Costs of high school at home?

[Mandamom]

I'm helping a friend try to put together a high school homeschool program. In that discussion it occurred to me that homeschooling high school is fairly expensive.

 

If you were to homeschool high school using just at home sources (and maybe 1 outsourced class) about how much do you think it would cost you?

 

If you were to outsource more of the classes I'm thinking the price per year could get pretty expensive. Would it make more sense to dual enroll through community college while finishing high school, if the student qualified, in order to keep costs down while still getting a decent high school education?

 

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[periwinkle]

for under $300 a year. Dual enrollment at the cc's is not free where I am, but that is certainly something to be considered in states where it is available.

[LaMere Academy]

I think high school is more expensive than younger years.

 

My son's math is $184

science is around $120, before labs and microscope

history, english and bible around $500 (SL core, but will be used by all children...adding in extra books for older and younger children)

electives...I'll say around $100 for this year.

 

So...rough estimate around $800-900, but I'm sure you could do it for less.

[Kelli in TN]

High school can be very, very expensive.

 

It can also be done on the cheap, but it takes more work.

 

I am going to give you some links here, to get you started:

English-

Lit guides

Writing Lab

 

Math-

MEP Math Secondary

 

 

Free Online High School Courses

 

That is a start. There are more, maybe folks will chime in with free online things they know about.

 

Of course, there is the library!! Your friend would need to think outside the box as many libraries do not carry textbooks. But most libraries carry books on every subject for adult learners and these could be used.

 

It is so much easier to homeschool a high schooler with homeschool materials, but really you can homeschool with a variety of materials.

 

I personally, would not let money stop me. I would buy what I could used, I would get creative with online offerings and my library resources. Who knows, maybe being forced to "make do" with less traditional resources will end up being the "better" education!

 

More Free Online High School Courses

[AngieW in Texas]

High school materials often cost more than middle school or elementary materials. Buying used is often an option though.

 

I just totalled up what I spent on my 9th grader for this year (no outsourced classes) and it was $790 (over half of that was SL Core 100). I'll be able to re-use almost everything for my other kids though. If I didn't have any other kids, I could sell my stuff for at least $300. Almost everything I bought for my 9th grader is nonconsumable.

[Sharon in MD]

Where we live, you do not get to use the CC without the normal full credit cost, so that can be very expensive. For me, the CC that is closest, is also out of county, so I get to pay 1.5 times the cost of an in-county resident if I want to use them. On-line courses are pretty expensive too, but they vary a good bit.

 

We are definitely on the expensive side of high school in our situation, but, I've only got one child, so I can be a bit more lavish with him, because there aren't any little ones coming behind. So you could think of us as a worst case scenario in terms of cost. Oh, and bear in mind these are metro Washington DC prices, which are automatically higher than more rural areas.

 

Our costs have been:

Oversight academy tuition: $960 a year

cost per course at the academy: $160 per class additional (we are taking 4)

Tuition for distance ed class through JHU CTY $640 for 3 months

Spanish for two years, Rosetta Stone $210

Private piano lessons: 1 hour per week $147 per month plus every competition costs at least 10-15 to enter.

Irish Dance lessons: $600 per year plus costume expenses.

Text books for courses taught at home: Physics, Precalculus and Calculus, AMerican History: at least 700, maybe more...but that is two complete math courses, so you could legitimately knock off about 240.

 

So, drum roll please....we've spent at least:$5,500.00 this year. OUCH! :eek:

 

But, all things considered the local private Christian high school that is the alternative is over $9,000 a year and they are really cheap compared to most privates around here.

 

So that is the sad end of the urban tale....I don't know if this is any help or not, but I'm certainly depressed now :(

[Kelli in TN]

 

So, drum roll please....we've spent at least:$5,500.00 this year. OUCH! :eek:

 

:(

 

Wowser! I am homeschooling 4 right now and I don't think I have spent that on the 4 together.

 

But I would if I could:D !!!!!

 

Yes indeed, if I had it, I'd spend it!!:rolleyes:

[Sharon in MD]

Whew....I hope I can resell some of the books I've got laying around....:o

[NancyL]

Don't forget the cost of textbooks for the cc's. I was surprised to see how expensive a "Larson precalculus" text was in the cc bookstore ($165) when I can get an old one with sol. manual or study guide on half.com for $25 or less including shipping. Check out LSU for reasonable high school classes, college credit classes, and the books are very reasonable in most cases because they are a few years old. A student who can do distance ed with real classes that aren't easy is a desirable student for colleges. I'm doing LSU math and spanish now, and the courses so far are well written. They also include a subscription to a free tutoring program (online and by phone) as part of a new pilot program included with the course. www.is.lsu.edu

[Kareni]

I think you can spend as much or as little as you care to and still do a great job of homeschooling through high school. (The public library is truly my friend!)

 

No free community college classes in my area either. If you have these free or at low cost, consider yourself fortunate.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[MelodyInTx]

It can be done fairly cheap if she is willing to do some extra leg work. Is it for one child, two or more? I ask because I have twins and I find that I feel I get a better value out of my books because I will use the book for both kids.

 

This year:

2 CC classes for each kid. The class is free; we buy the books. No gas :p they both did the classes online.

 

250.00 For books for all 4 classes

33.00 Art: How great Thou Art [2 students books one teacher book]

55.00 Apologia Physics [they share the book]

50-100 For Physics labs

55.00 Saxon Advanced Math [ds used it for 1 1/2 yrs, dd will use it for 2 yrs]

[they share this book as well]

16.00 World Geography [found 2 copies of the Texas Geo book at half price books]

30.00 Latin [i only needed the 2nd yr study guide this year. The rest we have.]

100.00 English Lit-- LL American Early and Late [i only bought the guides. I either got copies of the reads from the library or I got them at our libraries used book store for anywhere from 25 cents to a dollar a piece.

15.00 Books to go with Lit [i will split the difference and call it 15 dollars.]

10.00 Book E VFCR

10.00 Teacher guide to go with it.

150.00-200.00 for copies. Maybe more.

 

Copying is were I spend a lot of money. Tests, lit guides, terms essentially extra material that I find online. This year I used a lot of material from Nat Geo to supplement the World Geo class and I can always find stuff to copy off for literature classes. Also this year we did Book E of VFCR that only lasts a half of a year, so I copied off another half of a year of vocab from layingthefoundation.org [AP vocab].

 

Oops forgot one. My dd asked for a Personal Finance course, so I am tossing the class together for the twins.

I just bought Money Matters for Teens on ebay for 9.00. I will be making copies of various materials that I have found from websites to supplement it though. It looks like that will cost me another 10.00.

 

So yes you can do it fairly cheap, if you consider the above cheap, however like I said there is a great deal of leg work involved or should I say web surfing...LOL

HTH

[AngelaC]

Honestly, you can do it so cheap if you have the time to hunt down materials and are creative. I'm not:)

 

Here is what my dd's school cost us this year (costs are estimates and are as accurate as my brain can be)

 

Literature: $00. At the beginning of the year, we made a booklist and if we do not have the book on our shelf, she gets it from the library. She writes each week about the book she is reading. She reads so much.

 

Science: $150 Apologia Adv. Biology. This costs more than some of the other books in the series because of the lab cost.

 

Math: $00 Chalkdust Geometry. I already owned this from my older son. I bought it used for around $100.

 

Latin: $200. Latin Road to English Grammar.

 

Spanish: $250 Rosetta Stone

 

History: $50 Assortment of books we've picked up. Spielvogle and BJUP World History as spines.

 

I think that is all. I try to buy books that more than one child can use. For example, when my 13 yo does Spanish, I won't pay a dime more. So for the year, I spent around $600 on her (not counting the Geometry that was already paid for).

 

If you are trying to watch your $$, I would suggest not outsourcing anything. Not always, but usually they are much more expensive. If you can afford them, go for it! We splurge on music lessons, but if you add them into the cost for school, you'd be talking another $500-$1000 more or less.

[Guest countmeinma]

I must be lazy :D We use A.C.E. and the cost per year for High School level work ranges from $240.00 to $350.00, this would include the lab DVD's for Science courses. I should add in the cost of her foreign language studies, around $400.00 for the entire 4 year program (we are using Rosetta Stone). I don't figure in the cost of the college classes that my high schooler is taking on the side of $400 per class (ave. which includes the books), because those are going on her college transcript, not her high school transcript.

[3byzaz]

Wow - I'm glad to see that it can be done cheaper than I have been encountering. Here is what I have come up with for the curriculum's that I would like to do - not sure if they are the final answer though.

 

MFW - New is a little over $400.00 - will probably try to put together used on my own...plan to use this for other two kids. Covers 3 credits.

 

Science - This is the worst - really can't figure out how to do it cheap - Science Shepherd - whole program with the DVD's to help is $300.00

BJU with Dive and lab kits - guessing about same? Haven't priced it out yet.

 

Math - was given TT Alg 1 to use after he is done with KB Pre-alg - want to get LOF Beg. Alg - so about $50.00 here - new, will probably pick up used - so more like $30? Will be more after this year to continue with TT - but planning to use it again also.

 

Foreign Lang - Not sure what yet - probably around $100.00 here. Either going to do one more year of Latin/roots etc or just jump into Spanish.

 

Electives - Not sure yet - thinking PE, Music - taking guitar and piano lessons already - and some sort of fine art???

 

OK - so much planning to still do!! Need to jot down the electives ideas from that thread!!

 

:tongue_smilie:

[LauraQ]

Omnibus II Complete: 383.20

SL/Apologia Biology: 421.17 (less for me this year because I bought microscope earlier)

Singapore Science: 43.50

Add'l Science Supplies: 135.88

Saxon Algebra I w/DIVE cd: 145.44

Rosetta Stone Japanese I: 224.10

Genki I + Kanji books: 72.45

Driver's Ed: 323.10

Traditional Logic I: 31.90

 

Total Cost for Freshman Year: 1780.74

 

(This is not counting failed/abandoned/dropped materials, also does not include private/group lessons in voice, dance, acting)

[Murphy101]

I am home school two high schoolers currently. For 10/11 grades I have a rough idea of what I hope to make happen. Cost is total for both unless I note otherwise.

 

I already have math on the shelf - 00. However, I bought it last year for $75-100

 

I already have science on the shelf. I knew what I was looking for and kept my eyes out out for used. Ended up free bc I swapped for it. Gave something I didn't need and got apologia texts with solution books. I have some other books on the shelf I plan to use and a full chem lab equipment set from home science tools. If I were buying all that this year, about $400.

 

 

History, about $300 total, plus another $170 for the second to take the clep as well. Books, CLEP test fee, and study book. If the texts end up free or dirt cheap used, I'll use the money saved to get teaching company DVD set to go along with it. No CLEP exam would bring cost to less than $70 for both.

 

English. Hewitt speech (bought last year), format writing (already own from using this year) self made book list. $100

 

Theology kolbe 10th grade syllabus and books, no services, just materials. I think the total was approximate $100.

 

Ballroom Dancing (fine arts) is $700 a year each student (I get a multiple kid discount, but that's just what the first student comes to.)

 

Band is (also fine arts/music) is $600 a year. Just practice/lessons once a week and two recitals. No trips or whatever adding to the cost.

 

We NEED a foreign language outside class for each of them. I am not very hopeful of finding anything for under $400 EACH.

 

Ds#2 wants to take aviation science. So far cheapest option is $350, with no live instruction. Next up is $500. I really want him to have a positive real experience. Sigh.

 

Where does that bring me if it was all new for one student? Approximate $3200, maybe a bit less.

 

(ETA: I forgot to mention standardized testing fees. Residual ACT is $40 each student each time they take it. The national ACT is more. So add that or the SAT in. Especially if they are in 10th grade or higher. It's pretty much an entrance requirement anywhere. Add the ACT in multiple times if you want them to take it until they are comfortable and have a score they are happy with.)

 

Gulp

Gasp

Cough

Sputter

Edited February 14, 2011 by Martha