Homeschoolers...how do you juggle schedule?

Question

Those of you who home school, how do you juggle your schedule of work (if both parents work or single parent works) and kids lessons?
If you do work, where do your kids stay when you're working? Are they able to do the work on their own or do you have to coach them through it to make sure it gets done?

Answer 1

As someone who actually does work and homeschools, I feel qualified to answer this.

I work two days a week as an analytical chemist, I also do technical writing from home, so my total hours working run close to 40. My husband handles one of the days I work, and teaches my children, albeit in a different manner than I do. This has been beneficial for everyone - it gives him a chance to do hands-on homeschooling, and it gives my kids a chance to have a different style of teaching plus more one-on-one time with Dad. The other day I work my mother and mother-in-law take care of my children. They do not to "book work" instruction, but definitely teach my children (i.e. sewing, cooking, field trips etc.). The benefits of having lots of contact with loving grandmas cannot be overstated either. Both my parents and my husband's parents were skeptical of homeschooling at first, with many of the typical doubts. After 8 years they are true converts and talk to everyone about how great it works for their grandchildren.

My children do some work independently, and I have talked with them about taking on additional responsibility for their own education as they get older. They are very self motivated and love to learn, it is not an effort to get them to WANT to learn - they have a huge appetite for knowledge of all sorts.

It can be done, but it requires out of the box thinking and a strong desire. The easier course is to put the kids on the bus every morning and head off to work, picking them up from after-care at the end of your workday. Your choice - the outcome is NOT the same.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The cool thing about homeschooling is it is flexible, so I think if you have teens you could homeschool with a part-time job or for example, the poster where the parents co-homeschooled, and flexible arrangements like that. I don't think homeschooling needs to take place from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm like in the typical classroom.

Having said that, though, as a homeschooler, I think it would be tough to homeschool if you have a typical full-time job and were trying to do homeschooling, esp. as you mention a single parent. My dh works 50 to 60 hours a week for example and if he were trying to homeschool it would be such a mess for the kids! I am a stay at home mom and I find it to be a challenge to homeschool my two (although they are both special needs so that does admittedly make it more of a challenge), try to keep the house liveable, feed the family, pay the bills, etc. If I added a 40 hour a week job, and I know many full-time jobs wind up being more hours than that, to my homeschooling I think homeschooling would suffer as a result.

I guess cyberschooling might be an option, where they use the computer and there is a supervising teacher as well that checks in daily/weekly. I think there should be some additional support if you are working 40 or more hours a week and homeschooling, either a spouse, community college/dual homeschooling could be another option if the child is 15 or 16 or older, or cyberschool.

Answer 3

You need to check into your state laws because in Alabama a child must "attend" during regular school hours and also they must have the same amount of days as regular public schools. Also you have to go buy the same subjects taught in school. I was homeschooled for some of my high school years. This was my basic schedule:

9:00 start homeschooling (I had to watch videos through Abeka and I watched them all first off)

around 12:30 eat lunch and take a break

around 1:00 complete class work/tests/quizzes

around 3:00 done with homeschooling for the day

I had a part-time job so I worked afternoons. When I got home around 5-6 I would do homework. My mother did not work at the time because she had cancer twice during my high school years so she was there to oversee everything and to give quizzes and tests. If she was sick from chemo or something came up my sister who didn't work because she had twin infants would help out or I would do them myself.

I just wanted to throw this out there.....when I went to college I was the only one in my English class that could write a good essay. I made all A's while they made C's and D's and some even failed. Also I got to skip the basic maths since I was way ahead and I went straight to College Algebra and Trig. Make sure if you homeschool you get a good curriculum. I love Abeka but it is expensive if you have more than 1 child. I suggest at least doing their math and language/english.

Answer 4

I work from home running a non-profit organization, which probably winds up being about twenty hours a week. We have seven kids so it does take some juggling! I usually do most of my work spread out, an hour during breakfast, an hour during quiet time, and a few hours after dh gets home from work. We did choose to not have as much money to do the homeschooling, because it was important to us.

It helps that we unschool, so the kids are very self-motivated to learn, and I never have to tell them it's table time. Because I can work when I choose to, it makes the rest of the scheduling easier. We have set appointments every week, for band, orchestra, library, sports, play groups. The rest of the time the kids do their own thing, and I hang out with them and facilitate their learning.

Answer 5

It depends greatly on the age of your children. They will have to have your involvement at each age, but younger ones need more hands on attention and would have to be left with an adult. If you are dealing with a trustworthy teenager, you could go over work with them in the evening and give them assignments to do during the day. They still would need some type of accountability during the day. A friend, neighbor, or grandparent. I believe kids of all age need some type of supervision. To many things could distract them and that just leads to trouble.

I have had the privilege of staying home although I do watch preschoolers in my home. My kids do a lot of the work on their own, but I am there to keep them on track and help. Home Schooling really is a way of life in our family, not something we do for a few set hours a day.


You need to check into home school support groups in your area as well. You may be able to have your child stay with them during the day with assignments to do. That way someone to help them is on hand. It is very important that they get direction from you. My friends daughter actually comes to my house 2 times a week and I do this for them.

Some good video based curriculum are Alpha Omega, Abeka, & Math You See. Even with those you need to know what is being taught and check up on them.

Good luck! I hope it works out for you.

Answer 6

It depends on the child's age. If your child is in a younger grade (grade school and in some instances, middle school), you need to be home more to teach them. If the child is on a subject that they understand well (and are old enough legally to be left alone), then you can give them an assignment to do while you are gone (make it realistic). If it is a subject that they don't understand, and they aren't old enough to teach themselves from the book, you will have to help them. If the child is high school aged, I would recommend a distance education program, such as the American School of Correspondence or Penn Foster.

Answer 7

You would need to find a place suitable for their needs. It also depends on how old they are. You can teach them in the morning, and at night, depending on your work schedule. There are no specific answers; you need to mold your schedule around your family's needs. Hope this helps. =)

Answer 8

A teacher is pivotal to ones education. I do not know why you are considering home schooling, but you have to realize that it can not substitute a real education unless you have significant involvement with the process. Of course if your child is exceptionally studious, he may be able to walk away with something from the experience. However if he is that studious and smart, maybe you should invest in a better school than what you can provide to develop his skills.

Answer 9

the same way you do if your kid goes to public school?

Answer 10

My two girls were home schooled they were 15 and 16 at the time. We took them out of High School because there were to many social distractions and grades were greatly effected. My husband worked and at first I didn't work. Later, after getting a routine going for them, I did go back to work. They were on their own with a daily schedule to follow and they would have to report to us every evening. Luckily my working hours were flexible enough for me to be home for most part of the days and even some week days off.

I have to tell you, YOU have to be "very self-diciplined" and "you have to want to homeschool" to make it work. Having a family that will be supportive and help you to stay motivated and on track is very helpful, however, truth is, "YOU have to want this!" Because if you don't want this and you don't have someone to help motivate you, you could very easily self-sabatoge everything for yourself.

My girls would go once a week to see their homeschool teacher. Here they would turn in and pick up their work for the week. If they had questions or got stuck on some homework they were always welcome to come in Mon - Fri to receive help from her and welcome to stay for the day or for as many days of the week as needed or wanted.

They were in high school at the time, one a sophomore and the other a junior. One in Cross Country and the other a Cheerleader. Neither one of them lost a friend in this process. In fact they're both out of high school now and still see their friends.

There were many issues we did face and hurdles we had to over come. Should you choose to go this road you may want to consider some of these things below.

Some issues we did face were:
1) Both girls were athletic. If you are too, you may want to maintain some type of sports activities. If you are not, you may want to consider getting involved in some type of physical activity. At first my girls did not, and easy weight gain became an issue. It didn't take long for us to realize that some physical activity was going to be a necessity! If your not athletic in sports, maybe you may want to consider joining a gym and adding it in your daily routine along with your school work at least 1 hour a day. Or take dance classes, or join a bowling league. They can assign you to a team. It's a nice way to meet new people and get out of the house. And believe it or not bowling is good exercise, but you will still need to have some type of cardio workout for at least 30-60 minutes a day in addition too whatever you choose. Take surfing lessons, surfing is great fun and really great exercise, or yoga classes, golf lessons, sailing lessons. The important thing is, don't get used to just sitting around. It doesn't do your body good, try new things. Fresh oxygen is good for the brain and good for your body. You must plan something for yourself that will mean leaving the house and going outside for at least an hour. Even if you just take your homework out to the back yard and do it, or take a walk, a jog, or a bike ride. Whatever you choose, just remember, "you must stay focused and follow your routine."

2) When you do choose to leave the home for outside activities you have got to stay focused on your purpose of homeschooling and the outside activity, not on the cute guys or the other students you run into along your journey. Don't get sucked into other things with whomever when you are doing your outside activities. Be honest with them and tell them you're homeschooling, but after your done, you can meet with them. Believe it or not, people are cool with a person on a plan for themselves. People are attracted to people who care about themselves.

3) We had to turn off Cable TV at first. This was a huge downfall. They had to earn it back on. And maintain a watching schedule, ONLY-ON in the evening, after ALL - activities and work were finished for the day. TV SHOULD NOT BE TURNED ON EVER, not even just to listen to the music channel while doing work. This was one of our huge mistakes.

4) The Computer... WOW, worse then TV... we literally had to take the cord off daily. Any time computer work had to be done, it had to always be done with constant adult supervision (literally an adult had to sit next to them and not leave until they finished the work). Even to this day, we keep time limits to the use of the computor, even on their free computor time.

5) Cell Phones... we had a rule... "Phones were not allowed to be answered or used unless it was us the parents calling them or they calling us during school hours." If during school hours we found calls being placed or recieved by them from anyone other then us on the phone bill, or if we found texting being used on their phone, they lost their phone for the rest of the school year!

6) Your Daily Routine should include: you getting up, showered, and dressed as if you were going to go to school. Yes, PJ's are comfortable, however, maintaining your daily hygiene and being dressed helps keep your self esteem and confidence up, as well as setting and maintaining a good habit for yourself. Keeping your self-esteem and self-confidence levels up is KEY to homeschooling and this is very important!

7) Regular Eating Schedules, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are very vital and important to maintain in your daily routine. Don't skip meals, it's not good for you. And don't pig out just because your home. Eat well, balanced meals, add fresh fruits & veggies, salads and proteins to your daily diet. And drink lots of water. Work towards staying away from sugary, caffeinated and carbonated drinks.
Maintain regular eating hours daily:
Breakfast 8-9am (make/eat/wash your dishes),
Snack 10 to 10:15 am,
Lunch 12 to 1 pm,
Snack 3 to 3:15 pm,
Dinner 5 to 6 pm

8) You may want to consider taking extra curriculum classes, like cooking, art, sowing, guitar lessons, voice lessons, musice lessons, crafts, or join your local theater group! My girls loved these, and it broke the hum-drum. We also made weekly trips to our local library which was actually a lot of fun. We did other fun things like make up field trips. We went to places like art galleries, museums, and to the old Mission close to town. We went to see a symphony, and to a rock concert. We saw plays, and they were even in some plays. It makes your routine have substance when you look forward to doing things you enjoy. So, think about "all" the things you like doing that will benefit you and add them all to your daily and weekly routine for life!

9) Take a yearly photograph of yourself, at a nearby photography place or your local store. It's nice to have these so you can see yourself growing into an adult.

10) If your not enjoying your homeschooling adventure, it may mean that you are not being creative enough in your daily routine. If you find yourself bored, then you need to re-think your routine and change it up a bit. If you are bored with the homework it could mean your not understanding it and may have to go see the teacher for assistance until you do understand it. Or you may need to get a tutor. Or it may be to easy for you if this is the case tell the teacher and she can take it up a notch for you.

Homeschooling can work for you "ONLY IF YOU WANT IT TO WORK" and " ONLY IF YOU STAY FOCUSED AND SELF-DISCIPLINED WITH YOURSELF, YOUR SCHEDULE, AND YOUR ACTIVITIES." A teacher and your parents can only do so much for you. You have to really want this, and really mean it. If you really want this, then go for it!

Good Luck and have fun. Getting an education needs focus and discipline, however, "do not forget to add fun" along with it!!! Life is to be enjoyed in all you do. Enjoy life and enjoy your homeschooling adventure!