As long as library cards are free, homeschoolers say it's possible to teach your child at home for next to nothing.
Yet even "free" choices can have a cost. For example, families engaged in homeschooling often give up part or all of the earnings of the parent who is the primary educator.
And while a free education is possible, spending is always tempting. Some families who homeschool choose to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on supplies, trips, tutors, or other learning experiences.
Rebecca Kochenderfer, senior editor at Homeschool.com, Auburn, Calif., says how much to spend--like decisions about almost everything involved in homeschooling--is the parents' choice.
Kochenderfer says parents can homeschool for almost nothing by using public resources like the Internet, libraries, free museum days, or field trips. They can buy curricula and related materials, or cut costs by borrowing them from other parents.
They can create cooperatives to gain special skills or enroll children in workshops, clubs, or lessons. In some states, they can tap into resources from the local school district. They even can hire a private teacher to do it all for them.
"The goal in homeschooling is to help your children become self-directed learners," says Diane Flynn Keith, editor of Homefires.com, Redwood City, Calif. "So while you may occasionally work side-by-side with your kids, in other instances you simply facilitate their learning. You empower them by showing them where and how to find resources and mentors to further their learning."
While they want to make sure their children learn at least as much as their public school colleagues, parents who homeschool are less likely to be tied to a schedule that dictates learning a particular concept on a particular date. That leaves them free to pick the study methods and pursue the opportunities that are right for them, regardless of the schedule followed by public or private schools.
"Most people don't re-create school at home when they homeschool," says Flynn Keith, the parent of two grown sons who were educated at home. "Children learn by virtue of being exposed to all kinds of things and by modeling what the adults in their lives are doing."
The most important source of help is typically the local public library, which offers invaluable access to books, audiovisual materials, and educational events that range from "story hours" to field trips and presentations.
Most libraries offer free access to computers and the Internet, which homeschoolers use to find curricula and materials, download free lesson plans, access games and educational tools, and get online advice from other parents and Web sites aimed at homeschoolers. Many public libraries also are willing to direct parents to local homeschool organizations.
But even parents who rely heavily on the library may want to purchase some "consumables" such as paper and books. Kochenderfer says thrifty parents can keep the cost of items such as paper, art supplies, and other materials below $200 a year by keeping purchases to a minimum.
Catherine Bratton and her husband, Clay, a university professor, have homeschooled their two sons in Woodland, Calif., for seven years. Bratton often visits the local teaching supply store to buy books for subjects such as math, language arts, and history that will be used to teach Gene, age 12, and Owen, age nine.
Rather than following a single curriculum, Bratton, a certified teacher, searches out the best materials to engage her children's interests and current capabilities. Her costs vary from year to year based on what is needed and what can be handed down from Gene to Owen. When materials no longer are needed, Bratton recaptures part of their cost by selling them online.
Knowing she can recoup some expenses frees Bratton to explore new materials, even when she's still experimenting with her curriculum. She reinvests her online earnings into more materials or field trips, such as three days at Yosemite National Park to study geology.
Pursuing special interests often prompts the family's biggest expenditures. Owen loves marine life, so the family bought a membership at Monterey Bay Aquarium. Gene is interested in robots, so they recently invested in an out-of-print book that features detailed photographs of toy robots constructed since 1900.
Once a week, Bratton and her sons take part in a homeschool book club that combines pizza and literature. Her sons also are 4-H members and take lessons in judo and fencing.
While there are costs, Bratton notes that she also saves money because she doesn't have to buy expensive clothing or gadgets that are "must have" items among children attending public or private schools.
"They're not around that peer pressure that says they have to have this shirt or those shoes or that hot item," Bratton says. "They are more geared to being comfortable, so the money for clothing is wisely spent."
Kirsten Weeks of Springfield, Va., also chooses to allocate some of her family's homeschool budget to consumables and special classes. Weeks and her husband, Glenn, provide a home-based education for their nine-year-old son Isaac and their seven-year-old daughter, Phyllis, using a Waldorf curriculum from Live Education at a cost of about $450 a year.
The Weeks family also will spend $2,000 during the 2006-2007 school year on classes at Harvester Teaching Services, where families enroll children in classes on an a la carte basis to complement their work at home. Isaac and Phyllis' classes include art, ballet, foreign languages, and entomology.
Weeks is involved in a local cooperative that allows parents to exchange their talents in particular subjects. She spends about $100 a year on supplies and another $100 attending an annual seminar for parents who homeschool.
A computer analyst by profession, Weeks also spent $800 as a one-time expense in 2006 obtaining additional training in the Waldorf method, which reinforces that education should engage not only the minds of children, but the bodies and spirits as well. The family also spends $20 a year to belong to the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, a legal advocacy program that monitors state laws.
Children educated at home sometimes may return to school for a year or longer, according to these parents. All three of Kochenderfer's children have tried public or private schools at some point. Fifteen-year-old David and 10-year-old Madison continue to study at home, while 13-year-old Christina currently prefers to attend school.
"What is essential to one family may be considered a frill to another," Kochenderfer says. "Homeschooling is individualized to fit the child, so no two homeschooling families do it the same way."
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