Home day care and homeschooling

[That70'sLisa]

Is it possible? Practical?

 

Anybody BTDT?

[greenbeanmama]

I do it - have been taking care if the same family's kiddos for six years now (when I started, we each had two, now we both have three, and her older two are in public school, so only after school and on breaks).

 

Besides fitting extra kiddos into your own home's routines, and dealing with extra work on taxes, and working oit what to do when either family has sick kids...it is just HARD. It was easier when the kiddos were younger - if we had an unproductive day, I would say oh well and let them play. We would make sure to use the days without extra kiddos to get more done, so it didn't stress me out. Now, with a fifth grader, we don't have the time to waste. My youngest will be kindergarten age next school year, and I am ready to be done potty training someone else's child. I am ready to be out of that stage of life. I do hate to give up the "built in play dates" of after school care for the olders (and the motivation to make sure the house is spic and span first yhing in the morning!), but I think I want the freedom more.

 

Besides part time childcare, I have been working early mornings in a local bakery - I get home about ten minutes before my husband leaves.out of the two jobs, I make *way* more per hour in the bakery, even though it's rougher on my sleep schedule.

 

In home childcare can boost your income if you absolutely cannot leave your kiddos to go to work. But it is not easy, even if you find an awesome family to work for.

[SquirrellyMama]

I did it. I only had 2 daycare kids when I did it. My kids were were 7, 9, and 11. My daycare kids were 2 and 3 (siblings). When I wasn't working with one kid they would play with the dcks. When my kids were all doing school work I played with the dcks.

 

When the older dck went to school I took on another. Their families loved the school field trips we went on :)

 

 

Kelly

[That70'sLisa]

I do it - have been taking care if the same family's kiddos for six years now (when I started, we each had two, now we both have three, and her older two are in public school, so only after school and on breaks).

 

Besides fitting extra kiddos into your own home's routines, and dealing with extra work on taxes, and working oit what to do when either family has sick kids...it is just HARD. It was easier when the kiddos were younger - if we had an unproductive day, I would say oh well and let them play. We would make sure to use the days without extra kiddos to get more done, so it didn't stress me out. Now, with a fifth grader, we don't have the time to waste. My youngest will be kindergarten age next school year, and I am ready to be done potty training someone else's child. I am ready to be out of that stage of life. I do hate to give up the "built in play dates" of after school care for the olders (and the motivation to make sure the house is spic and span first yhing in the morning!), but I think I want the freedom more.

 

Besides part time childcare, I have been working early mornings in a local bakery - I get home about ten minutes before my husband leaves.out of the two jobs, I make *way* more per hour in the bakery, even though it's rougher on my sleep schedule.

 

In home childcare can boost your income if you absolutely cannot leave your kiddos to go to work. But it is not easy, even if you find an awesome family to work for.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yep, I absolutely cannot leave my kiddos for work. Am thinking I would only take on 2 daycare kiddos, and am wondering what that "looks like" while hs 5th/6th (my own 2). 

I did it. I only had 2 daycare kids when I did it. My kids were were 7, 9, and 11. My daycare kids were 2 and 3 (siblings). When I wasn't working with one kid they would play with the dcks. When my kids were all doing school work I played with the dcks.

 

When the older dck went to school I took on another. Their families loved the school field trips we went on :)

 

 

Kelly

This sound similar to what I am thinking of - and yes, I was thinking our field trips could be  big plus for day care kiddos, as well as having older kiddos to interact with. Thanks for replying!

[Anne in CA]

I went to church with a woman who did this. She was a single mom and really needed the money, but due to a controlling ex who would get her fired from jobs she had to work for herself. She mostly did babies so that she could keep the baby in a sling and still home school. I did this for one year with my niece and it was exhausting, but it was super good for my kids to play with their little cousin. They loved her soooo much, it was very touching. 

[That70'sLisa]

I went to church with a woman who did this. She was a single mom and really needed the money, but due to a controlling ex who would get her fired from jobs she had to work for herself. She mostly did babies so that she could keep the baby in a sling and still home school. I did this for one year with my niece and it was exhausting, but it was super good for my kids to play with their little cousin. They loved her soooo much, it was very touching. 

 

Single mom who really needs the money would be me! :-)

 

Do you know how long she did it for? 

How did it change your homeschooling day when you did it?

 

I am trying to picture a day in my head with a couple extra littles, and worry I may be missing something...

Then again, many of y'all hs 4 of your own kiddos, so I'm thinking it really might be do-able...

 

Thanks again!

[Anne in CA]

I never charged my brother and his wife for watching my niece. My brother and his wife had watched my kids when I went on mission trips for years, so I never charged them. It did change my home schooling schedule for my oldest a little because I expected too much independent work from him. He ended up doing a lot of school in the summer that year. Good thing he loves his cousin!

 

I would think that you will have to charge whatever the market rate is in your area for what you are providing. My SIL sent all the food for my niece everyday, I provided no meals for her, so that is something to think about. 

 

The woman I went to church with did this for three years until she remarried. She remarried someone who had plenty of money and wanted his own kids so she had another family after that. 

[CJVW]

I provide child care in my home. I have 3 full time slots that I have filled with 4 kids. The kids are infant, 1, 3 and 4. My homeschooled kiddo is 6 and I have a 2 year old.

 

I don't know if I'm lucky, work with great kids, have been doing it so long that it falls into place or what, but I love it and don't have anything negative or difficult to say about it.

 

I put out a card table for the day care kids and have a rotation of things I ONLY pull out at learning time. (The dollar store ROCKS.) If they get bored or bothersome, I put on a movie or dump blocks out. If that stopped working, I would divide them up into different rooms/locations with a stack of books. I've never had to do so.

 

When I'm done with my daughter, we go outside or have a dance party. Oh, and I snack everyone before we start working.

 

It's more work having more children during the week, obviously, but it doesn't affect my ability to homeschool.

 

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Edited April 28, 2017 by CJVW

[mamaofgirls]

I was told it is illegal in our state IF you are on the state food program, ect... Our state is so lax on home school so I dont know how true it is, its just what I heard. A mom at our church was taking her state classes to be certified and this was one of the 'no's'.

 

 

[Guest]

I have a friend who is doing this. She manages, gets the school done when the daycare kids are napping and sets the children on independent activities once the toddlers wake up. But it's a lot of work and takes a very relaxed, calm, yet driven personality type to manage that level of organization and distraction.

 

It's a little different than homeschooling with your own littles hanging around.

[OneStepAtATime]

Have you considered tutoring instead? At least here tutor's get paid around $25-50 an hour for standard tutoring. Is there a subject you could tutor well? Wyzant seems a good place for tutor's to advertise. It would give you more flexible hours and it might not interfere with homeschooling as much. Once you get an established reputation it is usually easier to pick and choose who you will take on, too.

 

Have you looked at the laws in your state and any ordinances in your city that would affect things? I know some places have some pretty rigid rules for running a day care.

Edited April 29, 2017 by OneStepAtATime

[Audrey]

I could be remembering this wrong, but I think Joanne did that for a time.  She super-sweet and very helpful.  Maybe she might chime in?

[retiredHSmom]

I agree that tutoring might be easier.  I began taking care of niece daily from 12:00 to 4:30 pm when she was newly 3 years old.  My son who I was homeschooling was a freshman in high school.  I continued to babysit her for pay for 2 and a half years and just stopped in February of this year the my sister quit work.  I found it to be quite challenging.  I wouldn't trade those years for the world. My neice is my unofficial 4th child. My son and my niece have a fantastic relationship, she calls him her "big brudder" but there is absolutely no denying that he did not get as much done when she was here as he does when she isn't.  Maybe it's because we had "nontraditional" hours.

[Amy in NH]

Think about contracts and an insurance rider.

[ktgrok]

After school care might be better, if you can make enough. 

[greenbeanmama]

After school care might be better, if you can make enough. 

 

I was just coming back here to suggest that too.  And since the kiddos you watch would be older, you could probably have more of them (our state laws say no more than four kiddos under two, but you can have six kiddos that are school age - that *does* include any children, even the childcare providers own children).  Or possibly look for a nontraditional hours job, like having kiddos spend the night if their parents work the graveyard shift.

[Dmmetler]

One mom I know did overnight care for kids who's parent(s) worked late night shifts, while homeschooling her DD. (Mostly folks who worked in the casinos, although she did have a few (ahem) adult entertainment specialists). Kids were dropped off in PJ's after about 9:00 up until about 11:00, and went straight to bed. Parents (and in some cases, school buses) picked up between about 5:00 and 8:00, so mom was busy getting the kids off at that time. She and DD could sleep some with the kids there, and often went back to bed after they'd been picked up. She and DD would do the homeschool fun stuff in the afternoons (field trips etc) and do their schoolwork in the evenings. It worked at least through the elementary grades. I think her DD did an online school starting in middle school.

[Kristenaty]

I watch my brother and sister's 2 kids while I homeschool mine.  It doesn't change my day much because I homeschool her Kindy daughter along with my Kindy boy and the younger boy plays with my younger boys.  So I just basically treat them like they are my kids, except they sleep somewhere else.

[Joanne]

I could be remembering this wrong, but I think Joanne did that for a time.  She super-sweet and very helpful.  Maybe she might chime in?

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Audrey!

 

I did, indeed, do this. It was HARD. I imagine I'd have to make the same choice in the same situation, but it was hard.

 

Some feedback:

 

1. It is not as profitable as you might think. The cost of food, toys, cleaning supplies, craft supplies, and wear and tear on the home were significant. I never did go over ratio, but I understand why many do.
2. I had to lower my educational standards; my oldest did some pre-packaged school (it was Lifepacs at that time). This was not the heart I had for homeschooling.
3. While the increased income was good, my kids did not "get" or understand that need. They mostly just saw stress and kids using their stuff. They did not enjoy the other kids; they mostly resented them.
4. Structure and predictability is your friend. As much as it was difficult, I was very good at my daycare. I cared about my families and the kiddos. I separated day-care from my parenting philosophy. This was helpful. You can't attachment parent a daycare and homeschool kids. I had a very structured daycare with the same things in the same order each day. The educational and art/craft stuff changed, of course, but the order of stuff remains.

Later, I homeschooled mine and others. This is legal in Texas. I would do that again instead. I would also create and advertise for before and afterschool care instead of daytime daycare.

 

I also eventually provided before and afterschool care for the YMCA but AT local elementary schools. This was better than in my home. I did this twice. The first time, I was allowed to bring my kids.