When we started homeschooling one of my main concerns was the financial aspect of homeschooling. I wanted to make sure that we were keeping our homeschool expenses in check. No one ever really shared the financial truth part of homeschooling with me, so I figured I would share our homeschool expenses with others, along with a few tips that help me keep our finances in line.
I’ve never been the parent to buy cheap just because it was cheap, so not all of our curriculum is what some would call: budget friendly. I see homeschooling as an investment in my kids lives, so if a curriculum is expensive, we plan for it if it’s the best fit for our kiddos.
Counting the cost
Below is a breakdown of what our homeschool costs were last year.
PreSchool
Okay, this year I feel like I completely overspent on our preschool curriculum. After we started our school year, I realized that we either had no need for the material, or it was something that we just didn’t like, so I went another route. This was the first time I’ve ever had a preschooler (my oldest was in public school up til 2nd grade), and I had no idea that I could have gone a much simpler route.
What we used for PreSchool
- Letter of the week: $15 – I only used the letter printables, but these can be found all over the web for free. I just used the ones in this file since I already had it. I do like the perk of having it all organized together in one pack. Which means less searching on the internet for me, and I can get right to using it with my kiddo. That, I love. And that alone does make it worth the cost!
- Easel dry – erase/chalk combo: Free – this was a Christmas gift
- Do-a-Dot markers: $13.99
- Wooden Pattern Blocks: $21.52
- Color Cubes : $19.20
- SQUILT: (free for me) (retail price is $9.99)
- ABCmouse: (free for me) ( retail price is $795 a month / $95.40 a year)
- A Little Girl After God’s Own Heart : $13.20
- ESV Seek and Find Bible: $19.95
Total for PreSchool: $102.86
A lot of these items weren’t purchased for the sole purpose of “school”. They were birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, items we already had, and items we would have purchased anyhow. The only school-like items are SQUILT and ABCmouse. Two items I would happily spend my money on any day!
6th Grade
Language Arts
- Rod&Staff: $45.40 (only the grammar)
- Wordly Wise : $39.99 (teacher), $8.49 (student) **the teacher guide is now much cheaper!
- A Reason for Handwriting : $13.99 (penmanship)
- Reading books: Classical Literature, all free from the library. We also used Novel Study, which is also free.
- Poetry: Classical Poetry Aloud – free online resource, and Elements of Poetry – also a free online resource.
History
- Story of the World: $66.00
- Famous Men of Rome: $39.95 (teacher guide, student workbook, and reader)
- Famous Men of Greece: $39.95 (teacher guide, student workbook, and reader)
- Famous Men of Middle Ages: $39.95 (teacher guide, student workbook, and reader)
Science
- Scientist Unit Studies: $12.00
Math
- Math U See : $75.00
Art/Music
- SQUILT : Free as part of a partnership (retail price is $9.99). Would be a one time purchase due to using it with all of my kids.
- World’s Greatest Artists : $11.00
- Piano: Free (with me)
Bible
- ESV Grow! Bible: $43.95
- Character Studies: Free
- Bible.is : Free
Total for 6th grade: $481.62
For Mom
I can’t get through our homeschool year without my homeschool planner from HEDUA. It is by far the best homeschool specific planner I have ever used. $26.95 (free for me)
Grand total for PreSchool, 6th Grade, and Mom: $584.48
A few tips
The key to keeping your homeschool expenses in check is knowing the cost, and planning accordingly. Make a list of items you would like to purchase, figure out what you absolutely need at the beginning of the year. Then plan accordingly. You don’t have to purchase every.single.thing at the beginning of the school year. For instance, if you are going to work through several reading books to coordinate with your lessons, you don’t have to purchase the readers that you’ll use in May, in July.
Also keep an eye out for sales. Homeschool companies often have sales mid year, and that is the best time to find curriculum or material on sale that you may need to complete your year. We didn’t spend all of this at once, so in reality – we didn’t “feel” the large expense at all.
Curious to see what other homeschool families spend on curriculum? Head on over to iHomeschool Network and check out the other posts in the How Much Does Homeschooling Really Cost? series.
