Cost of home ed?

[mam29]

I just wondered as been reading few blogs recently mostly american which seem to set out their curriculum, what books they use and their annual homeschooling budget.

some range from 500dollars for 7kids-seems small to thousands.
some americans have their home ed funded by charter schools.

as far as I can see not much funding here.

read few articles too.

I think the lea gives each pupil average 5grand per pupil to each schol then the parent still has costs on top with

plays
trips
uniform
charity
teacher.-pressies end term/xmas.
extra curricular
lunches
events

I think all my costs annually for 1child is approx £1000 that includes weekly rainbows, gym, cheerleading, uniform, dreded shoes, im quite tight with teacher gifts. I do try support events and charity. They onky had 1 school trip last year:(mostly do packed lunches as cheaper as school dinners £10 a week so would be approx £320+per year!

which got me thinking how much does it really cost.
Can see how could get carried away with materials.
seen websites selling whole curriculums for 700 a term!

when homeschooling

guess still have extra curricular activities sports/clubs
music
tutor possibly know one freind who homeschools but also uses explore learning.
resources can see how would get carried away there as so many books out there. stationary always been a weakness.
trips-would like to do loads of trips but even when we go free museums we end up spending to get there and money whilst we there.
heating and food. when at home my kids never stop eating/snacking.

I guess the more automonous approach be less.
structured syllabus with loads extra curricular cost more.

maybe some dont add it up as too scary a thourgt

I think its interesting how homeschoolers likly to spend less but get good results makes you wonder how schools best spend their money.

I don't really add it up because I don't budget for it separately. I guess just about all the home ed stuff I do counts as an "extra" and is paid for after everything else like clothes and food. It isn't so much that it's scary - it's just that I don't bother to break it down in the way you have in mind. All the home ed fun stuff comes out of the same "pot" as, say, dh's beer money, fuel to visit relatives and my chocolate.

If my kids were focused on achieving some particular academic aim such as IGCSEs in the near future then I'd have to think more carefully about it and make sure the money was there - or send them out on a paper round!

As it stands - if there's money to go on a home ed outing then we go, otherwise we don't. If and when there's money to buy a new book or chemistry set or art supplies I've had my eye on, then I do. The kids have input into what the priorities should be. Many things come out of the Christmas/birthday budget because the kids have begged for them or because I am pretty sure they will love them.

Of course there are always things we'd like to do which I feel are too expensive, but the essential education can be done for free and I think they would get a perfectly adequate education if I never spent a penny on educational supplies.

I would certainly sit and add it all up if we were considering a major life change which involved a big financial hit and I wanted to know whether we could afford to do it and where savings could be made.

In short, if you are wondering whether you can do home ed as cheaply as school, the answer is yes. Whether you can do home ed in the way YOU want to do it - with whatever resources and educational/social outings you feel are essential to your family's happiness - is a question only you can answer.

I don't think you can compare HE costs with the amount that a school gets per pupil - a school employs teachers and other staff, has a building to provide heat and light for, plus cleaning and maintenance etc. All of which costs money, but you wouldn't probably count the same things for your own home as "HE costs", though you might find your bills go up if you are home during the day when you weren't before.

So your costs really depend on how you choose to go about it - if you buy in a curriculum then it's going to be pretty expensive, but most people don't do that, they just pick up books etc as they go along. And if you are sensible and pick things up second-hand or from the library when you can, then that doesn't have to add up too fast.

Same with art/crafts or sports or any other area really - you can do it the expensive way, buying lots of equipment and joining clubs which charge every week/term, or you can use whatever you have around and have a kick-around in the park.

SO it doesn't have to cost a lot, but it can if you like buying things!

Marking my place. I've been wondering about this as we're planning to HE 2.7 y.o. DS, starting with an informal play-based approach (we definitely won't be buying curricula for a start at least).

We have a very limited budget. We currently have an art/craft/activities budget for DS but it's tiny (£4 a month!) and it barely stretches to stuff like food colouring, making playdough, books from the charity shop etc.

Actually, that's less than my monthly budget for chocolate - maybe I should work on reducing that.

thanks guys for input was just intrigued.

Im hoping head with agree to flexi school for oldest.
youngest is 3 in september but wont start school for 2years so planning to do some informal teaching with her mostly craft/play based, simple numbers and letters.

I do know people that home ed and some just embarking on the journey.

I must admit I was skeptical it would work for us so never seriously considered it before but the more i read and research more exiting it seems.

I think its sad schools dont have many trips

so extra trips I feel would be good in home ed.
but would lose the facilities and the resources that school offers.

read in usa they get tax rebate for homeschooling maybe that would be fair solution in uk.

have slight addiction to pinterest and keep getting ideas.

quiet boxes for each day of week-full of quiet games.
busy bags-for on the move.
how to make flash cards, pretty folders, desk pots.
some stunning school rooms mostly in america as they have huge budgets.

Their currcuclum seems to be heavily based around religion and church.

I think not just monetry value theres added value in home ed.
stuff they wouldent have hap opportunity to do at school.

other day we went to museum there was dino exhibit.
dd did that in reception seemed exited at the time.
yet when asked she couldent identify any or remember much.
think they skim, gloss over topics with not much in depth knowledge as they have to fit so much in.

I know it depends on the indidual. as a newbie can seem daunting.

I have already lusted at text books would love to own

must ask mum if she still has old encyclopedias we had entire set of joy of knowledge.

I think a biggie with young kids is cost of crafts and stationary.

I try do do poundshops and the works and get what I can there got 4pack glue other day all diffrent types of glue for a quid but card/folders seem pricey.

we could do with additional computer and need new printer.

want to get desk for girls room.

found stuff online how to make moon sand, coloured rice, homemade paints, playdough which look good.

also found some mad science experiments we tried tea bag rocket other day.

I guess its about finding right time/budget balance for each family.

we struggle most months so everything i buy would be cheap or 2nd hand/free.
got lots of stuff can make myself which makes me feel bit better.

Yes, there are a lot of expensive shiny programmes out there. I know I've had the pang of finding something great that was way out of our budget. But there are also a lot of awesome things that are inexpensive, and a lot of it is free. Even for a more structured home educator like myself, things can be done on a shoestring with a bit of research and help with where to look.

For example, this is an excellent maths programme that is run and evaluated by a charity and a University. The lesson plans, the practice books, everything can be printed for free on their website or bought for a nominal cost (£3 per workbook, 2 workbooks for each year, and the books are really good quality. I personally just buy the books and posters, which are very high quality, the rest I get off of the website). Blend Phonics is a free reading programme with lots of support here. We have the library for books as well as Gutenberg to get lots of old, free ebooks in literature, history, geography, science...Speaking of science, the Happy Scientist is a cheap resource that many people have enjoyed that is even cheaper right now as it is on sale. Even extra curriculars - here are free lesson plans to help aid parents teach kids to swim. And that's just a handful I have to hand at the moment. If you're looking for something specific, ask here or any other group and it's likely someone will have something to hand. Though little things like constantly seeming to need more pencils and colouring pencils and such can eat into a budget.

Personally, while trips and equipment [an e-reader is our most used bit of kit] can be expensive (though with coupon sites like groupon and second hand and auction sites the costs can be kept down), I find activities to be the most expensive. At the start of summer that were tons of ads about here with fun children activities but they all had eye watering prices. I've been struggling to keep my social butterfly DD1 going as she's just at the age (5) where she outgrowing the free stuff but not old enough for the cheaper groups in the area.

Having HE'd 4 children and now with two in secondary school, and the third about to start in September - school is definitely more expensive. And I say that as someone who buys textbooks and sends a child to a £20 a day, one day a week HE group.

Oh, I forgot to mention one fairly major indirect saving which I have because of home ed: less peer pressure means less spending on designer gear.

My 12yo dd doesn't even have to adhere to the rule of "defensive fashion choices" which I followed when I was at secondary school, by which I mean that although one could survive without the ultimate trendy designer gear, one couldn't wear certain items without being tormented. Charity shop purchases, buying in the cheapest shop in town or wearing cousins' hand-me-downs which had been fashionable five years earlier would also send a person to Coventry.

I really don't understand why dd and her HE friends seem peculiarly immune to peer pressure in their purchases. We aren't talking about isolated rural families where the kids don't come into contact with others their own age. Dd does choir, sports, drama, you name it, in groups with young people of similar age. She is a born conformist who really does care what other people think, and who does want to be liked and accepted.

She and some of her HE pals do discuss fashion choices all the time. But they don't say "you have to buy this brand" or "what a loser; she wears that brand". They say "I like the way that looks on you" or "I won't buy that brand again because the sequins fell off in less than a month." They are as likely to raid mum's wardrobe or the charity shops or sew as they are to go shopping. Even the ones who are well-off like a bargain.

She does sometimes want something expensive. But it's because she actually wants it, and cheaper alternatives won't do the job as well, not because she "has to" have it to fit in.

IME, this is standard among EHE young people. Like adults, they can disagree with their friends and still remain friends and respect each other's choices.

Saracen.
I think it may be that peer pressure within their group just doesn't exist. By this I mean its not a competitive environment, there is no need to fit in. Also they may be more self assured and confident.
Although all mine have attended school up until this point, they were all different. Ds1 not bothered ds2 very bothered dd really not bothered at all. Ds2 really lacks confidence, the others don't.