I need help..want to homeschool but would have to quit high paying job!

[maureen73]

I am so torn and need some advice please. I have a very successful career and my job has ALOT of perks i.e. company car, gas paid, corporate credit card and cell phone paid. Also, my company is very undertanding allowing home office days and very understanding about having to leave early etc. I also know that my position is very rare in the real world and that if I leave that opportunity probably won't ever present itself again. With that said, I dream constantly of staying home and homeschooling my children. I am very discouraged with the school system in Florida and feel that I would be able to give my best to my little ones. I have a 2 year old son, 9 month daughter and little Jacob on the way in a few weeks. My husband has offered to work overtime hours if this is what I really want to do and has been very supportive. If I quite we would be reducing salary by about $65,000 per year and that doesn't include the perks. I know that money is not everything but it certainly does help. Has anyone ever had to make this choice and how did you decide what to do. I struggle with this constantly.

[True Blue]

It may haunt you forever if you don't homeschool your children, if you feel strongly about it.

That said, your kids are young. You could, conceivably, start planning NOW to start homeschooling when your oldest is 5. If you plan now, you could start trying to live on only your DH's money and SAVE much or all of your salary for the next 2-3 years, leaving you a very nice cushion. I realize you may want them not to even do preschool, but since you are already working, it might make sense to let them stay in daycare (I assume that's where they are, but maybe you have a relative watch them, I don't know ) for now and be able to be home and be their "teacher" later on, where the schools really seem to fail. HTH!

[AnnR33]

I was making good money too when I realized I had to stay home and raise my kids. I knew I couldn't let someone else raise my kids for 6-8 hrs a day, just wasn't an option for me.
Luckily I could give about 5 mos notice (due to flex schedule and lots of vacation time saved) so we saved ALL my income for those few months so that we could realize what our expenses would be and to have some savings.

You really should sit down and do some major budgeting and see what you can cut like cable, call waiting, eating out, new clothes, insurance deductibles, etc. It can add up quite quickly.

Everyone said I would miss working because I was a "career woman" and that I'd always be calling to go out for lunch and talk 'shop." Know what? The day I walked out that door for the last time I never looked back, never regretted it for a moment.

I love raising my kids. Sure, it's challenging at times but what isn't that's worth your time?

[maureen73]

Thank you ladies so much for your response. My husband and I have it set up now so that he is home with them during the week and I have home office Fridays and weekends. We work opposite schedules in that he works Thursday through Saturday nights from 6 p.m.- 6 a.m. I have nothing against daycare for anyone else its just since I chose to still work we want one of us home with the kids at all times so it makes sense for us right now. That way we dont have preschool or daycare. Hopefully, I will have the guts to give up my career and be able to homeschool. We are doing little "lessons" during the day with our son which he really enjoys. Does anyone know of any good websites for homeschooling a preschooler? Thanks.

[littlecityfarmer]

Can you and your DH share homeschooling duties? You certainly don't need to homeschool on the same timetable that the school district uses, so you can "do" school whenever the timing works for your family...

I'm not sure where on the "homeschool" spectrum you are as far as by-the-letter-curriculum vs. unschooling, but lots of life activities can count as school to (eg: grocery store trips: nutrition, consumer ed, sorting, math, endless possibilities)...

If you want to quit you job to stay home, and that would work for you and your family financially, by all means do. Just don't feel that you have to quit if you want to homeschool-- it is possible to do both!

Good luck,
Katie

[MidwifeErika]

I agree with beansmommy, you don't have to quit your job if you don't want to. If you are balancing out the childcare right now and feeling good with that schedule, you could homeschool in the same manner. If you want to quit working then totally find out a way to do that. if you don't want to quit working, you can homeschool around your schedule.

[VanessaS]

I agree that you don't have to quit your job. It sounds like you're enjoying it. Maybe there would also be a part-time or reduced hour option? Homeschooling doesn't actually take that much time up and you could homeschool in the afternoons/evenings or something.

However, I was in the same exact situation (I even earned a bit more than my husband while working much fewer hours) and quit my job anyway. Not because I thought the children would suffer if I wasn't at home 24-7 but because I wanted to spend more time with my husband. Now whenever he has off we all have "quality time" together since I can get all of the housework, shopping, etc. done during the weekdays. Well... almost all of it done.

Now that we're talking about homeschooling I'm glad I made that choice because teaching and hanging out with my kids is soooo much more fun than my high-powered job ever was. I would never have believed it before!

The only thing is the reduced income but we just toned-down a bit. We only eat out every couple of weeks although we do occasionally go out for an ice cream cone. We moved to an apartment instead of a house and we just bought a pretty plain Toyota station wagon instead of the Volvo of my dreams. Also, you'll notice that with one income the amount you pay in taxes may go down considerably. And going to work actually costs quite a bit of money, if you actually add it up.
Most of the money we do spend is on "field trips" and toys/puzzles/crafts.

Also, don't underestimate the power of having a SAHP in raising a spouse's income. Since my husband doesn't have to worry about childcare or household at all, he can concentrate completely on his employment and his income and career have really taken off since I've been at home (and yes, the statistics agree with this assesment). There's also the additional benefit of learning to live off of one income. It provides a kind of insurance against unemployment/sickness/death (God forbid) because you only need one parent working to support the family. The SAHP is basically the back-up and emergency fund.

Lastly, our generation will be working until they put us in our grave. Even if I don't go back to work until I'm 40 I'll still have at least 30 years of career time ahead of me. Time's not running out that quickly, YKWIM?

[coldfeet]

Completely and totally agree with VanessaS.

for you as your struggle with your decision.

[phathui5]

Would your job let you stay on part-time, or work out a different schedule so you'd be happier with the way your week is split up to homeschool?

You could homeschool when you're home. Maybe your dh could do a couple subjects and you could do a couple.

[wonderwahine]

what about a comprimise between homeschoolsing when either one of you are home and using a montesorri preschool etc.

[Jenmom]

Well, I recently have turned down several opportunities to take jobs where I would make about $50k per year to start because of my dedication to homeschooling my kids. However, I'm not in your situation. My hubby works days, every weekday and there's no other option for him, given his career. If you are in a situation whether you or your husband are home all the time, anyway, why not share homeschooling duties? I think you could find a way to make it work.

[Sisyphus]

I'd agree that it's possible to homeschool and WOH, lots of women do it, HOWEVER... don't forget that once the kids are "school age" many day care providers won't take them during the day. That presents a whole other issue. Of course, it might not be *such* an issue if your employer is OK with you working a couple of days a week at home and if you have a daycare provider who will take older kids for the other days.

Best of luck to you!