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When it comes to your hard-earned cash, a comparison of costs between sending a child to public school – already paid for with your tax dollars – and homeschooling – not paid for with your tax dollars but they’ll take your tax dollars anyway, thank you very much – can be a helpful exercise. At first glance you might think that homeschooling will be harder on your pocketbook, but the reality may surprise you.
While homeschoolers can – and there’s no question some do – spend exorbitant amounts of money on resources, such spending is not a
While homeschoolers can spend exorbitant amounts of money on resources, such spending is not a prerequisite for offering your kiddos a great education.
prerequisite for offering your kiddos a great education. Low or no cost sources of materials? Libraries, birthday and holiday gifts from friends and relatives, used books and curriculum and, of course, that little machine already in your home that connects you to the world’s greatest storehouse of information ever – your home computer. Who controls your cost? YOU.
Now, let’s look at attending that “free” public school. Come the pending first day of school, there are many school supplies to buy, kinda like the ones you’d invest in for homeschooling…pens, notebook paper, highlighters, etc. Then there’s the preparatory shopping for school clothes and/or uniforms, plus foul-weather gear for standing in foul weather awaiting the bus. Yes, your child will still need clothes at home, but far more comfortable and inexpensive duds will suffice.
You’re expected to attend at least several of the PTO fundraisers, and your child will want whatever the school store is selling. There are those special days, too, when for a dollar your kiddo can wear a hat in class all day, and for an additional dollar purchase a pin for the hat. “Everybody’s doing it, mom.” There are book sales and Christmas bazaars, movie nights and sporting events. Dances, class photos, costumes for plays and recitals, and gas to transport your little candy/gift wrap/candles salesperson around town. PTO dues, field trip fees, and musical instrument purchase. Cafeteria lunches cost money, and you pay extra for the packaging of single-serving food and drinks to tuck into a brown bag lunch.
Your schedule and the school’s don’t jibe? Throw in the cost of care until you are free to be home.
Who controls your cost? Not you.
I’m sure there are more, but once you begin tallying, you’ll think of them and add them to your list. Soon you’ll have a good idea of total cost.
What you find may surprise you. By comparison, homeschooling isn’t as expensive as you might have thought and, depending on your situation, may actually save you money. And what is the additional value to your family of being in control of costs? Priceless.
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This was certainly my family's experience. After seventeen years of homeschooling, my son "caved" to the family pressure to "just go to school like everybody else so your mother can get a job like everybody else and then you can have an iPod and Nikes like everybody else."
It was the biggest and most expensive mistake he has ever made.
I don't know that there is anything I could have done to prevent him from running away and being enrolled in public school by my ex, but if I had it to do over again, I would have fought a lot harder.
I look forward to rejoining the homeschooling community with my younger son. we certainly won't be purchasing complete packages from Laurel Springs or Veritas Press and i will have to figure out something to do as far as employment and child care, but I have learned the hard way that I cannot afford to be a public school parent.
Thank you for posting this, Linda.
Our family certainly feels we saved money by homeschooling! We didn't have to pay textbook rental, school lunches, fancier clothes, and all the other things mentioned in the article.
Instead, we invested a lot in going to quirky little museums, like the Indiana Medical History Museum (http://www.imhm.org/ ) and state park nature areas and geocaching and 4-H and well, whatever WE wanted to learn about.
And had a great time doing it.
Ladies, thanks so much for your comments. Noordinaryspider, I hope things are going smoothly for you – please write and let us know!
Nancy, those types of things you mention are the source of my fondest memories of the homeschooling days with my kiddos. I really would love to do it all over again (but only if I was as young as I was then [g]).