How do you work if you homeschool?

amother

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 5:35 am

homeschooling? about it for my kids, but how do you work to pay the bills? I have a 9 year old, a 7 year old, a 4 year old and an almost 3 month old.

amother

Heather

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 5:40 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

homeschooling? about it for my kids, but how do you work to pay the bills? I have a 9 year old, a 7 year old, a 4 year old and an almost 3 month old.

Homeschooling IS work.
If you are have another job, who do your expect to teach your children?!

amother

Seablue

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 5:52 am

amother [ Heather ] wrote:

Homeschooling IS work.
If you are have another job, who do your expect to teach your children?!

I believe OP means "work" in the sense of a job that brings in money.

OP, not possible unless you work remote/online and can work at night

amother

Heather

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 5:57 am

amother [ Seablue ] wrote:

I believe OP means "work" in the sense of a job that brings in money.

OP, not possible unless you work remote/online and can work at night

I don't see how that's possible either.
When will basic cooking/ housework get done?

Elfrida

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 6:41 am

Calculate what you would have paid in tuition and consider that your 'salary'.

The only way you cam really earn money at the same time would be to set up a home schooling group and have a part time job while one of the other parents is in charge.

ora_43

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 7:03 am

In my life, I've only heard of one couple where both parents worked something close to full-time while homeschooling. They did switch shifts, one of them worked like 7am-3pm and the other, 3pm-11pm. Which obviously presents its own set of problems.

In general by far the most common arrangement I see is that one parent works and the other is homeschooling full-time or next-to-full-time. I mean, would you send your kid to a class with a teacher who is trying to run a side gig while teaching?

But some do manage to work part-time, usually in the kind of job where the hours are very flexible and most work can be done from home (blogging, crafts, tutoring, content writing, etc).

Mostly people manage to live very very cheaply. Not paying tuition is a good start. One family lived on a boat for a while, another moved to a 3rd-world country for several months... Those are the extreme cases, just sharing because I thought it was interesting how they managed to save money and give their kids a unique experience at the same time. A more common way to save is living way out in the middle of nowhere where housing is cheap.

Not a homeschooler, ftr, I just know some.

amother

Tangerine

Mon, Aug 09 2021, 9:40 am

I think it depends on what you mean by homeschool and the child's age. My daughter is 13, going into 8th grade. As of right now, we don't have a school for her for next year. In three weeks, if nothing suddenly changes, my daughter is homeschooling. What this means for us is that on the two days a week that I work from home, my daughter will do her online programs in the house with me checking in on her. For the three days a week I'm in the office, she will either come with me and work from a intern's station or she'll stay home and do her classes solo. The programs were planning to use are online and she has her own laptop. She must attend, watch the videos and complete her daily assignments and homework on her own. If she starts to fall behind, we'll re-evaluate. I work full time and so does my husband. We wouldn't consider doing this if we had ANY other option but we don't. My daughter is so excited to study independently like this. First year with no uniforms. First year where she can pick her english curriculum to include extras, like a course in financial management and Spanish. She is planning her daily schedule and where in the house she'll do her classes from. She's actually very excited at the prospect of doing this but as parents, we worry about her year of adventure. Does she need a bookbag this year? No idea. Maybe to feel normal? Carry her stuff around the house with her? Cost wise, this option is clearly a big savings. But from a social perspective, I'm worried. Homeschool is definitely not for everyone and I wouldn't even try this with younger kids unless I was going to give up my job and be a dedicated teacher. Frankly, I'm better at my job than as a teacher. We all have our strengths. Teaching full time wouldn't be mine. However, when schools fail us and we have no other option, we find ourselves exploring the alternatives. For us, this is how we would manage the year. Lastly, we sit as a family and do homework every, single night during the year. My daughter would have plenty of attention and time to review her coursework for the day with me in the evening so she can ask questions and get help, if she needs it. Her online program also assigns her a mentor to help her navigate questions and assignments.

amother

Hyssop

Wed, Jan 04 2023, 5:01 pm

I wonder of you can update us on how this went for you and your daughter, as we may end up in a similar situation

shaqued_almond

Wed, Jan 04 2023, 5:14 pm

Either you hire a tutor, your kid does online school, or they are old enough to study independently and you just check their work. I would send kids under 6 out because they need a lot of entertainment and they can't study sitting down like a kid in first grade.