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Financing
homeschooling
When people talk about teaching their children from home in the
absence of any definite or structured curriculum, it is perhaps
natural to think that homeschooling is cheap. But this is far from
the truth. Although homeschooling does not stick to any particular
text, this is perhaps more of a bane than a boon, when it comes to
finance.
When you need to make sure that your children receives
state-of-the-art education so that they can compete with regular
school goers, expenses will naturally mount. The actual cost of
educating a child at home is surprisingly high. Up-to-date
textbooks, course materials, a library, computing equipment,
lighting, specially designed furniture all cost money. In this case,
the cost may be slightly lesser when it comes to
homeschooling the second child. Add to this any additional tuition
cost for tutors who come to teach subjects that cannot be handled by
parents, like higher-level math or science. The total cost can be a
bit mind boggling.
If you take another important factor into consideration,
homeschooling costs may effective triple. The need for having one of
the parents tied to the house and fully dedicated to providing
education deprives the family of a second earning member. The
average homeschooling teacher is usually a lady with a college
degree. This means that she can easily bring home a pay of $35,000
or more. It is also interesting to note that most families that have
more than 2 children do not opt for homeschooling at all.
But, there are those who have been successful in carrying out
homeschooling at low rates. This is dependent on the size of the
family, the support group, the type of materials used and the
availability of the material. When successive children can reuse the
materials, cost goes down. Much of the course material can be got
from vendors of homeschooling materials. A membership in a public
library, theatre, concerts, ballets and other cultural events also
help in cutting costs. Sometimes, it is even possible to barter
expertise. For instance, the mother of an 8-year old gives dancing
classes, and her daughter receives drawing classes for free. Support
groups allow you to divide the cost of field trips, science projects
and fairs.
Whatever the cost, advocates of homeschooling say that the benefits
far outweigh these considerations. When you are able to decide what
knowledge your child receives and when he or she should be taught
and to what extent, it gives you a lot of freedom and a lot of
power. Both the children as well as the parents benefit from this
mutually enriching experience.
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