I'm just curious if you do...do you find it difficult to balance everything? I have worked from home for almost 2 years now, and HS K and now 1st grade, and am still having a tough time balancing life. The working at home is ideal and great, of course, it's the HS that I feel suffers sometimes. I'm HSing in blocks of time and using T4L, so I know our LA/Math basics are covered. I always am going back and forth on what I want to do and then what actually gets done, if ya KWIM...:shock: Hence, "Spinning" lol! Anybody else doing this? What works for you? Thanks!
I was wondering the same thing...I was asked if I might be interested in working full time. right now I work part time on weekends only but the full time would be 4 days a week two shifts of 3p-11p and then two of 9a-9p I dont know if I could do it But it would help the family out.....its been a delimma for a few days in my head. Sorry not much help but anxious to see what others say
I tried working for about a month, after being home for nine months, and I just could not do it. The HSing was really suffering and I was always tired and crabby. The pocket book is really feeling me not working but we're hanging in there. DH and I have talked about putting the kids back in PS but we don't want to. If there is a trick to being to able mix working and HSing I would love to know what it is. I have often wished I could work from home but that sounds tough too.
I kind of know what you are going through. You are probably getting more done than you realize! I've basically worked from home and worked at home since our kids were born. My kids are a bit older than yours, but I remember those K/1st grade years. My problem is I felt like I had so much to do, and did not have an organized way to handle it. Now what I do is write down almost everything I have to do that day. I have categories such as Devotions, Personal Care, Housework, Homeschooling, Ministry, Meals and Family, Training, and Other. Now that my kids are older, they do alot of independent work but still need guidance and supervision in their schooling. I would say, pick your two or three subjects that you think are most vital (my picks for this semester are math, language arts, and Bible) and aim to get those done each day. I hope this helps, if not, I hope you are encouraged that I'm thinking of you and praying for you!
I don't work, but think that what Karen (prov356) said is a good idea. I don't do every subject everyday, so don't feel that you have to! We are trying some unit studies right now, but usually I only do 2 or 3 subjects a day plus one extra like art, p.e. or music. Since your kids are so close in age do thier science and social studies together. Health, art, music and p.e. could be combined as well.
I work 3 days a week and we do different subjects on different days. My days off we focus on language and history and on my work days we focus on math and a little science, always writing everyday we do school, even if its a small amt of writing. I enjoy working, have to because Im single but I would still work anyways. and I have a great support system, my sister ROCKS!
I work full time and hs 2 kids I work 3 days a week but almost 13 hour shifts usually ends up around 13-and I have a 45 min drive each way also. It does take up alot of time and I wish I didnt work, but at this time in our lives I have to for us to make ends meet. SO I hm 3 days a week year around this allows us to make the required 180 days per year and it also allows for the kids not to forget so much since we hm year around, I dont have to review in the fall everything they forgot all summer. It doesnt give me much a break but it is worth It works for us and we do take breaks if we really need it.
I work part time from home (I teach college classes online) and before that I just taught classes at night so I was home with the kids all day. I found time to do all my extra work (grading, etc) during naps and at night on days I didn't teach. Now I just work it in on my schedule, but I do work almost every day. I usually check my email after I get the kids started, then I get online after bedtime for a few hours. It makes for a busy day, but we wouldn't make it financially otherwise. Plus, I love homeschooling and I love teaching classes, so it is not too much for me.
I work part-time as our church secretary, but am allowed to bring my kids in to work with me. The ladies call them the "church mice" since the boys know the church inside and out. They help the sewing ladies and different groups doing projects around the church. Daily, the boys bring in their "book-work"- spelling lists, journals, math worksheets, piano lessons, reading assignments, etc and work on those while I do my stuff. Then the afternoon we do our computer work, or field trips or hands-on activities after lunch at home. I think this is my fourth Christmas season, and I scheduled in four-day school weeks because I am much busier at work. The income pays for sports, curriculum and extras though- plus we are on-hand for the boys to learn service projects and working with others. With all of that said though- there are some days when we take "mental health" days from all of it and just do what sounds fun or needs doing! A day of catching up on housework can lighten the "load" of the whole week!! MT3
MT3, I have staff meetings at church on Tuesday mornings. I give the kids their work list, and they do it in a Sunday School room. Rachael knows they can take a short break about 10:00 for snack, but I expect them to show me what exactly they have accomplished on their own. Actually, I think it's very good for them to have that time to do things independently. The two midwives that delivered Phillip had a schoolroom at their clinic. I was very jelous when I saw it! Their receptionist was the sister of one of them, and she would also help with their schoolwork. She often did the "fun" art projects with the kids.
I also work - full time night duty, which means 4 x 10 hour shifts each week. I have been doing this plus hs for about 2 1/2 years now It does get tiring, but it can be done. We school mon-fri, usually I work thursday night through Sunday night. So that means no sleep thursdays , sleep on fridays. On fridays dd works independently from a list I give her. Until recently, ds was doing that too, but he has not been doing his work so that caused stress for everyone :x. for the last 2 weeks we have done school with ds when I get up friday afternoon - 3 pm til bedtime! strangely, this s working really well. Mondays they do independent work while i sleep about 3-4 hours, then we do the harder stuff together. I agree with what someone else said - the kids are learning independence and self control, time management and accountability on the days they work independently. Skills that will serve them forever. I would cut back my hours if I could, but financially we need it. The house is often messy. dh helps around the house some and cooks about half the week. And the kids have learned how to use the washing machine - so if they have no clothes left, they know how to fix that I guess we all work together to make this thing work. And it does help that the kids want this as much as we do.
I work from home as a freelance writer. My one constant "gig" is a weekly parenting column I write for our local newspaper. My kids always provide me with PLENTY of material, but sometimes it's a real challenge meeting my deadline each week. I need quiet time alone to write well, and as all of you know, that's a rarity when one homeschools! I get other projects occasionally, and would really like to do more...because I love it, and we could seriously use the money. But it's hard to juggle it all. Besides homeschooling, I also help care for my 85 year old grandmother who lives alone. Thankfully, she's just across the street, but still...over the course of a day, I'm usually over there for a couple of hours even though it's broken up into smaller visits. In some ways, it really is like another part-time job. I do worry that the kids get the short end of the stick sometimes, especially when I'm fighting to meet a deadline. My dream is that as they get older, they will work more independently, and I can work during that time as well. But...we're hoping to have another baby before I get much older, and if I do manage to get pregnant, that'll throw a whole 'nother wrench in the works! (But a very welcome wrench!)
Thanks for all the ideas on this! I find I come up with a schedule only for it to blown...like this week. I have so much extra 'work' yesterday and today, and I doubt we will get much done on the HSing front! (I'm typing this before I get started working. Thank God Ratatouille came out yesterday--it will buy me some more time!) It's also nice to know I'm not the only one trying to balance all this out. This forum is where I usually take my virtual coffee breaks!
Work/HS Hi, I'm new to the forum, and saw this thread. I work from home as a medical transcriptionist/manager full time and I homeschool my two boys 9 and 12. We are on our second year of hsing. I work for a small company and the owner also homeschools her two kids age 12 and 7. I have a set schedule for school each day and the boys need to be up, dressed, have eaten breakfast, brushed teeth, etc before they show up for school. This way, we are not hsing in pajamas everyday. I am in charge of my schedule which has its good points and bad because sometimes there are work demands that pop up during school time. I truly am blessed to be able to work and hs. Linda I
Is it bad to homeschool in your pajamas everyday? :lol: I wish someone had told me! Just kidding! I work on the weekends a day or two a month -at a rehab. I'm an Occupational Therapy Asst. But I also do a home-based business that I can do mostly on the weekday evenings. As in everything, I think you have to find your own balance, and what works for you and your family. We all can do what we HAVE to do - -even if it's not always what we WANT to do! We are all doing this homeschool thing for our children - so I try to keep that in mind - and try to keep everything in perspective. Also, I don't know if you are familiar with the book "Managers of Their Homes" but it has helped us a great deal. Before reading the book and putting their scheduling into practice - - I thought making a "schedule" would be too rigid, but it has actually given us more "free" time than I realized we had. Check it out!
Add me to the list of those who work and hs. I cut my hours back at work just before ds2 was born to spend more time at home with the kids. Right now I work 3 days/week (Mon-Tues-Wed) from 7-4:30. We just hs on my days off. DH is off for the winter right now (seasonal worker) so he does review on the days I work, simple stuff like listening to ds read, asking him to spell words, etc. I'm done work in another 4 weeks for this baby, then have a year off for maternity leave. Things seem to be heading in the direction that I'll be able to SAH full time instead of going back to work afterwards. If something changed, though, and I had to work another year part-time, I don't feel our hs would suffer for it. We don't have a minimum number of school days we have to stick to, so a 4 day week is plenty. Plus I don't plan on taking a weeks-long summer break.
I work at home doing daycare. Right now, I have 4 "extras" ranging in age from 18 months to 5years. It is a lot of work, and most nights I crawl into bed exhausted. Slowly working at being more consistent with my kids doing their share of the housework. Hoping to find a different way to supplement the income, but for now I will survive. I can say that my dd is developing excellent caretaking skills and becoming quite adept at reading outloud to little ones! She is also finding out how to concentrate with oodles of distractions around her.
The first step is to track your week. I've got a weekly tracking form on www.hsiz.org or you can make your own. Use squiggle lines to block out times that you are at the grocery store or whatever. Now...after tracking the week look and see what are you doing as a "normal" part of the day and when can you had blank time. Blank time is where you schedule things that need to be done. Grocery shopping, school work, planning, whatever. It makes it a little easier to have something realistic to follow vs. trying to follow someone elses schedule. lol I teach class 4 times a week - each class is 2 hours and I probably have an extra hour per class of prep & clean up time. So...about 12 hours a week that I am working. It's fun work and I really like it. On top of that I do my support group for new homeschoolers which is probably about 5-6 hours a month and that is a blessing in disguise because it keeps me fresh and on top of my life and I know when things get out of tilt what I need to do to fix it. I recently hired a gal to come clean once a month to get me "caught up". I spot clean all the time but...by the time I get back around...it is dirty AGAIN. lol So...for $60 she'll come and catch me up. Friday was the first time she came so...I spent about 2 hours of the time she was cleaning and helped the boys get their rooms cleaned up of toys. Then I got a few things done, had lunch and took the boys to ice skating lessons. Came home and vola! clean house. So...you just have to prioritize and balance what you've got on your plate. Me? Feels like the Hungry Man size right now. ROFL BALANCE!!!
