Any working moms?

[kimmyandgracie]

I work 3 12-hour shifts/week on night shift as a nurse on a psych unit. I am also homeschooling my 4yo dd. Just wondering if there are any other homeschooling moms out there who work outside the home? If so, what kinds of challenges have you faced as a result and how have you dealt with them? How have you streamlined things like housekeeping, cooking, etc. to make life simpler? Fellow night shifters especially, how have you established a routine with a schedule that is so changable?

[Karen in CO]

I work 3 12-hour shifts/week on night shift as a nurse on a psych unit. I am also homeschooling my 4yo dd. Just wondering if there are any other homeschooling moms out there who work outside the home? If so, what kinds of challenges have you faced as a result and how have you dealt with them? How have you streamlined things like housekeeping, cooking, etc. to make life simpler? Fellow night shifters especially, how have you established a routine with a schedule that is so changable?

 

 

Hello - I work 3 12-hour shifts Friday - Sunday noon to midnight or 2pm to 2am. One of my big challenges has been to let myself relax and rest on Mondays. My dh shields me from the early risers on the weekend, but on Monday he is at work and I get dragged from bed at 7am. I can't do double-digit addition or Latin after so little sleep. So Mondays we start slowly and with a huge pot of coffee (and Discovery Channel and frozen pancakes). We don't schedule any activities for mornings - ever, and don't plan anything big on Mondays.

 

Take a look at the Latin Centered Curriculum if you haven't already. I don't follow it strictly, but I love the freedom to still feel rigorous while not trying to do everything in the world.

 

4 is very young. Use the time to enjoy your little one and try to figure out what your teaching style is and what her learning style is. It will help you a lot in the future.

[Rose in BC]

Usually one day a week, sometimes more. I do have the freedom to say no if I have a busy week at home.

[Karen FL]

Hi,

I work PT as an Admissions Nurse in a psychiatric hospital 7 PM to 7 AM. I have a fixed schedule. I work every Friday and every other Saturday. I started working night shift in Oct 2007.

The challenges I have experienced are: Feeling drained on Monday morning & a messy house on Monday.

It's a little difficult for me to stay away in church when I work on Saturday nights and get off at 7 AM Sunday AM.

Things go much smoother when I have our meals planned out in advance.

I've decided that we'll do history and science in the summers. I haven't had enough energy to get to those subjects during the year.

[Alice]

I work two days from 1pm-8pm as a pediatrician. I also go every morning to the hospital to see patients, but I do this very early (am back by 8am). My situation is a little different in that my dh stays home when I work, so it's easier I think to balance everything. We are also very blessed to both have super-flexible work environments that allow us to do this and to be flexbile in other ways. And...we live very close to family that is willing and anxious to babysit. My SIL has for the past few months voluntarily been coming over one of the days I work to babysit as she wants to spend more times with the kids (this gives dh extra time at work). And my parents live only about 2 hours away and are often available to come up and babysit if we have something come up. All that is just to say that I'm very aware that I am incredibly blessed and that there is no way I could work, parent, and homeschool without a lot of help.

 

In general, I'm a very naturally organized person. I find that with juggling work and parenting, for me I have to stay very structured or I start to feel out of control. I type up a schedule every week of the things I want to do daily as well as meals and appointments we have. I give myself the flexibility not to do it, but it helps me to know that I'm going to do this task on this day instead of just feeling like there is so much to do. And it definitely makes it easier that dh is home. I'm kind of the manager of the house but a lot of days as I leave I'm asking him to finish some tasks I started (like laundry).

 

Like you, I only have a young child now. As far as homeschooling goes, we can easily do it all in the mornings before I go to work. Our plan right now is that once the boys get older and it can't be all done in the morning dh will help more with school...we're thinking he may take over one or two subjects that can be done only a few times a week.

[Love2Learn]

I work full-time, but my husband has a flexible schedule and can work from home most of the time. My children are also older (7th & 4th grades) and I am blessed in that they work very independently.

 

I spend several hours on Sunday night scheduling the week. Our schedule is very organized and detailed. I usually spend about 1 hour in the evening looking over their work and helping them with trouble areas. My husband also helps out. In an attempt to keep up with some of their reading, I listen to audio books while driving to and from work. Some of these I check out from the library, others are available in the public domain. Instead of read alouds, I have my children listen to audio books as well (at least my 4th grader).

 

My children also participate in a co-op and this helps too. Next year my 7th grader will be able to take Apologia Physical Science, Latin, and Saxon Algebra through the co-op.

 

We use self-teaching curriculum where possible. For example, my children are using IEW for writing. My son is watching the SWI videos and following the associated lessson plans. The instruction on the student videos is great and he is able to work on this independently -- with just a little help from mom. He also uses Saxon 6/5 with the D.I.V.E dvds for Math. About 95% of the time he is able to grasp the concept being taught from watching the video.

 

Hope this helps!

[Arch at Home]

I work part-time, 25 hours a week, and I telecommute about half of the time. The plust on my side is that dh also works part-time and he is off when I am on. My children are younger, 8, 6, and 4. I have found that I do best with curriculums that are do the next thing so we use primarially textbook/workbook type programs. I am a big believer in the FlyLady system. I am constantly decluttering, I have a weekly checklist of things that need to be done, I make out my menu 6-weeks in advance, and I have a master grocery list.

[Wendy in ME]

Also working 3 12hr shifts 7am to 7pm Friday through Sunday. My dh works a regular job but my parents take the boys on Fridays. Fridays are used for finishing up anything that was started but didn't get finished during the week. My parents don't have to actually present any new material. I just give them a list of what needs to be done so that the boys can't pull one over on them. This is working well for us except that we don't get many full days off together but I do get 5 weeks of vacation time and my husband has a government job so he gets a lot of those Monday holidays off. As far as getting chores done, the boys have a to do list to keep up with their bedrooms and bathroom. I just try to do one major room cleaning per day and dh and I fold laundry in the evening. It doesn't take more than a half hour working together to fold 2-3 loads. Since he doesn't have to do school stuff on the weekends, he takes care of all outside work and washes that floors on the weekends. We really just all work together to maintain our homeschooling lifestlye and get everything done. I really try to emphasises to the boys that if we all pull together then we will all have more free time to do the fun things. As far as streamling curriculum, I really love The Latin Centered Curriculum. We try to get the most bank for our buck so to speak with every subject we do.

[brehon]

I am a paramedic and work those crazy 24/48's (24 hours on duty, 48 hours off duty). I do things as I can and my husband (who also works full time) helps. I would say that as far as housekeeping, we split tasks 50-50 with chores being done by whomever notices they need to be done. My kids are younger (7,5,3,1); so, our school day generally lasts under an hour for the 5 yo and 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the 7 yo. We generally follow the precepts as laid out in LCC (Latin Centered Curriculum) adjusted, of course, for our particular family dynamics.

 

As far as housekeeping, well, it's safe to say my house won't be featured on the cover of Southern Living or Better Homes and Gardens any time real soon. :D I don't have a set schedule for cleaning; but, my husband and I each generally clean an area an day so that the house doesn't look like a tornado tore through it. And, of course, the kids help out with age and skill appropriate chores. Laundry, however, is a never ending project. There is always a load cycling.

 

Your dd is 4, right? I agree with Karen. Don't worry about "academics" right now. Read alouds, cuddling on the couch, audio books, coloring, exploring, some basic phonics if she's ready, playing...is really all she needs. Math can be basic counting games. The only reason my 5 yo has any lessons is because she refuses to be left out of anything her older brother does, including "school".

 

I often come home exhausted from a busy shift. My kids know that mama needs some "quiet time"; so, we watch a Magic School Bus video or something like that. I count it as science.;) Good Luck finding your niche. Spend this time reading about all the different learning and teaching styles. And have fun with your dd.

[Catherine]

I am lucky to only do half time-every Friday night, every other Saturday, 12 hours 8PM to 8 AM. In fact, I just got home-ho hum.

 

Yes, the gardening, neat housekeeping mom I once dreamed of being is nowhere in sight-LOL. I try to marshall the troops to pitch in, and when free, they do. I have older kids, some in school, so our schedule looks like this-weekday AMs, drop 2 teens at high school and one at job training. Home to teach first grader and fifth grader. My curriculum choices lean to the scripted to make things easier and afford me less prep time. No big projects or unit studies here. Luckily, my boys are much on crafts so that works out well. I love R & S for its straightforward teacher-friendly format-use this for grammar.

 

Just FYI, if you are considering night shift work-I have found that I paradoxically have more energy now than I ever had when not working at night. As it turns out, sleep deprivation is an old time therapy for depression, from the days before we had effective drugs for such things. It has really proven true for me. After I've slept off my shift for a few hours, I awake loaded with energy.

[TCoppock]

I do two 12 hour shifts 7p-7a Friday and Saturday. On Fridays, I stay up until around 11 or 12noon doing school with DS. Unlike most days I do all the instructions first and write a list as we go along for DS to complete. When we are done with instructions I make DS lunch and then go to sleep. While I am sleeping DS completes his list and then will read, watch a video, and/or play quietly. I wake up for work around 4-5p and start getting ready. Friday nights are usually quick dinners, leftovers, or he will go to Nana's to eat. On most weekend DS opts to stay over Nana's so I make a point of going over to see him before and after work. Sunday mornings I pick him up and then we spend the day together. I try really hard to make it unitl 5-6 on Sunday before I crash. Sundays are usually when I make any photocopies, write out shopping lists, and put our library books on hold. Mondays I'm usually fine to start school again by 8.

 

As for keeping the house together I have to give DH most of the credit. We have opted to use a laundry service which takes care of washing, folding, and ironing. Dh does most of the cleaning when he gets home from work. DS and I are in charge of the cooking and shopping.

 

What I have the hardest time juggling though is when they hold Mandatory meetings at work during the weekdays. Unfortunately, other than my family their is nobody I trust enough to watch my son. My son has had to endure many boring days sitting with mommy in a meeting. I try to make sure I have books hidden that I can surprize him with right before.

[~FireFly~]

I work out of the home. I'm a church secretary. Just started in the latter part of September. Before that I worked for Total Wine at night/evenings (from May 2007-September 2008) and before that SAHM for 10yrs. Loved the staying home. Not thrilled with the TW job as I was always tired in the mornings and rushing through the day so I could tag-team with dh to work in the evenings. The secretary job is a wonderful job for me, but still not the same for homeschooling.

I say this b/c the boys go with me to work (9-2) then the oldest works from 2:15- on. By the time I get the 15 and 9 yobs home and breathe I'm tired and don't feel like going through/over their work. So, many days I just don't.

Sometimes I have a difficult time managing my job and their school.

and I know this is silly, but I still do it....if I don't have their lesson plans all worked out in my mind and on paper, I have a hard time focusing on what they're supposed to be doing. But yet I expect them to know what to do! When things are written out and planned it goes much easier.

 

Wow, that was an eye opener - to me. DUH!

 

It's hard for me to always stay on top of what's going on and where they are as far as school work. Sometimes I hold the older boys accountable for the 9yob b/c they can handle it. Mostly though, I'm pretty together and have things planned out...it's the weeks we're running, running that get away from me.

 

If we stay on a morning routine: certain wake up time, preplanned breakfast, etc. the day goes so much smoother. BUT who has the time to plan????

 

I guess that's with anything.

 

Good luck to you.

~FF~

[G5052]

The hardest thing for me was shaking off the idea that our life can be like the lives of other families with a homeschooling parent who doesn't work for pay. In the end, you have to craft your own vision and way of doing things and be prepared to say "no" a lot. I had to stop volunteering for things other than bringing a snack here and there because I just don't have the hours to do that anymore (and I'm not getting any younger).

 

Like the others, I don't use mom-intense curriculum, and don't change/tweak things very much at all. My kids do a lot of chores, and work pretty independently (they're 8 and almost 11). Next year is my last homeschooling my oldest, then he goes to a one-day-a-week program and will use their curriculum supervised by me the other four days. I had to honestly assess our priorities and came to the conclusion that we had to delegate for 7th and up.

 

I'm blessed in that my current patchwork of jobs (3) is largely home-based and fits with our schedules. I'm interviewing next week for a telecommuting job that pays better.

 

DH very supportive of homeschooling, but is disabled and cannot help with the house/yard or handle the kids for long periods of time. That makes things tougher on me, but I've worked, homeschooled, and juggled his medical problems most of our homeschooling years, so I don't have any worries about continuing right now.

[kalanamak]

I work 3 12-hour shifts/week on night shift as a nurse on a psych unit. I am also homeschooling my 4yo dd. Just wondering if there are any other homeschooling moms out there who work outside the home? If so, what kinds of challenges have you faced as a result and how have you dealt with them?

 

Greetings, I work psych units as well! I tell my friends that in order to work, homeschool, keep up with my health and my house, I have given up just about every hobby I ever had.

I have a rather strict routine. I put in such and such amount of time per week and the moment there is a clearing in the clouds of life, I put my sights on that being school time. When I did nights, I could never fall asleep the moment I got home. Try to leave the house in such a way that you can do some school within 15 minutes of getting home. Have "light" or reinforcement days on your work days. Put your projects on you days off.

Since your daughter is young, you don't have hours a day needed. Get her used to the school as possible rules now. My son (nearly 6) will say "lets get school over with".

[Reya]

I work full time from home.

 

Free time? We don't need no stinkin' free time! ;-)

[kimmyandgracie]

Thank you everyone for your encouraging responses. It is nice to know that I'm not alone and that if it is a struggle to keep all these balls in the air it is normal.

FYI - I actually have 4 stepchildren besides dd4, but the two oldest are already graduated and dh teaches the younger 2 (ds15 and ds13) as he works from home and most of the time they go with him when he goes to a job. I am thankful that he is so willing to be involved in their lives. I think they will learn many more things about life than just what a textbook could teach them with that arrangement. Also, it takes a big burden off me by only having to teach one dc.