't seen it when I did the last post. :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's what I don't understand. No one asked about going back to work

 

What about a straight comparison of public school costs vs. homeschool costs and nothing the mom does changes (she stays at home while her kids were at school).

 

I have paid upwards of $500+ a year for homeschool curriculum. IEW class was typically $300 and art class is about $200. But, even taking out IEW and art, homeschool was more expensive

 

You don't HAVE to buy nicer clothes - you choose to. Your kids don't HAVE to eat school lunches - you allow them to. My kid says he doesn't like x, y, z - he packs his lunch. You don't have to DRIVE your child to the bus stop - you choose to. You are choosing to make arguments that would make public school more expensive.

 

My public school supplies were about $75. No additional fees. I don't participate in the fundraiser - as that is my choice and I tell the principal each year why. My child will walk to the bus stop and walk home. I may have to go get him once in a while, but that is much less than the driving I do to art, writing, PE co-op and other things that I do in homeschool to make sure my child gets social interaction with other kids. He gets that in public school for free.

 

If you did a line by line, balance sheet comparison of public vs homeschooling, there are very few cases that I believe homeschooling is cheaper. If you already own your curriculum for all of your kids, I can see that being the case, but if you are buying curriculum for a child each year, even on the cheap, its going to be more than $75 (in my example)

 

In both original posts, going back to work was mentioned.

 

I have paid about $500. total for both kids on curriculum and supplies this year.

 

My kids never bought school lunch. I was arguing that buying packing friendly foods was more expensive than eating at home.

 

I was not arguing about the bus stop. The bus stop was our driveway. My arguments were about the transportation costs of the working parent.

 

I buy all my kids clothes on clearance racks at Target or get them as hand me downs. At home they can wear rattier looking clothes, and therefore I don't have to replace them as frequently.

 

You are extremely lucky that your school fees were capped at $75.00. That didn't even begin to cover the supply list for one of my kids.

[Margo out of lurking]

We certainly don't homeschool because of the cost. However, when my kids were younger, it was definitely cheaper to keep them at home. For the most part, my younger son used the same curriculum as my older dd. I purchased curriculum for her, and I'd just buy the student workbook when necessary a few years later for him.

 

I can feed my kids far cheaper at home than paying for school lunches. There were field trip costs, party costs, my time volunteering in the classroom, driving back and forth (plus the 45 min. wait in carpool pickup line). There was time spent monitoring homework (first grade!) at night, and the F-word--fundraising.

 

The school supplies list? I can buy everything we need for about $10, and I don't need to send off extra boxes of kleenex. :glare:

 

Homeschooling was definitely cheaper back then.

 

I'm not so sure about it now that my dd is in high school. We pay ~$600 just for an outside science class, and she's involved in other extracurricular activities that require budget tweaking. If she were in ps, she wouldn't be involved in those. I can only imagine the clothes I'd be buying too.

 

But as I think about this, most of our actual curriculum costs from this point on are pretty low. I only have one more year to buy for her, probably totalling a few hundred dollars. Ds will likely continue to use much of the same, and we'll just have to buy new student workbooks.

[Parrothead]

I could homeschool for free or as cheaply as the cost of paper and pencil. If I bought that paper and pencils and even crayons and markers during the back to school sales I could homeschool for $10. The only other thing I'd need would be the public library.

 

It would be much more work on my part but it could be done.

[Jenny in Florida]

Here's what I don't understand. No one asked about going back to work

 

What about a straight comparison of public school costs vs. homeschool costs and nothing the mom does changes (she stays at home while her kids were at school).

 

 

Well, the original question that sparked this thread assumed that the mom would be putting her kids in school specifically so that she could get a job.

 

But, in the case you mentioned, for us, homeschooling is definitely cheaper.

 

I spend less on curriculum than many people pay in school registration and activity fees. For example, the estimate on the backpack index I've linked before for high school supplies and fees (not counting sports and band and AP tests and such) is almost $300. And that figure is before you buy a yearbook or send the kid on a field trip or buy wrapping paper for a fundraiser or project board for the science fair or the extra novel your kid needs for honors English or any of the other hundred small ticket things schools ask for in a year.

 

Until our recent splurge at the bookstore on art kits and extra history books, I had spent less than that on all of my son's curriculum for the year.

[mrs.m]

I love homeschooling and think it is a better option for us for many reasons, but saving money is not one of the reasons...

 

:iagree:

 

My DK's went to public school for about 4 years. I spend far more on homeschooling than I spent when they were in PS. I'm way over that dollar amount, without Classical Conversations which I admit is a big chunk of money for 3 kids. I don't really spend that much on school supplies because we often have items such as crayons and markers that are used from year to year.

 

 

The only thing I had to buy for them when they were in PS was school supplies and I used a gift card that they got for attending summer school. Yes, they PAID them to go to summer school. I was brain washed and thought this was the best idea EVER. :lol: I bought things for the teacher when she sent home requests but that was not required. And I often bought something from the fund raisers. It doesn't come close even with those things.

 

 

I still buy them nice clothes to wear which is my choice. I still have to feed them lunch so the cost is about the same as them taking their lunch. I still buy the big box of snacks that I had to send monthly. And I didn't work when they were in PS either and didn't have plans to work. But by the time I add in fees for art classes, field trips, gas to run them all over, co-op fees, etc. I'm way way way over. And even if I cut those, I would still be way over.

 

 

If we were in a pickle financially, I certainly could cut a lot and be ok. But I like where we are right now and I'm certain that I'm getting my dollar value on this adventure. So if someone asked me if homeschooling is expensive my answer would be that it is somewhere in between the cost of public and privating schooling depending on the curriculum and extra activities. But I would never say that it is cheaper than public school.

 

 

And I'm sure there are exceptions and that some PS's gouge the parents for whatever they can! :glare:

[Krista in LA]

There are too many variables to make a blanket statement about it. We all know that you can homeschool for very little or spend thousands. I have one that goes to public school and one that homeschools. The past two years, I would definitely say it was cheaper to send my dd to high school - I had to buy school uniforms, a few supplies, and a backpack for my dd which probably came out to $200-$250 each year, plus fees for the clubs and flagline uniform. If she had continued to be homeschooled, I would have spent more than that for high school level curriculum and she would have continued with piano and ballet which would have cost at least $200/month. If my ds went to school the past two years, it would have cost more to send him to school than homeschool, but only because I have so much of the curriculum that I used with dd so I only had to fill in with some workbooks and lab supplies. This year however, dd didn't need as many school uniforms so I spent less on her, but ds is taking 2 on-line classes that are costing $1100 total. I'm definitely spending more on homeschooling this year than public school!

[elegantlion]

When my girls were in PS, we were nickel and dimed to death. There aren't just the normal beginning of school fees and supplies. There are fees for field trips, fundraisers, class parties, projects that have to be done, special event t-shirts to buy, school supplies scattered throughout the year, etc. There are school clothes, which they need more of and more often than they do when they are at home. Transportation costs, AND for us the cost of doctor visits because they bring home every bug that floats through the school and give it to their mom :glare: Then factor in extra curricular activities. I just went through and shredded years worth of carbons from checks I had written. Even my girls were amazed at how many were written to XYZ school for various things, from when they were in school.

 

For us it's cheaper or at most break even. I'm pretty frugal with curriculum purchases. I could definitely make it MUCH cheaper if I chose to.

 

:iagree: It's the nibbled to death by ducks analogy.

 

I figured it up, to get my son in the door at school it would cost around 150.00 for supplies, gym clothes, and a backpack. Currently my son owns one pair of tennis shoes, his only pair of shoes. If he were in public school I'd have to invest into at least two more pairs of shoes, gym class requires a pair of tennis shoes be left at school, plus he's go through his tennis shoes more. At almost 14 he's in a men's size shoe and picky. The 10.00 ones from Walmart would not be a good choice.

 

That doesn't count school pictures, sports fees, art fees, and lunches. Yes, we feed him lunch at home, but it's usually something cheaper that needs heated. Lunches would cost us more.

 

Gas money would be another factor because who am I kidding, my son would miss the bus, probably a lot. It comes by at 6:45 a.m. I'm not even up then. I'd be driving him to school most of the time. Right now I can choose not to drive when we are low on gas.

 

We are a self-employed family with a sporadic income. With homeschooling I can budget for expenses and buy when I have money. We had ds in private school for prek and K. We would always gets slammed with book orders, fundraisers, class snacks, projects, etc when we had no income. Inevitably we'd get paid right after the deadline.

 

I spend about 500-600 a year on curriculum and another 200-300 on books. Considering I'd probably buy most of the books anyway, lets say we spend 600 on homeschooling. After I spend the 150.00 for supplies, clothes, I'd spend minimum another 90.00 on lunches, 50.00 for another pair of tennies (that's shopping on sale). I up to 300 before any additional fees or class photos or have driven my son to school. If I drive him to and from school half the time, that's say a dollar a day in gas, that's another 80-85 dollars.

 

I also agree about the spreading of illnesses. I have a permanently compromised immune system. When ds was around a lot of kids on he'd "share" with me on regular basis. He'd not get sick, but I would. Since we currently don't have insurance, one visit to the doctor costs a minimum of 50.00, just for the office visit. To walk into the ER costs 500-1000 (ask me how I know, btdt twice in the last month).

 

So when detailed out for our family, homeschooling is cheaper and definitely more cost effective. I can control the budget, not someone else, that's priceless. :tongue_smilie: (sorry, couldn't resist as this was starting to sound like a commercial)

[SailorMom]

My DS14 is in PS high school, last year was PS 8th. Still have DS13 home schooled.

Side by side comparison - not counting new clothes, transportation (and he walkes to the bus stop), lunches (he would eat here), sports (he could enroll in football as a homeschooler) - just looking at what I spent on curriculum and school supplies -

ps is cheaper.

Now - I could go really cheap on homeschooling, but with lab sciences and good books - even buying almost everything used - I spent over $400. When they were younger, I would only spend about $100-150. But middle school and high school are far more expensive as far as curriculum and supplies.

For the ps - I am paying "fees" to different rooms: $10 for biology, $10 for Spanish, $25 for JRROTC (it is a class here). Each class that doesn't have a fee is asking for about $10 in supplies - so another $30 there. His school supplies weren't bad, because we already had a good calculator and a Jansport backpack from last year. I probably spent about $40 on all the paper, binders, pens, pencils, protractor, Spanish dictionary, etc. so - total for that is $115.00. I expect to pay about another $100 for field trips and project supplies. so - probably somewhere around $215 - I'd say tops of $250 - for the year.

So - in my district, for middle and high school, side by side comparison of only actual academic costs, it is cheaper for me to send mine to school. Keep in mind, not only is it heaper just looking at these costs, but I didn't add any extra/outside classes into the equation for my homeschooled ds (because he isn't in any right now), nor did I add up any personal costs for field trips we will take.

[Karen in CO]

The biggest factor I would weigh for homeschooling cost compared to public school is the related to the overall costs of a working mother compared to a stay-at-home mother. I have a dear friend that stays home and homeschools whose dh was laid-off last year. They carefully considered the cost of her going back to work to help pay the bills while he was job hunting.

 

They went through their budget and determined how much per hour she would have to make in order to add money to their bottom line. This included the cost of gas, day care for one child, after-school care for one child, a portion of the money for extra wear on her car, household maintenance (since she does most of that) and other things that they know the value of because they are meticulous with their money. They also figured the tax impact of her working. With that number, she spent months looking for a job with no success.

 

In a world where there is a surplus of jobs, she would have been able to find a job, but she didn't.

 

Yes, there are costs associated with public school which I well know because both of my girls go to a public school once a week. Homeschooling can be done very inexpensively if you put extra time into it instead of extra money. What makes the biggest difference financially between to two in my mind is the employability of the homeschooling parent and the costs associated with working.

[Pretty in Pink]

I think that homeschooling *can* cost less than PS, but that's not my reality. I mean, one *could* homeschool with just basic supplies and a library card. Really. It can be done and done well. Of course, most of us aren't doing that -- we're buying curriculum and books and science kits and on and on and on.

 

It's also far less expensive to homeschool littles than it is middle and high school-aged children.

 

In our early years we did homeschool for next to nothing; this year and last I spent ~ 1500.00 on curriculum and supplies for three children. That's probably comprable to what we would spend for PS for three children.

[Ann@thebeach]

I homeschool my oldest 2 but my 1st grader is in school. I just wrote a check for $130 for books, afternoon milk (for their snack time), and registration.

This also included his milk for his lunch that I pack.

I also spent approx $20 on school supplies and supplies requested for the class.

$150 total

 

I spend about that on each of my homeschool kids per year. I buy most things used but next year will need Teaching Textbooks Algebra and want the new version so will spend more than normal.

 

And I agree that teaching younger ones is cheaper than the older kids. Once you hit 5th or 6th grade you're buying more science materials and perhaps foreign language. Then you hit high school and whoohoo-lots more money can be spent it seems on CD programs, lab equipment, etc.

 

Yes, I know people can just use the library, use free resources on the internet, and buy very few consumables and spend very little on homeschooling. I've even given a class on frugal homeschooling. But in reality, I've known very few homeschoolers that do that ;)

Edited August 24, 2011 by Ann in IA

[Maus]

How does one open a home daycare with 7 kids? That probably already exceeds the allowed amount per one daycare provider.

Probably not, unless the seven kids are really close in age.

 

My SIL has a home daycare and they have seven kids, but her older kids are 17, 16, 14, 12 and don't count according to our state regs. I don't think the 10 year-old counts either.

 

As I recall, the inspectors were more concerned about the size of her house, how many bathrooms, etc., and set her limits for number of daycare kids based on that.

[Wabi Sabi]

How does one open a home daycare with 7 kids? That probably already exceeds the allowed amount per one daycare provider.

 

Every state is different, of course, but in my state your own children do not count in the ratio. Plus, if we're referring back to that other thread, she'd be looking at putting most of the kids back into public school and would only have the youngest still at home during the day.

 

My only point with all of this is that if you really need the income there are creative ways to make it happen for most people that don't require all of one's income to be spent on childcare. I know this from firsthand experience because I'm in that boat myself.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Wabi Sabi

[4wildberrys]

How can homeschooling be cheaper than public school financially?...I read the other thread about the costs, and I still just don't get it...Does it just boil down to curricula choices, because I can't see homeschooling being cheaper than public school, especially if you were going to work even part time while kids are in school...

 

As a homeschooler, I still have to pay for...

- School Supplies

- Food for Lunch

- Books/Curricula

- Some kind of Clothes/Coats/Raingear

- Field Trips

 

I am sure I am missing something...To add to that, some take outside classes (we don't at this point), and that can get expensive...

 

Please don't get me wrong...I love homeschooling and think it is a better option for us for many reasons, but saving money is not one of the reasons...

 

For us, I'm pretty sure it's completely comparable. We don't have to purchase a wardrobe anymore, traveling 300 miles roundtrip for a jumbo shopping day. My kids can wear the same stuff day in and day out----whether it's fashionable or not. Mostly not---no Aeropostale, Hollister, American Eagle, etc. etc. :tongue_smilie: I still purchase the supplies and curriculum, which costs about the same as what we spent on clothes! Lack of morning aggravation and 6 colds a year----HUGE plus!

 

We never started homeschooling thinking it would be cheaper, especially since I had to give up my medical transcription job. It has just saved us major aggravation, infectious illness down time and made sure our kids have the academics we wanted for them.

[swellmomma]

For us it is cheaper in a few ways. A) I am given funding to buy my curricula, that there is a huge savings. B) I don't have to stick with the list of banned foods when I am preparing lunch, we can have PB&J, or left overs, or soups etc. When they were in ps they only had use of a microwave once a week for leftovers etc, and list of banned foods was long, so we had to stick with the expensive stuff (deli meats, prepared food packs etc). C) No super long school supply list of required things, yes I buy school supplies but I I buy them when they are cheaper in september, as well as at the $ store etc. Can't do that here with the ps supply list. D) Yes I pay for fieldtrips but I can pick and chose what works for my family and our budget. With ps there is no choice and if I can't afford it that month tough luck you have to pay anyway.

 

There is lots of other little ways that have creeped up over the years of homeschooling that I see we are saving money. For example, yes I work but because of homeschooling I limit it to certain jobs, which means unlike other jubs I have had I am not paying for daycare, set work clothes, meals for me etc. It's not just the homeschooling part in that, it was the decision to stay home with the kids even as a single parent that has had my budget end up bigger than when I worked out of the home fulltime.

 

When the kids were in ps and daycare I paid a huge amount every month between the places, plus bus fees ($80 per month to go 3 blocks from daycare to school), expensive school lunches, expensive supply lists, the newest clothes etc. The kids are still dressed well but I do not necessarily buy them new clothes in september. Instead it gets spread out and only bought as needed not just because it is a new school year. I can do things everyday to save money for the family that I could not do when the kids were in ps and I was working out of the home because we were simply hardly home.

 

The biggest savings though is the funding. This year for having 3 kids registered in parent directed (3 ways to register in my prov, this is the least invasive) I will receive just over $2200 for curriculum, extra currics etc.

 

The kids would be in extra currics whether they hsed or went to ps, the difference is I can turn in the receipts for registration fees and get the money back from my funding now that we hs.

[Carrie12345]

You don't have to DRIVE your child to the bus stop - you choose to. You are choosing to make arguments that would make public school more expensive.

 

 

 

Well, *I* would have to (and have had to). 1.25 miles in snow/rain/frigid cold with no sidewalks and narrow roads, next to a lake, often in the dark, just doesn't cut it for my family. Especially not in the elementary years. And particularly not with the, um, "social climate" of our local bus stop. And I'm not just talking about the students.

[sweetbasil]

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet is long-term costs.

 

I plan to graduate some of my DC early, and then they'll either start an apprenticeship, community college, or go straight to University (scholarships will be necessary for that option).

 

Hopefully they'll also be better equipped for college than most, and will be easily able to graduate in 4 yrs (or less). I also plan for my children to have the opportunity to really experience different fields of interest while they're in their teens-- thus saving them a lot of time, money, and stress when it comes to choosing a major (and hopefully sticking with it).

 

The cost savings of skipping those last 2-3 yrs of PS, plus the advantage of completing their higher educations and entering the workforce at a younger age will be a huge benefit to my kids.

[KarenNC]

It's going to vary from family to family, of course. But things like that "instrument rental fee" do add up to more than it costs me to provide music instruction at home. For example, my husband bought us a used piano several years ago when a local college got new instruments. He paid about $300 for it, which is roughly comparable to a single year of renting an instrument according to these lists.

 

My daughter did one AP class. She did it online through FLVS. It was free.

 

We're planning on more for my son, but we may well plan his own study at home if he can't take the FLVS classes. There is no way I'd pay $400 for an outside class.

 

The way I look at it, the basic supplies on the high school backpack index add up to $290. That is not counting field trips and instrument rentals and sports fees and "pay to play" fees (whatever that means). And there are a lot of items on there that my kid doesn't even need: backpack, red pens, pencil case, combination lock, three-hole punch, spiral notebooks, composition books, sketchbook, assignment book, etc. He also needs fewer of a lot of things like pens, since they are kept in one place here, don't get lost and don't have to be shared.

 

Around here, $290 is about what I spend on a full year of curriculum, much of which I can then re-sell or re-swap once we're done with it.

 

We seriously considered sending my son to the performing arts magnet school this year. In addition to the basic public school supply and activity fees, we would have been required to have him study music and dance privately, just as we do now. So, for us, sending him to that school would have cost us more than just keeping him home.

 

As you are, I was speaking for my own situation---the only one I can adequately address. We don't have the option in this state of a public virtual school. Homeschoolers have virtually no access to anything offered for the public school (possible exception--certain instances of things like speech therapy and possibly taking things like AP exams for a fee). "Pay to play" is typically sports fees. My daughter doesn't take dance, music or drama that would be required to attend public school of any sort. She does take aikido, but that is irrelevant to the question. Even without classes, around here, as I understand it, students pay for the AP exams whether they are in public or private school.

[KarenNC]

When my kids had supply lists from their teachers, we had very specific brand names and quantities we were required to buy. I've posted before how ds1's K teacher wanted 2 packs of Polaroid film from each kid at $16.00 a pop. Ds2's K teacher wanted 24 packs of Crayola crayons, 16 pack of Crayola twistable crayons, 16 pack of Crayola twistable colored pencils, and 10 pack Crayola markers, in addition to about 30 other items. HAD to be Fiskars scissors, etc. THEN, you weren't allowed to label anything, because all the supplies were communal. You couldn't keep anything for the next year, because the kids didn't have their OWN supplies.

 

 

I was speaking specifically of my situation, which was for middle and high school, which seem to have much less in the way of communal supplies (I don't think any?) than elementary. I have a supply list which lists Crayola products for my daughter's art class. I have been able to find them for less than $2 each, sometimes 50 cents---much less than the Huntington index shows. When I spoke of things to keep, note the items I listed---they weren't pencils, crayons, etc, nor were they for kindergarten. Also, I will flat out guarantee you that not every parent in that classroom a) provided everything on that list or b) provided the exact brand requested, regardless of whether it was "required." I've talked to enough teachers and seen enough threads recently hear to feel confident in that statement.

 

Things obviously vary. For me, no, it would not likely be more expensive to send my daughter, even to the public charter 30 minutes away, even with having to provide transportation than the way in which I choose to homeschool. The local public high school would be even less. As an example, I could choose to homeschool less expensively by joining a heavily-Christian evangelizing co-op situation or other classes, but that is not a viable choice for me. Similarly-oriented curricula are more readily available used, but are not a viable choice for me. A virtual charter would be much cheaper, but that is not an option in our state. Homeschooling using only the books our local library carries and a paper and pencil are also not viable choices for me. Some of our local public schools are not a viable choice for me short of a catastrophe that would cause me to have to go to work full-time or be so disabled I could not homeschool in the manner I felt was beneficial. Someone else's situation and decisions will be different.

[PeacefulChaos]

It isn't cheaper. For our family, anyway. To say homeschooling is cheaper for us is baloney.

[Tarreymere]

This depends on where you live. Here everyone walks a mile or less - either to the bus stop or to school. Here a child would walk on a twisty road with no shoulder competing with construction vehicles,teens driving SUVs, loaded busses (both public and group home), as well as the general traffic of people going to/from work as well as farm equipment. Half of the year it is pitch black at departure time for middle school and high school. The weather at dawn is -5F at times, not conducive to a mile walk carrying PE gear, backpack, lunch, sport gear and/or band instrument without the right foul weather gear..and the school does not provide lockers to store this gear. So, in winter the walker from a mile out needs a coat plus boots & gloves & scarf & some reflective mat'l plus a flashlight for the first half mile till the sun is up, while the driven child just needs the hoodie plus sneakers. In spring, it's pouring rain and thunderstorms...the walker will need rain gear plus boots plus some sort of light so he can be seen rather than run over. Again, no place to store. Clothing can be crammed in the locker on top of the textbooks, which of course means that the textbooks will be ruined from water and you're looking at about $600 in replacement costs.

 

It's a hot topic here. People who haven't walked that mile want everyone to walk 3 miles - either to the bus stop or to school. And to be real honest, most poor folks don't have the money for the foul weather gear. We already have donated coats so they can get out for winter recess. To actually walk that far without frostbite or arriving soaked is going to require donations of about $200/kid.

 

Public school kids in my area are REQUIRED to walk three miles. If you live within three miles of the school, you don't get a bus. If you live within three miles of a bus stop, you walk to it. This is a small town and this means that a whole lot of kids are out walking in the dark along the shoulder of some rural roads where there are a lot of idiots out driving 55 mph or more. NOT acceptable, IMHO. If my kids went to public school here, driving them myself would not be optional.