Going back to school as a homeschooling parent

[momofmine]

I am posting here because I wanted to talk about this from the perspective of being a homeschooling parent.  I hope this thread is okay here.

I felt very strongly that I wanted to have a family, and be home with my kids, and homeschool, and I was 27 at the time.  So I made the decision to leave graduate school and focus on my family, and I didn't finish my master's degree.  The program that I was in is not something that I could pick back up and finish, I would have to start all over.

Now that my kids are not babies anymore, I am feeling a real longing to do more.  I am so thankful to have been able to be at home with them so much, and to truly celebrate and live joyfully along with them in these younger years.  I just have so many other ideas of things that I want to do.  Although my kids are not babies, they are still young, and I don't want to stop homeschooling.  I want to continue to homeschool, and I want to enjoy this precious time with them, as I know that it is short and they will be grown in a blink of an eye.  But part of me really feels pulled to go back to school and pursue a higher degree.  The only problem is that it would mean our family would probably have to move for me to be able to do that.  Right now, we have family close by, DH has a good stable job, moving just for me to go back to school seems like it would really upset the apple cart.  

Anyway, just wanting some perspectives, opinions, etc, on pursuing things like returning to school as a homeschooling parent.  Thanks!

[Momma Aimee]

Dh has been talking about me going back to school.  we hope to be moving to my hometown soon, and with my suister and her familyt and my folks -- there would be oppertunity for  me to go to school part time.  (no clue what i want to do -- nother issue there)

we are conmitted to keeping the boys home though 3rd grade at least, and DS1 is not 'offically' Kindy till fall '11

Intrested in thoughts about this too

[momofmine]

That is another issue for me, is that where we currently live, we have family here.  If I were to go back to school, having family around to help with the kids would be terrific.  If we move somewhere, DH would have to leave a very stable job and we would not have family around to help.  I guess the only way we could really do it is if DH was a SAHD.

If you can move to your hometown, where you could go to school, and have family to help, then that sounds ideal!  

I am starting to feel like what it comes down to is a decision between homeschooling and putting the kids first for now, or pursuing going back to school.  But I don't want it to be either/or.

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by momofmine 

That is another issue for me, is that where we currently live, we have family here.  If I were to go back to school, having family around to help with the kids would be terrific.  If we move somewhere, DH would have to leave a very stable job and we would not have family around to help.  I guess the only way we could really do it is if DH was a SAHD.

If you can move to your hometown, where you could go to school, and have family to help, then that sounds ideal!  

I am starting to feel like what it comes down to is a decision between homeschooling and putting the kids first for now, or pursuing going back to school.  But I don't want it to be either/or.

the only w ay I will be going back to school for ME for a w hile is if w e get to move home -- the boys will be home 6 more years at least (6 years from fall of '11 younger starts 3rd grade the last year we have agreed to have them home).

But if we live at home w here my mom and dad and Sister live -- then i can go back (part time) beacuse there are options for the boys both for me to go to class and for me to have time to study and do work of my own.

I jsut don't know what i want to DO

I do know that schooling would need to be part time, for me, so that I can keep MOMMA as my highest role ...

One thing that i try to remember is Kindy, 1st and so on -- is not going to require all day schooling for the kids at home, no matter how formal you make it

[kittie313]

I'm in college full time and homeschooling 4 kids with no family that is willing to help with childcare.  The option I took for my classes is to do my program online.  I'm attending a Christian college that has a campus 2 hours away from my home and am studying through their online program, I do chores and homeschooling all day while dh is at work and then on nights and weekends when he's home I do my college work.  It takes a lot of flexibility and depending on my dh to take over with the kids completely, along with needing to maintain a high level of organization for me to pull it all off, but he is fully supportive of my going back to school even if I never do use my degree.

So, depending on what you want to study, you could pull it off with an online program, or by a combination of online classes and night/weekend classes with a part time enrollment schedule.  I'm blessed that I can do my program completely online at this point (I'm finishing my first semester right now, working on just an Associate's but could go up to the Bachelor's with this school's online program) so I have a lot of flexibility that way.

[misidawnrn]

Here is how I "hope" to be doing homeschool with ME in school... I will let you know in a few weeks if this is a reality as I start school full time (19 credits my first semester!!!) on Wednesday.

First of all DD is 1st grade so her work is a lot easier to teach.  I also switched to all ABeka curriculum for ease of teaching and DD loves the worksheet/workbook format. 

Second....I am getting and IPAD.  There are so many apps on there that will help.  I really hate electronics with kids and WILL NOT let DD play any games that are not educationally based but, that being said, we are going to put some math and spelling apps on there that will help her learn them and give me a break of drilling DD on her math stuff.

Third...paper plates!!!! I plan on getting paper plates...less dishes.  Not very crunchy I know but DH doesn't do dishes.  I think he may have done dishes 3 times in the 3 years we have been together.    I will have all of the homework, housework, homeschool etc to do.  DH doesn't do any of it.  No flaming, it works for us...he makes the money and pays the bills, I clean the house and cook/shop/laundry etc, that is what we do. 

Fourth...lots of library time for me to have a quiet place to read and study.  DH is self employed and works out of our house and is a farmer.  When he is home I can easily go to the library.

Fifth...prayer and patience!!!!  hehehehe

[inky leeuhhh]

i work full time right now and take one online class per quarter. that's all i can handle on top of my two girls. the house has gone to heck, it's a mess. i'd actually really consider the paper plate idea if i wasn't so darn cheap. lol. i won't lie- its hard even with just one class for me. i teach preschool and i'm exhausted by the end of the day. right now i go to work, come home, relax for maybe ten min, clean up a little bit and feed the girls ( i love cooking for them and talking to them while i cook and as we eat), get the girls ready for bed, relax maybe another ten min, and then hit the books. weekends are spent studying, trying to get caught up on housework, and doing school with my older dd. i honestly don't know how much longer i can handle school, work, and hsing. at this rate i feel like i'm not going anywhere with school, so we're trying to figure out a way for me to stay home, but we keep hitting snags. blah!!

[momofmine]

The only problem is that what I want to do cannot be done online, and or even be done here where we currently live.  It would require a move, and would require I guess just living on loans while DH stayed home with the kids.  I just don't know whether that's smart or not.  He doesn't love his job, but he doesn't hate it, and it's very stable, decent income, with really good benefits.  

[ocelotmom]

I was in school (nursing school and prerequisite) throughout K and most of 1st grade for my DS. My husband worked from home and we had housemates, so childcare wasn't an issue, but I still did most of the schooling. One of my classmates and one of the instructors (who was completing her master's at the time, as well) also homeschooled.

We did a lot of schooling at nontraditional times - lots of evenings and weekends. I actually think homeschooling was easier than helping him with homework on someone else's externally imposed schedule.

Obviously, K-1 is not the most academically demanding time in a homeschooling life and I only had one child whose education I was concerned with, but it's a time that requires a high level of parental involvement, with little independent work being possible, especially as DS wasn't reading well. It worked out.

I lived in a university town, and we had a wonderful active homeschooling community (both Christain and Secular, whichever you prefer). I think that this is common in college towns, where there's a high value placed on education.

I think it's beneficial for kids to see you doing schoolwork, especially seeing it as something you *want* to do and are willing to work at, even though individual assignments may be less than pleasant, and seeing learning as a lifelong process, not something you finish when you graduate from high school/college.

[inky leeuhhh]

Originally Posted by ocelotmom 

I was in school (nursing school and prerequisite) throughout K and most of 1st grade for my DS. My husband worked from home and we had housemates, so childcare wasn't an issue, but I still did most of the schooling. One of my classmates and one of the instructors (who was completing her master's at the time, as well) also homeschooled.

We did a lot of schooling at nontraditional times - lots of evenings and weekends. I actually think homeschooling was easier than helping him with homework on someone else's externally imposed schedule.

Obviously, K-1 is not the most academically demanding time in a homeschooling life and I only had one child whose education I was concerned with, but it's a time that requires a high level of parental involvement, with little independent work being possible, especially as DS wasn't reading well. It worked out.

I lived in a university town, and we had a wonderful active homeschooling community (both Christain and Secular, whichever you prefer). I think that this is common in college towns, where there's a high value placed on education.

I think it's beneficial for kids to see you doing schoolwork, especially seeing it as something you *want* to do and are willing to work at, even though individual assignments may be less than pleasant, and seeing learning as a lifelong process, not something you finish when you graduate from high school/college.

I agree with the bolded statement totally!

[kathymuggle]

Op...I think moving, moving away from family and friends, and having your DH give up a decent paying jobs with benefits so you can go into a specific program is too much.  I would not do it.  

Options:

change programs and do something locally in a brick and mortar school

change programs and do something online

double check all your research...are you sure it cannot be done online?

wait

If you really want to go through with it...what does Dh think?  Can he find a job in the other locale easily?  I would expect him finding a job before you moving there would be a prerequisite? How far away is the other town/city? Could you commute or even go there for a couple of days a week?  Masters programs vary - but you may be able to go there for a a couple of days, and go home for the rest of the week.  

[Ravin]

I'm planning on going back to school next fall. The plan is law school; if I don't get into the state school for that, though, I may look at going for a Physician's Assistant master's, go for a nursing degree, or go into education (more or less, that's the order of how expensive each would be). The plan is to do law school part time for the first year's coursework (so spread it over 2 years), so that I could be in class just 2 days/week, Tues/Thurs. That would mean only needing daycare for the baby those two days, and DD's enrichment program has a 2-day/week option for Tues-Thurs so her care would be covered (and I'd let that stand for Spanish, music, PE, science, history, art, keyboarding, and whatever other electives fill in the time). We'll do her core subject lessons (Math, Writing, Latin, Reading, Geography) on MWF, plus I'll have plenty of studying of my own to do, of course. DH is a full time student, and will hopefully be working a bit less part time next fall than it looks like he will be this spring (all he found for the spring was a 6.5hr/wk work study job).

I won't be continuing to work when I go back to school. I can only handle so much on my plate at once.