homeschool with a home daycare?

[mamatoady]

Does anyone homeschool and also have a home daycare? How does that work for you? Do you have "school" hours that are separate from the daycare hours or do you just do it while you're "daycaring"?

I'm thinking about doing this. It feels a bit overwhelming to imagine it, but I thought I'd get some other thoughts on it.

Sarah

[porque]

I do this and it is overwhelming at times. Depending on the kids, sometimes we "school" during naptimes, and sometimes when I am done for the day. I finish daycare at 4:00 or so, so there is plenty of time in the afternoon/evening. My kids have folders with their daily work, so sometimes they will work on what they can do without me when I am busy with other things.
As my kids get older (they are 6 and 8) there are less children here for them to play with, as the day care kids kind of "age out". We can't really get out to homeschool activities, and can't have other kids over to play during the times I am at capacity. So that part is difficult as well.

[phathui5]

I homeschool and do childcare in my home as well. Our "school" hours fall within my work hours, which is necessary because I work Monday through Saturday from 8am to 8pm. Not all of those hours are always filled, but that's when I'm generally available. I also mostly take part-time childcare kids, so that I'm not at capacity every day.

The schoolwork gets done with a lot of planning lessons on Sunday (that's when I make our plan for the week). We do have set times that work gets done, because when we didn't, we didn't accomplish much.

[melissabb]

I also run a home daycare and HS my two kids. My kids are 8 and 5 (nearly 9 and 6). We use an on-line curriculum that they do while I am busiest with the kids. I supplement the rest during the day when I can.

I will say though that HS has made me want to work less. I am currently working with the bulk of my kids on Mon-Wed. On those days I have five kids here plus my own two. On Thurs and Fri I generally only have between one and three kids plus my own.

But, HSing has made me want to spend more time with just my own kids and less doing daycare. I also want to be able to get out more with my kids and see other HSer's, go to classes they might enjoy etc etc.

I am changing to only a Mon-Wed daycare schedule starting in the summer. This will involve letting go of a long-time family of five years. I am nervous about it and feel a bit guilty letting them go but in the end we all have to do what is right for our own families first and foremost.

HSing can work while providing daycare but you do have to have patience and the ability to rearrange a bit.

[porque]

Melissa, your post was so timely for me. It had never occured to me to let a family go, so I can have less work time. I always seem to be working to accomodate families, other than my own. What do they say about the cobblers children having no shoes? I am going to think about this.....

[Fairy4tmama]

But, HSing has made me want to spend more time with just my own kids and less doing daycare. I also want to be able to get out more with my kids and see other HSer's, go to classes they might enjoy etc etc.


I am changing to only a Mon-Wed daycare schedule starting in the summer. This will involve letting go of a long-time family of five years. I am nervous about it and feel a bit guilty letting them go but in the end we all have to do what is right for our own families first and foremost.

Yep this is where I was about 10 months ago! I made the decisison to close my bussiness because I felt that I was staying home to be with my kids but

I always seem to be working to accomodate families, other than my own. What do they say about the cobblers children having no shoes? I am going to think about this.....

I really felt that as my oldest got to be of school age that I was not able to provide him with the enviorment/activities/playdates that were approprate for his development. I also found that having so many little people so close in age made it impossible to do anything other then mantain a status quo of keeping every one fed, diapered, clean,and sharing. Almost a year later I still have one 3 year old mon-thurs. Its still not ideal but way more workable than it was and he will be going to preschool in the fall. I CAN NOT wait to be home with just my kids. It was hard to stop, and we struggled ALOT (financialy) for about 9 months but about a month ago I landed a great part time job that allows me to work 3 evenings a week and saturday because I have to have an income.

[emmsmama]

I hs and run a home daycare. Last year was our first year hs'ing and I was running daycare 3 days/wk. However, last September I had a little one leaving me for school and my other Fri. child left because mom wanted me to take little sis too and do other days that I couldn't, so it was a good time to drop Fri. altogether.

This year we have really found our groove and it is working out well. I definitely wouldn't want to hs and do daycare full-time. It would be do-able, but I think it would be just too much juggling for me. I found that even when I was doing daycare 3 days/wk. and hs'ing that it was very difficult to get everything done and we almost never could go on field trips or do activities with hs'ing groups in the area.

For reference, my children are 6.25 and 9.75 yrs. old. Now I just do daycare Tues. and Thurs. and my rough schedule is:

Mon, Wed, Fri.
10-11 - do Math, Grammar and Handwriting with ds
11-12 - do Math, Grammar, Spelling, and Handwriting with dd
(yes, we like to sleep in around here )
12-1 - lunch
1-2 - finish one on one stuff with dd if we didn't finish before lunch or start together reading
2-4 - reading (Ambleside Online booklists mostly), Science, History

Tues. and Thurs.
-pretty much no formal work for ds
-with dd we do Math together when the daycare babies are sleeping
-dd also has worksheets assigned - I'm not a huge fan of worksheets but they are good review for her and I use the book Complete Canadian Curriculum so it's a good way to make sure she's getting all the bits and pieces they might get in her grade at school, that we might miss in the curriculums I'm using.

I feel we've worked out a really good groove this year. Next year will get more complicated with both of my kids being in higher levels of work, but hopefully as they get older they will also be able to work more independently in some areas.

[melissabb]

Originally Posted by emmsmama

I use the book Complete Canadian Curriculum .

Another Canuck?? Me too! What province are you in??

[emmsmama]

Originally Posted by melissabb

Another Canuck?? Me too! What province are you in??

I'm in Windsor, ON, so not too far from you

[edensmama]

I just started hsing dd this year and have had a home daycare for 2 years now. Granted she is 4 1/2 and we don't have a strick school schedule but we do cirriculum everyday. I am wondering if it will be harder this next school year when we do Kindergarten, I am hoping to not have to do daycare this fall.

[robin4kids]

I have been struggling with this for 2 years now. I only have one child I am HSing, one 2.5 y/o and 3 in school. My hsing 6 y/o has never been in any daycare , preschool or school. I have been doing daycare for 10 years now, so there is a lot about it that comes second nature. I have between 3-6 kids in addition to my own 5 days a week.

A few things that I have learned is: 1. kids do not need a lot of structured activities. Kids learn from one another and the environment. My daycare kids have learned all their colors, numbers and ABCs through everyday play. I don't kill myself.
2. Most parents that don't hs will think you are the best if once or twice a week you send home a simple craft their child made. Also I tell them something they did during the day that was hands on, like rice play.
3. My own hsed ds can learn a lot from the magic school bus, books and talking. I am learning to let go of all the paper and pencil work. I am learning how to do more unschooling.

There are days that I struggle with the fact that my ds has no friends, because I can't leave the house. It is not easy. On days that you have 2-3 daycare kids all crying at the same time, it is very hard.
I HAVE to work. If you can make it without doing daycare then I suggest you try to avoid it, or get a p/t job when dh is at home. It is not easy to juggle your own children and daycare kids. If you add having to do school with your own child, then it is double hard. I will tell you from experience, if you have this idea of all the work you will accomplish each day, then you need to let it go. Believe me only 1-2 days a week you get everything done, the rest you need to be happy you got something done.
Patience, Patience and more Patience are needed. Think about how much you can handle.

[mamatoady]

thank you very much for the advice and thoughts about this. I really have to make some money and this is the best way--as I don't have to put my kids in someone elses home to go get a job. I'm on the fence with homeschooling. I really want to, but I'm not sure I can take it on along with the daycare. I am essentially a single mom (dh is trucking 2 months at a time), so I really don't ever get a break. I also can't figure out if I had a daycare that started early and ended late, how I would get dd to and from school (there's no bussing)...so I guess there's pros and cons either way.

all food for thought--keep it coming!
Sarah

[katjen8a]

Wow!  You're me!  Lol...I just made the decision this school year to go down to just doing Tuesdays and Thursdays for daycare - I also do from 2-5 pm every day.  So our school schedule is similar to yours; we do most of our formal stuff during MWF mornings before 2, and the other 2 days we do what we can during nap time.  It has worked so much better than trying to get it all done during naptime every day.  I have a 9 1/2 year old daughter and a 3 1/2 year old girl.  On Tuesday and Thursday they get really bored; what do you have them do to keep busy while you work?  I'm so excited to have found someone like me!!  :)

[emmsmama]

On Tuesday and Thurs. ds does some independent work now that he is older (8 now as it's been a while since my original post).  When he's done his independent work (usually some pages in Explode the Code and maybe a math worksheet), then he plays with the daycare kids usually.  Dd does a lot more of her work independently now, so it keeps her busy most of the day, especially since she is a dawdler and often takes all day to do a couple hour's worth of work.  If she finishes before daycare kids go home she often will do the girls' hair or nails or other girly things with the older daycare ones.  Dd also loves to read, so if she finishes work early then she will sometimes read a book in her room.  She also loves arts/crafts so she will sometimes lead the daycare kids in a craft or do one on her own.

It takes juggling, but the Tues./Thurs. is magageable.  Right now one of my daycare little ones is also coming on Fridays until approx. the end of Feb., but she's a very happy little one and she will just sit with ds while he reads with me or play with the abacus while I'm doing a math lesson with ds, etc., so having just her on Fridays is still working out alright.

 

Originally Posted by katjen8a 

Wow!  You're me!  Lol...I just made the decision this school year to go down to just doing Tuesdays and Thursdays for daycare - I also do from 2-5 pm every day.  So our school schedule is similar to yours; we do most of our formal stuff during MWF mornings before 2, and the other 2 days we do what we can during nap time.  It has worked so much better than trying to get it all done during naptime every day.  I have a 9 1/2 year old daughter and a 3 1/2 year old girl.  On Tuesday and Thursday they get really bored; what do you have them do to keep busy while you work?  I'm so excited to have found someone like me!!  :)

[surrogate]

I do daycare and also homeschool.  I am also a single mom.  It is hard, but where I live the only jobs pay $8 an hour, so this really is my only option.  Right now my kids are 4 and 3, so we dont do hardcore homeschool, but we do worksheets everyday.  I include my other daycare kid (my niece) and would also include any other "of age" children I had.  Right now I am down to 2 DCKs a 1yo and my niece (3).

I miss doing daycare because I want to...i love my job, but it becomes that much harder when you are the sole EVERYTHING (breadwinner, cooker, cleaner, educator...etc)

[zebra15]

I did daycare with DS homeschooling in the past.  It worked out fine, but then again we are unschoolers.

DS was also an independent learner and was fine working on his own.  Now I WOH and DS goes to the sitters. He works on his stuff at his own pace.

The only thing that was challenging for DS was staying home during the day w. the daycare kids.  He missed going to the library during the day, things like that.

[inky leeuhhh]

oh this is an interesting post. i woh right now and the girls go to a sitter, but i have been considering this so i could at least be at home with them during the day, even if i am splitting my attention. it would probably start out as a daycare and morph into a home preschool (at least that would be ideal). with a preschool program i'd have a little more flexibility when it comes to creating my own hours. i work as a preschool teacher/ caregiver right now in a full day program. to get schooling done now i usually sit with dd (who is almost 7) for an hour or so at night and we work on handwriting or math, wtih some science and history thrown in on weekends. seems to be working fine so far. i'm hoping by the time she needs more academically, she will also be at a place where its a little easier for her to work independently. dd2 is not even 2 yet. seems like it would have advantages and drawbacks.

[bass chick]

I have a dayhome and hs as well! My kids are 4.5 and 6.5. I'm in Alberta, Canada. It's hard. My husband has been on-again off-again with work (his choice) and I can't trust him to provide for our family.
 

Originally Posted by surrogate 

I miss doing daycare because I want to...i love my job, but it becomes that much harder when you are the sole EVERYTHING (breadwinner, cooker, cleaner, educator...etc)

I am everything too...although I have a husband who kicks around so it's like having an extra kid around who is always whining that I have no time for him. Duh! I wonder why. And I've noticed that he is the most difficult to clean up after.

We are pretty relaxed and quite efficient with math, reading, writing etc. My boys sleep in and I do some schooling during the day with my 6.5 year old and we also do stuff in the evening after hours. My boys are up late...sometimes after midnight despite dh's protesting. I am focusing on reading and writing skills and math. I hope to start some sciences and history / socials in a few years. *sigh* It is not ideal, by any means. And I wish it were different, but we all make choices....some right and some wrong.

[JoyfulnessLived]

I homeschool my 2 middle-schoolers and run family daycare part-time.  We homeschool during daycare quiet time. I find that the daycare holds me accountable (home presentable, up and ready for the day etc.) but think it would be overwhelming doing both full time. My daycare caters to school teachers so I have regular holidays and summers off which helps keep things balanced. I'm blogging about my experiences and what works at http://joyfulnesslived.blogspot.com

[greenacresmama]

That is awesome! I am not sure how much money I would end up making because I would probably keep building more play spaces, felt food, and art project upon art project! I am a really natural mom so I would round it all up in my home as well. It actually feels really sweet to me to think about this for income. I worry a lot about how my children would feel about sharing their home and play spaces.. even though I think it is room for growth, do your kids feel like they are just friends coming over? How does it work nicely for them emotionally?