Homeschooling - a full-time or part-time job

[Embassy]

Do you view homeschooling as a full-time job or a part-time job? Unpaid, of course.

[Carrie12345]

Because of the overlap in tasks, I think it could qualify as full time. But the strict hs-only stuff.... closer to part time. But still over 20 hours/wk!

[Renee in NC]

Full-time for me, but I am schooling 5.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Full time definitely.

 

I start at 7 get 30 minutes for lunch and finish at 2:30 M-Th. (that's 28 hours) On Friday I go from 7 to 12. (that's 5 hours) I spend 30 minutes in the evening preparing for the next day or looking over books. (that's 2 1\2 hours) Then on the weekends I usually spend 3 to 4 hours in preparation, library, etc. So all together its 38 to 40 hours per week. I didn't even include time spent researching new teaching methods or curriculum. (That's just fun for me.:D) Nor did I include time spent transporting to and from lessons because we would do those even if we didn't homeschool.

 

Ofcoarse, that's all average. There are some weeks that are easier and some weeks that are harder.

 

Edited to add: I'm glad to spend this much time on homeschooling. When my dc were in school I was bored to tears even though I had others at home.

Edited August 25, 2010 by 5LittleMonkeys

[patchfire]

Because I pull so much of dd's studies together myself, I definitely consider it a full time job. Yes, if I am lucky, I can slip in a few household tasks throughout our school day, but I don't consider it a given. Some days, I need to be "on" for school for 8 hours.

[Barb_]

Full time. Absolutely.

[Karen in CO]

Part-time. Really. I can't give it more than that, or I'd smother my children. Even if we did 8 hours of school a day, I'd have to consider it a part-time job. I love my kids, and homeschooling them is very important to me. It is close to the top of my priority list. BUT if I made it my full-time job, I'd suck the joy out of our lives.

 

:D

[Mommyfaithe]

Do you view homeschooling as a full-time job or a part-time job? Unpaid, of course.

 

Full-Time .....with on-call hours...

[MissKNG]

Home schooling is one aspect of my full time job as a stay at home mom.

[Barb_]

Full-Time .....with on-call hours...

 

Heh. Hence the other thread :D

 

Barb

[fhjmom]

Full-Time .....with on-call hours...

 

:iagree:

[Woodhaven]

Most definately a full time job! First, it takes up most of my day to hs my children. Then, even with using Sonlight and having the handy instructors guide I spend a lot of time planning and preparing for each week. There is also the time I put into researching curriculum (LA, math, science, latin, music, etc.).

 

Yes, homeschooling is my full time job. My other full time job is managing my home. That brings to mind my other jobs......

[regentrude]

Depends on the age and number of the kids, and on their personality.

For me: part-time. With my 11 and 13 year old children, who are independent and reliable, I have no problem fitting in a part-time job for about 25 hours a week.

It would not be possible with little children who need constant supervision, with older kids who are not mature enough to work independently, or with a large number of kids. In those situations it would be a full time job.

[hillfarm]

For me, homeschooling is a full time lifestyle but a part-time job. It is a very important part of our lives, but not the center.

[elegantlion]

Full time job, part time teaching. Between the research and self-education I do to stay ahead of ds it's full time effort. I love learning new things, but if it were up to me it wouldn't be relearning algebra.

[DaffodilDreams]

Definitely full time. We've always been an education-oriented family, so we somehow manage to turn every little thing into a learning opportunity. Not to the point of "oh, here's another boring lecture from the parents", but we do intentionally grasp whatever opportunities come up each day.

[ConnieB]

I consider it our lifestyle.

[6packofun]

Full-time, mainly because of how many children I have. I would have said part-time for about K-2 and after that, definitely full-time!

[Abigail4476]

With my three - definitely full time. If I only had one child to work with, I could maybe put it in the part time category.

 

The first year we homeschooled, I really loaded everyone (and myself) down with a heavy load. It was fulltime + lots of overtime with no time to take a breath! Now in our third year, I've learned how to streamline, schedule, organize and prioritize--so full time is about right. :)

 

I do feel like I have a "teaching job" during the school year, because our lives revolve around school and school-related activities. Evenings are for outings or relaxing, and the weekends are for house/yard work.

 

It's busy--but I like it that way! :auto:

[Zebra]

Full-time, without a doubt!

 

I don't know if this is a federal or a local law, but in my area children cannot be left alone if they are under 12. If you have any children under 12, it's like being a full-time babysitter/nanny, even without the other jobs of homeschooling. I would imagine that homeschooling older kids is so much work it's like a full-time job too.

[MaMa2005]

Full-time. Even though I am only schooling one child, with enrichment/co-op classes, it is definitely full time.

 

I am a retired teacher and I am more tired schooling one each day than I ever was as a public school teacher with 30 in a class.

[jenL]

I haven't read others' responses, but most definitely full-time.

[Country Mouse]

I am a retired teacher and I am more tired schooling one each day than I ever was as a public school teacher with 30 in a class.

 

This makes me feel better. I am schooling an only also and at the end of the day, I often say "I don't know how teachers do it!" I am so tired at the end of the day.

 

I consider homeschooling a full-time occupation.

[KidsHappen]

Definitely a full time job. As is being a wife and mother (with the on call hours). Managing my zoo is at least a part time job. No wonder I don't get any sleep.

 

Since giving up homeschooling, I am thinking of taking up the Clean Sweep job. I am thinking that could be more than a full time job. I don't know where the time will come from as I don't have any wiggle room in the schedule as it is.

[BeckyFL]

Totally full-time and I only have one left at home.

[Mommee & Baba]

Full time. Absolutely.

 

:iagree:

[tampamommy]

Fulltime.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I use to teach one subject six times and considered that full-time. Now I teach 32 subjects on four levels. That's full time X 4, imo.

[Miss Marple]

Absolutely full time! I've worked full time outside of the home and find that the time I spend homeschooling, researching curricula, etc. probably amounts to more than full time.

[Melissa in Australia]

Full-time. I have 5, and it seems the older they get, the more time it takes. I school them non stop from 8.30 in the morning until 3.30 in the afternoon, then rush them to basketball, where I then have to referee their basketball games. I look on their basketball as another school subject, seing as I am the one teaching it to them. I finish at 6 pm.

 

Sometimes I find it gets me really down, I homeschool my children because the public school system was failing them, I struggle with upper high school subjects I NEVER took physics or advanced math. and then I have to ref there basketball games because there is no one else to do it. I have NEVER played basketball; in fact I hate all sport.

[AHASRADA]

I absolutely view homeschooling as my full-time job, not so much in hours per-se, but in priority.

 

I am actively teaching my kids for 5 hours per day, in addition to countless hours of curriculum research and planning. I definitely spend as much time teaching and planning our homeschooling as I did teaching and preparing lessons as a salaried ps teacher.

 

That said, even if I didn't put in "full-time" hours, I consider homeschooling my "full-time" as in "top priority/1st commitment" job. Everything else: housework, cooking, my paid tutoring sessions and helping dh with his work, all come 2nd.

[Rivka]

For me, homeschooling one kindergartener, it's a part-time job. I have another part-time job outside the home.

 

Motherhood, now, that's a full-time job. For sure. I average a 168-hour work week with that one.

[FriedClams]

I figure my hours for homeschooling are not that much different than any traditional school teacher's - I just have fewer students. On that basis I would say full time.

[sibbis]

Full-time! I'm really stumped how to get all the other work done around here. How did I ever work outside the home? Who cooked and cleaned?

[Maverick_Mom]

Full-time and then some.

 

But sometimes I wonder if I'm doing it wrong and that's why it's so all-consuming. :confused:

[Maverick_Mom]

I absolutely view homeschooling as my full-time job, not so much in hours per-se, but in priority.

 

I definitely spend as much time teaching and planning our homeschooling as I did teaching and preparing lessons as a salaried ps teacher.

 

That said, even if I didn't put in "full-time" hours, I consider homeschooling my "full-time" as in "top priority/1st commitment" job.

 

What she said.

[Maverick_Mom]

I think you could define "full-time" in a variety of ways:

 

How many hours you work at it per day or per week

 

How hard you work at it

 

How much of a priority it has in your life relative to other things

 

 

I know that full-time usually means the first. But in reading the responses on this thread, I'm sensing that many of us are thinking about something more than just the number of hours.

[Veritaserum]

Full-time.

[FO4UR]

FT Career

 

Mine are young, and so closely spaced that they all *NEED* me for most of their schooling. Plus, I individualize instruction for each dc. My little ds4 is showing some serious interest in school, and I actually MOANED b/c it means squeezing in more time for him (how terrible am I???:glare:). ds7 was supposed to be working independently before ds4 got to this stage...ACK!!!

 

I go from 7am to 1pm non-stop, most days. Crash for quiet time, and then I'm back at it from 3pm-9pm. Not all of that is spelling and math, but it is almost all me educating and training and facilitating and supervising.

 

 

There is NO way I could handle even a PT outside job with our lives as is. (I can't keep up with the housework as is, let alone maintain my pre-kid skills/hobbies.) Still, I can't think of a single thing that I'd rather do than be here, HSing these 3 dc.

 

Having said ALL of that, I am fully aware that if I do my job right I'm working myself out of a job. I expect my role and time constraints to shift as my dc grow. (...which may mean I spend my evenings studying chemistry instead of phonics methods, but I digress...)

[eternalknot]

Do you view homeschooling as a full-time job or a part-time job? Unpaid, of course.

 

I see homeschooling as being what you make of it.

 

At our home, it's a part-time job. I use curricula for math and grammar, but I write my own for science and history. We spend hours doing readalouds and discussions of literature that I don't count among our academic hours. It's a top priority in our lives, and I work my outside full-time job around it -- but all in all, the school part of being at home boils down to just a few hours each day, a few days each week.

 

I see most of it as being an overlap from general mom duties; we'd still spend lots of time with books, discussions, and field trips even if the kids weren't homeschooled - ya know?

[Night Elf]

I consider homeschooling a lifestyle and therefore it fits into our lives regardless of what else we choose to do. DH works full-time and I am a full-time college student and we still have time left over for play.

 

Then again, I guess I could say I'm a full-time mom, wife, and housekeeper. I really dislike the attitude that if I'm doing something full-time, then I can't possibly be giving equal time to something else. I can't imagine living life in such a linear fashion.

[myfatherslily]

Part-time for me, but give us a few more years!:) My oldest is 1st grade and I do preschool with the others. About 3 hours/day altogether, might get to be 4 on some days when we get past the first few weeks. As other have said, though, it's really just one part of my job description as overtime mom:)

[Michelle My Bell]

Neither, Homeschooling is just one part of my daily life. I love my children and teaching them is not a job, it is a joy given to me by God just like everything else I do. I don't always feel like doing it, but that doesn't make it a chore or a job, it is just ME getting in the way.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Homeschooling - a lifestyle but a full-time one;)

[Embassy]

Neither, Homeschooling is just one part of my daily life. I love my children and teaching them is not a job, it is a joy given to me by God just like everything else I do. I don't always feel like doing it, but that doesn't make it a chore or a job, it is just ME getting in the way.

 

Very nice :)

 

However, a job doesn't mean it is a chore. Jobs can be full of joy and a wonderful thing to do. Chore, on the other hand, is something that just needs to get done whether you like it or not. Some may see homeschooling as a chore, but those who call it a job aren't necessarily thinking "chore."

[Barb_]

Very nice :)

 

However, a job doesn't mean it is a chore. Jobs can be full of joy and a wonderful thing to do. Chore, on the other hand, is something that just needs to get done whether you like it or not. Some may see homeschooling as a chore, but those who call it a job aren't necessarily thinking "chore."

 

Very true! In Montessori, play is a child's work. While that is true everywhere, only in Montessori do they actually label it as such, with profound implications. Young children learn to view work as pleasurable, focused, interesting, challenging, and engaging right from the earliest years. The best jobs are those which engage and delight you, even when they are difficult. Sometimes it's tedious, but most of the time, the best job is one you would choose to do without pay. I think we'd all define homeschooling that way. :D

 

Barb

[Food4Thought]

For me, homeschooling is a full time lifestyle but a part-time job. It is a very important part of our lives, but not the center.

 

:iagree:

[Peela]

I would say it used to be full time but nowadays is part time, as my kids get more independent.

[Closeacademy]

It is a full-time job for me. School only lasts a few hours but the planning takes a lot of time, as do the activities and life-skill training.:001_smile:

[iquilt]

Full time!