Budget School

On average a home educator can expect to average between $450-$600 a year per student. If you rely on your own intuition and tenacity you can find resources on the internet and material from your local library and cut the cost down significantly. Some parents refuse to spend anything on homeschooling, while others feel that the more they spend the better their child’s education. The adage “You get what you pay for” is not necessarily true in the homeschooling world. What really should be said is…You get what you effort you put into it. The only thing a person who wants to educate their children needs to focus on is his or her commitment to the process. You can spend hours and even days researching on the internet, library and other sources coming up with lessons for your child and spend little on their child’s education but still get the same quality education. There are some parents that would rather not invest a large amount of time to preparing and differ the task to the companies that sell “whole package” curriculums paying up to $1000 per child. However, paying less does not mean you don’t want the best for your children. Just think of it as being wise with the resources that you are given. Let’s face it, money doesn’t grow on trees and many of us work hard to make every penny count, especially in the home classroom. When you are schooling more than one child then you are likely to feel the pinch of finances even more.

Fortunately for most parents there is a happy median. The most important thing to do is be open to a variety of avenues in obtaining your material. There are free or low-cost resources out there you just have to be willing to look for them. Also, you must not get in the mindset that just because it is used it’s not good. Materials can be used and still be an effective tool in teaching your students. Make sure you look into non-traditional avenues. If you have a blockbuster online membership you can rent the Standard Deviants line of educational DVDs or Discovery Channel Educational Movies. Barnes & Nobles offers educator discounts for teaching materials and workbooks. Local libraries have resources for your educational needs, and some even offer homeschooling enrichment classes. You have to be open in your investigation when trying to locate resources. There is so much out there just waiting to be found. In my research I have found that many school districts, even the ones in more affluent communities, utilize used textbooks or materials. Tight budgets prevail even in the public school sector and they are trying to make their funding stretch, why not make yours too.

Here are some links to where you can get material at reasonable rates:

www.fes.follett.com
Used/New textbooks and material

www.abebooks.com
Used/New Textbooks and material

www.alibris.com
Used Textbooks and material

www.unitednow.com
Materials and supplies for the classroom

www.frys.com
Science tools and educational software

www.edhelper.com
printouts and materials for your classroom