Working and homeschooling

I work about 10 hours a week over 2 or 3 part-time days. I can do a little of my work at home, but it usually takes longer that way, so I don’t do that much anymore. 

My daughters are 13 & 15, so they do more than half of their work on their own with most of the help in the subject or two that they struggle with. A lot of my work for their schooling is prep & scheduling plus checking math tests, reading science notebooks or narrations from various subjects. We still do history & geography together and sometimes a literature read aloud. We don’t even always do Bible studies together because each girl has something different they are working on right now, not what is recommended for with the history module.

The only way this really works for us is because this year my son has been enrolled in a community school for kids with autism, Asperger’s, ADHD, and other behavioral disorders. I didn’t plan on this, but the school came to our attention while I was seeking some place that would test him in certain areas.  It has been a blessing to us at this point because I was really feeling that I could not give him the time and attention he needed in the way he needed it, and my girls’ education was not coming together as I wanted it to. (Nor as they wanted either.)

My girls go to visit their dad one afternoon a week, and I go to the office for 4+ hours. I manage to work in another day usually while the kids are at youth group and sometimes on a Friday or Saturday when they are not doing schoolwork. However, my kids are all teens and can be at home for a few hours without me. I don’t leave them at home during the school day, but they are able to get their schoolwork done early enough on days they visit their dad. We work longer on days we don’t have anything going on outside of home.

One thing that helps is to plan ahead for meals, and keep dinners simple on the busiest days. I have a lot of slip-ups when it comes to meal planning, and we pay dearly for it when that happens–both financially and nutritionally. As far as “routine” and “normal” go, I just keep reminding myself when I look at our home & DON’T see the cover of “House Beautiful” or “Better Homes and Gardens,” I am choosing to educate and raise my children according to the beliefs and values I hold dear, and it is worth living life on the cover of “House Mediocre” and “Lesser Homes and Gardens.”

I answer phones and do the books for my husband’s air conditioning company. Our school day is from 8-1:30 ish. I check calls and return them inbetween subjects or during transition times. Takes about 5-10. Our regular customers know I homeschool and that I return calls usually within an hour. Our class times are anywhere from 20-30 minutes long. If I have to work up an estimate or type out an invoice, then I do it while the kids are doing copy work or while they do math on their own. I have to have a schedule and I have a timer as well, otherwise our days were lasting until 3-4. I do not answer phones while doing a class unless it is my husband, then I have an assignment that the kids have been given ahead of time for just that purpose so that they stay quiet and don’t shoot off like rockets to go play because then it took at least 5-10 to get them focused again. 

I do schedule their chores into the school day so that they get done and when school is done, then they have earned their free time. I do limit electronics to 30 minutes- an hour a day on school days. time depends on what they are doing….vidoes or video games, 30 minutes, but i will let them watch a full movie or play educational games online for an hour. 

When school is done, then I do my chores and prep for supper and then I try and work in office for a few hours usually 3-5 and if husband cooks, then I can work till 7.  So he trys and cooks as much as possible. So far it all works well except meal planning is tough for me since I never know if I am cooking or he is and he cooks way better than me and he can cook lots that I can’t. So meal planning is my weakness and I still struggle with it. 

I can not tell you how much time I work on the business, since it is so sporadic, but I pay all bills and run all errands as well. Kids go to their grandparents every thursday for horse lessons and I do all that on thursdays and just check messages while out and about. My kids also have a set grandparent day on Sunday afternoons and this is my me time where I get 12-5 to do whatever I want. I usually read or go see a movie, but I will use it as my catch up if I get behind in other areas or I will use it to coplete special projects, like painting the house inside and out which has been going on for 2 years now!!LOL 

Hope this helps….my kids are 7 & 8 and really don’t have much independent work yet, so my plate is really really full and my house isn’t the cleanest or most organized or clutter free, but it is usually happy and productive, so all in all ok. 

Just try to do one thing at a time and it will get easier. Pick one thing for the week to get done or longer if that is what it takes. Baby steps. I remember the frustration at nothing seeming to go the way I wanted it to. It still doesn’t, I guess I have just gotten used to it. I switched to second shift so I don’t see DH very much except on weekends but that is the way it works for us. He wants to continue in the fall with paramedic so we will be doing this for awhile yet. Then I pray that I can at least go to part time.

Nina, I was a single, homeschooling mama for 8 years when my older boys were little. Working while home schooling is tough! If you have your hubby and parents on board to help, maybe the best way to get things moving in the right direction is to start with just one subject. Math might be easy to start with your older kids because it is usually well defined. If whom ever is responsible for the kids can get them each to do math for that day it would be a start. Do you have a program the kids are using or do you need to find something new? I like programs like MathUSee with the videos so the teaching will be consistent even if the teacher is different each day. The, you could review their work sheets on your day off to make sure everyone is on track.

It might also help if you write out the assignments for the week, and ask whomever teaches each day to check off what was done so you can keep track.

Your younger kids would probably be fine with some counting and math games. I love the book Family Math http://www.amazon.com/Family-Math-Equals-Jean-Stenmark/dp/0912511060/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389110580&sr=1-1&keywords=family+math Fun games you or other family members can do with the kids that really work to help build a strong math foundation.

After everyone is doing math consistently for a couple weeks, then add a second subject. Maybe a read aloud, or for ease, maybe an audiobook everyone listens to together. Another way to get literature in that I have recently started using is our time in the car. sWe have lots of appointments so we usually have 45 minutes to an hour in the car most days and if the kids and I are listening to Winnie the Pooh it isnt a waste. 🙂 If the book is more suited to the older kids, you could put it on and have the them listen with you while you make dinner together, and then you have something interesting to talk about during dinner. 🙂

If you are doing reading instruction with your 6yo, you could spend 5 or 10 minutes before bed with simple word games such as you will find in Delightful Reading. http://simplycharlottemason.com/store/delightful-reading/ If you don’t want to spring for the program, you can make little letter tiles and use any quality literature you have available. Fortunately, the little ones only require short little bursts of time, so you can find a way to fit it in. The hard part is being consistant, which is why I like to tie it to something we always do, like bed time, or doing it while th ebig kids do the dinner dishes.

So, just add one thing at a time until you get the  basics covered. After that, you can add things like artist study by taking a trip to a museum on your day off. Its not how CM would have done it, but we have to work with what we have. Don’t give up! It can work it will just take time to find your (and everyone elses) groove.