lisaha wrote:Julie, you are so awesome! Just so wonderfully helpful, what a blessing for those of us new here and looking around!
Do you think it's possible to do LHFHG (K and 2nd) and Preparing (4) with a $300 budget? I'm sure if I went over a bit, it's ok, but I need to follow my husband and although he hasn't given the budget for next year, last year he said $100 per child, he was ok with us going over last year so I wouldn't have to plan.
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Oh thanks, I'm glad to be of help if I can.
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Well, homeschooling 3 dc is what I'm doing too, and I also have a dh who is very budget-conscious. I will say that each year as the dc have grown, we have talked about the need for our budget for homeschooling to grow. As they get older, their schooling just gets more rigorous, and they need more things than they did early on. I think you could be close to $300, but I'll let you decide what things you need/want by putting them in an order for you. For LHFHG, you'd need...
*Economy Package ($78.83)
*The World God Made ($9.45 or just do the science experiments)
*Math ($22)
*A phonics program (The Reading Lesson $27.95)
*A Handwriting program (Italic $8.45)
NOTE: You can sub in your own phonics, math, or handwriting if you want, but these are excellent choices that are planned in the LHFHG manual, and they are quite economical.
For PHFHG, I think you'd need...
*Economy Package ($114.85)
*Either the Science Economy Add-on or your own science ($72.90)
*Either "Drawn into the Heart of Reading Level 2/3" or your own reading ($75.12)
*Either "R & S English 3 ($14.95) or your own grammar
*Either Singapore Math ($36) or your own math
The above things would give your child a very well-rounded day that includes the skills needed for this age level. But, you could just get the economy package too. For example, you could try to get the science books from your library, and you'd be able to do all of the experiments regardless of whether you had the books or not. You could just have your child reading, and there are probably less expensive maths too. It just depends on what you and your dh decide. You CAN do HOD with just the economy package as long as you have something for LA and math too. Extras you could consider trying to get from the library would be the Storytime books and the Deluxe History Package for the Newly Independent Reader. It may be helpful to show your husband the HOD catalog and explain what each package does so he can better determine what to spend funds on and how much to allocate for it. I know it's tough to decide, but I know for my dh it was all just about numbers until I showed him what we were spending our money on and how it would educate our dc. That really helped us better decide what to budget for homeschooling over time. HTH - I've prayed for you as you talk through this with your dh!
In Christ,
Julie