We’ve been told for decades that only affluent people have the luxury of homeschooling their children, something that has simply never been born out in my own personal circles. Sure, I know some financially comfortable folks who homeschool their kids, but it’s far from the majority. Most of the homeschooling families I know have been of the single income, blue collar variety. These are families where sacrifice is the overarching theme; they believe in home education, so they make it happen not because they can afford it, but because they can’t not afford it. Sacrifices are so daily as to become a way of life, and by sacrifice I don’t mean annual beach vacations instead of Europe. I mean no vacations. I mean shopping thrift stores as a matter of course. I mean learning to budget around a base menu of whatever’s on the deepest sale. No, it’s not predominantly rich people that homeschool their kids. And now, as the massive vote of no confidence ripples through public education in the form of parents electing for virtual learning over in-class situations, or through removing their children from the system altogether, the lie is taking on new legs as the status quo tries to shock people back into line.
I cut myself off from all news a few weeks ago, choosing my mental health over the constant rush to stay in the know. But a few friends have still sent me articles of interest, asking for my feedback. And yesterday, two sent me this gem from the dubious news source Romper:
How Much A Homeschooling Set-Up Cost a Family Making $47K A Year
Before we break this down, I really want you to ponder a question I stress over and over with my children as they learn to evaluate news and the bias of media: who stands to gain from this story, and why? I’m not going to dig into my own thoughts on this, but I think it’s important as you weigh the media hysteria surrounding school shut-downs, school re-openings, “pods,” and the rest of the flood of pandemic-themed education stories.
To save you from adding to the clicks accrued by this piece, I’ll give you the upshot. A single mother raising a set of 6 year-old twins and an 8 month-old is given as an example of a new homeschooler. Her expenses for homeschooling those two first graders? Just over $12,000.
No, I’m not kidding.
Let’s dive in.
The first expense listed in the $12K price tag is a $5 loss of income due to a reduction in hours thanks to Covid. Join me in wondering how that adds to the total of homeschooling. These are not hours she’s opting not to take in order to be home with her kids, these are hours not available to her due to a cutback from her employer. I’m not even sure what to say to this one, other than its addition is an obvious red flag of desperation from an author trying to prove the point that homeschooling is too costly for the average person.
Next we have $140 spent converting a spare bedroom to a school room. Now, most homeschooling families I know do not have spare bedrooms to convert. (See note about lifestyle choices above.) They also rarely have school rooms, to which the author nods with this line, “While homeschool parents debate the topic of if a dedicated school room is needed or not, since Nia plans for her children to eventually return to public school, she decided to set up a dedicated room for learning.” That makes as much sense as listing a loss of income from hourly cutbacks as homeschool expenses, but since it actually has to do with teaching her kids, I’ll give it to her.
As for curriculum, this particular mom spent $250. This is one area where most families I know might say they spend more. Why? While $125 per child will buy you a good number of workbooks, it probably can’t stretch enough to bring real, living educational tools into your home. Math alone is notoriously pricey. For example, the family plan for Teaching Textbooks caps out at $199 per year. If the mother in the example had chosen to use Math-U-See, a popular choice for homeschoolers, at grade-level with both of her kids, she would have spent $185 for the complete set up. So sure, I’ll give her $250.
Next we come to childcare. This mom will be spending $6,500 during the school year to have someone else watch her kids. Again, not a cost of homeschooling, other than to say that she will not be getting free daycare from the school system– for her twins, at least. One must assume that she’d still be out daycare for her infant. At any rate, in twenty years of homeschooling, I have met a handful of working parents. Most have creative arrangements with extended family members to assist with their child care needs. None would say that the associated costs were part and parcel of homeschooling. Sorry, Romper. Another scare tactic fail.
The final cost listed is an annual membership to HSLDA for $120. This is a legitimate expense amongst homeschoolers– perhaps the most undisputed item on this whole list. Many families opt to join HSLDA, their state advocate’s group, or both. Definitely listed as an expense.
So… for $12,010, this mom spent at most $510 on homeschooling two children for the upcoming year– and that’s only if you include the $140 spree on a cubby shelf, pencil boxes, etc., to make a “school room.” The more realistic number here is $370. Under $500 per year.
But, only rich people homeschool, right?
In writing this, I’m not saying that life as a single-income family is easy. It’s not. I’m not saying that one parent will not give up whatever salary they could be making out in the world of employment. They will. I’m not saying $500 is all you’ll spend to homeschool your kids. Could be more, could be less. I’m not saying you won’t feel a change in your lifestyle or have to give up things that are routine to most families where both parents work, like weekly meals out, or passes to your local amusement park.
There is a cost to homeschooling.
It’s just not this.
Don’t believe what you’re being told.
This is FUNNY! When I saw your title I thought that actually you could spend $1,000 per year homeschooling pretty easily! To find someone thinks it cost 12k to do it for one year is a joke.