homeschool with a home daycare? - Page 2

[mommysherry]

I'm looking at doing this too. I was unschooling while providing care for one daycare child. That was when I was with the girl's dad. It wasn't easy, but we were still mobile with 3 kids total. This year, I am on my own and have 3 daycare children and my oldest goes to an alternative school. I am missing having her home, and she is missing being here, but I had to make the choice for what I could handle as summer came to an end and we were still in the throes of transition. I was drained and overwhelmed and she was bored.

Now, things are settling down and we're moving back home (near Windsor Ontario!) to be with very supportive friends and family. I'm going to try it out with only 2 daycare children and lots of help from grandparents who seem to be on board with life learning.

Loving this thread. I haven't been on here in months and came to post something similar myself!

[kgianforti]

I watch two additional children (I have 2 kiddos myself - 5.5 yo and 3yo) full time, M-F. It actually works out beautifully because I only work on Bible, snack/story time and crafts in the morning then do the "core" subjects at night with my oldest. The day care kiddos just tag along with our morning school (they are 3 yo and 18 months).

My days are long regardless (15-16 hours) because my girls are minimal sleepers and I highly enjoy being busy so it really works out well for me.

[JoyfulnessLived]

My youngest (3 years old) sees the daycare as friends coming to play. The older two (10 & 12) see it as care-giving, and come-and-go from daycare routines and activities as they like through out the day. The daycare generally operates in my living room, playroom & kitchen. My kids have private space (bedrooms) which they can access during daycare time allowing for a sense of privacy and ownership. If my daughter does not want to share a special toy the rule is it stays in her room.

Like you, I choose child care because I love to spend time with kids - I appreciate the money, but it is not my primary motivator for doing the work.  Probably my biggest advice would be to carefully screen/choose the families you work with. It is easier to say you don't feel it is a good fit when they are relative strangers than it is 2 months down the road.  I think this is key to my happiness.

[JPiper]

My former child care provider (and good family friend) has a registered home child care and home schools (HS age teens).  She is a natural teacher, incredibly caring and creative and it works very well for her and all the families involved. She runs a 'by-the-book' home child care, so this arrangement must have also been acceptable to the rules and regs in our state.   Good luck!

[bacamomma]

So glad to hear I am not the only one crazy enough to do this! I provide childcare for 3-5 kids/ day and have 5 of my own, 4 of which are HS (ages 7,6,5, and 4). Doing both hasn't been an issue for us yet. My kids see the DCK as friends, we treat them as part of the family, and they do have the upstairs loft and bedrooms to play in if they don't want to be with the DCK. As for HS, I spent some time training them to follow the schedule I wanted to have before I implemented it. I have the little ones play in the backyard for an hour, where I can still supervise and be available, while we do table work with the big kids. the little ones also have their schooling time first where we do rug time with calendar, weather, action songs, reading, and literacy activities.  We do a lot of learning through play and book readings together. It is harder when we have the babies but my girls love having them here! Also, I know and accept that somedays, we just aren't going to get anything done other than play and meals. As for now, while they are young, I love this lifestyle. I am providing enough of an income to get my family in the financial position we want to be in and in a few years, I will stop providing full time childcare and focus and a new season of life.

[mooskeilittle]

I too am thinking about doing this. in this economy we have to do what ever it takes to make a buck even if stay home moms have to multitask and educate at the same time! the only thing i am worried about is that if i do home school my children and daycare with in the same hours if my children will be effected by this and if anyone will claim child neglect on my daycare or home schooling methods such as saying i cant multitask, as a mother and a teacher i am sure i can do both it will be challenging but thats life isnt it challenging to just get in the car and go to the store and get a bag of groceries with out it being a struggle!

i am just worried they will tag me as a horrible mother or horrible daycare provider, either way i am worried, if i dont make some kind of money i will have to stop home schooling my kids and go back to work and that means they go to public school and we only home schooled for 1 year so far i hate to tuck tail and give up but money talks and the bank is calling! lol figure of speech but i need to pay my bills, i cant afford to do one or the other without one affecting the other.

so if you find out weather this is a yay or a nay let me know~ [e-mail]

[ameliabedelia]

I don't do daycare, but I have thought about it.   One idea I've considered would be to do before-school, after-school/homework-help, , weekend, evening, school vacation, etc. care.  Especially with the before/after school care, you would have older kids, so perhaps playmates for your own children and you wouldn't need all the baby/toddler equipment and would have daytime hours free to do your own school, attend homeschool activities, etc., etc.
 

[Kllewis]

Have you thought about offering before and after school care? Do you have an elementary school nearby that you can walk the kids to? This is a nice option because you would have the bulk of the day to be with your own kids.

[swimming-duck]

Just found this thread. Other people like me!!! We're a rare bunch! I have been doing licensed home daycare for over four years. I started homeschooling my oldest (5) this year. Right now I also hs one of my daycare kiddos with my son. So we do everything during nap time. It's been okay, but my house is suffering. It's really really hard for me to keep up. Naptime used to be when I ran the dishwasher, cleaned stuff, had some "me" time, etc...Now it's when I school. There's usually a bit of time after my son and daycare kiddo are done for me to get something done, but not a ton. And it's not uncommon for me to start a task that needs to be done as soon as we're done schooling and have a daycare kiddo pop up (usually the baby). At the end of the year my daycare kiddo that I'm schooling is going to be leaving along with his little brother. Their mom is going to stay home with them. I'm actually pretty relieved because my 5 year old is really intense. I'm pretty sure he has ADHD like his daddy, but it's a bit soon to be sure. That being said, I've realized that I totally need to change up my approach to school with him. He needs a lot of one on one with his schooling. I've also come to the conclusion that naptime is a terrible time to school him. Well, it's not a new conclusion - I've known that for awhile, but there's not been a better time to do it with everything going on. I was planning on taking off the entire month of December from schooling, so I'm hoping I can figure out during that time period what changes I'll be making and feel ready to go when we continue schooling in January.

As far as juggling the two - whew. Mine is a full-time daycare and I feel a ton of pressure to fill openings asap. My hubby is a full-time nursing student. The intention is that I'll someday be able to quit. That being said, we have a lot of things to pay off so when he's done with school I foresee continuing the daycare as long as I can so we can pay stuff down quickly. Once it's less of a need I could see continuing part-time. I really do enjoy the daycare, but juggling homeschooling with full-time daycare is a lot. I've also tried to keep them separate (only schooling duirng naptime), but I've realized that we are going to have to start doing some things during the day. So that's part of what will be changing in January. I may start waking him up early (he likes to sleep in some days) so that we can get a little bit of schooling done right after breakfast. That way it won't interfere with morning snack and outdoor playtime for the daycare kiddos. We'll probably still do a bit during naptime and then maybe a bit right after I get off of work. He just can't do one long session because of his attention span. I'm trying to plan his next school year (first grade) now and I keep repeating the mantra to myself - less is more, less is more, less is more. I know if I get too much curriculum we'll never get it all done. And I'd still rather homeschool lite than send him to public school. 

If anyone has any words of wisdom for juggling it all I'm all ears. It's really tough some days, but totally worth it!