Is it possible to work and homeschool your kids?

[erinmattsmom88]

Does anyone out there do both? Is it possible? How do you do it?

[moominmamma]

Are you talking about both parents working full-time, or a single parent working full-time? 

There are several previous threads on this forum asking exactly the same question, with lots of replies. Here are a few:

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1372603/logistics-of-working-full-time-and-homeschooling

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1354137/homeschooling-when-both-parents-work-full-time

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1029072/working-full-time-homeschooling

Miranda

[erinmattsmom88]

Thanks, I'll check out those threads.

I'm talking about one working full-time (DH) and the other, which would be me, working part-time with the potential of full-time if I had to. The majority of the homeschooling has been/will be done by me with DH helping as he can. Right now, finances are dictating that I may need to at least find something part-time soon.

Oh, my kids are 5 and almost 3. I am more concerned about the 5-year-old in this hypothetical scenario. I think she is just fine right now, but the concern is going forward. I have a lot of stress thinking about what I am going to do.

Edited by erinmattsmom88 - 2/23/13 at 9:37am

[stormborn]

Sure! That's our setup exactly- dh works full time & me part time with me picking up more in his off season. It does help that we work seperate shifts, I think, but it's been working for us.
I think with your oldest being 5 you could ease into it with little stress; at that age it's possible to be very unstructured about the whole thing.

[Cassidy68]

We do this: my partner works full-time, I work part-time. My son is older though-- he is eight-- and I have an awesome amount of support from my mother, who lives nearby and looks after my son at least one day a week. I usually teach one evening a week and do some creative writing workshops in schools, but mostly I work from home and can flex my hours around my son's needs (I am a writer and can set my own schedule). It works out pretty well. I don't work more than two days a week though, and I am pretty dependent on the family support I have. We also have a student mentor who does some engineering and computer stuff with my son one morning a week, and I usually try to work during that time (um, like right now- should be working!). 

[stormborn]

Oops double post
Edited by stormborn - 2/23/13 at 11:48am

[moominmamma]

My dh works full-time, I work part-time. One of my shifts is in the evening, after dh is home. Another is on his day off. The other two half-days I work out of a detached studio on my home property and when my kids were all young I hired a local teen to be a mother's helper / babysitter to run interference with them. For a while I had a young homeschooled teen, which was perfect: she was available during school time and the childcare worked for her as part of her unschooled learning. Nowadays my kids are mostly of "home alone" age, so it's easy.

Miranda

[rachelsmama]

Originally Posted by erinmattsmom88 

Thanks, I'll check out those threads.

I'm talking about one working full-time (DH) and the other, which would be me, working part-time with the potential of full-time if I had to. The majority of the homeschooling has been/will be done by me with DH helping as he can. Right now, finances are dictating that I may need to at least find something part-time soon.

Oh, my kids are 5 and almost 3. I am more concerned about the 5-year-old in this hypothetical scenario. I think she is just fine right now, but the concern is going forward. I have a lot of stress thinking about what I am going to do.

We started doing pretty much that when the kids were pretty much those ages.  With the exception of my job cutting into our family time (me and dh work opposite days so we don't have to sort out childcare) it's working well for us.  The kids do different stuff with dh than they do with me, which is nice, and my job gives me a chance to have uninterrupted thoughts, and scheduled breaks, and gives us not only the necessary income, but also an increased level of financial security, so it helps me stay sane.