Homeschooling - a full-time or part-time job

[angela in ohio]

Full-time work for me, if we go by a 40 hour work week. :001_smile:

 

If we count homemaking, mothering, and wife-ing :D as another full-time job and a half, you've about got my week covered, with time left over to sleep, shower, and eat.

 

I think seeing those as my job (my responsibility) make it easier to give them the proper attention and keep my priorities straight.

[silliness7]

I school from 8:00 to 5:00. My 30 min. lunch break consists of feeding, diapering, and putting down for a nap my 2 littles.

 

And of course once 5 hits it's in the kitchen for dinner. And in the evening there is a little bit of school tweaking.

 

I think I put in overtime. :glare:

[EKS]

It was part time when I was homeschooling one elementary age child, but after the second one joined us and the older one started doing high school work, it has become full time. Actually, I think it's more than full time now.

[Barry Goldwater]

Not exactly by the 'clock,' but we have always treated HS like a full-time job for DW, more important than any other household chores or duties. It is my DW's no. 1 priority to put her best energy into the HS job. So in effect we both have full time jobs.

 

In addition, she handles all curriculum selection and annual scheduling, seeking my input if needed. My job is to handle making a living, defending us from nosy bureaucrats (rare now, thankfully), and picking up any slack that might interfere with her primary mission. So I handle many of the 'typical housewife' tasks in service to her and my family. We've adapted these as suits our personalities. For example, I'm much more the morning person than her, so I make breakfast for the family every day. She is much more the 'animal behavior and emergency medicine expert,' so she deals with any 'non-routine' issues on our farm, like mid-wifing goats or dealing with sick cattle. I love to cook, don't mind ironing, cleaning , folding laundry so I do those cheerfully with hers & the kids' help. She loves to prepare excellent dinner meals, but NOT EVERY DAY, more like 1-2 / week. And sometimes those things don't always get done on an exact timetable, but school does.

 

I'm happy this year to be picking up some of the HS tasks for the olders, like music lessons and some American History. But DW is still the 'primary instructor.'

 

Treating HS like a job, not in the sense that it is laborious drudgery, but like 'as important to our survival and as honorable as making a living,' has worked well for us. I actually dislike the word 'job' in this sense, as HS for us has been much more about 'a lifestyle.' But that's another thread I think...