I am working full-time at home this year. Can I still homeschool?

[Guest happy1happy1]

I just got a work-at-home full-time editing position that will require at least 8 hours per day of my concentration. I want to continue homeschooling my 8YO and 6YO. Are there any other work-at-home homeschoolers on the board? Do you have any advice for me?

 

Emily

[Kathleen in VA]

I just got a work-at-home full-time editing position that will require at least 8 hours per day of my concentration. I want to continue homeschooling my 8YO and 6YO. Are there any other work-at-home homeschoolers on the board? Do you have any advice for me?

 

Emily

 

Do you have to do it all at once? When mine were 8 and 6 they were in bed by 8pm. If you got yours in bed by 8 you could work for 3 hours and then get up early and work from 6-9am and then again from say 2-4pm. If you did just the basics I think you could do it, but it would require quite a lot of discipline on your part. You could also do some Saturday school and if you school year-round you could spread it out a bit. Do you have any ideas on curriculum yet?

 

Is your 6yo reading yet? That would make it a whole lot easier too.

[Chris in VA]

I am going to try to do some tutoring at home (or perhaps nearby, but I'm not sure yet) and have been thinking of a possible schedule--fwiw. Not for this year, either.

 

I have to be available odd hours, fitting everything in. Yours sounds much more flexible. I would probably go with Kathleen's idea and try to work some early, some later, and some during the day, rather than all at once. If you were to work 4 hours on a Saturday, you could knock one of those hours off 4 days a week--or maybe not do any night hours on Fridays, say. You will have to keep in mind when you are most able to work--I mean, can you do editing after a long day of being with the kids, or get up early and be awake enough at that time to edit (lots of detail work, editing)?

 

Will your husband be able to watch the kids at all? Do you have a play date or co-op option once a week?

 

I would give it a try. Even if you have to hire a mother's helper a couple of times a week for the afternoons, say, it could really be a great way for you to have your cake and eat it, too. I'd look for a capable, homeschooled teen, and maybe pay $20 for 4-5 hours of entertaining your kids while you are there. Could you afford that? On those days, you'd only have to do a few hours after bedtime, or save that time for your hubby, and get up early those days.

 

It might be worth the juggle. Nothing needs to be permanent. Give it a try!

[Starr]

If I were in your place I think I would give it a try. If you schedule carefully and are flexible I think it could work. I like some of the above ideas. Also think about what you want them to learn, not just what book to complete. I found at that age I didn't need to cover every problem for them to complete a given skill set.

[suzf242]

Hi. I don't really have any advice, but at least I can let you know you're not alone.

 

I work at home full time as a medical transcriptionist. My hours are basically Sunday-Thursday 6pm-2am. (I'm taking a little break right now;)). We have been going CM style, and I am going to be starting AO year 1 with my daughter this fall. I am thinking that the "bookwork" part of the school should take only about an hour and a half in the morning (probably starting around 10 or so) and the rest of the CM program will take place in the afternoon and evening as we are living it out now. It worked for kindergarten last year, so that's my current plan. One thing that makes it easier for me is that my husband is at home all the time right now as well, so he has time to do things with her in the evenings when I am working. Also, we just have 1 child right now.

 

I hope it works out for you. Take care.

 

Suzanne

[Holly IN]

Wow! How do you find these types of jobs? Dh and I are talking about me finding a different area of job instead of leaving every night to clean a church building.

 

I ditto Kathleen's advice on the hours. Break it up and do 3 hours in the morning, 2 in the afternoon while kids are doing their activities or reading time or... then 3 after they go to bed.

 

During the 2 hours in the afternoon I would set up your kids to do alot of research of whatever they would like to learn and set up a notebook for them to write in and add to it. Also do reading time as well. I would post a list of activities that you approve of during those 2 hours. Mix them up for each day. I would make sure you keep the kids separate or maybe you do not have that problem like I do. :D

 

Go for it!!!!

 

Holly

[Renai]

Wow! How do you find these types of jobs? Dh and I are talking about me finding a different area of job instead of leaving every night to clean a church building.

 

 

Holly

 

 

Hi Holly,

 

I just wanted to answer this question of how to find these types of jobs. This is a general email I send to people who ask me the same thing. Hope it helps you and others:

 

-----------------------------

Hello all,

 

There are three places I look when I'm in the market for work. After all, I do have student loans to pay off, lol.

 

http://www.workplacelikehome.com/forum is the one I visit most, probably because it is the first legitimate place I found. Members often post about jobs- new jobs opening up, or places they work for that are currently hiring. They also post companies that have been found to be scams (hint: never pay to work). There is a sticky post labeled "Legitimate work at home jobs"that has a list of companies grouped by category- call center,tutoring, writing, etc. There are subforums for the most popular of the wah jobs people are working at, where people chat- the good, the bad, and the ugly for working at each of these places.

 

http://www.wahm.com This website members actually post more job leads on this site (under Telecommuting Moms on the forums). There are also subforums here, but also for those with home businesses, writing, etc.

 

There is a yahoo group called RealJobs_FromHome. It is awesome. The moderators there really look after the members and there are guides in the files for how to look for a job, what to watch out for as far as determining scams, how to write a good resume, etc. In their database are over 500 companies you can work for from home- a goldmine!

 

Most jobs have you working as an independent contractor so you take out your own taxes. I personally work for different companies for different reasons. 1) Always have more eggs in your basket and 2) they're seasonal.

 

I work for Educational Testing Services, http://www.ets.org, scoring standardized tests online. The two I score are an ESL test (K-12) and a high school essay test. This is not steady work, but jobs come through as the schools turn in the tests- the ESL is the end of the year, the high school one is the beginning of the year with other testing sessions throughout the year for those who don't pass. I am an employee with this company.

 

Other companies I have worked for are: Educate Online, 1800Flowers, and

Liveops.

 

I'm currently training for Westat, with whom I'm an employee and the income is steady.

 

There are also outlets for getting paid to write, and not the pay-to-blog stuff.

 

I hope this info is helpful, and feel to ask any questions you have. I'm a member on both of the message boards I've listed above with my user name Renai.

----------------------------------

 

I agree with the others in breaking up your time. I only have one child, but when I have weeks of full-time shifts (doesn't happen all the time), I break it up in split shifts. I have things prepared that she can do during that time so she isn't interrupting me every 5 minutes saying she doesn't know what to do :tongue_smilie:. Some of the work can be drill (math facts for example), reading, art, or just free play, really anything she can do in the same room with me. She is 8. I used to do a lot of phone work (call center) and it was very important she was quiet while I was on the phone, so that is the system we set up.

[Sunshine State Sue]

I have always worked since ds12 was born (programmer). I worked 20hrs/wk until this year, when I had to increase to 30hrs/wk to maintain health benefits. I've worked from home for the last 6yrs. The additional 10hrs/wk has been difficult for me. I don't think that I could do 40hrs/wk and homeschool.

 

Here are some things that have helped me:

1. Childcare - dh provides some childcare, and I have used teen babysitters and the local rec center after school program. I find that when I try to work and homeschool at the same time, I do a lousy job of both.

2. Schedule the time to best suit you. I can usually work a few hours in the morning, all day on dh's day off, 2 evenings, and Sunday.

3. Find curriculum that is not teacher-intensive. Some I've used: MUS, SOTW, Megawords, Living Learning Books science, Analytical Grammar (6th grade, but look into JAG).

 

Best of luck to you!

[G5052]

I have always worked since ds12 was born (programmer). I worked 20hrs/wk until this year, when I had to increase to 30hrs/wk to maintain health benefits. I've worked from home for the last 6yrs. The additional 10hrs/wk has been difficult for me. I don't think that I could do 40hrs/wk and homeschool.

 

Best of luck to you!

 

I've worked full-time part of the year for the last few years mostly from home, and it's very hard. I don't have a lot help (DH is disabled). Last September-November were very hard on me for various reasons including work, and I'm not going to do full-time again during the 2008-2009 school year if I can help it. Something has to give, and frankly I let my work go somewhat during that period in order to keep up with my children's educational needs. I may have to up the hours again though, so I'm making some changes on the homeschooling front already. My children are older than yours though, so that makes a difference.

[chaik76]

I've done this...and it's worked well for us. We just school around my work hours. I've found the hardest thing to be budgeting time for myself. It can be left by the wayside unless I'm careful to make sure I plan it.

[threetreasurs]

Over the last 2 years I have had various part-time jobs. I ditto the above advice. Make sure to take time for yourself. DH still had his job and I found that working, homeschool, and managing the house (at least attempting to manage the house:) left little time for me - and I got sort of cranky at times.

[ClassicMom]

I just got a work-at-home full-time editing position that will require at least 8 hours per day of my concentration. I want to continue homeschooling my 8YO and 6YO. Are there any other work-at-home homeschoolers on the board? Do you have any advice for me?

 

Emily

 

It can be done, but it's not easy. Especially since your children are still in the stages where they need directed learning.

 

I work pt.time/full time depending on the time of year. I go into the office 8 hours a week and the rest of the work is done at home on my computer.

I agree with what the others have said. Split the work up. That's what I do and it works well here. I get up before the clan (most days) and have my quiet time and then get started. I work a couple hours in the morning. A couple hours after lunch and a couple of hours in the evening.

 

It also depends on your children's best time to do schoolwork. My kids do well in the afternoon. So I work with my Autistic son after I work in the a.m. and then after he goes to school after lunch, then I work with the girls and then go back in my office while they do their independent work.

 

You will probably have to play around with a schedule until you figure out what works for you.

 

Good luck! :001_smile:

[muffinmom]

I edited at home for years before children. I can't imagine doing it and homeschooling because editing requires such concentration and longer blocks of time to really get anything accomplished (at least for me, anyway!!).

 

However, my kids are younger than yours and more likely to interrupt me all day. If your kids could work more independently, then I suppose it could be done.

 

It also depends on what kind of editing. If you are just doing proofreading, that is much easier to divide into small tasks and do here and there. Also, if it is for periodicals and the like, I presume your deadlines will be quick and often. For books, you may have more flexibility.

 

Is there any chance you could do a part-time version of the job?

 

All the best to you--you may have far more ability to multi-task than I have!

[Love2Learn]

Working full-time and homeschooling is not ideal, but certainly possible! I know because I also work full-time. I am very blessed, however, because both of my children are independent learners. I agree with the poster that recommended choosing curriculum which is not teacher intensive. I also recommend hooking up with co-ops where possible. This year my 8th grader will be taking two classes outside of the home (literature and science). This will help me out quite a bit since the teachers will handle all of the scheduling, assignments and grading. The other thing that has helped is planning and scheduling. My children have very detailed daily lesson plans to work from (we use Edu-Track software for this). We have it worked out so that I spend a little time each day reviewing each childs work, etc. I "teach" my son reading each day (his weakest subject) and I tutor my daughter in algebra for 1 hour each week. Its working for us and both of my children are excelling academically.