Public Schoolers-- How much do you pay each year? - Page 2

[darien]

Originally Posted by 3pink1blue

My oldest DD just started public school after being homeschooled. It is far more expensive to send her to public school. We were using a very inexpensive curriculum and all in all I spent maybe $300 a year.

After reading everyone's responses, it looks like it would be a lot cheaper for us to put ds in ps. I spent over $1000 last year on classes and activities. Part of the problem is that lots of things ds loves are expensive! He's not so likely to find them in public school, either, honestly.

Our local schools are awful, too. Maybe there will just be a lot more "home" in our homeschooling next term.

[UUMom]

Darien wrote:

"After reading everyone's responses, it looks like it would be a lot cheaper for us to put ds in ps. I spent over $1000 last year on classes and activities. Part of the problem is that lots of things ds loves are expensive! He's not so likely to find them in public school, either, honestly.

Our local schools are awful, too. Maybe there will just be a lot more "home" in our homeschooling next term."



While I have to say that not all the progamming in our local school is awful, I've spent nearly 1k on art classes for my teen artist (her passion, her eventual college major/life's work). The classes were/are nice, absolutely. Wonderful, even. Yet our local HS offers creative and respected art classes (Art and music are our town gifts) as part of the school program, for which they do not charage extra.

I also pay $100/ yr for her to participate in a sport she adores. Plus art supplies, summer interests, etc.

She is a hser because it is right for her, & because she prefers it, and the pacing works for her.

Thankfully, we've been able to meet the individual needs of our children. For us, hsing has been much more costly than public school. That won't be true for everyone. I also think the age of one's child factors in significantly. My 9 yr old hser is a bit cheaper than my teen hser, although not by much.

I haven't even factored in our personal book purchases, (we adore the library and go twice a week, but we also love to own books, almost all second-hand) or art supplies & worthwhile field trips with our cool coop etc.

[tangent]

School supplies were about $35 in August and we've had nothing else.

Back in Kindy I had to pay $175/month for her to go,w hich I found odd for supposedly 'free' Kindy. But no tuition for first grade on.

[supervee]

Originally Posted by darien

After reading everyone's responses, it looks like it would be a lot cheaper for us to put ds in ps. I spent over $1000 last year on classes and activities. Part of the problem is that lots of things ds loves are expensive! He's not so likely to find them in public school, either, honestly.

Our local schools are awful, too. Maybe there will just be a lot more "home" in our homeschooling next term.

What kind of classes is he taking? Are you still going to want to sign him up for these classes? Most schools don't offer music lessons, sports, drawing, theater, or foreign language in elementary.

[EFmom]

Originally Posted by supervee

What kind of classes is he taking? Are you still going to want to sign him up for these classes? Most schools don't offer music lessons, sports, drawing, theater, or foreign language in elementary.

In my neck of the woods we have music lessons and foreign language in elementary. The band or orchestra lessons start in 4th grade. So, if that's of interest to the OP, it wouldn't hurt to call the school to see if it's an option.

[UUMom]

In our MA town, hsers can participate in all extra curric music & sports programs. There is a fee for sports and some music (the same for all townsfolks, not just hsers). Beginning in 4th grade, children can sign up for orchestra or band as an elective. We also have sports programming beyond PE, starting in 6th grade. My teen hser does a sport, but she could also participate in theater, music, chorus, and any clubs, such as Debate or French club whatever etc. She could not do art, as that is part of the main core offerrings. I keep wishing they would change that. My youngest is thinking about taking violin through the school next year.

[mammastar2]

Originally Posted by EFmom

In my neck of the woods we have music lessons and foreign language in elementary. The band or orchestra lessons start in 4th grade. So, if that's of interest to the OP, it wouldn't hurt to call the school to see if it's an option.

Yes, do check. My daughter is in second grade. She has gym or a physical activity 5 days a week and music once a week, plus she can join sports teams, choir, take an Orff class, or drum class. There are also after-school language classes for a small fee ($25 a year?).

If your daughter is 11, there may be a lot on offer.

[darien]

Originally Posted by supervee

What kind of classes is he taking? Are you still going to want to sign him up for these classes? Most schools don't offer music lessons, sports, drawing, theater, or foreign language in elementary.

Right now he takes American history, karate and computer animation classes. He wanted to keep taking pottery and swimming, but didn't have time or money. He's in a robotics club, too. He also plays 3 sports a year through the Boys and Girls Club.

He could still do karate and the B&G Club sports if he was in school. The other classes are all weekdays homeschooler things.

[sunnmama]

When my dd was homeschooling, we would go to weekly classes/groups for different things. When she started school, we just stopped going to extra classes because, for dd, what she got in school is *enough*. She gets a music class, an art class, a pe class, a technology class, and a library visit each week (in second grade). She does a writer's workshop as part of the curriculum, and had reading group and math group daily. She also has science every day in school, and does fun stuff like growing caterpillars into butterflies. All of these things are greatly fun and interesting to dd. She is doing different things than she did when she was homeschooling (no longer doing gymnastics or taking cheerleading or roots & shoots), but, frankly, it is just enough. She doesn't need the extra stuff anymore. Your ds's experience might be similar, or might not.

[bobandjess99]

here, the Kinder fee is $71 fpr the year. Students in grades 1-6 have varying fees of around $75 per year...in higher grades 7-12, it depends on the courses you tske..for example, spanish has higher fees than psychology, you have to buy more paper and stuff for english, and science lab fees can get brutal....

[annethcz]

I suggested that you cut down on the educational/extracurricular expeses on your thread in F&F. The classes/activites that you listed for your DS sound wonderful and amazing, but if you can't afford it, you can't afford it, kwim?

FWIW, we used to be HSers also, and we spent a lot more money back then on extracurricular expenses. My kids took science and art and Spanish classes, they went on frequent field trips and belonged to more clubs. But now that they're in school, we've cut back on most of that. The only things they do now are community ed sports. They get enough socialization and are interested enough in the things they learn at school that they only want 1 or 2 'extras' instead of the 3-4/week that they had before.

To be honest, there are a few experiences that I'd like to be able to provide for my kids, but it's just not in the budget right now. I'd love to enroll them in art classes, but at this point we settle for doing artsy things at home and learning about art from library books. I'd also really like my kids to take piano lessons, but it's not a priority right now, so I'm slowly teaching them the basics myself at home.

I think it comes down to priorities.....

And in answer to you originial question (wow, did I digress there)
School fees: at the beginning of the year I paid a $30 shared school supply fee for each of my kids and a $50 fee to provide them with juice/milk at snack time. I budget $15/month for school field trips per child and have probably paid about $30/child for other various fees and expenses so far this school year .
Extracurriculars: Right now my girls are dancing with a low-cost community dance group, lessons are about $20/month (plus a one time $120 costume fee). My kids also participate in community ed sports, which tend to cost $25-50/season. I'd estimate that I'm paying about $25/month per child for extra curriculars this school year.

[veganf]

$3K for public K full day tuition.
I have refused everything else in the way of fundraisers and school photos, etc. We have 4 kids and can't afford all the other stuff.
We did "donate" the required materials at the beginning of the school year: a box of tissues and an all-purpose cleaner (I chose an Earth-friendly one, but I'm sure many people are providing chemical crap).
I don't even understand what all the fundraisers are for at this young grade level--the only extra activities seem to be for the older grades. :

[Periwinkle]

I have no idea.

I will say I am NOT a huge proponent of "extracurriculars" for young kids. Too much adult-led entertainment and learning. I think there are many other ways to a.) encourage socialization and/or b.) teach a child than enroll them in one class or activity after another, and I actually think it messes some kids up.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by darien

How much do you pay for school supplies, extracurriculars, fundraisers, etc.?

I had to buy a certain number of supplies. Stuff like pencil box, crayons, pencils, tissues, whiteboard markers, antibacterial gel, protractor, ruler, folders. I also had to send in a $25 materials fee.

We've done a number of fundraisers so far, mostly bake sales and a school carnival. One of the bake sales is for the family of a child who was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia, so that one was unusual, but I provide cookies for that and the 4th grade bake sale where they are earning money for their big field trips. Then I spent about $10 on buying things from the two bake sales. The first big field trip has already happened, and they didn't raise quite enough to pay for the bus, so each child had to pay an additional $10. I baked cookies for the carnival, and provided 2 pies, and decorated cookies and worked the carnival.

So I've spent about $60, plus the supplies I had to buy, plus a few odds and ends there from other fundraising sales, and there are some other big fundraisers coming up, where the kids get sponors for things. I also volunteer my time at the school, and joining the PTA is another $15 or so.

We aren't doing any paid extracurriculars at the moment, although my older daughter is involved in church choir.

[meister31]

So far this year :

$40 - school supplies (PTO fundraiser)
$50 - on school lunch debit sysytem (that will probably last most of the year
dd rarely buys)
$5 - PTO membership
$4.75 -- scholastic news they use in the classroom
$9.75 -- field trip
$15 ---- PTO notecard fundraiser
$7 ----- cd PTO fundraiser
$48----- school pic pkg

Total: $179.50

[cchrissyy]

at this point, my public school kindergartner has paid $10 for a field trip and $3 a day for lunch. that's it.