Monetary wise, you can absolutely homeschool for free or spend very little money. Time wise is where it gets tricky. The open-and-go curriculum are expensive for the ease of convenience. I do spend more time making the unit studies and gathering resources myself, instead of spending the money. But I think it's worth it because than if it doesn't work out for whatever reason, I don't feel as bad about it as if I spent a ton of money on it.
I 100% agree, public school would cost us about $250 and private would be $8000 for my 5yo, we homeschooled for $120 this year. I don't include srt supplies because I would be buying those regardless as we have other children as well. The library is the best resource we have.
People stink. In my opinion the quality of the homeschool is based on the level of commitment by parent/guardian who is the teacher. If they are committed to a solid education for thier kids it doesnt matter if if they spend $0 or thousands of dollars, if they arent committed then it wont be successful and the kids suffer.
It’s such an easy trap to fall into! It’s hard to resist new, flashy curriculum. But you are absolutely right- the concept of it being better is imaginary. $$ does not equal quality. More importantly it does not equal “the right fit” for my (or your) family.
Great video! While I do not homeschool for free, I do try to cut my costs where ever I can! I enjoy literature based history/social studies which requires a ton of books. We live in a small town with an unreliable interstate library system so I purchase most of the books used from Thrift books and if they are not available I will buy new but rarely- that's when I go to the library. I have a 10th grader so I look at any investment I make purchasing his curriculum can trickle down for many things to his two younger sisters. I have found 3 times science curriculums that sell a box of materials for the experiments have been a complete waste of money and they are not cheap. Our chem box was $350 on sale and I would say only about 30% of the labs "work" and both my husband and I have advanced science degrees. For bio dissection we ended up dropping the dissection kit and watching on youtube. We do not live in a state that allows our kids any access to public school clubs/sports which stinks. Would love to see what you are using that is on the cheaper side this year, I am always looking for new options. :)
I’m hoping to get out our specific plans soon, but I do have a sneak peek video coming out next week. You are so right about not using all the materials in expensive materials. I have had the same experience.
