do you find you spend more money than the "average" homeschooler?

[Runningmom80]

I'm just thinking back to a thread on the Gen board last year about how much people spend pre kid on curriculum.  I was definitely in the upper range, and it made me feel wasteful.  I've been thinking about it a lot recently because I'm planning for next year, and I decided it's not wasteful because we do use it all, it's just that we use a lot! DS was going through math books at a lightning speed and 4 SM books a level add up!  We also do a lot of enrichment stuff because he just needs MORE.  Always MORE. :laugh:

 

Anyone else feel this way or do I really need a 12 step program?

[MinivanMom]

Yes, I always feel really bad when I read those threads. And we don't even do any outside classes; it's all books, curriculum, and more books.

[Dmmetler]

Yes!

 

I have found it makes it easier when I compare DD's working level as opposed to age on such threads. She has essentially been high school level on most things for a couple of years now, and while I'm spending far more than most 4th-6th grade parents do, it actually isn't all that outrageous compared to what high school homeschooling seems to cost many people, as long as I ignore travel costs.

 

It probably says something that I looked at the full pay tuition/fees for local schools, and even the per course cost at the private college actually didn't look all that bad!

[4Kiddos]

Yes, I always feel really bad when I read those threads. And we don't even do any outside classes; it's all books, curriculum, and more books.

 

Yes, this is also us. I buy so many books. Especially since the libraries around here are awful, we have to purchase everything. Thank goodness for AbesBooks and Thriftbooks! The mail people know who I am! :) The bonus is that I only have to do it once for five kids and we have a lovely library.

 

The same is true of curriculum- especially math curriculum. But we use it all!

[deerforest]

DD and I were just talking about this the other day. She's totally a "leap frog" learner, and I never know when it's going to strike. With her learning style:

1. If she or I hate something we're trying, we don't torture ourselves by continuing to use it. I believe she will have plenty of opportunities in her life to learn to "tough it out", and making her stick with a curriculum that either of us hates has no value to us.
2. If she gets it, she goes through most curriculum very quickly.
3. When she gets stuck on something, just doing more of the same doesn't work. She is fairly balanced as an auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learner which is great but it means that it might take a while until I find the EXACT thing that will click.
4. When she gets unstuck, she leaps ahead like crazy, thereby making all the other stuff I had planned useless; see point 2.

So, I basically have to be prepared for anything, at any time. 

[Arcadia]

I spend as much as typical afterschoolers in my neighborhood and lower than a private school tuition.

 

Our main costs are outside B&M classes. My kids want to be in school or at least in classrooms. Our curriculum costs are very low in comparison to their outside class tuition. I am waiting for them to be old enough for dual enrollment as community college fees per course is low here.

 

ETA:

The afterschoolers in my area are supplementing with AoPS, CTY, Stanford OHS classes. No GATE program here.

They also go to music, art, foreign language, programming, sports lessons afterschool.

 

ETA:

The cost of buying and maintaining music instruments break the bank. Now we are renting the cellos but would be buying when DS11 need the full size next year. He is taller than me and has longer arms and fingers.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Arcadia

[slackermom]

Well, if one has a child who covers 2,3 or more years of material year after year, it does add up. I am thankful for libraries, which help keep our expenses from being TOTALLY out of hand, and for this group, for feedback on available resources. Though, I am not sure if I spend more, or less, than I otherwise would after reading about others experiences with various materials....

[Jackie]

Oh, yes. I compare our spending to the private school that *might* have been able to meet DD's needs. We come in at less than half of that, so I've decided to call it good.

 

I find that a chunk of it is curricula, but a bigger chunk is "toys" - Zometool and Snap Circuits are expensive! Now she's thinking she wants to try her hand at robotics. And books... I remember reading about what others spent on homeschooling and thinking that some of the budgets were lower than our annual book budget, even with regularly having dozens of books checked out from the library.

 

And then there's what I think of as the cost of her asynchronicity. So many times I can't tell if a resource is going to be a good fit for her until I at least have it in my hands. If it isn't, and I shelve it for later, she sometimes then leapfrogs right over the resource entirely.

 

This year has been less expensive than last year (I already bought a lot of the expensive toys!) but she's chomping at the bit to add online classes, so that might not last.

[AnniePoo]

I spend way less on my gifted child because there are fewer "flops."

[lewelma]

I spend way more. Four AoPS classes in a calendar year cost us a pretty penny. But really it is the music that is so expensive. We shell out close to 10,000 dollars a year. Very few teachers can teach at my older boy's level, and they are expensive. And you can't take classes at the local university u til you finish 11th grade English. Sigh.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited December 15, 2015 by lewelma

[Roadrunner]

I spend way more. Four AoPS classes in a calendar year cost us a pretty penny. But really it is the music that is so expensive. We shell out close to 10,000 dollars a year. Very few teachers can teach at my older boy's level, and they are expensive. And you can't take classes at the local university u til you finish 11th grade English. Sigh.

 

Ruth in NZ

This is us as well. Between aops and $70 (I know this could be double in metropolitan areas) per piano lesson, it's a lot. We will add wtm classes next year. Sigh.

 

Not four classes, but will have three aops next year and three this year.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Roadrunner

[Mike in SA]

What was the "average" spend? For two kids, counting lessons, we probably push 15k, and we go cheap. Lots of MIT-OCW, we teach the AOPS, MCT, and WWS ourselves, and use books we already have at home. It's the lessons for multiple instruments that kills...

[SeaConquest]

A lot of the board members are in rural areas that have less in the way of ECs available. Compared to the 20-25K it would cost for Sacha to attend our best local private schools, homeschooling is a bargain (especially considering the charter pays for a lot of our stuff). 

[Luckymama]

:lol:

 

Yes!

 

College will probably be less expensive :eek:

[Runningmom80]

What was the "average" spend? For two kids, counting lessons, we probably push 15k, and we go cheap. Lots of MIT-OCW, we teach the AOPS, MCT, and WWS ourselves, and use books we already have at home. It's the lessons for multiple instruments that kills...

I think it was around $400? I'll have to go back and look.

[rwilk]

Ugh yes.  When a year long curriculum (for kids a few years older) still doesn't even last us 6 months, costs add up.  We use the library to the tune of 500 fiction, 200 non-fiction books a year.  But there are still some books that are helpful to have in the house on a regular basis.  So those add up.

 

And you know, she's four.  So even though she's very careful with her science things, she's a kid, and sometimes, stuff breaks.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

No, not really.

 

Although that is about to change.  So ask me again in a year.  LOL

 

 

[GThomas]

Yes! I think we are about 15k for two kids. We have to purchase everything from the States and there is no decent English library here! (sob) Sports lessons are expensive here. Bookstores are expensive here. But the private American schools here are about $30k per student. So definitely a bargain. At least this is what I tell myself because its very possible to school for less...all that curriculum, books and materials are so fun to buy! Today we're off to the hardware store as ds has been building those marble contraptions where you roll the marble and it goes down shoots, bounces off of rubberbands, etc. (cha ching!)

[Gil]

No, we do probably do not even spend as much as "average" homeschoolers. But for us spending more is not an option. We make very efficient use out of the library and free eBooks that we get offline. We buy used books for pennies on the dollar, we use interlibrary loan and my greatest expense was probably printing as I need two copies of each PDF. The boys can't do math on the computer, they need paper and pencil.

 

It helps that I don't even bother trying to financially indulge every single whim of theirs.

[mathnerd]

 It's the lessons for multiple instruments that kills...

I agree - lessons for multiple instruments (and orchestra fee) is a killer here as well. As my child progresses to higher levels in his music, the number of lessons he needs as well as the price of the lessons have gone up phenomenally. Our second largest expense are for sports classes.

[Loesje22000]

If a child does several grades in one year, it costs more.

If a library doesn't contain children books in foreign languages and you have to buy them yourself, it costs more.

If one follows the requirements of several countries it costs more.

If one has to pay custom charges about shippings it costs more.

 

It is still cheaper then an international or British School :)

 

Luckely 'afterschool activities' 'sports' and 'daycamps' are pretty cheap here.

[chiguirre]

I thought I spent a lot until I participated in a survey for the Stanford Online High School. They were seriously asking if I would be willing to pay $20,000 for their online program. Ummm, no. It makes the WTMA academy, PA Homeschoolers, etc. look like peanuts and Landry look like peanut crumbs in the cracks of the floorboards.

 

Extracurriculars are the most expensive things we do here. Although, private school kids take music and tennis lessons on top of school fees and even public school hits you up for quite a few activity fees, tee shirts and field trips.

[TracyP]

I spend about the average each year. (not counting music lessons or educational toys) This is going to change pretty drastically next year as we start outsourcing a bit, but the average per kid will still be under that $400 mark. It is just very skewed toward my oldest.

 

I actually think that having accelerated learners has kept my costs down. The people I know who spend the most buy "school in a box." I have been very tempted by some of those (and even tried one year), but my kids just do not fit. I save a lot by pulling my own stuff together. At least that is what I tell myself...

[rebcoola]

No I usually have to add a lot of extra's to spend all of my 1600 charter budget of course it has a library of common reusables so maybe I'm just saving a lot.   Though  I don't count our gymnastics/cheer/music costs because we would almost certainly do those even if DD's were in school...plus I'd be scared to total it up.

[bugfree]

I tend to do classes, so it is really expensive.  I figure it is worth it if my loves what they are learning and they are being taught by subject matter experts that love what they do.

[Laura Corin]

Not really.  My very accelerated boy was fast in things like English and languages, and we used really meaty texts plus lots of library supplements.

[nobeatenpath]

We don't have access to an English language library, so I have to buy books. My son attends four outside (extra-curricula) courses so he gets social interaction, and they, along with materials, are not cheap. And we have had a few disasters with curriculum just not lasting the distance, so I am being stricter with myself over buying stuff unless I really thing I am going to use it. My plan this year is to not spend as much on curricula/use what we have in terms of books and resources. I may however be spending more on classes so it balances out. We are fortunate in that this is not an issue for us.

 

 

While we could be sending him to private school for free here (my husband's work would pay) by the time you add up uniforms, compulsory trips, various extra-curriculas etc. I am not sure we are spending all that much more.

[HomeAgain]

You know, I probably would spend more, but I have so many 4th-8th resources sitting around the house already that I don't need to reinvest this time around. :)  Maybe in a few years I'll be spending more, but I doubt it.  I've gotten pretty savvy at using the free stuff that's available and the little one discovered how to work Google to his advantage, so we're good for a while.

[Donna]

If the average is $400 (?), that is probably about what we spend per child on curriculum, learning videos/CDs, and school books. Online courses add a bit more to that.

 

I wouldn't really count what I spend on music lessons because I would be spending something on music/sports/extracurricular activities whether she went to school or not…maybe wouldn't have time to do so much with music if she went to school or wouldn't spend so much if she weren't as competent (if her needs could be met locally). I would also still be spending a lot on books for her (and I) to read whether she went to school or not.

[StartingOver]

More than average, less than some. 2k +

[TranquilMind]

I'm just thinking back to a thread on the Gen board last year about how much people spend pre kid on curriculum.  I was definitely in the upper range, and it made me feel wasteful.  I've been thinking about it a lot recently because I'm planning for next year, and I decided it's not wasteful because we do use it all, it's just that we use a lot! DS was going through math books at a lightning speed and 4 SM books a level add up!  We also do a lot of enrichment stuff because he just needs MORE.  Always MORE. :laugh:

 

Anyone else feel this way or do I really need a 12 step program?

I always spent a lot.  It was important. 

[Runningmom80]

I always spent a lot.  It was important. 

 

I do prioritize school spending above everything else besides food.  I wonder if that makes me "overspend?" 

 

I'm ok with it, there are far worse things to overspend on!

[La Condessa]

We spend less than the average out of neccessity, but more than we would without acceleration. It can't be helped--when you have to purchase a new math level twice as often, it's going to be more. And I put a priority on finding ways to afford the curricula I think will work best for my kids, which may happen to be more expensive, too, if what works best for them tends to be things like MCT and Beast Academy.

[Syllieann]

No. We aren't outsourcing classes or doing instrumental lessons right now. My preferred math and science are cheap, cheap, cheap, and I have an awesome library system that is easy to use. Acceleration hasn't really affected prices for us yet. It's more that we are using things earlier than typical. As someone up thread said, buying multiple levels costs more. The flip side of that is that a lot of kids on this board can straight up skip levels too. Maybe that averages it out.

 

I think the music costs should have been tossed out in the estimate. Most people pay the majority of that out of pocket regardless of their schooling choices, and it really skews the results.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Syllieann

[waa510]

Yes, we always end up spending more b/c we're often finishing books more quickly, so I'm purchasing multiple 'levels' in one calendar year. Supplemental stuff like science kits, classes, and thicker texts aren't cheap either!! I think Dh just saw that we were spending more and assumed it had to do with adding in the little one more seriously. It's really been a combination of meeting her needs with  older Dd's materials costing more as she gets older. If older dd continues on with her science interests I imagine it will only get worse as time goes on! 

 

I'm willing to prioritize curriculum though. I also will save Amazon gift cards given for holidays or birthdays and use them for school stuff. I also would use curriculum sales if/when I could when in the States. You do what you can, I guess!