Is Homeschooling Only for the Rich?

I was ironing clothes when I took a short break to stretch and look at my phone. There I saw on one of the homeschool FB groups I am part of was a question: Is homeschooling only for the rich?

Initial Perceptions

Quite frankly, that was how I initially thought so as well. When I attended my first homeschool conference back in 2014, I felt that the crowd in the room did seem like they were from the upper class of the society. You know that feeling na, wait, parang asa hallway ako ng mamahaling mall at di sa department store ng SM. Hala, inglisan sila! Yung mga bata walang nagtatagalog. Kami lang ata sa table ko ang nagtatagalog. Hahaha!

The items being sold in the exhibits that day were not cheap, but I was able to score some that were reasonably sold.

And then you read or heard from other homeschoolers that they went out of the country for a field trip, or they homeschooled so that they can travel anytime. Or the learning materials that they have that cost thousands of pesos.

Yes, akala ko pangmayaman lang.

But that perception changed along the way.

Financial status as Reason for homeschooling

When we decided to homeschool our first born, he was 3 years old. Our main reason for homeschooling him then was because we wanted to be in-charge of developing his character. 

A year after, I wanted to continue homeschooling because I was to give birth to Toddler Z. I didn't want to shell out at least 80k for tuition at a preschool when we needed funds for my CS procedure.

Imagine, paying for tuition, pamasahe, baon, projects, sobrang magastos. Eh we can learn naman at home. Wala pa pagod sa paglabas labas.

Fast forward to 2018, we are still homeschooling for many reasons. Still, I don't want to shell out that much money for tuition fees. I reckoned we can use that money (for tuition) to buy learning materials instead, or enroll in a music class, or save up for a trip with the kids.

Yes, kuripot ako. And for a good reason. Because I knew in my heart that I was called to homeschool.

Homeschooling within the budget

Is homeschooling only for the rich? No. Because you have the ability to adjust your expenses according to your budget. Ikaw ang may hawak ng edukasyon ng anak mo. You can be a frugal homeschooler or be a financially-blessed homeschooler who can pay and buy all those fancy learning materials and enrichment activities. You choose.

As for us, we choose to be frugal. We are a one-income family and we need to come up with ways to make things work.

On another note, I shared in another blog post some tips in homeschooling without breaking the bank. :)