I had a rough start this year, basically because I spent so much money for curriculums. I realize I could have taken a cheaper route by using internet based free resources, but this would have taken more time and energy than I had available. My options were to take teaching and piecing together a curriculum on my own, or paying through the nose.
This was my most expensive year to date, mostly because my son is high school level now and I needed a good self-learning curriculum Spanish and for Geometry. The other reason the year was so expensive is because I chose local classes and so had little control over which books I used.
For Spanish we are using a Bob Jones Spanish plus Rosetta Stone. (Another blogger, Valorie mentioned some time back that she did not enjoy the program… you are about to find out why it will not stand on its own) Originally they wanted to use Rosetta Stone only, but realized that colleges and accrediting agencies don’t accept it as an actual class. Rosetta Stone Spanish for two years cost almost $400.00. (The good news is this program will be used for two kids and for two years each, so technically it’s $100.00 per year per child). When they switched to Bob Jones, I had the option of sending Rosetta Stone back, but the kids still needed a listening program supplement, so I kept it. There were other listening programs, but after speaking to several mothers and teachers, the combination of the two programs is excellent.
For math, we are using Teaching Textbooks. This year we needed Pre-algebra for my grade 7 daughter and Geometry for my high school son. Fortunately, my son did not mark up his book last year and I was able to sell it to help pay for this year’s curriculum. Also I traded my daughters curriculum she used last year with a family who also had the curriculum she needed this year. Still, Teaching Textbooks cost approximately $200.00 a year for a new set.
At first I thought, why are these instructors choosing the most expensive curriculum choices they could find? Then I realized that all of the better self-led curriculums cost a lot.
Other Spanish curriculum and costs:
- TellMeMore Language Courses is $249.99 for 4 levels
- Sonrisas Spanish school for grades k-3 is $149.00
- Visual Link Spanish, as supplement as it does not focus on Grammar $134.99
- Bob Jones Spanish from $33.50 for the book, or $288.50 for the entire kit. (This is just for Spanish 1)
Other Math curriculum and costs
- Carnegie Learning (also used in public schools) $99.00 each
- MathUSee requires heavy teacher involvement $80-$100 for high school kit
- Ask Dr. Callahan College Prep math courses $207.00 -$275.00
This is just a sampling of what is out there. I plan to do start doing reviews of curriculum choices soon to go along with the list of different curriculum choices that I made a couple of years ago.
You may notice that when I used the words SELF-LED when describing these curriculum choices. If you are a hands-on type teacher who is teaching your kids yourself from materials you gathered, and/or personal knowledge, you can get away much cheaper than I did.
I realize I never really answered the title question, Why are some Curriculum so expensive? Check back as we discover the answer to this question.
Read Homeschooling For Free
How much does it cost to homeschool Part One