Cost

My child will be in the 3rd grade next year and I wonder how much it will cost to homeschool her.

Going to school makes her sick everyday. She is also picked on and beat up and nothing is ever done about it.

Thank you.

Diane's Reply:

Teaching the elementary grades from home is relatively inexpensive and simple. The most difficult part is making sure they know their math and can read well. It's very important to master these skills. (Should you have older children, check out these homeschool costs.

For under $10, you can use Ruth Beechick's booklets through 3rd grade. They cover the 3R's (Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic). I did purchase a Math curriculum (Math-U-See), but you would get along fine using only arithmetic flash cards.

Speaking of flash cards, we also picked up Romalda Spalding's phonics cards. Her book,The Writing Road to Reading is helpful. Or if you prefer, you can just order the flash cards. You can pick from two sizes, both are priced under $23.

In addition to phonics, one of the best ways to learn how to read is to get books from the library. They're free! You could also use them to dictate from. I had the children write the dictation passages in a notebook.

If you're wondering about science, we used the Usborne books a lot. We finally purchased a number of them because we liked them so well. We used the Sonlight catalog for guidance when studying history. We ordered their recommended books from the library.

You're very welcome, thank you for asking! Hope that helps!



Comments for Cost

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Cost
by: Anonymous

We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You've done a formidable job and our whole community will be thankful to you.

Alex

(Thank you, Alex!)

Alpha Omega, Rod and Staff, and Spectrum
by: A Godly Homemaker

Alpha Omega cost $43
Rod and Staff $25
Spectrum Workbooks from bookstore $18
With Spectrum I need to add my own history and science.

Read, and read lots!
by: Ann

I love the suggestion of using the Sonlight catalog as a guide. We actually use the Sonlight curriculum and the Instructor's Guides. They are immensely helpful in organizing everything. But, just looking through the catalog for Core 3, planning to get every book the library offers through the course of the year, and then discussing your way through those books would open up incredible educational horizons.

We've also discovered BrainTeasers Big Books. I got one for my preschooler, and I love it!! I was going to do Horizons math with him for KG, but I'm going to stick with BrainTeasers. It is more comprehensive. They have them for upper grades, too, and they are about $10 a book.

Just to give a spending estimate were you to purchase a curriculum, this past year I spent right around $1000 getting all of my books from Amazon and Sonlight - curriculum, consumables, and at least $100 worth of extracurricular items - for my third and first graders. We save up through the course of the year or use tax refund to make sure we can go ahead and make the purchase since we don't have access to a decent library.

Reply by Diane:
Thank you, Ann! Just a quick comment about libraries...we live in a small community, so our library is on the small side, too. So we take advantage of Inter-library Loan, it's great!

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