What is a realistic budget for curriculum?

[Jen Becker]

I'm HS'ing a 4 year old in pre-K/K level work. We have a $30/month budget to cover things like books I see at used book stores, things I want to pick up online to supplement, etc.

 

As for curriculum:

$100 for RightStart A and B (used, will also cover 1st)

$20 for Handwriting without Tears pre-k and K

$10 for Plaid Phonics workbook

$20 for Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

[KirstenH]

When I bought curricula for kindergarten, it was around $500, IIRC (we ended up putting him in PS that year, though).

 

For third grade, I've spent around $1000.

 

That doesn't include papers, pens, pencils and other supplies, or field trips/activities. Just curricula and books.

[Seeking Squirrels]

My DD will be 4 this summer. She LOVES school and always wants more. So we decided to go ahead and get pretty much whatever I thought we might like this upcoming year. If we use it, great, if not, we'll still have it for next year. I've still had to do a lot of tweaking and cutting plus looking for what I can on e-bay because money is tight. But it's worth it to us to cut in other areas to make it work.

 

My excel spreadsheet is currently at $573.00. I keep trying to cut it back more, but instead when I go looking I find something else I want. :tongue_smilie:About half of that is picture books, not curriculum. I can break it down by subject or by exact items if you're interested.

[maizeydaizey]

We have a budget of $100.00 a month ($1,200 a year) - that is for everything: curriculum purchases (biggest chunk), art supplies, books, manipulatives, papers, pencils, field trips, science materials, special project needs, posters for walls, unit study supplies, etc. Not extra curricular classes though such as swimming, soccer or Camp Fire. If I host an activity with friends or other HSer's that involves any supplies that I might provide it also comes out of my monthly HS budget as well. I roll some each month so when it comes time to buy actual curriculum I have the funds there, ready to go. This might seem like nothing to some and a ton to others, but it works for us and it is *fully* used! (I wish I had more!)

[ChandlerMom]

Depends if you already have an iPad or not. :lol:

 

I agree with less is more -- build up slowly as you find your style and what works. If you haven't' already, research the different styles/philosophies -- my first dd is fine with classical but my 2nd is Waldorfy. I just accept that and adjust. :D

 

Back to the iPad -- best hs tool we've got. My 3yo has learned to make nice letters and numbers on it WITHOUT a ton if scratch paper laying everywhere. And the girls think MM (math) is FUN if it is on the iPad. Same worksheets are a chore if I print them out. That makes the iPad Priceless. :p

 

Pick you style, list your subjects by priority, then pick your curric for each. Keep track of your 2nd choices and what you discarded (and why -- you'll get snow-blind after a while). That'll give you a "budget". :lol:

[Mommy22alyns]

I spend about $1000 for both girls, including book basket books, but not including art supplies, project supplies, and basic school supplies. I have no idea how much those things add on; I just buy as needed.

 

ETA: This also doesn't count extracurriculars, I figure they would do them even if they were in school, so they don't count as part of the hs budget.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Mommy22alyns

[mudboots]

I'm trying to keep it at $500 per child per year. I could spend a lot more.

 

My kids are just a little older than yours. One budgeting mistake I made was underestimating how much their abilities change in these early years. We're only ordering curriculum once a year, so I've had to scramble to find things that are at their level right now, until I can get the new order placed.

 

In addition to the "formal" curriculum order, I spend completely unknown amounts of money from our monthly budget, just buying computer paper, construction paper, tape, staples, crayons, little activity books, stickers, self-contained craft projects, readers, and so on.

Edited April 5, 2012 by mudboots

[Momof3littles]

I've found 300-500 per child is more than enough for us overall at this stage. My two that are currently HSing are 8 and 5 yo.

 

Do you have decent used book stores in your area? Library book sales? Have you checked thrift stores in your area to see what their book selection is like?

We have an amazing used book store in our area where I can find some great stuff. Elizabeth Enright, Nesbit, etc. It is organized, they have half off days, etc. So I can go in there and for 100 bucks come out with a large amount of quality literature. If you haven't checked those resources in your area, you might look at them and see if they can help you stretch your dollars. Our current library system has "okay" used book sales, but in the last state we lived in, the local library used book sales were amazing. I could pick up things like DK Eyewitness books for 10-50 cents. Yard sales can be a good place to look for used games that can be repurposed. I have a used boggle jr. set that my DD uses to practice spelling out words using play doh, letter dice, or magnetic letters. You can use something like scrabble in the same way-the tiles can become a language arts manipulative. Finding used items that can be repurposed in different ways can stretch your budget IME. Lots of Montessori type activities can be set up using things from a thrift store (small pitcher, ice cube trays, tongs, spoons, baskets, trays).

 

Sometimes our kids' gifts are educational-think snap circuits for example. I don't consider that part of our HSing budget but some might. Ditto things like art supplies. Sometimes I include them in Easter baskets or Christmas stockings, for example.

 

I'd probably spend some money on things that will have lasting value. Maybe some math manipulatives (counting bears to work on patterns for now, an abacus, maybe some geometric solids, c-rods, a base 10 set).

 

I also think how stocked your local library is and how much you use it can have an impact on your budget.

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie, I think I just fell in love with you. That is gold!

 

Love my husband. He used to be a teacher and gave me the educationese!

 

;)

Rosie

[stm4him]

I'm probably going to spend less than 200 for my preschooler for next year but I already own some of the teacher's manuals and manipulatives and some things will be shared for the whole family which I am not counting (like our CC audios and resource cd and flashcards, etc). This also doesn't count any living books that I pick up at a convention and of course doesn't count her CC tuition or extracurricular activities. That will cover her math meeting book, her letter cards from LOE, some handwriting paper, TWRTR (which I'm using for the handwriting instructions), Building Thinking Skills Beginning, a geography fold out for CC, first catechism, Character First cards, two Bob Books preschool sets, Who Is God? coloring book, God's World News Magazine, and Pre-Scripts (copybooks CC is coming out with....though I'm guessing on the cost of this). This doesn't include things preschool hands-on activities that I find at conventions either that just help keep her busy or awesome educational videos. Some that I would HIGHLY recommend are the YWAM publishing missionary videos, the NEST videos, and LeapFrog videos. Spanish or French immersion videos are also great like Little Pim or WhistleFritz. Answers in Genesis and Vision Forum have some great ones too.

 

I definitely agree with these moms about building a library. This will always bear fruit!! Memoria Press has a great Preschool Read aloud collection coming out before the fall!

[alisoncooks]

Depends if you already have an iPad or not. :lol:

...

Back to the iPad -- best hs tool we've got. My 3yo has learned to make nice letters and numbers on it WITHOUT a ton if scratch paper laying everywhere. And the girls think MM (math) is FUN if it is on the iPad. Same worksheets are a chore if I print them out. That makes the iPad Priceless. :p

Uh-oh, I don't know if that is what I need to hear!

We've got some major iPad envy in our house.... :D