HOMESCHOOLING ON LESS THAN $50.00 A YEAR PER CHILD: LEADING TO DEAN’S LIST STUDENTS
Most poor people like myself, never consider that they could homeschool. They are constantly focused on earning a living, or bringing in more money part time, so the kids go to public school, signed up for government breakfasts and lunches and maybe free afterschool care. For Christian parents this option is becoming less and less attractive, and for all parents who want safe and educated and moral kids, the alternatives are being sought more and more.
Now, if you want, you really can spend over 2000/year for state of the art homeschool curricula: ABEKA, BJU, Christian Light/Alpha Omega and now Liberty offer very fine ‘total approach’ curricula with pre-made records, testing, report cards and even daily video teaching by experts in their area. Some feel though that non stop videos stifle creativity and lead to the same drone of the modern classroom, even with quality materials: there is a very good side of teaching children ‘discovery’ and a delight in knowledge from even very early self-research. To the very, very poor though, whose focus is on making enough for dinner and to keep the lights on, here are a few tips to allow you to homeschool your children, without the large once a year bills of $500-$2500 a child.
1. Check the laws in your state. HSLD (Homeschool legal Defense) founded by Michael Farris and others ,who went on to found Patrick Henry College, (he also rose to Lt. Governor of Va) is a christian hero in my book for fighting hard for the freedom for quality homeschooling in all states. Most states no longer require registration with a school system, quite rightly for public schools have no jurisdiction over private schools including homeschools. (This is constitution law, confirmed over and over). HSLD will send you a free list of laws in the various states. (You can for $10 or more dollars a month ‘hire’ them on retainer) That way if you are worried, you can rest assured that an attorney is a phone call away if there is an issue.
2. Materials: This is how we managed on so little money:
a. We bought used curriculum and books at the plethora of homeschool exchanges which occur in most average size cities twice or more a year. Some have consignment book stores in a homeschool mom’s home! If you are not too picky about getting shiny covers and pristine unmarked pages, you can pick up $35 texts for as low as $1! Used books are a god send.
a. We bought used curriculum and books at the plethora of homeschool exchanges which occur in most average size cities twice or more a year. Some have consignment book stores in a homeschool mom’s home! If you are not too picky about getting shiny covers and pristine unmarked pages, you can pick up $35 texts for as low as $1! Used books are a god send.
b. Look for people quitting homeschooling: one lady quit 1.5 years after buying several years of curriculum: she donated two years of Christian Light materials to us. It was excellent material, and the only thing we had to do was erase some fill-ins, and smile at the Amish/Mennonite bonnets in the drawings. Those two years one of my children cost me $0 to buy curricula. God provides in mysterious ways.
c. Your local library is your universe. Can’t afford globes, videos, documentaries, reading books, etc? Your local library has all this and more and is the ‘fun’ point of a homeschool week: you will develop biceps bringing home ‘all the books you can carry’ unless there is a limit. Today’s libraries have computer labs, audio books, checkout records and videos, and sometimes even odd resources like rocks, fossils, and other artifacts that can be checked out for free and taken home. Keep a record of your children’s reading list: introduce them to the classics in Children’s literature, and build up. A little healthy competition and love for reading kept my children going.
d. Make use of free community resources: museums, botanical gardens, natural resources, ‘old house’ museums, ; historical museums etc.
e: Free home economics lab surrounds you in the home: teaching cooking, measuring, sewing and clothing construction, etc. My daughter taught herself crocheting, knitting, cross-stitch and a variety of ‘textile arts’ at home with books from the library and ladies at church. My son learned to fix a light socket, and do simple repairs: one can apply food chemistry etc to showing why some ‘substitutes’ for recipes work. All free, all helpful, all apart of the home you have anyway.
f. Take advantage of scholarships in your community for things like music or art training. My son at 11 or 12 started on his own studying music theory and orchestration: by 14 he obtained a one semester scholarship to a local university conservatory: it was needs based, but they trained where I could not.
g. Join a homeschool group. The myth that homeschoolers do not get social interaction is patently absurd: they get quality interaction. Our groups provided free group physical education a couple times a week, science fairs, spelling bees and in high school, now, some provide football teams and band. Nothing is loss, all is gain.
h. Church and for some, synagogue. My children attended church three times a week, and for missions conferences, pot lucks, ‘sings’ etc: often times church provides a lot of people with skills you don’t have who might not mind teaching a little. My daughter and I once hit a Saxon math problem neither of us could solve (I teach math so that shows it was a little tough)—and a fellow at church who used that kind of math all the time, solved it in an instant. Churches also have choirs, activities, outings, etc Just be sure of the church you choose.
i. The Computer. My personal advice for the very young is to block chat rooms, unless it is a private chat room of children you know and trust: predators prey on innocent and moral young people, and it is the one thing I wish I had been more restrictive on. But with proper family blocks, the computer can become an invaluable learning tool: just be careful. YouTube.com can occasionally be either gross or lewd, but if you put proper filters on your computer, it can also offer how to video clips on EVERYTHING. There are clips on most geographical features and nations: studying geography? At the end of reading and evaluation, send them to find a video clip of the place or event they were studying: it’s fun, increases a love of learning and is so cool to visualize what you’ve been studying. Godtube is another. Poetry.com now under another name, used to have daily poetry writing contests etc, etc, etc. The net is not the safest place to be, but it can be with supervision. Can’t afford a computer? There are many donation programs, and sometimes super deals. For example, in Wisconsin there is a central surplus bidding site for auctioning surplus from state buildings and universities or municipal or country excess. You can pick up laptops from anywhere from 5$ up to 150. If you can’t afford even that, there is always the library computer bank for about an hour at a time. Many universities allow non-university citizens to use their student labs. Some have free workshops. Some computer repair places will work with you on deals on old computers that no one picked up after a repair, and garage sales sometimes have at least useable computers, for typing lessons etc.
h. I laugh when I hear school systems clamouring for 8900.00 per pupil expenditures, because with all that money, they can often not guarantee above an average of 25th percentile rankings on nationally normed tests. 8900 x 12 years=$106,800 ! excluding fees and transportation and special purchases. I had two children, and next to no money when they were homeschooled: I learned the issue was not money hardly at all, but the inspiration, direction and skill training to love to learn. Now, if I had had $17,800 a year for the two just to spend on education, we could have had the university of homeschool! New microscopes, periscopes, telescopes, and anti-Scopes. (a little homeschool humor). We learned to bend with the breezes—at times it was a little too tight but we got by.
The result? Both children graduated high school one and two years early. Both were in the 95th and above percentile on testing, poor as church mice. Both were dean’s list throughout college, winning scholarships, awards, and taking leadership roles. Sure, there was some innate ability, and I hold an advanced degree, but wisdom and cleverness compensates for a lot. We were consistent: we had a staid routine. It helped them know who they were. They were immersed in faith in God, and stayed daily in the Word of God. I cannot promise that your children will turn out exactly right or as you expect, because the world cruelly targets kids who succeed, but I do know that that impenetrable foundation always resurfaces, even if later some university tries to undo your work.
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