The Cost of Homeschooling

Last weekend I ordered most of our books for the upcoming school year, and I have to tell you, even with my minimalist approach, it wasn't cheap. Homeschooling costs money! It's likely that by most standards, we "shouldn't" be living on one income, and by those same standards, we probably can't afford the cost of books and supplies for each child every year. For sure, each year I look at what needs to be done and I wonder exactly how we're going to pay for it. We don't get tax money for this, and, as far as I know, there are no supply drives for homeschoolers. Door-to-door fundraisers might not come across quite the right way. So we're on our own, digging deep into pockets that don't seem to have the necessary depth! But each year, God provides for those needs - sometimes helping us to understand what are true needs and what aren't, and sometimes providing in ways we couldn't have guessed. In any case, we're still here doing this.


But of course homeschooling doesn't just involve money. There are other costs involved, too. Time is one. This is another area where I apply a fairly minimalist approach, but all the buying, planning, and actual learning takes up a good deal of my time. Now, it doesn't necessarily take the amount of time people are thinking of when they say, "I don't know how you have the time to teach all those kids!", in tones that imply there's no way they would be crazy enough to sacrifice their entire day, every day, on the altar of their children's education. It doesn't involve eight solid hours a day keeping the kids glued to their chairs and in front of their books (which, admittedly, doesn't sound pleasant at all). But it is something that's woven throughout my days (and often nights!). Sometimes I wonder what I would do with all that time if we weren't homeschooling. Would my house actually be clean? But it's usually not good to dwell too long on the "what ifs" of life!

Homeschooling also demands pay in the form of my energy - emotional, mental, and physical. It asks that I sacrifice said clean house, not only because of limited time, but because, as I've posted about before, good learning is messy. It takes up space in my house, and along with that, it costs a certain of amount of style and beauty. What's supposed to be a formal living room in our house is actually full of bookcases, which are full of Rubbermaid totes, books, papers, and who knows what else. (No one needs to comment that my sense of home decorating is sorely lacking anyway, homeschooling notwithstanding. That's another subject altogether!)

And homeschooling costs a certain amount of esteem. As much as I'd like to think that homeschooling has become somewhat normalized in our society, as much as I'd like to think that those who love us also support us in our parenting choices, every once in a while I am painfully reminded that I am in a very small minority, and many among the majority simply think we're doing the wrong thing in regard to our education decisions. Even some among our family and friends think that we're being overprotective, or that we might be subjecting our kids to any number of missed opportunities, both socially and academically. Even comments like, "Oh, I could never do that. You're so brave," are kind ways of marginalizing us, of saying that what we're doing is really above and beyond - a choice that's all very well for us, as long as we can afford the time and money, but not really what normal humans do. And that means that the support for our choice is very, very fragile. Most people, even the nicest of them, would not be there for us if push came to shove. They would assume that, at last, we would do the "normal" thing and put the kids in school. Even other homeschoolers are, understandably, so tied up in providing for their own families, that they could only do so much in helping other families (although they would do all they could for each other). So we are out on a rather long and somewhat lonely limb.


So what's the reward? Will it be brilliant kids? Golden, well-behaved, all-around good kids? Will it even be grateful kids? Maybe so - and maybe not. I hope that they'll be glad of the education they received, and one day learn to appreciate what we invested into it. But looking for reward in this endeavor can lead to disappointment. I have to pay the costs here, not in view of what I might gain later, but only in complete obedience to what we feel God is asking of us. We believe this is the way he's asked us to give our children the best possible understanding of His view of the world, and yes, we believe that in many ways - some we can anticipate, and some we probably can't - it will be worth it. And it already is worth it. Each day there are seven people in this house who, yes, sometimes squabble, sometimes make terrific messes, sometimes drive each other crazy, and who just do cost a lot of money, time, and energy...but who also learn together, grow together, and love each other. And each day, irregardless of the future, that's reward enough.