We all know that homeschooling is rather a choice than a mandatory obligation for us to choose for our kids. Our kids probably will have no saying in what we choose for them. But that choice will be profoundly consequential for them. It is important to remember that we are selecting the path to educate our children with which they will face the world when their time will come.

 

Homeschooling is exactly that heavy and far-reaching influential choice for our kids. There can be many factors prompting you to take that challenging route. And, if or when you finally get to the point of making your mind up that you are going to homeschool your children, costs associated with homeschooling will influence you in every step of the way.

 

That’s why whenever the thought of homeschooling starts taking shape in the minds of parents, the first thing that gets their undivided attention is how much the homeschooling is going to cost. The problem is there is no straightforward answer to that question. Another way of putting it simply is that it is going to cost the amount you are willing to spend for it. Of course, there are some fixed costs that you are going to incur, but there are also ways of making them reasonable without compromising the quality of education. 

 

Homeschooling Costs:

The first thing I would want you to do is to formulate a flexible year-round homeschool budget. In my opinion, the first draft should be based on loose assumptions having enough spaces for reconciliation. The reason for not going for strict control at first is that you probably do not have enough experience to be steadfast about allowing or disallowing expenses that may appear unannounced. Then with some experience, you will be prudent enough to know when to say ‘no’ to some seemingly necessary expenses. With that being said, let’s have a look at some of the main criteria that costs of homeschooling usually revolve around:

 

Curriculum

The curriculum for homeschooling will be the primary source that will cost you money. There are a number of ways you can get fixated on curriculum and likewise, you can make the expenses ranging from almost zero to many thousands. First, let me name a few ways by using any one of them or combining a few, you can select the best possible curriculum for your child:

 

  • Online Tuition Providers
  • Non-Profit Online Learning Centers
  • Online Resource
  • Buy The Previous Year’s or A Used One
  • Look for A Rent
  • Find A Co-Op and Join There
  • Sharing the Cost with Another Family of A Friend or A Relative
  • Make Most of Your Library

 

It is solely dependent on what you think is right for your children or how much time you are willing to put into research and accordingly how much you are ready to spend to get the most effective curriculum. Each of the above-mentioned mediums has its pros and cons and it is up to you to select any one of them or combine two or more to formulate the best possible strategy. If you are an expert at nitpicking, then chances are that you will be on a never-ending researching loop. And when the next best thing catches your eye, you abandon ship and run for it – this is a surefire way to run the costs through your roof. That’s why you are going to need some serious consideration before finalizing one or a combined method for the curriculum you are going to pick up.

 

You also should remember that there are some proficient tuition providers who can help you with homeschooling with excellent tuition rates whenever you feel the needs.

 

Extracurricular Necessities:

 

Let’s take a look at the list below:

  • Sports Community like football, basketball or boxing
  • Karate
  • Lessons in Music like guitar, flute or violin
  • Different Kinds of Dance including traditional and modern or salsa
  • Scouting
  • Chess
  • Introduction in Art
  • Multilingual Efforts

We all know that the truly challenging aspect of homeschooling is not to let the kids feel isolated. To become adept at socializing, kids need to interact with other kids. But for homeschooling kids, it sometimes would feel impossible to let the kids have that chance. The above-mentioned activities can provide that opportunity for the kids. Unlike the academic tutoring, extra-curricular activities may not be instructed by the parents whereas those activities play vital parts in unlocking a kid’s hidden potentials.




 

On the other hand, engaging the kids in extracurricular activities can be expensive and also might complicate an otherwise simple and effective routine for a homeschooling kid. That’s why the parents need through apprehension about whether they would engage them in any and consider the costs associated with it. Think about the questions given below and I hope careful screening of the answers those questions will guide you towards the right direction:

Will this activity be in accordance with the values that we hold sacred?

Will there be any long term benefits that can justify the present excess expenses? Or can we take the spending as an investment other than expenses?

Will the activity in any way reflect the child’s natural tendency or liking towards it or are you just pushing them because you want them to excel at it?

How is it going to influence day to day life?

How much time will it take to commute to the place where the activity will be taught?

Stationeries & Homeschool Supplies:

When you prepare your homeschool budget, you need to put appropriation for homeschooling.  But care should be given when the actual spending is going to happen. I have to admit that spending on supplies is kind of fun – globes, bight shiny highlighting pens, pink coloured post-it notes – what’s there not to like? But believe it or not, spending on them can be a rabbit hole and before long, you will find the gap between your budget and actual spending way too big to make any sense at all.

My suggestion would be to start spending with the bare minimums and then build on from there.

 

Trips To the Outside 

 

Remember our own trips during school time to the zoo to know the animals better! I am not sure what actual benefit it did but one thing I can vouch for is that going there and seeing those beautiful animals made me wonder about the big, beautiful world out there. It taught me that our lives aren’t limited to our home and school boundaries. And since you are homeschooling your kids, it is infinitely more important for them to go out and see things. It will certainly broaden their outlook and make them open-minded.

 

That’s all good and great but you also need to be careful about the cost as well. So plan only to visit those places where the entry fee would be minimum – like zoos, national museum, botanical gardens etc. Believe me, these places are enough to quench the thirst and the expenses of visiting these places are in complete agreement with your budgeting strategies.

 

Lost Income

When you plan on homeschooling, it means one of you has to leave the job and actively be engaged in homeschooling your kids. That also means you are going to be a single-income family and that can pose some challenges to overcome in the future. So, you should consider the monthly loss of income as another source that you are going to have to bear. 

 

The above are the main criteria that will be responsible for adding up homeschooling expenses. But every family is different and so is their spending habits. One absolutely necessary item might be considered wastage for another family. But still, I believe some guidelines would prove to be helpful in deciding what matters most in case of hard-earned money.

 

If only you feel the same way, my hardship will be aptly rewarded.

Thanks.

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Author Bio



David A. Buhr has over fifteen years of experience in the field of Education.

He specializes in writing articles on Education-related topics on his blog.

He is presently working at smile tutor, a reputable presence in the education industry.