Our family of 5 has been living with my parents for 2 year now, and we are not sure when we will be able to move. Has anyone ever homeschooled while living with someone else? Do you have any practical suggestions? It can be very restricting at times. We are grateful for my parents generosity, yet I need some advice about how to put the “home” back into homeschool in this unique situation. Thanks!
One help I’ve heard is to find the nearest places you can take the kids and spend time regularly – the library is a great place to get work done, the park in good weather, the yard.
I would set up a space that is where you do school in the house (even if it is your bedroom), and set specific times when the work is to be done (that are not to be interrupted).
How old are your children and have you/are you homeschooling now?
We lived with my mom for over and year, and actually began our homeschool during that time. Looking back, I’d say it was very successful. My son learned how to read, for one!
I don’t know if your parents are home during the day, but my mom wasn’t. The kids and I had the house to ourselves all day. If your parents are home during the day, I would suggest asking them if you could have some privacy in the dining room (or kitchen, wherever you plan to do your lessons) between the hours of blank-blank. If morning times don’t work for your parents, maybe they would be willing to let you have the afternoons or evenings for school.
That might require a “family meeting”, but I’m sure your children’s educations are just as important to your parents as they are to you. Make sure you respect your parents boundaries, especially when it comes to space. You might want to keep the school books on the bookshelf in the living room, but they may not want you to, for example. And, if your parents are ok with you having complete dominion over part of their home for a few hours a day, make sure they respect the fact that you need zero interruptions in order to succeed. That is a boundary you can set.
If they are opposed to you homeschooling, I would say that you have to respect that. It is their house after all.
If space is an issue, I agree with Tristan. Take the kids to a library and spread out your stuff on one of their big tables. Most libraries have computer access nowadays, so if your kids are old enough, they could complete typing or research or some computer-related assignments. This could work well too if you are needing to give some one-on-one instruction to a child. Just send the other kids to the kids’ section of the library to do their leisure reading! I honestly can’t think of a better place outside the home for school other than the library. You definitely know you could find the resources right when you need them!
We lived with my in-laws for several months while on furlough. I did school with the kids in our back bedroom, and stuck to the basics during our inside time. We break up read-alouds through out the day, before naps, outside, etc. And, getting it done as quickly as possible in the morning, right after breakfast, made things seem to go more smoothly. This was with a ds5, ds3, and dd1, and then half a year later with a newborn. So, we weren’t doing too much heady stuff!
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