If I homeschool I know I can't be the only parent that would be working and home schooling. Can anyone give me advice as to how they do both. What shift do you work? what do you do with the kids while you are at work if you both work the same shift and the kids aren't old enough to stay home alone? Home schooling is becoming more and more the option I want to take, even if it means SO and I split up, because ultimately my daughter's education is the most important thing(she's from a previous marriage). I've been a single parent before and I have family that will help me in any way they possibly can but I am currently unemployed but I know that it won't last forever and eventually I will have another job so I'm thinking big picture here and just wondering how others do it. Thanks so much
I work and hs its do-able but you have to be extremely organized. I drive a school bus so my hours are 6am to 9am then 1:30pm -4:30pm. My kids must be ready to school by 9 NO EXCEPTIONS. Its a much smoother day if they do the subjects that are easy for them while I am not home. Before my children could be home alone my mom would come over in the morning. Now I just let them sleep and then in the afternoon she usually comes over when I leave and either takes them to the movies, lets them go on play dates, or they do their favorite shopping. Everyday before they leave for their "free" time they have to do the 20 minute tidy. Which means they spend 20 minutes picking up the house. On Saturday we all do the chores together before they can go and play. It only takes a hour if we all pitch in. Also when choosing a curricula we choose ones that I can get a lot of help with. For example my children love BJU so I bought the DVD's to go with it. If I don't have time to teach the class then the kids can watch the DVD. Certain things we save for after dinner, dissections and other science projects.
I work a full time job and homeschool. I am blessed to work in a day care that allows me to bring my 7 year old with me. He does his hand writing and other things he can do alone during the time I am teaching my preschoolers and then during nap time we do our lessons in math, phonics, language and history/science. He reads out of his readers during the day as well and we reread once we are home. He also reads simple books to the kids after their naps. It is very doable, but you must be organized and your child must be on a strict secudule!
I know someone who is working and HS and she has an older sibling who helps out with "watching" the younger one. She makes a daily list (which she shared) to make the curriculum self paced. (She is using MBTP and the child can read by himself.)
I just wanted to encourage you and tell you to definitely try balancing both. I can't offer any great advice for you, because I homeschool a 17 year old that does a lot on his own. However, I do homeschool on top of working full time. I come home, we eat supper, and then we spend a 1-2 hours working together. He does about 1-2 hours on his own during the day while I'm gone. Of course, this all varies one way or the other depending on "life" and whatever it is that he is working on, but that's our general game plan.
I have been struggling with the idea that my kids have to do so much without me. But I guess its better than being in school.
One way I cope is by trying to get enough sleep. Erik feeds about every three hours through the night at the moment so I try to go to bed at 7-8pm and get up at 4-5am so I can get stuff done before the girls wake at 7am. I'm only working 24 hours per week but I'll be starting part time study this November.
I work part time, 8-24 hours per week. My shifts and days vary, which makes it tough to schedule anything. My kids go to a home daycare on days I work and their babysitter is awesome! I just send their stuff along with what their assignments are and she makes sure they get their work done. It's tough, as in it would be much easier on me if I were a stay at home mom full-time, but it's what we do and we make it work!
I work full time and homeschooling an only child. He is 17 so that makes a lot of things easy. He was 12 when we started. It is hard, but doable. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out, but that is mostly because I am not as organized as I need to be. This year I vow to be more organized.... (lol).
I work 18-24 hours per week and homeschool my dd who is 12. My 21 year old ds is living with us right now and is currently out of work. He has been attending night classes so he is home during the day. On the days that I work, I leave a list of assignments for my dd to work on. Most of the time it's the simpler, easier tasks. We tackle the more time consuming/difficult things when I am home. It's difficult sometimes because many days the work isn't completed when I get home. I am hoping that this turns around and becomes a way for dd to learn to be more independent.
