single/working homeschooling moms

[poisonedapple]

Would you mind sharing with me how you do it? I'm guessing you work outside of the home as well, how do you juggle everything and whats your schedule like? If you'd prefer to PM me, please do so.

[lauracd]

I work two full days during the week and the boys stay with their grandmother. Now I am not single but I didn't know if you were asking for both single and working or either/or.

[Guava~Lush]

I usually work very part time and at nights so I have my days free. Last summer dh lost his job so I took on a full time schedule. 1 day and all nights, and my husband jumped in with some of the schooling for ds.

But I am back to 1 or 2 nights a week and dh watches ds at night.

[captivatedlife]

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=517487

This is a whole couple of pages dedicated to this. I'm not single, nor homeschooling but I have lots of ideas on the subject. If you have a job or skill that allows you to work at home I would jump on it. Can you house share / child swap/watch with another single mom?

If you post specifics, maybe others can help you more (like what do you do for a living, the ages of you children, ect!)

Good luck on your journey!

[mom2kbeth]

I am a single mama. It is a huge juggling act. I don't work outside the house, but do work from home on average of 50+ hours a week. I work at night and early in the morning, and pretty much all day on the weekends. We do all of our homeschooling mid-late morning, afternoon, early evening (we dont' have a schedule, just do what we want when we want, although we will be starting a little bit more of a routine in September because I am having a hard time with the juggling without one lately).

[alima]

I've been a single mom from the start, and am going into my 6th year of hsing my ds, who's now 14. We did public school for a while. Hsing is easier in every way than trying to fit both of our lives into a school schedule.

When ds was younger I did a variety of jobs, most of which I could bring ds along (dog walking, house cleaning, was the lunch lady at a local elementary school for years, child care.) I bartended and waitressed part time, ds would go to a babysitter, when he got older, I had a teenaged boy come here to babysit.

Now that he's older, but my job is very, very flexible and I can work from home part of the time. My hours are all over the place and I would not be able to do this job if ds were in school, I'd never get to see him.

[rainbowmoon]

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[incorrigible]

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[canuckgal]

I am an RN, who works half time hours splitting a full time schedule with another co worker, so I have some flexability. I work 10 twelve hour shifts per 6 weeks, nights too, generally getting stretches of 3-9 days off at a time. Dh and I have always juggled it (child care) by the types of jobs we have. We are both in the medical field (now he is a health care aide and also a lab tech at my hospital.) I have a permanent part time schedule, he is a casual (meaning he covers vacation, sick calls, etc and has no guarentee of hours week to week.) We have also worked where he is permanent and I am casual as well. Generally, he only takes work on the same days as me if we have plenty (read at least a week or two) of notice as we have a fellow homeschooling family as babysitters and she does not like to be called at 6 am to babysit if dh has been asked to work! At the most we only need maybe like 2 days a month so far. We actually NEVER needed a babysitter for purposes of us working until a year or two ago, so we have been lucky! Moneywise it is hard, just this week dh and I talked and decided to turn down an opportunity for him to apply for a part time job as it was too much babysitting...we knew how much babysitting we needed last year when he was in school briefly, and money wise and emotionally for the kids it was not worth it.

Homeschooling wise, I consider myself an unschooler and don't follow a strict schedule of 10am is math everyday sort of thing or send stuff for the babysitter to do. Especially since I legally have to register dd this year, I have been more mindful of keeping track of what she is doing (we only have to send progress reports 2 x per year here) I do try for myself to keep track either mentally or in writing connections and opportunities for learning/expanding on what my kids are learning or are interested in. For example, I am in the process of collecting some math type games/websites as dd is majorly interested in puzzles and logic, we had been discussing astronomy type stuff (a sort of hobby for me) so we are going to check out the Persides meteor shower this weekend IF the clouds would ever clear (! : ), I realized lately that ds seems to grasp what 2, or 3 of something is (rather than just rotely reciting numbers) so I am planning to get ahold of more counting books, etc. If I don't do this type of "planning" regularly I feel like we are "coasting" and not actively "doing anything" until I look back and realize that yes we do "do stuff".

It is a hard juggle I do agree. I mostly feel torn between my mom self and my work self. I would love not to work, but that is a hard decision, I have been an RN for 15 years plus make about 15.00/hr more than dh, he is great with the kids but is not as "on the ball" with doing some of the stuff that I have described as above plus he does not want to be at home all the time with them. He is very supportive and agrees with homeschoooling so this is the compromise we have come up with.

I think that my best advice would be do the best you can and don't expect yourself to be like "all those other homeschoolers" Not even they have kids working on the cure for cancer and going to violin practice and on and on all in the same day...they have messy houses or get grumpy or have tv watching jags too! . I try to remind myself of this especially when I get up on 4 hours of sleep after my 3rd night shift (in order to be tired enough to sleep that night) and am comatose...sometimes just snuggling with the kids on the couch and doing a puzzle or something iand really BEING with them in that moment is just as much a meaningful part of homeschooling too, even if I don't have the energy that day for something more "exciting!"

Hope this helps!

Tina, dp James, dd Stephanie (7) and ds Jonathan (4) here in Manitoba Canada eh!

[ShinyHappyPeople]

I think my situation isn't what you were thinking about:
I have a little shop, and I only work in it part time. I can bring the kids with me, or they are old enough to stay at home (when they were younger, they would mostly go with, or stay with friends and family). They can also go to work with my husband once in a while. Good luck!

[griffin2004]

I have no idea how single moms who work outside the home manage homeschooling. What do they do with their children while they're at work? That's the hump I've never been able to get over.

[poisonedapple]

Those that stay at home to work or take your kids to work, what kind of work do you do? I have my own little web design biz, but its not steady enough to support us, so I don't think that would be an option on it's own.

Thanks for the link to the older post too, I am working my way through all of these.

[panamama]

ooooohhh! subbing, as i'm getting ready to do just this!

: :

[mom2kbeth]

Originally Posted by poisonedapple

Those that stay at home to work or take your kids to work, what kind of work do you do? I have my own little web design biz, but its not steady enough to support us, so I don't think that would be an option on it's own.

Thanks for the link to the older post too, I am working my way through all of these.

I am a wahm that makes diapers/children's clothing and writes curriculum. Thankfully it has been paying the bills (that and child support)

[AngelBee]

Originally Posted by poisonedapple

Those that stay at home to work or take your kids to work, what kind of work do you do? I have my own little web design biz, but its not steady enough to support us, so I don't think that would be an option on it's own.

Thanks for the link to the older post too, I am working my way through all of these.

When I was single, I opened my dance academy out of my home. It enabled me to keep ds1 with me.

8 years later, I still own the dance academy but it is about 7 min from home. I also have a dh. The children come with me most of the time when i teach. I am at teh dance academy Tues, Wed, Thurs nights and Sat day. We homeschool during the day.

We also homeschool year round so that gives me 12 months to do what others are doing in 9. That helps alot!

I will be praying that you find a solution that works for you. :

[incorrigible]

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[2tadpoles]

Originally Posted by griffin2004

I have no idea how single moms who work outside the home manage homeschooling. What do they do with their children while they're at work? That's the hump I've never been able to get over.

I was only a single homeschooling mama for a year, but I had a roommate (my best friend). She was a single mama, too, but her kids went to school.

She and I worked opposite shifts, so my kids were with her when I was at work. And they were old enough to be by themselves for a little while, if needed.

I have another friend who is a single mama, but she lives in a multi-family home, on the first floor, and her father lives upstairs. She works nights in a nursing home, and her daughter goes upstairs to be with grandpa while her mom is at work.