The Price is Right to Homeschool

First and foremost (something I learned recently), you cannot get tax credit when you homeschool. There are three states that give a tax credit, however most will not do it. Here is an article on it. It is a bummer, however think of it this way, the government has no control over the expenses I use for schooling.

Now, to move beyond that, I have heard people that choose not to homeschool because it would be too costly. I would say I get it, but my feeling on it is there is no price on me teaching my boys. If you read my post on why I am homeschooling, it is clear that I don't want the values and morals of the public school system to teach my boys. It is real as simple as that.

However, we can look at the costs. You can make homeschooling the cheapest or most expensive experience you want to make it. I prefer to go the cheaper route, but "hey" if you got it to spend go for it! In saying that, if you don't want to spend money on any material and only have to worry about printing costs, you can. Now, the catch is you are building your own curriculum from scratch, the time in this is intensive. There are plenty of site to help you do this. For example, Progressive Phonics is a free site with printable books to teach your child phonics and handwriting. There are many printables and other educational tools just from getting involved with other mom's blogs.

You also have forums, craigslist, ebay, and other sites that sell used curriculum. This is also a cheaper route to go. For us, going to the convention saved us ALOT of  money. I had already known the cost of everything we wanted, and we save on shipping costs and got up to 25% off the curriculum. While there we had a man tell us about a Christian Virtual Academy. It would cost $2000/year, all subjects covered, teachers, etc. Reson and I wouldn't go this route, but see where it would work with other families. We spent half that amount and I have materials for Luk's entire Elementary (K-5) in Math, Phonics, Geography/Social Studies, and Science. Along with that cost I have one year of Bible (which is inexpensive), two years of Handwriting, and two years of Critical Thinking. You can spend smart and in bulk. We did save in advance for this trip, and it was in our plan of budget.

Some friends were talking about the their children's school lunches were $3.25 this year. A whole $1.00 more than last year, and it is the same food.
So, let's look at this: Reson and I spent: $1100/6 years = 183.3/year
Now, without supplies let's look at school lunches: $3.25 * 5 days = $16.25/week
School year is roughly 43 weeks (Sept-June - 1 wk Spring Break - 2 wk Christmas Break - 1 week Thanksgiving Break) = 39 weeks total * $16.25 = $633.75

WOW! Here's hoping you qualify for reduced or free lunches. This cost is not including the supplies of backpacks, pencils, (let's not forget the freebies!) bad language, and introduction of inappropriate underage sex (at Kindergarten). This is the most concrete way to show that you are paying quite a few pennies to send your kid to public school (and that doesn't include your taxes). Even if you pay $500-800 in curriculum each year, it is still about what you would be paying your public school system to feed you child (and the food is nothing to smile about).

My rant for the day.

As far as I'm concerned "The Price is Right to Homeschool."