Home Schooling Costs and Learn Home School Cost Basics

Parents opt for home schooling because they believe that this will offer their children a  better education than that which they would receive in a regular school. It is most unlikely that parents would opt for home schooling as a means of saving money, although the presumption that it will be cheaper than a regular school is something that enters the minds of most parents. Unfortunately, this is a wrong assumption. If there is a savings on the cost of education a child by opting for home schooling, it will be minor.

Giving your child the best education at home means high home schooling costs. Top quality education needs top quality equipment – up to date text books and course material, a library, computers and accessories, lighting, special furniture etc. Remember you are buying at retail what a school buy much cheaper in bulk.

One factor often over looked is not the additional direct expense but the loss of income that should be added to home schooling costs.  One parent, usually the mother, will stay at home to teach the children. One the assumption that she has a level of education that makes her competent to teach the children, she could have been working and bringing money home. As an example  look at a parent who has a college degree but stays at home to teach. What could the earnings from a job have been? A good amount.

Also there will be areas which the parents can’t cover, like perhaps physics or chemistry. Getting a tutor for these subjects can be very expensive.

However, this does not mean that home schooling costs need be unreasonable. The size of the family is an important consideration. If material can be reused for younger children, the costs drop substantially. Home school support groups often circulate and reuse material. Online discount home school suppliers are another cost effective option, as are buying used books, if you are sure of what you are getting.

Membership to public libraries, and taking children to reduced price shows (home schoolers can easily go for weekday matinees) at theatres, operas and ballets are another money saving option. 

Money that would have been spent on tutors, as mentioned above, can sometimes be saved by a barter system. For instance, the mother of a 9 year old may teach anther child English along with hers. In return the other child’s parent will teach both the children maths.

While home schooling is not about saving money, home schooling costs should be taken into account before a decision to go ahead is taken. And remember , the costs are only in material terms. When you are able to decide what your child should be taught, when he or she should learn it, how they will learn  and are able to focus the home school experience on building a better life for your child than he or she could have received from a regular school education, you are profiting in ways that cannot be measured in money terms.