Another thought I had was to ask other homeschoolers in our parish. I know of a few good orthodox Catholics who are doing it with their kids. I don’t know how they’d feel about teaching others’ kids, but perhaps they’d be interested in a supplemental income that would also be less than a Catholic school tuition. Is such a thing common, or do homeschoolers nearly always teach only their own kids?
Homeschoolers generally teach their own, but get together in support groups or clubs, for a variety of things, from play days to science projects to Mass. A lot depends on the state in question, as well. It could be done in Illinois and other states where home ed. is considered a non-registered private school. It might not work in states with tighter regulation. Each state is different.
What might work better for you (and your wife) is what’s known as a co-op school with an emaphasis on Catholic. Again, it depends on how the law is written.
You’ll have to get together with other families and determine the parameters, if there is not a co-op in your local area. A co-op is different from a homeschool support group in that, rather than each parent teaching their own and getting emotional and possible academic support from the group, the co-op either hires a couple certified teachers, or divides up the teaching responsibilities by grade or by subject. Co-ops also usually, but not always, rent space somewhere to conduct classes. The difference between a co-op and a school is that it is almost entirely parentally run and governed. There usually is no principal, but a board is elected from among the parents. Fees are determined after the budget is drawn, usually by dividing by the number of children OR the number of families involved. Students are generally self-paced, but rely on their parents and the curricula to determine place and pace.
It is not as easy as home education, because it requires more planning, more supervision, more accountability to the rest of the members of the co-op; and yet it offers more flexibility than the parish school.
As for how to afford “regular” Catholic education, a lot of schools have gift certificate purchases (Scrip, Manna), Market Day, candy and other sales; time paid to the school as tuition; in-home business, eBay business; savings plans to put away a year’s tuition in advance; paying for Catholic high school by agreement where a bond is purchased at so much per month, with no increase in the price, when the child in question is small.
The best way is stewardship programs, so cost is minimal or even free. Getting people to accept stewardship in some areas is rough, because it isn’t properly explained, or people want to keep onthe way they have because “we’ve always done it that way”.
—KCT
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