Cost of Gen-Deut, Habits, Handicrafts, and Picture Study

A few possibilities for history:

– Use the library for more of the books.  This cuts the cost more but you have the hassle of trying to get books in when you need them.

– Buy all the books used where possible.  I tend to start keeping an eye out for the books a year ahead but start now checking local and online used books. 

– Also remember that if you’re going to have several children going through the level eventually you’ll not have any purchases to make in history for each subsequent child doing the level books or family books you buy for the first child.  (I have eight children so it’s a big savings to buy reuesable books like this instead of some workbook based curriculum you buy new for each child.

– One more thing, you are free to replace books if some are too hard to find/expensive to buy for your budget.  So, for instance, if you can’t get a copy of Pyramid by Macaulay inexpensively and didn’t want to use a library, you could replace that book with a different one on pyramids that you find at a lower price. 

For Habits, Handicrafts, and Picture Study:

It is easy to want it all right from the start.  😉  Choose one thing for this year and make do on the rest.  So you might buy the habits book and then just do handicrafts on your own (library books or dvds, internet tutorials, etc), and picture study with library books or looking at free paintings online.   I usually save the paintings as a screensaver for my computer.  🙂  Free and easy.

I wouldn’t buy a handicrafts dvd for a 1st grader.  Did you have a handicraft in mind that you think your 1st grader can do and would enjoy doing long term?  At this age I think it’s easier just to let them explore materials freely, without the structure of ‘lessons’. 

YES, homeschooling costs some money.  The cost is flexible so long as YOU are not married to one particular publisher’s products.  In the early years I did far more library and less purchasing (a budget for the year of $50).  Now I’ve got eight children and so it is worth my time to purchase more materials.  Our budget is around $500 for the family.  I’ve got 5 officially schooling next fall and have already made our purchases for next year in that budget.  A lot of things I used for older ones are coming into use again for younger siblings now, so the biggest purchases are toward the oldest child.

I sent you a PM.

Here are a couple of links that might help cut costs in the habits/handicrafts areas.

http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/2009/07/habit-training.html

http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/2009/07/habit-training.html

We choose the artisit(s) and then use the internet and library for picture study. 

http://www.abebooks.com is a wonderful place to get used books for very good prices. Over 50% of the books I buy from there for our schooling cost less than $4 with free shipping. I do buy all of our books now, but in the beginning, we used the library A LOT. I see books as an investment that will bring many happy returns. Very rarely do I buy a book that is only read once. After it’s used for a lesson, my children are practically fighting over who gets to keep the book on their personal shelves in their rooms. Then they enjoy it over and over again for years to come. Not bad for a $4 book. 😉

I personally wouldn’t buy a handicraft DVD for a 1st grader, either. When I think of 7yos doing “crafts”, I think of things like watercolor painting, drawing/coloring, or carving soap to learn how to use a knife. At least, thost are the types of things my kids were doing at 7. Even a set of really good watercolors will cost you less than $5 and will last a while. We focused a lot of life skills at that age, which required no books, just instruction and perseverance on my part. 

Laying Down the Rails is a resource you can buy once and it will have infinite kickbacks for the rest of your parenting career, so yeah, it’s worth every penny. 

As Tristan said, homeschooling does cost money. When people try to tell me homeschooling is too expensive, I am quick to remind them that public schooling isn’t much (if any) cheaper. Sure, the “school” may be free, but you’re still buying new school clothes, supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, paying for lunches, field trips, gas to and from school, time off from work when they’re sick, class parties, and more. I’d rather spend my money on books.

Hope that helps,

Lindsey

I always check bookfinder.com for any books that I need. Bookfinder checks a bunch of different sites and then lists them, best price first (including shipping) nada column for new and one for used. If you click on the one you are interested in, it will take you to the site. Often times abebooks is the cheapest. It so teems another site is.