Homeschoolers are Consumers, Too

For elementary grades, I recommend going retro- paper, pencils, books. Kids need to develop so many core skills first- fine motor skills, penmanship, etc... I would also be concerned about eye strain from too much screen time during those formative years. 

Tablets are great, and every time I go in Best Buy or Verizon, the reps have to go behind me and sop up drool. But for the money, I'd go with small laptops, especially since so many great programs and educational videos are on DVD. Netbooks are good, and we have one, but they lack a DVD drive, and sometimes ours is a bit slow loading pages or streaming. In any case, in our technological age, it isn't a bad thing to incorporate techy solutions to educational problems. 

Another option, especially if you have kids in the same age range, is to get something like Google TV or an Xbox Live account, so you can search the web, do online programs and games, and stream content on your TV. This works great for us, since home education is a family affair. Even our youngest gathers so much from being part of what the older ones are studying, and my dh and I love science and history, so it never feels like 'school'- it feels much more like family fun.

We don't use 'grade levels' in elementary and middle school years. Most content from year to year is repetitive anyway. I started my kids off in 'first grade' with Saxon 5/4. It worked fine. Then they went straight to '7th grade' math (Math Mammoth), and from there it's Algebra 1 (Foerster's) and Consumer Math (we use Dave Ramsey and a few things from Crown). 

Ditto grammar- you can actually start with a comprehensive middle school grammar resource, or go with something tried and true like Jensen's Grammar and use a scope and sequence to introduce chapters/concepts in the order they would be taught in school. Buying a new grammar resource every year is just not necessary. 

The bottom line is that you can use solid, quality materials without spending big bucks. 

I agree with Bro. Emmerik wholeheartedly- outline your goals first, then look at methods, then look at curriculum and other resources.

As far as cost-effective goes, I have challenged myself a couple of times over the years to homeschool for 'free'. That is, I used the library and the internet, bought paper and pencils, etc... so technically it wasn't free free, but we'd have internet anyway, so I don't count internet fees as an education expense. I was a bit exhausted by the end of the year, creating assignments, lesson plans, tests and such like, as well as corralling and requesting books from the library and bookmarking websites, but it taught me so much about how to put a lesson together, and gave me a lot of confidence about my role as my children's primary teacher. 

A couple of posts at my blog may be helpful- Homeschool Links for March 2012- Attention Newbies, and One Size Fits All... Doesn't.

The reason that none of us are experts is that for home education to be a successful option, it must be tailored to fit the particular family. Many HSers start out attempting to re-create a traditional school classroom in their home. It's what they know, and it's been SOP for their entire lifetime. They will require their kids to sit at desks, they lecture or have the kids watch lectures on video/DVD, and are heavily text/workbook dependent.

This approach, in my experience, almost always guarantees burn-out. The classroom method is designed to organize and impart information to a large number of kids at the same level. Most homes have a few kids (few is any number less than the Duggars, ha ha) working at different levels. The classroom is geared toward achieving an average/acceptable level of proficiency, not mastery. Most homeschoolers will not advance their children until they have mastered the skill or concept. What inevitably seems to happen is that parents who push their kids into 'grade levels' and moving forward so they aren't 'behind' end up weary and frustrated. You waste time and money, and what's worse, you'll have kids thinking learning is unpleasant if not miserable. 

That is why knowing your goals and philosophy of education beforehand is so valuable. What does educational success really mean to you? Every parent should ask themselves that question before choosing how/where their child should be educated. After taking the particular needs and interests of your children and family into account, that question will answer nearly all your other questions. 

Chip- I think everyone I've ever talked to has a love/hate relationship with Saxon. A much better math curriculum IMO is Math Mammoth, which just made Cathy Duffy's Top 101 Picks, so it isn't just my opinion. And the price for MM is fabulous. Foerster's is considered by many as the best college-prep math curriculum available, and is often used in high schools for Honors math. 

Bro. Miller- using Robinson's or A2 is a great option. Our homeschooling 'method' is very eclectic, and while we don't use their curriculum, I'd say that we use the idea behind their curriculum.  There is enough freedom in their approach that most parents stick with it and just make adjustments as they go along. But trying and ditching isn't a bad idea. Kids can learn from their parents how to make these kinds of decisions, and how to not let pride push you into using something that doesn't work like you thought it would just because you paid money for it. 

While homeschooling 4 kids, I've not spent more than $300 in any one year, and that includes things like subscriptions to websites and magazines. I've purchased (or been given) good quality, non-consummable core curriculum, and use the library or books that I've found/bought over the years for the rest.

A final word- Never drive by a garage sale, Goodwill, or discount/used bookstore without taking a moment to look for buried treasure. ;)