Four real budgets, per child per year
These are the shapes we see most often. Prices are US dollars in 2026; the proportions hold in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand with local prices.
| Line | Free | Lean | Typical | Full-service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | $0 (Khan, Easy Peasy, TGTB PDFs, library) | $150–$300 (a phonics book, Math Mammoth PDFs, used books) | $400–$900 (a math program, a language arts program, a history or science spine) | $1,500–$3,500 (accredited program or boxed all-in-one with online classes) |
| Supplies and printing | $20–$50 | $50–$100 | $100–$200 | $200–$400 |
| Planning and materials tools | $0 | $0–$49 (Kuraplan family plan) | $49–$120 (Kuraplan plus a planner app) | $120–$300 |
| Activities, co-ops, classes | $0–$100 (park days, library programs) | $100–$400 (one sport or music) | $500–$1,500 (co-op, sport, music lessons) | $1,500–$3,000 (co-op, classes, tutoring, camps) |
| Field trips and memberships | $0–$50 | $50–$150 | $150–$400 | $400–$800 |
| Testing and evaluation (where required) | $0 | $0–$40 (a mail-in test) | $40–$150 (test or evaluator) | $150–$400 (evaluator, exam entries) |
| Total per child | $20–$200 | $350–$1,000 | $1,200–$3,300 | $3,900–$8,400 |
Free is a real budget, not a thought experiment: Khan Academy for math, Easy Peasy or The Good and the Beautiful PDFs for language arts, the library for everything else, park days for community. Thousands of families run it. Lean adds a proper phonics book, cheap PDF math and one activity. Typical is what most families with one or two children settle into by year two. Full-service is an accredited program or a boxed all-in-one plus a co-op and lessons, which is still a fraction of private school.
What actually drives the cost
- Boxed all-in-one curricula. Sonlight, BookShark, Abeka and Oak Meadow packages run $500–$900 a year because the books are in the box. Buying the same books used, or from the library, cuts it by two-thirds.
- Online programs and subscriptions. Time4Learning, Power Homeschool, Miacademy and Teaching Textbooks are $20–$35 a month each. Two subscriptions for two children is $1,000 a year. Subscriptions feel cheap and add up.
- Accreditation and teachers. Bridgeway, Oak Meadow enrollment and similar cost $1,500–$3,500 because a person grades and records. Most families do not need it until high school, if then.
- Activities. Sport, music, co-op fees, classes. This is the line that grows every year and the one that most resembles what school would have provided free.
- Number of children. Consumable workbooks and subscriptions scale per child; books, planners and family tools do not. This is why families with three children lean toward reusable curricula and flat-rate tools.
The hidden costs
Income. The largest cost of homeschooling for most families is a parent working less. It dwarfs curriculum and it is the number to think hardest about. Unfinished curriculum. Every experienced family has a shelf of programs bought in August and abandoned in October; budget for one mistake a year and buy used where you can. Printing. PDF curricula are cheap until you print 800 pages; a laser printer pays for itself in a year. Exams. Private-candidate GCSE entries in the UK are £100–£300 per subject; AP exams are about $100 each. Time. Planning, printing and record-keeping take hours a week that have a value, which is why planning tools are worth what they cost.
Twelve ways to spend less without teaching less
- Use the library as your history, science and literature spine. A library card is the single highest-value homeschool asset.
- Buy PDF math (Math Mammoth) and print, or use Khan Academy free.
- Buy one phonics book (OPGTR, $30) instead of a $200 kit, unless your child struggles.
- Choose reusable programs (Story of the World, Singapore textbooks, Real Science Odyssey) over consumable workbooks when you have more than one child.
- Buy used at co-op curriculum sales, Homeschool Classifieds and Facebook groups, and sell on when done.
- Skip the boxed all-in-one after year one; assemble your own.
- Use one flat-rate planning tool for the whole family rather than per-child subscriptions. Kuraplan is $49 a year for all your children.
- Print free templates for planning and records rather than buying planners. Ours are here.
- Share activities: co-op classes taught by parents cost a fraction of private lessons.
- Use free museum days, state park programs and library events for field trips.
- Claim every credit, ESA and allowance you are eligible for (see below).
- Do not buy in August. Wait until October, when you know what your child actually needs.
Where you get money back
United States: Arizona's ESA (about $7,000–$8,000 per student), Florida's PEP (about $8,000), Alabama's CHOOSE Act (about $2,000 per homeschooled child), Oklahoma's $1,000 refundable tax credit, Ohio's $250 credit, Illinois's education expense credit, Indiana's $1,000 deduction, and Texas's new education freedom accounts from 2026–27. Most other states offer nothing for homeschoolers, though charter homeschool programs in California and ALE programs in Washington fund enrolled families. Details in our tax credits and grants guide.
Canada: Alberta pays about $928 per notified student for 2026–27; some Saskatchewan divisions fund resources; British Columbia's enrolled distributed-learning option provides a resource allowance. New Zealand: the supervision allowance is $796 a year for the first child, $677 for the second, $557 for the third and $398 after that. UK, Australia and Ireland: no direct funding, though Australian distance education and UK council exam-fee help exist in places. See the homeschool hub for the guide to your country.