Home Schooling Costs and Expenses

[capt.cam]

We are an American couple with a 3 year old and 5 year old. We plan to leave in the spring of 2015 and will have a 5 year old and 8 year old. What should I budget for home schooling fees and expenses? We're budgeting our overall expenses (not including school) to average about 2K to $2500 per month so that gives you an idea where we stand financially. I guess we'll be teaching Kindergarden and 3rd grade the first year and after the circumnavigation should be at 5th and 8th grade?

Any advice or recommendations on home schooling programs would be welcome.

Thank you!

[dan360]

If you want everything in a box, these are the biggest two, but you'll need to consider whether you want to follow a curriculum so specifically vs your own prepared materials for local history or music etc.

We leave in 12 months with 10 and 12 yo boys, and still haven't decided. The prices are on the websites for each of these, but circa 2K per grade level you buy essentially.

Homeschool Curriculum | Homeschooling | Calvert School

K12 | Online Public School, Online High School, Online Private School, Homeschooling, and Online Courses options

[S V Zydico]

We home schooled our son for 3 yrs whilst cruising. He was ten when we left and even at that age he was easy to teach, we managed to find standard curriculum books on English and Maths at good book stores which he managed to do without any problems. Obviously me and my partner shared the load with our own input. He also did art and craft, nature and geography, history and music. These subjects we created by us, nature geography and history apart from the general stuff was put together from the places we visited. Usually these places have great resources through tourist info museums and places of interest. Art was basic as well as craft but also local cultural styles were included. As with music he played recorder, hand drum and tried his limited skills on a 3/4 size guitar, this was done through beginner hand books and CD' s. all in all he was very well prepared when going back to school in year 8. He was right up to speed withit all and things he was a bit scratchy he picked up quickly. His people skills we excellent and was not daunted by adults, he thought some of the kids were pretty silly and save himself from that very daunting adolescent peer pressure stuff, he was used of treating people on equal terms and was used of having girls and boys as pure friends without all the sexual connotations put forth by institutional peers. There many things they learn on a boat to help them in life and education such as responsibility, working as part of a team, patience, how things work and what makes work such as pulleys , sails, outboards, rowing, dinghies, cooking, and small everyday tasks as well as navigation and mechanical skills. All these things make a well rounded human being. They get their schooling done quickly and with ease because there is no distractions from class disruptions. And they can have days off here and there or when you are on passage, but I promise it will work out fine. Keep a portfolio with all there work in it for when you get make sure they carry a journey for notes when they are ashore and a small dry bag for things they collect ie brochures trinkets etc. and lots of photos or if there old enough a small digital camera. You will be amazed at what they learn, just be patient and share the load. Ps hide computers and tv or limit it get them reading lots of fun books it great for their literacy and language skills and above all have fun, you will be rewarded tens times over for many years.

[Loz]

We are a family from Australia with 3 kids (13, 11, and 7) about to start cruising and we are also looking for curriculum and homeschooling ideas. One option for us is to use School of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE) which is an individualised program from the Department of Education in our home state, Western Australia. Teaching three at once will be challenging and trying to figure out how to create some structure around learning while cruising seems a bit daunting at this stage. However, much of what we hear about cruising with children is positive, and if we can be flexible and the kids are responsive I'm sure they will get a great life education. When we return to the mainstream we would like the kids to slot back into school life so we are keen for them to maintain curriculum standards.

[S V Zydico]

Hi Loz I think the 13yo and to some extent the11yo could get some benefit from home school programs and while they are doing this the 7yo could be home taught as they are pretty easy to teach and entertain especially if they are learning at the same time as the older ones. English and Maths and as I said in my last thread plenty of books is a great help. When we arrived back after cruising our son went to a Steiner school which was more attune with his social skills and level playing field with other students and his teachers. But yes I agree 3 is a handful but friends of ours cruised and lived aboard for the last twenty odd years and brought 3 boys who are all great achievers in life and a pleasure to be around. They came from NZ on a45' sloop and now live in Tassie. A few years ago one of the boys bought a 34' sloop and he and his dad a two brothers sailed it to Antartica I think there's a book and film about them, so any things possible

[S V Zydico]

Ps mum was smart and stayed home on the family boat, catch up
On some R&R!

[sbauhaus]

Calvert works well for us: 4th, and 7th grade. We just bought the Math books for about 100 dollars per year! DON'T EVEN Stress or worry about school until 3rd grade. Small kids pick up writing and reading and addition and subtraction with ease on boats. What they learn at sea is so amazing.

[Mimsy]

We are putting together our own curriculum based on the recommendations of my sister. My sister is an English college professor who successfully home schooled her 2 daughters (the eldest just graduate University Summa Cum Laude).

For writing and grammar skills we are using this:https://www.shurley.com/Then augmenting with literary selections that are age appropriate. Shurley covers the basics of grammar, then its on to developing their writing skills from writing essays and research papers.

For maths, we are using: Saxon Publishers This is a great program as the skills build upon each other and there is consistent review of concepts.

For history, we will be developing our own curriculum based upon what the kids are interested in at the time. It helps that our older girl is a reader as we can find fictional books set in various times and places that open up the door to detailed study of that time period and area.

For science, my husband is the science guy and will be introducing basic theories and concepts of science in order to allow the girls to have the basic knowledge necessary to begin in depth study of the world around them. We will be doing a lot with geology, biology, chemistry and astronomy because boat kids are surrounded by opportunities to explore and discover these subjects.

We are aslo big fans of The Great Courses for older, motivated kids: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/

We know the world is a competitive place and that a solid education is key to having opportunities in the world. It is not true that a traditional school is the only way to access that education. It is also not true that you have to spend thousands of dollars on a curriculum in a bow in order to educate your kids well.

[dan360]

Mimsy - really good information. Thanks for posting!

Education will change wholesale over the next two decades, with things like MIT and Harvard offering free programs online, and the Khan Academy, access to the best education for all will only improve. That combined with the demographic hole in the USA will force a rethink in education.

The best regular schools have already realized that the information absorption part of teaching can be done online or by the student on their own, allowing teaching time to be spent helping understanding.

I'm personally excited that our student teacher ratio will be 1:1 for the next few years.

[ElGatoGordo]

+1 on Saxon....we switched a few years ago to Switched on Schoolhouse, a total package deal, all on the computer, but not online. Kids wanted Saxon back!!!! And we like LLATL for "English". But still use SOS for science/history. Really you have to find what works for you!

[vtsailguy]

Originally Posted by sbauhaus

Calvert works well for us: 4th, and 7th grade. We just bought the Math books for about 100 dollars per year! DON'T EVEN Stress or worry about school until 3rd grade. Small kids pick up writing and reading and addition and subtraction with ease on boats. What they learn at sea is so amazing.

I completely agree here. I am a certified teacher and would highly recommend just soaking them in whatever they want to read.