What do you think of part-time work for older kids?

Discussion in 'Homeschooling' started by CrazyMom, Jul 18, 2014.

  1. CrazyMom

    CrazyMom Banned

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    Hubby and I discussed this a lot while Elle was in highschool.

    Wanted to get some other perspectives on what ya'll have done with your own kids?

    Hubby and I both had jobs as teenagers. Working can be a serious education, both about the value of money and how employment works in the real world.

    After a lot of back and forth, we decided not to let Elle work during the school year. She could take weekend babysitting, lawn mowing, etc, when it didn't interfere with her school work, but we decided that her most important job was being a student during the school year.

    I will give her points for ingenuity...she started buying things at thrift stores and garage sales and re-selling them on Ebay. Made quite a bit of money doing this in her spare time.

    This summer, Elle is working as an undergraduate research assistant. She works three days a week. Lots of field work. The project she's working on currently involves this certain legume plant and micro-rhizobial bacteria. She does all sorts of weird stuff...from planting things in a greenhouse, to collecting plant samples on eight mile hikes...to making gel plates for electrophoresis DNA testing. She's really loving it! Not exactly the human genome...but it gets her feet wet in a lab.

    What have you guys done about work with your older kids? Aye nor Nay? Valuable, or a distraction from priorities?
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2014
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  3. CrazyMom

    CrazyMom Banned

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    One of Elle's best friends, and my newphew do corn detassling during the summer. Seems like a VERY difficult job. I give kids who do that serious credit for their grit and tenacity. I did a lot of hay work when I was a kid...very grueling work, but it builds character. (at least that's what they told us...lol!)

    I never flipped hamburgers as a kid, but I did work in an ice cream shop...which is the next best thing. LOL. Got a case of "scoopers arm" where I actually injured my wrist scooping old fashioned ice cream. Also had a mentally ill man rob the place with a fake gun. He wanted all the money and a diabetic vanilla icecream cone. I gave it to him and ducked out the back up to my boss's apartment above the store. Police caught up with him sitting at the playground with his fake gun and bag of money on a picnic table, eating his cone.

    Who says nothing interesting happens at work? LOL.

    (guy wasn't really dangerous. He had schizophrenia, but had never been violent toward anyone, and loved watching crime dramas. He lived at a private adult foster care home a couple blocks from the ice cream shop. Apparently, he was usually reliable to stay home....but a change in his meds had brought about some unpredictable behavior. Money was returned and no one pressed charges. His caretakers brough him around later, and he apoligized to everyone. Scary in the moment, though! Wow!)
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2014
  4. 2littleboys

    2littleboys Moderator

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    I had to work when I was a kid. My first job was at an assembly line at a factory. There was no A/C and no lunch break (20 minute paid snack/smoke/bathroom/phone/whatever break was all we had in 8 hours, and only because the law required it). I LOVED that job quite honestly.

    When school started, I was laid off, so I got a job at McDonald's. Through the rest of high school and all of college, I worked there... 6 years total... working up to management in the end, but never making more than $4.50/hr. Again, I LOVED that job. There were parts of it that were horrible, of course, but of all the "real" jobs I've had in my life, I think I enjoyed those two "not real" high school jobs the most.

    My husband didn't have to work as a kid. He worked a couple of weeks in fast food just to say he'd done it, but that's it. We both agree that having our kids work in a fast food joint (or other bottom of the food chain type of job) will be a great learning experience for them.

    We decided three things before having kids (before getting married, even) : (1) If they ever ask for a book, we'll buy it. Anything else we'll take under consideration. (2) They'll get a job when they're old enough to drive. (3) I'll teach them about God, and he'll teach them about atheism/evolution, and when they're of decision-making age, we'll let them decide which path to take without forcing either view down their throats.
     
  5. Danielle

    Danielle New Member

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    I had to work as a teenager. I think it helps build character and people skills. You know...because homeschoolers are SO unsocialized! :roll:

    Seriously, though. Our girls are a ways away from that decision, and it will depend on the child's maturity level and actual job opportunity, but I'm not opposed to it at all.
     
  6. featherhead

    featherhead Member

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    My siblings and I all delivered newspapers. I got my first paper route when I was 9. I think it was a good learning experience and hope my kids can do the same when they are old enough.
     
  7. CrazyMom

    CrazyMom Banned

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    2littleboys...I think your three rules are on target. Good communication about child rearing before marriage! Wish more couples had the foresight.
     
  8. Lindina

    Lindina Active Member

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    Many boys in this area have worked summers doing farm work, and many of them have driven farm implements from one field to another over-the-roads long before they were old enough to drive cars. Others have worked at the rice dryers in summer. Many others grew up crawfishing before/after school during high school. Or mowng lawns. There's not much job opportunity for girls here besides babysitting.

    I never worked as a teen, but my DH did. Neither of our kids did, either. I think it's a great idea, but hard to implement here.
     
  9. DizneeTeachR

    DizneeTeachR Member

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    During school year until I graduated I did a lot of babysitting. After I graduated I worked in a factory & my friend was a manager at a small store so I would work there during the week a few times. I also worked at factory on weekends or days off from college. After getting my 90 credits I would substitute teach.

    My cousins since they were 14-15 would work for a farmer..doing hay & other jobs at farm in the summers.
     
  10. Maybe

    Maybe New Member

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    My children work. But it all has depended on the child and the goals. My daughter was taking bunch of AP tests and was in 5 honor societies, 2 orchestras, and doing tons of volunteer work. So she did not work. She started working this summer. My son never worked in high school, but he should have. He did so little in his senior year, working would have been a better use of time.
     
  11. lovetoteach

    lovetoteach New Member

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    I grew up having no work experience until after my bachelors degree and I know it was so difficult for me to find a job afterwards. I do believe that working while studying, is a great experience and makes you more employable. But I agree with you that it is a better idea to let the work happen at weekends and days off from schooling. And during holidays.
     
  12. heatherp

    heatherp New Member

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    I worked as a teenager and I feel like the skills I gained from that experience almost out weigh the lessons I learned in high school. Our daughters will definitely work when they are old enough. I think that a job teaches responsibility in a way that school cannot. It is also a great lesson in money management and working for the things that you want. I do however agree that this should be decided on a child by child basis. As we all know what works for my family might not work for yours!!!
     
  13. my3legacies

    my3legacies Member

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    I have been working since I was 15 (first job was at a pizza place), not counting babysitting for ENTIRE weekends twice a month from age 12 - 18 yrs. I loved every minute of it and I still had decent grades. But my boys have no desire to give up anything about child hood just yet. They don't even care about driving. They are 13 and 15.
     
  14. Cornish Steve

    Cornish Steve Active Member

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    I find that admirable (although, of course, I would not group evolution with atheism). For me, it was very important that our children know and understand other beliefs. They're going to face them at some point in life, so it's short-sighted to shield them at home.

    The North won the Civil War in large part because they unexpectedly came across the battle plans of the South. In the same way, we benefit from learning the "battle plans" of others. Even better, we may learn that, in some areas, they are right and we are wrong. Different perspectives can shed new light even on our own faith, and that is very valuable.
     
  15. CrazyMom

    CrazyMom Banned

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    Agreed Steve! :)
     

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