How much money do you spend homeschooling per year?

[jazzharmony]

Include all associated expenses. Classes, group fees, memberships, curricula, books, tools, etc, etc, etc. If you feel like listing them itemized, that would be fabulous too You could even include what country/state you are in.
Just trying to get an idea of what others are spending.

[kathymuggle]

I am only going to include things we probably would not do if DC were in school:

Girl Guides and Brownies: 500 (includes cookies and field trips). They do this for social reasons, so it is unlikely they would do it elsewise.
Drama: 500
Archery 320
lego 150
curriculum 100
randoms outings: 200
gas to get to everything: 1000

I could obviously spend less, by staying home more, but that is not going to happen!

2770

Ontario, Canada

edit: It might help if people list the number of kids they have as well. I have 3 - so average is just under $1000.

Kathy

[moominmamma]

This is impossible for me to answer. Would the following expenses be homeschooling-related or not?

Digital kitchen scale, bought partly because my 11yo is so into cooking, and enjoys using weight-ratios to create her own recipes, but we needed one anyway
Incubator to hatch chicken eggs. We breed our laying hens.
Rock-climbing shoes for 13yo ds bought while on a holiday we took in the middle of a school year, a holiday we wouldn't have been able to take if the kids were in school.
Aikido classes for 7yo dd. After school hours. No idea if she'd be doing this if she were in school.
Weekend baroque dance workshop for area music students.
Young adult novels that my kids read for pleasure.
Paper. Cardstock. Copier toner. Art supplies. We'd still use this stuff if the kids were in school, though maybe not as much of it.
Fees for the after school choir that my kids wouldn't likely (though who's to say?) have the time or energy to attend if they were in school.
Chocolate to support my 11yo's penchant for candy-making.
The extra $500 we'll spend to get my 7yo a really excellent quality violin, because although she'd take violin anyway even if she was in school, being homeschooled she has so much time to practice that she has advanced to a level where she needs a better instrument.

We spend less than $200/year (many years quite a lot less) on academic curricular materials. And those are probably clearly homeschooling expenses. But as for the rest -- it's all gray-area stuff. I have no idea whether it "counts."

Miranda

[EviesMom]

I answered for everything we put on our paperwork as being homeschool-related. So it includes music and pe classes, field trips/memberships to museums, books and curriculum. I live in a high cost of living area though. 2 kids. If I were calculating just based on things we wouldn't buy or do if the kids were in public school, it would probably be half as much though.

It's 25% of the cost of a private school here, and even if I factored in me not working part time, which I might do if they were in school, it's still about the same cost as 2 private school tuitions here.

It affords the kids the time to really do art and music while keeping good academic progress, whereas in public school, the arts and music dwindled to almost nothing and academic progress was the same or slightly worse.

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

lego 150
curriculum 100
randoms outings: 200
gas to get to everything: 1000

I liked that lego had its own separate line item in your budget.

Miranda

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by moominmamma

I liked that lego had its own separate line item in your budget.

Miranda

Well, it was a HSer lego league, lol

My youngest did enter a lego contest, however, and we did buy special lego for that.

It is one of those gray area things - would she have enterred the contest if she had been schooled? There certainly were a number of schooled kids there. The thing is, I highly value a relaxed pace to life/kids having free time - such that if she were in school I do not think I would have signed her up for the contest. School takes up so much time that I would have held her free time sacred. YMMV.

[Mama~Love]

I voted $100-$500; I try to hit the thrift stores at least a couple times a month & do a thorough search of the bookshelves, the games, and toys. I've found some GREAT things there, including a whole set of 5 vintage Milton Bradley multiplication & Division board games for $3.99! I remember palying them when I was in grade school! I also put in a large order for all the basics once a year that's usually $200 or so. That will be going up as DD#2 will be starting officially this fall.

[limette]

Well I'm in Ontario and we are going to start a more formal (I say that in the most relaxed way!) curriculum in the fall. Homeschooling dd1 for now until dd2 is older but she'll more than likely be using the same stuff so I won't have to buy again.

History curriculum hacked from History Odyssey/SOTW $5 (printer paper)
SOTW; $15
Usborne History Book (already have)
Lift the Lid on Mummies $17
Creativity Express $30
YogaKids $18
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding $25
science related materials $0-50 (I'm going to try freecycle for most)
history related materials $0-50 (freecycle again)
Right Start Math or Math U See $150 (still debating this)

So $260-360

I buy a lot of books throughout the year, mainly from the thrift shop but that would be the same even if they were in school.

Same goes for extracurricular activities.

$35 soccer (spring/summer)
$150 gymnastics (fall/winter)

There is finally a secular homeschool group in town and all the kids are around the same age (2-6) so I'm sure we'll be doing lots of hanging with them.
soccer $35

[yippityskippity]

...nevermind...

[Citymomx3]

This is for 9y/o ds in NYC.

Homeschool group classes $200 (We whittled these down to about 2 a month and they average about $10 a piece).

Curricula: AO books: $150, TT5 (math program): $120, Various workbooks: $200,

Supplies (pens, pencils, notebooks (10/$1), ruler, glue, crayons, art stuff, tape, folders, etc): $75 (back to school sales at Target and Staples)

Facilitating ds's interests : $3000 (video camera, claymation supplies, nerf guns, crossbow-making supplies, more art supplies, art desk, lizard tank, theater classes, tool kits, cub scouts, etc)

I'm not part of any groups that have fees and through my job we have free membership to dozens of museums, science centers, zoos, and gardens.

[shoefairy3]

I said between $100 - $500. Somewhere between there, although a lot of the stuff I would have bought had we not been hsing (like certain toys). I do spend the biggest chunk of money on books, mostly thrifted tho.

[CariOfOz]

I estimated 1-3k per year. I have 8 & 6yo homeschoolers as well as an almost 4yo 'preschooler' that I'll be paying for activities for. Bear in mind this is also Australian Dollars... and things just plain cost more here (although our wages keep up with that too thankfully! or this hs gig could be painful lol)

math curriculum - 300ish for the year (MUS x2 lvls.. it's more $$ in
Australia)
'classes' - est 1000.. term one was 200 this year, term 2 is going to be closer
to 300.) This covers art classes for 2, gymnastics for 3, playgroup
for 3yo, and a cool science class in term2)
fuel - a lot @ 1.30litre
misc curriculum - 200 - language arts, handwriting and such
internet 600 - yep... I'm counting HALF of our wireless net for hs, because
we would only be able to get dial up here.. and the boys use Reading
eggs and mathletics!) We would live with dial up until we moved if it'
weren't for homeschooling (wireless = 120per month OUCH)
misc excursions 250 - planetarium, science centre etc

This is not counting the various website memberships we have, as this year they were paid for by our distance ed school. Those are Reading eggs, skwirk, mathletics. abc teach and something else. We're not with the school anymore so those will hit the budget next year as well.

Even at the approx 2500 there... it's still cheaper than one kid in the only private school I would even consider here (as the rest are all religiously based)... so I think it's a pretty fair deal

[Shianne]

Its hard to estimate. Some years its well below 100 and some years its over that. It depends on what we are doing. This year my 12 year old is doing Biology so we are going to buy a Lab pack for him so it will be between the 100-500 range. Next year we will probably be back down to under 100.

[greenmamapagan]

Originally Posted by CariOfOz

This is not counting the various website memberships we have, as this year they were paid for by our distance ed school. Those are Reading eggs, skwirk, mathletics. abc teach and something else. We're not with the school anymore so those will hit the budget next year as well.

Tell me more, please???????

DD will only be four in a few weeks but it's quite rare here for kids not to be in preschool at this age unless they will be homeschooled. She takes three dancing classes (2xballet and 1xtap) a week and wants to add tumbling (gymnastics) as well. We also go to a circus skills freeplay thingy very few weeks. That's about $450 a term in classes Plus Reading Eggs which I think was about $60.

[pigpokey]

I spend the high end of your poll, but I am certain sure many of my friends whose kids are in full day school spend over $3000 per child / $6000 per family of 2 kids, on instruments / dance / foreign language / Kumon / sports / memberships etc.

On some activities we get a substantial discount because we can do it during the day.

[4evermom]

I don't think I spend anything on homeschooling that isn't something I'd do or buy if ds was in school. Except the $25 mandatory standardized test this year and something like $30 for an annual evaluator.

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by greenmamapagan

Tell me more, please???????

DD will only be four in a few weeks but it's quite rare here for kids not to be in preschool at this age unless they will be homeschooled. She takes three dancing classes (2xballet and 1xtap) a week and wants to add tumbling (gymnastics) as well. We also go to a circus skills freeplay thingy very few weeks. That's about $450 a term in classes Plus Reading Eggs which I think was about $60.

I'll drop you a pm

[Stacey B]

Another almost four year old here. I give us $20 a month at Bookies the most amazing kids/teachers/homeschoolers bookstore (240) and $10 dollars for art supplies a month. Plus family Art museum membership (150), Rec Center Pass (120). Do late fees at the library count? The rest fits into things-we-would-have-gotten-anyway-if-he-was-in-pre-school category.

So that's 630, I guess I estimated wrong with the 100-500 level.

[elizawill]

i answered 1,000 - 3,000. our curriculum is about $300ish for 2 kids (i purchased for grades 1st and 3rd), but we do a lot of additional field trips, classes, activities, memberships, subscriptions & a co-op. so that runs us over the mark of a 1,000 easily.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by Citymomx3

Supplies (pens, pencils, notebooks (10/$1), ruler, glue, crayons, art stuff, tape, folders, etc): $75 (back to school sales at Target and Staples)

oh, i forgot about supplies.

geez - this thread is making me sweat, lol. we spend about $75 on the back to school sales as well, but they last us all year. plus we go through more ink & printer paper than normal due to homeschooling. oh well. it's all good & totally worth it.