A bit apprehensive of the time commitment

[Guest MStedman]

I'm am the newest newbie of the homeschooling world...I'm on the edge of homeschooling my 12 year old who spends 4 hours a day in dance class. I also run my personal business from home so I'm not sure how to schedule his 'teaching time', my business time, and the free time he may have by being home schooled.

 

Does anyone operate a home business AND home school their child?

 

thanks,

mike

[jenslp]

I work outside of the home part time and help with my husband's business when at home, and am able to homeschool my 12 year old.  At this age my son is able to do quite a bit of his work independently so the day to day time commitment on my part isn't huge, as long as I can spend a few days a week devoting a bit more time to him.  Once we found the right curriculum and he got used to using it, it became really pretty easy for me since he is old enough to follow his schedule and complete most of his work on his own.  The things he needs help with he knows to just wait and talk to me about when I have time.  Some days I can spend most of the day with him and other days I don't have much time for him at all, but it all seems to balance out just fine. 

[Mom22ns]

I have watched several parents of competitive gymnasts homeschool for a year (or less) and put their kids back in public school because the commitment was more than they expected or because the "independent" curriculum they bought was either not as independent as they expected or bored the children and left them begging to return to school. Some also found that their kids ended up behind when they returned. We have pretty good public schools and some of the homeschool curriculum available does not keep pace.

 

That said, there are many here who homeschool and work. It certainly can be done. Your 12 year old is old enough to increase the likelihood of success. Being a dance means a high probability of a decent attention span and some determination as well. There will be some adjustment period as you both learn how to use whatever materials you choose. Be prepared for that. 

 

I think everyone should homeschool  :D , but I know that isn't always reality. I wish you and your dancer the best and hope to see you around if you decide to go for it!

[G5052]

I work mostly from home and homeschool.  I've always done it that way, although I worked less when they were little.  I probably work 6 hours a day during the week and some on the weekends just to keep all of the balls in the air.

 

Your curriculum choices are key.  We use mostly self-teaching materials, and they have assignment sheets with each day and the assignments.  I schedule times of work, and times when I'm available for help each day.  When they were younger I worked at the same table where they sat.

 

I'm not a fan of programs where you have to watch a class every day for every subject because they make for a long day.  That said, mine take a few online classes in areas I'm not strong in.  We also chose not to do K-12 because of the time commitment.  I chose curriculum that they can complete in a reasonable amount of time.

[Grantmom]

I also work from home and homeschool.  Some of my work is outside of the home, and some of it is on a set schedule.  We make it work, and I find that it gives me a good balance.   Will those four hours at dance class be a time when you can work?  If you know that time is set aside and the child is otherwise occupied and you always know you can get work done during those hours, I think that would be great.

[hepatica]

I don't have a paid job from home, but I am homeschooling three children and have a 13yo dd who is in a pre-professional ballet school. She leaves home at 12:45 each day and does not get home until 9pm. 

 

Honestly, most of my time is spent schooling the younger children. By 12 my dd was very independent in her work. Teaching time with her includes the following:

 

-Math lesson with Dad on Sunday night and Wed. morning - math assignments are completed independently the rest of the week

-Morning meeting with me at 9:30 Monday morning where we go over assignments for the week and enter them in her planner

-Monday 10-11am History lesson with me - assignments completed independently the rest of the week

-Friday morning meeting (30 min) to review progress on assignments and talk about weekend homework

 

She is doing an online class for science and for English. I teach history, her Dad teaches math, and she is doing Latin independently using dvd lectures.

 

I probably spend 3-4 hours on Sunday planning lessons for the week (but that is for all three children).

 

So, as you can see, at this age the time commitment for one child who can work independently is not overwhelming. I am available to answer questions and help the rest of the time, but there is not that much time spent on direct instruction.

[speedmom4]

I do not work (for pay that is) but my youngest child is a competitive gymnast and is at the gym 12 hours a week. I think it's a great advantage that he is able to get his schoolwork done before heading off to the gym. I know most of the boys in our gym have to head home and finish their homework at 9 pm. I can't imagine my 12 year old being able to get adequate rest if he was in traditional school.

 

Have you checked into online programs? My kids have done many classes through Landry Academy. I also know people who recommend The Potters School. I'm sure there are others. It could be the best of both worlds. Your son would be homeschooling but you wouldn't have quite the same level of time commitment involved. The only issue is many of the classes are filling up or are full so don't wait if you want to register him.

 

Good luck!

 

Elise in NC

[Sunshine State Sue]

How many hours per week do you work?  How flexible are your work hours?  How flexible are you?  How cooperative is your child?

 

I have always worked part-time.  I worked 20hrs/wk until ds was 12, then I had to increase my work hours to 30hrs/wk in order to maintain health benefits for the family.  I've worked from home for 12yrs now.  I will say that working 20hrs/wk and homeschooling was was much easier than working 30hrs/wk and homeschooling.  By the end of 8th grade, I was very burned out.  But, honestly, a lot of that had to do with puberty, menopause, and a bright, but unmotivated student.  IMO, boys going through puberty shouldn't spend inordinate amounts of time with moms going through menopause.  :ack2:

 

Once ds hit high school, I started outsourcing more.  I taught 2 classes in 9th grade, and he was completely outsourced to a combination of CC, PS, and online private classes in 10th-12th.  Life got easier.

 

Your curriculum choices are key.  We use mostly self-teaching materials, and they have assignment sheets with each day and the assignments.

I chose curriculum that was mostly not teacher intensive.  The most teacher intensive curriculum we used was in ds's (and my) weakest area.  We both needed a lot of help.  ;)

 

One of the huge benefits of homeschooling is the ability to not waste time waiting on others.  It allows the student to learn in a fraction of the time that it would take in a traditional school.  That extra time comes in handy for extracurricular pursuits.

 

Good luck!

 

 

[Sunshine State Sue]

Working and homeschooling is discussed here regularly.  Here are some threads.  Sorry, I don't know how to link to the top of the thread instead of my post.  Some of these have tags at the top for more threads.

 

If you homeschool and work from home...

advice needed for working at home

Working and Homeschooling

to those who work full time and homeschool

[Coco_Clark]

I run a non-profit and it eats up about 20 hours of my week.  I'm also homeschooling 2 little ones- BOTH unable to do any independent work at ALL.  I think with a self directed 12 year old (and I'd imagine a serious dancer is fairly self-directed) it's totally do-able.  

[Guest MStedman]

wow! What an incredible outpouring of great info and comraderie! Thanks to all.

 

You've really bolstered my confidence that it's possible and I'm just uncertain about things I  haven't experienced yet. lol

 

My job as a business coach is pretty flexible but I do have to spend about 30 hours minimum either servicing my clients or marketing to create new ones. Other than some networking meetings or seminars I don't have to BE somewhere yet still need to focus on being productive while at home. I'd like to spend 40 to 50 hours but it's probably unrealistic at this point. I love helping my clients but I also need to provide my son the resources (education, rest, studio) to optimize his potential and to help him grow. Soon enough (in 8 years probably) he'll be out of the house and certainly more on his own.

 

Thanks for the links, insight and info from everyone. I certainly came a cross a jewel of a forum as I (we) begin this journey into Home Schooling.

 

Have a great week all. (Keep the info coming though, lol)

 

cheers,

Mike

[PeachyDoodle]

wow! What an incredible outpouring of great info and comraderie! Thanks to all.

 

You've really bolstered my confidence that it's possible and I'm just uncertain about things I  haven't experienced yet. lol

 

My job as a business coach is pretty flexible but I do have to spend about 30 hours minimum either servicing my clients or marketing to create new ones. Other than some networking meetings or seminars I don't have to BE somewhere yet still need to focus on being productive while at home. I'd like to spend 40 to 50 hours but it's probably unrealistic at this point. I love helping my clients but I also need to provide my son the resources (education, rest, studio) to optimize his potential and to help him grow. Soon enough (in 8 years probably) he'll be out of the house and certainly more on his own.

 

Thanks for the links, insight and info from everyone. I certainly came a cross a jewel of a forum as I (we) begin this journey into Home Schooling.

 

Have a great week all. (Keep the info coming though, lol)

 

cheers,

Mike

 

I also work from home (most weeks considerably less than 30 hours though) and homeschool my dd9 (while simultaneously keeping ds3 out of trouble). I was very apprehensive about the time commitment and over-extending myself at first too. It does help greatly to have a student who is able to work independently while I do what I need to do.

 

You might find this site helpful: www.urthemom.com (although from your name I'm thinking you might be a homeschool dad? It doesn't matter, most of the info has nothing to do with being a mom!) She talks a lot about teaching students to be self-directed. It has helped alleviate some of my worry over not sitting right on top of dd while she works.

 

My best advice as a homeschooling parent with a whopping one year under her belt is to take it a day at a time and realize that it may take you a while to find a rhythm that works for your family -- and that's okay! Welcome to the forum!