How much do you spend on homeschooling per child per year?

[rebcoola]

Well I work hard to spend all 1600 of my ALE learning budget but I buy a lot of things just because I can.  So are probably right around 500 per kid.  I don't count our money spent at  gymnastics because it is way above a PE class now that they are on team I did when they just had a weekly homeschool class for fun.

[Guest]

Are we counting arts and activities? My actual book work and academic materials cost less than $1000 for all the kids each year and many are reusable. Consumables are $200 or so. But things like swimming are $800 a year, dance is $1700 plus costumes, and piano is nearly $4000 a year for the two older girls. For us, that's all part of homeschooling, but it's not core subjects that have the high expenses.

[Dmmetler]

If we count DD's herp stuff, we're probably in the $5000+ range-but a big part of that is travel, and it usually goes along with family vacations. It's hard to define where homeschooling ends and where non-homeschooling begins. I also have trouble counting private piano lessons in even though I do consider those "music" because she wouldn't get private piano lessons if she were in PS without us paying for them out of pocket anyway. The same is true with her tumbling and cheer team-even if she were on a school team, it would be considered extracurricular and out of the parents' pocket.

 

We're probably under $1000 if you leave out that stuff, and the only reason it's that high is a couple of online classes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2016 by dmmetler

[HomeAgain]

This year my total is $100 for all subjects ranging K-4th.  I have had the benefit of having a large library of passed down curricula, living books, science kits...so the only things I needed to purchase were a few consumables, ink, and an extra few small resources.

[freesia]

Extracurriculars can really skew the numbers bc there is such a wide disparity in what things cost in HCOL places v. low.

 

We chose to out source a lot with my oldest this year. Without outsourcing or extra curriculars, I have always spent about $1500 a year total since I've been teaching 2 (now with 4). Our extra curricular costs swing wildly. Right now they are higher than ever, but they are the first thing we cut. (And while we spend around 2000 total for all our kids, friends spend over 14000)

[3 ladybugs]

Maybe a better poll would be it were a percent of your total income (gross). That would take into account COL and all activities as they can be educational too. 

 

So for us all in (and a bit for odds and ends) I would say we are around 4% of our income going to homeschooling. I will create another poll above if you want to throw yours in too. 

[Tess in the Burbs]

what people spend varies b/c of choices.  Used vs new.  Full boxed or piece together.  Utilize free online options?  How many extracurricular activities?  Even if I did exactly the same as another person, we may spend different amounts based on how we resourced that curriculum and who we use for the activities.  Music lessons for example:  I used to pay for lessons through a music school.  But I knew people who bartered for lessons and paid way less than I did.  Same for anything we do in our homeschool.  Why argue with people about the right amount?  I am always in awe of those who spend very little b/c they spend time getting free resources.  It's all about priorities.  I have spent very little.  I have spent way too much.  Each year varies.  

[SproutMamaK]

We do about $700/year per child, and about that much each in extra curriculars. However, we participate in a lot of speciaized (and expensive) programs for autistic children. Are we counting swimming lessons as an extracurricular? Thats a HUGE chunk of the expense for us, about $400/kid/year. Piano lessons are a good $1000/year as well. Those are extracurriculars, but they're expenses that would would have even if they were enrolled in school.

Edited February 23, 2016 by SproutMamaK

[T'smom]

I don't know. We set aside $1000/year, but don't include extracurriculars in that. But the extracurriculars are things we'd do if the kids were in school or not. Swim lessons, little league, etc. They would do that regardless, so I don't count it as homeschooling expense.

[MEmama]

I doubt I spent $100 this year on schooling (7th).

 

I don't count sports because he would do those anyway. That's the only real expense for this kid (well, and an unbelievable amount of food ;) ).

[FaithManor]

I have no idea how to calculate that. University tuition for DE? That's over $2200 a year. Travel of 5 hours every few weeks for extra cello lessons? 4-H sewing supplies? Swim team travel? Do I count a new ram for all those ewes out there? Rehairing cello bows? ACT fees? Vet bills? All those puppies because we have LGD to protect the sheep. New pistol because of the Ranger Award for Scouts? Brand inspections on horses? Hay? New laptops for coding class? I can't just figure it as "What would you do if they were in ps?" because my kids have never been in ps. So, no clue here. Lots!

 

As I could outfit a private school with curricular materials, I don't buy any new curriculum--I can just get it off the shelves.  :lol:

Margaret, you are my hero! :D

 

You are in the "only one left" camp, aren't you? I am too. I am actually paring out curriculum, making room on my shelves for dearly loved books that have been boxes low these many homeschooling years. It is kind of a bitter sweet thing. I have loved homeschooling my kids, but I am kind of looking forward to this new phase in life too. Nearly three down, one to go, and he only has two years left.

[eternalsummer]

We don't do extracurriculars at the moment (DS7 is just 7) so the cost is not terrible, maybe $200 a month or so and most of that is buying books used on Amazon + art supplies.

[Arcadia]

What public schools provide are also different.  Some public schools have dual immersions programs from kindergarten onwards so a second language is free to those who go those schools.  Many schools here have music instrument instruction in music class by 3rd/4th grade so music instruction is free. A downstairs neighbor's son who only learns the violin in public school and has no outside lessons made it to the regional youth orchestra in 8th grade so not exactly substandard instruction. High school does swimming, bowling, gym and all the other sports on rotation during PE. High school sports teams are free other than the usual fundraising for competition expenses. For k-8 some sports are free but choice is limited by the availability and willingness of teacher volunteers and parent volunteers.

 

So while my kids assigned public school isn't a good fit for either of my kids, other than the AoPS online classes, every other homeschool expense would have been a want rather than a need if they are in school because they would get similar instruction at school. My kids want classroom instruction if possible, online if not so that hike the expenses from day one of homeschooling.

 

My hubby's gross income is a lot higher than net because the payroll counts all the stock options given which is on paper into gross. So unless we sell all the stock options, net income is actually what we live by. 

[JustEm]

Percentage wise we're at about 2% of our gross pay and that is assuming we spend out allotted amount which we likely won't. My kids are young and while we could spend more on their education I value finding deals so that money goes towards retirement and paying down the mortgage. I expect the future to be more expensive for my kid's education so I diligently save now and find deals so we won't have to worry about how we're going to afford the more expensive years of home schooling.

 

Disclaimer, I'm not saying anything about anyone elses choices. This is just how I view it for my families situation.

[LisaKinVA]

We are between $500-$1000 per year per child. Last year, we did it for about $500 per child. Next year I expect to spend more (I'll have more to spend...YAY!)

 

Oldest son will (hopefully) take 4 classes at the school. That will leave me with:

 

Math ($250), Robotics 2 ($500), Western Civ ($400), AP Art History ($300) Most of the more expensive parts I'll be able to re-use. If the courses don't work out, I'll have to figure out something for AP Physics 1, AP English Composition (GA Virtual??), Digital Photography (I think we can do either a Coursera course or The Great Courses), and Italian 3 (not as easy to schedule as you'd think).

 

Oldest DD will also (hopefully) take 4 classes t the school. That will leave me with:

 

English/World Literature ($200), AP Human Geography ($150), Health/PE ($100), Marine Biology ($250). If her courses don't work out she'll be taking Precalc at home (have), AP Physics 1, German 3 (online...about $500), and the same Digital Photography course as her older brother.

 

Middle DS will hopefully take 4 classes at the school. Which will leave me with:

English (have), History (have), Animation course ($100), Biology ($250), Algebra 1 (have), PE/Health (have), Foreign Language (No idea on that one), Drawing course ($100)

 

Younger DD will take all of her courses at home, and we already own everything but some new workbooks, and the VP online courses...about $500 for her.

 

Youngest DD will be doing Abeka online DVDs...about $600

 

ETA: most of the larger costs for my older kids are DVD lectures. Limited internet means I can only stream so much. If we were able to stream more effectively, I would.

Edited February 23, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[AmandaVT]

I voted between $1,000 and $2,000. $1,000 of it is tuition for his French immersion program. I didn't include tennis, piano and swimming lessons because we'd most likely be doing those even if he were in public school. Actual curriculum is under $500 - I didn't add it up officially, but 1 year of Beast Academy, WWE, FLL, handwriting, AAS and History Odyssey probably come in around $200? We get most of our books from the library and spend here and there on science stuff as needed. 

[rebbyribs]

I answered that I spend between $2k and $3k per school-aged child, but it equates to a very small percentage of our gross income.  A large part of the money I spend is the stipend from our charter school ($1800 per school-aged child), which I would not count as income since it is only available for certain educational expenses.  Our total educational spending doesn't equate very well to what I would pay out of pocket if we didn't use the charter.  Some things aren't covered (e.g., family memberships to museums, anything purchased specifically for a preK child, computers, anything that is not completely secular, swim lessons anywhere close by), so I pay for them out of pocket.  Our total OOP spending is about $2k per year for the whole family.  On the other hand, there are things that I can spend the charter school stipend on that I probably wouldn't pay for with our own money, such as math manipulatives and art supplies (in both cases I bought more & higher quality than I might've otherwise), some books that are available in our library but convenient to have on hand, some outside classes. 

Edited February 23, 2016 by rebbyribs

[Jenny in Florida]

If we're talking percentage of gross income, well, our income varied quite a bit over the homeschooling years. However -- again leaving out any extracurriculars that we would have done even if the kids had been in school (or not done at all if we couldn't afford them) -- my typical per-kid expeditures were between 1% and 4% of our income. And, yes, that held true all the way through high school. 

[Mom2Five]

I spent probably $500 on 3 kids this year. I was gifted curriculum in the beginning that we are still using and look for deals on used curriculum. I know its going to go up as they get older. They are in 4th, 3rd, and 1st.

[Hoot]

We're somewhere in the $2,000 - $3,000 range. We usually spend around $1,500 on outsourced classes at co-op. Online writing classes typically run around $300ish. Curriculum I try to borrow or buy used because I only have 1 kid, but what we want is typically unavailable so I end up buying a lot new, too.

 

DS isn't really doing any extracurriculars that cost money right now. No sports. Music lessons are sporadic just to shore up certain skills. For the most part he teaches himself. Drama and photography are two of his current extras, but they are considered co-op classes. Private and group voice lessons are currently free with drama. A lot of what he's involved in outside of his schoolwork would be considered apprenticeships. He is considering some rudimentary piano lessons soon, though we have no idea what the cost for that will be.

[Haiku]

Less than $500 per year per child. That doesn't count hockey, which we would do even if the kids went to school. Including hockey we spend around $5000 per year per kid, but that includes equipment and travel expenses as well as team fees. It doesn't count as "homeschooling."

 

I'm curious what someone with kids as young as yours spends $3k on.

[cjzimmer1]

I didn't vote because there is a huge difference between my olders and youngers.  My youngest two students are probably under $400 each and half of that is the cost of their gym class.  But I already own most of the stuff they use so it's mostly consumables that I have to buy.  On the other hand my oldest took 4 AP's through PA Homeschoolers this year plus some other online classes.  By the time I add in his gym class costs, lab kit costs, AP exams costs, his will probably be close to $4000.  But I have to buy every single thing he uses each year as there is nothing we already own for him.  My middle two students are somewhere in the middle but it depends on how many online classes they have.  I have also found my oldest daughter does not do well with the math programs her older brothers used and so I'm having to buy fresh for her.  While I don't spend $8000 a year, I can totally see how it's possible.

[MEmama]

I spent probably $500 on 3 kids this year. I was gifted curriculum in the beginning that we are still using and look for deals on used curriculum. I know its going to go up as they get older. They are in 4th, 3rd, and 1st.

Not necessarily. If anything costs have gone down for us as we've figured out what really works for us and some of the bigger expenses (good microscopes) have already been purchased.

 

Without judgement, I am truly astounded at how much some people are paying, particularly if it isn't for outside opportunities and classes. We don't have those available or else I'd jump all over them. As it is, a weekend of classes at MIT is all of $40 (so, basically free) and he would want to take those anyway. If we lived closer to Boston, he would want to be in all kinds of great programs and I'd be thrilled to provide those. So I guess my miserliness (lol) is due mostly to lack of real, academic opportunities on any regular basis. Certainly not because we can't afford it or don't think they are worthy.

[Critterfixer]

This year---I don't know. Maybe 500 each. Maybe 700. I don't have anything outsourced right now and no extracurricular activities. This year it probably will depend on whether I buy the big chemistry set or chicken out at the last minute. :D

[J&JMom]

I am spending close to  $3,000 on my two boys grades 5 and 7.  I made this graphic at the beginning of the year but have spent an additional $300 in materials this year - science and art, mostly. All subjects are taught by me - no classes.  Not included are science museum membership ($100), piano lessons ($80 month), and gym membership ($750 annually). 

[ScoutTN]

I voted $500 to $1000. That includes both books, FTs and our tutorial.

 

I do not include extra curricular activities like music lessons, sports or scouts because we would do those even if our kids went to traditional school. While they are educational, we have a separate line in our budget for them, apart from school costs.

[PeacefulChaos]

Total curriculum budget for next year is $1200 between 3 kids.

And I buy. Everything. Every book I put on their reading list, etc. I don't copy and reuse workbooks, for example, with MUS. It's just too much of a pain.

Extracurricular -

soccer, $65/season/kid, fall and spring, IF they want to play.

Maybe swim lessons, it depends on if they'll be offered this year. In the past (there were none last year), $50/kid/3 week session. I usually did 2 sessions.

Field trips aren't expensive - I'd say the most I've EVER spent on a field trip is $12/kid. Most are much less.

So we definitely spend less than $2000 total. So maybe 600-650 per kid?

Edited February 22, 2016 by PeacefulChaos

[sheryl]

Horseback Riding Lessons every other week so about 18 classes or so (not summer) - $320

Violin weekly $400 per semester x 2 = $800

Science labs out (Chemistry) = $250

 

That's about $1400. 

 

Books maybe totaled to about $300 (this is unusual as I buy older editions and pre-owned, but this year had to buy many new books).

 

Are you including gasoline to get to these classes?  That should be factored in somewhere b/c the gasoline would not be used if she was not taking a class somewhere.

 

Prom will be anywhere from $50 - $150 depending on cost of dress. 

 

So, it depend on what you include.  All of the above would be about $1800.  I don't know if I'm forgetting a thing or two.

 

If you budgeted gasoline and event tickets, etc. it would probably total to "about" $2500.

 

Forgot about school supplies but that is minimal and can go into the last amount.

 

Wardrobe?

 

How far to take this?

 

DD is in 11th grade!

Edited February 22, 2016 by sheryl

[mamiof5]

Didn't vote. I just don't know, don't keep track. I want to believe about a couple grand per year (for all of them, grades 2,4 and 5th). That's on curriculum. Fieldtrips and extra homeschooling activities... no idea. Varies per semester. I don't count piano lessons, scouting or baseball as a homeschooling expense...would do those regardless of.

[mamajag]

First, 4th, and 5th: Homeschool category says I've spent $4500 this year.

[desiree77]

I make a monthly budget based on what we can afford. I plan my classes and curriculum around that. I buy used if I can. I sell stuff to stretch my budget. This is easier now that my youngest is done with certain things.

 

Things that come out of my budget:

 

Copy toner

Parking at a chemistry event in the city

Co-op classes

Curriculum

Online classes

Local classes

Field trips

School supplies

Subscriptions to educational websites

Educational apps

[Raifta]

Last year I spent $1140 for two on school related things.  

 

For their extra curriculars (which I see as a separate thing because they are likely to have been taking them anyway - eg. piano, Girl Guides, swimming, art classes), it was an extra $2000.

 

So I suspect my real answer is just over $500/kid for school and field trips and just over $1000/kid for extra curriculars.

[imagine.more]

It depends on which kid :) For my kids who don't need special curriculums I'd say about $400-500 each. But for the one who needs Barton Reading and Spelling at $300 a pop, I spend about $1000 a year. Still way cheaper than private school and no need to wake up at 7am or argue over homework ;)

 

I could see spending $1000 per child for each year of high school, but I plan to keep it to under $500/year for K-8th, and likely less when I get to the fifth one. 

 

ETA: we do soccer because it's affordable and provides tons of exercise and is equally accessible for boys and girls with minimal equipment. Oldest DD did swim team but isn't terribly competitive so we might switch her over to tennis lessons or something, which will be more costly than soccer but I figure it's a life skill so worthwhile.

Edited February 23, 2016 by imagine.more

[StartingOver]

I spend $1000 each at income tax time. And another $500-1000 through the year.

 

This year I got some big ticket items, IEW TWSS, SWI A and Analytical Grammar with Review books. I still want Teaching the Classics and Reading Road Maps. I have most subjects a year ahead.

Edited February 23, 2016 by StartingOver

[waa510]

For 5th grade next year, I've probably spent (or will spend when adding on consumable workbooks throughout the year) about $650 with Girl Scouts expenses in there. I rounded up to account for extra expenses like science kits, field trips or something we may find fun in the middle of the year. I'll re-use a lot of it with little Dd though.

 

For younger dd, I'll spend only max. $100 on her b/c I'm reusing a ton of things. Most of her expenses are consumable workbooks that she LOVES. I could probably budget her for < $50 without the workbooks added in there. I added in a bit for Girl Scouts expenses. 

 

My kids don't do a ton of extras here as the quality isn't there, it's a pain to deal with driving, and they love the free time to hang with neighbor kids or work on their own projects. 

 

If we were in the States, I could see spending about $1,000 total for both kids with added extracurriculars or clubs/groups they'd join. I expect this cost to go up a lot when older Dd hits 6th and adds on a couple online classes. 

 

 

[Hot Lava Mama]

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Hot Lava Mama

[eternalsummer]

We honestly spend a lot more on free reading books than anything else.  I have tried the library several times but I just end up owing them for the replacement cost, which is 5x as high as the used cost on Amazon/ebay (esp. if I buy in bulk).    I think once they are older and I have a good library built up (and they start reading books that take longer?) it will be cheaper.  For now, $4/book x 30 books/mo = $120/mo.  Everything else is peanuts.

[kitten18]

I voted $1-2,000. I'm probably pretty close to $2,000/child this year not including any extra curriculars.

This was an expensive year though because I bought 5 levels of Barton.

 

If I added extra curriculars it would be at least another $3,000 per child but we would do those even if we didn't homeschool.

[LucyStoner]

There's not much point in critiquing what others spend or don't spend.

 

We do some outsourcing and a lot of fieldtrips and extracurriculars. It adds up but I haven't tallied it lately.

[madteaparty]

Less than 40,000 ;)

[Arcadia]

Less than 40,000 ;)

Still cheaper than private school :lol:

[Ravin]

That was hard. I put our average the years we homeschooled, and for percentage of income what I spend now on extracurriculars.

[HRAAB]

I used to track my expenses but gave it up.  If money is tight, I spend less.  Some years I spend more. Probably the most I ever spent was $3,000 for one high school student, and that included some outsourced classes.

[Jenny in Florida]

Stuff costs a lot more as they get older.  I have one in high school and his classes are very expensive.  A math class can be over $500.  The science classes, including lab equipment, can easily be $600 or more.  I have five kids, so I don't spend much on the younger ones since I already have most of the stuff (teachers manuals, etc.).

 

As someone else said earlier in the thread, I don't think it is necessarily true that things "must" cost more as they get older. I homeschooled both of mine through high school and, with the exception of one year, never did spend more than about $400 on either of them. That one year, I enrolled our daughter in two distance education classes for subjects I thought I couldn't teach. They both turned out to be disasters, and we replaced them with used textbooks and some free internet resources, which worked out much better.

[LibraryLover]

Were they including gymnastics, hockey, horseback riding, ballet?  Field trips, museum passes, theater?  Music lessons?  French tutor?

Edited February 23, 2016 by LibraryLover

[maize]

I spend a lot more with charter school funds than I could afford on my own.

[Baile]

That depends on the kid. For the first time this year, my oldest has taken some outside classes that, including textbooks, add up to nearly $1500. My 7yo, on the other hand, is thriving with $110 worth of new curricula, his brother's old math and history textbooks, library books, and free private art lessons with Grandma. The 6yo is somewhere in the middle. We do spend a lot of money on books, general school supplies, and printer ink, so it averages out to a little over $1000 per kid this year. 

 

I don't consider music lessons, musical instruments, sports equipment, or registration fees to be part of our homeschooling costs, but they far exceed what we spend on homeschooling. 

[3 ladybugs]

Less than 40,000 ;)

Love this answer!! Although around here I think private (not Catholic or parochial) is closer to $60K. We just live in an area with some really well known boarding schools (for those who know boarding schools that is). 

 

And for the record my DH thought this was a silly question as for him, we spend what we have to so that our son(s as the younger one just started really) gets the education we want him to have. 

 

Rainbow Resource to me is much like Costco. You really can't get out of there without spending at least $300, and most of the time it is more. However I have found things there that I would have NEVER found otherwise (both curriculum and general reading) so I don't mind that. 

[OnMyOwn]

When my kids were in elementary, we didn't outsource classes or participate in any coops, and I usually bought things used, so all of our homeschooling materials cost about $600 for both kids. Now, that they are in high school and we're outsourcing everything, I'd say about $5000 for both kids.

[displace]

I won't vote here, but DS requires expensive curriculums, therapies, kits, subscriptions, manipulatives, testing, extracurriculars, technology, supplies, seminars and training for me, etc. Some of these would be covered by schools, others not. Some people consider them medical expenses, some homeschooling. Casual coop families probably think we just do a ton of extracurriculars and are busy, or just buy supplies and kits instead of DIY. But extracurriculars are therapies. Premade kits can be a sanity saver for me when I need to not have to construct yet another curriculum. Hopefully a lot of expenses are temporary for us, but other families have lifelong expenses.