How much does HS cost?

[kostya]

In terms of your time and your money? I wouldn't count as money any calculated income loss, though. That's covered by the time aspect I think. - K

[Luminous Animal]

1. Not all that much.

By using the internet and the library, we've probably spent less than $1000.00 a year. Excluding music lessons but including a Spanish tutor.

Something to keep in mind. If you want or need a tutor, some will be willing to teach a group at at reduced rate. Many tutors who teach children are happy to earn money during the day and will cut you a break because otherwise most of their earnings must be crammed into after school hours.

Our group hired a Spanish tutor who taught 3 progressive classes twice a week. Her regular rate was $20.00 for 45 minutes but she charged us $9-$10 an hour as long as we had a minimum of 5 students in each class.

[Polly Glot]

3. I'm so glad you brought up the information about the Spanish tutor...

I've been thinking about starting a sideline business tutoring French and/or Spanish and wondered what kind of market I'd have in Homeschooled students. Do you find that foreign language tutoring is in demand amongst other HS parents you know?

[Luminous Animal]

4. Yes...

In the San Francisco Bay Area.. Absolutely! Our Spanish tutor had 20-30 students per 15 week session. She scheduled 3 classes (three levels of ability), twice a week, 1.5-1 hour each class.

[Polly Glot]

5. Hmmm... May have to look into that!

Did you find her through other HS parents or on your own? I'm not sure how I'd go about marketing my services. Was thinking a mass mailing to foreign language teachers at nearby schools but that wouldn't include the homeschooled students.

Also do you think it matters that I'm not a certified teacher? I've got a BA in Spanish, took all the advanced-level French language classes in college (i.e., not the literature ones), have some informal tutoring and teaching experience, and have lived overseas and used my language skills in prior employment. Just wondering whether the lack of certification would prove a hindrance in the parents' eyes...?

Also, frankly, I'm quite skittish about parents who homeschool due for hyperfundamentalist reasons. In SFO that may not be a concern but in Cincy... well you can imagine!

[daisygirl]

7. I wouldn't consider lack of certification a problem

After all most of us aren't certified teachers, either. Your skills would definitely be more important.

In SFO that may not be a concern but in Cincy... well you can imagine!

I definitely can :P I live in SE Ohio, and there's so much religous fundamentalism entrenched in both the homeschooling community and the public schools. One of the many reasons we pulled our daughter out of public school in the first place was the local school system's habit of bringing in ministers to preach to the kids in mandatory assemblies at Christmas and Easter without so much as notifying/getting permission from the parents. (And really, if they're going to commit a flagrant violation of the First Amendment, I'd have appreciated a note from the school first saying, "Hey, we plan to indoctrinate your kid in a religion other than your own. That okay with you?" Of course, that would've been acknowledgment that they had no business doing that in the first place...)

[Birthday]

10. Where to advertise

Around here, the guy in charge of the recreation department (which is funded through the school system) is more than willing to offer foreign language or any other class that homeschoolers want. We are a bit short of homeschooled kids around here, but if you are in an active area, you will definitely get students! Good luck.

[Shrek]

2. It varies

If you do everything yourself, and shop wisely (buy used curricula on EBay, trade materials with other families, etc) you can do it for next to nothing.

It can also cost quite a bit more, depending on your choices. My kid takes piano lessons from a private instructor, and attends a few classes at a local private school (they have an outreach program for homeschoolers). That kind of stuff tends to add up pretty quickly.

You can customize just about everything to fit your budget and still come provide a quality education.

[daisygirl]

6. It varied by year

The first year, I didn't have time to shop around for used versions of the books we wanted, and we probably spent $500 or more. Probably more, since there was incidental stuff through the year.

But the years after that, I bought the next year's books and whatnot throughout the year on ebay, half.com, and so on - I'd figure out what we were looking for and wait for it to become available at a decent price. My daughter took three Spanish courses at a local university since it seemed like the best option for foreign language, and that did put a bit of a bite in the budget that year.

[Maddy McCall]

8. I thought putting my curriculum together, piecemeal, would...

be cheaper, but I am finding out that it isn't much cheaper. I believe that we will use Calvert next year--the price astonished me when I first checked into it, but, after assembling the curriculum through Ebay, Amazon, and other online retailers, I am finding that I could have spent a couple hundred dollars more and had the WHOLE Calvert package.

[kostya]

12. Just got a catalog from Calvert today. It looks great, but I'd like to

check out some alternatives, too. I'm curiuos about how much help you actually get with the counseling and the AST stuff. Could easily be worth the price, though, especially going through our first year of HS'ing. - K

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. I'm afraid I really don't keep track of it.

In terms of either time or money. Not as much as I feared on both counts is about all I can tell you.

[genius]

11. It's up to you.

You can go the expensive route and have your kids take all kinds of classes from universities over the Internet or you can buy your own books or use the library.

[mopinko]

13. don't think it's cheap

when i did it, i was constantly sorry that i didn't have more money to spend. i did have 4 kids by the time i quit, so that did run it up a lot. but if you added up field trips, computer programs (& computers for that matter. they were a lot more expensive then, and we used them extensively), books, art supplies, music lessons, etc, etc. it ran into real money for us.
i guess it depends on what kind of person you are. if you are frugal in the rest of your life, you will manage. but if you tend to go overboard at christmas, etc, on the kids, you will spend a LOT.