Is It Possible To Home School A Middle Schooler While Working Full Time?
By KristinN, on February 19th, 2010
Readers Forum:
I'm debating home schooling my son after this school year (he's in 5th grade). But I work full time and cannot be a SAHM even though I'd like to. How hard do you think it would it be to home school him and work full time? Thanks!
I homeschooled my son through middle school while working full time. It was the right thing for him at the time, and it was actually much less stressful than having him in regular school. If he had been in school, I would have spent my evenings helping with homework, trying to keep up with what he was being taught by other people, trying to communicate with teachers either from work or in the evenings, missing work for school conferences, etc.
It was quite a juggling act, but we worked it out. You can hook up with other homeschooling families so your son has people to be with during the day; even get some homeschooling time in with them. You can work with him in the evenings to go over basics and give him some projects or assignments to do the next day.
If your job skills allow, and you can manage it financially, you might be able to work from home, either for an employer or for yourself. Additionally, you may be able to bring your son to work with you now and then.
Home school is not just doing school-type work at home. It can involve project time, field trips, self-directed learning, time at the library, work study, apprenticeships, and more. And, unless your state laws require it, you don’t have to do all the teaching yourself. There are many homeschool co-ops where parents take turns doing different things with a group of kids.
For instance, a co-op might be set up where one parent does math projects on Mondays, another one does reading seminars or book clubs on Tuesdays, another does history workshops on Wednesdays, another does art projects on Thursdays, another does science labs on Fridays, and another does cooking and shopping classes on Saturdays. Just as an example. There are lots of ways to do this, and it is very successful to work with kids of different ages.
If homeschooling is the right thing for your child, there are a lot of ways to work it out.
The first answer is true, but realistically, it isn’t always the best set up. It does take fewer hours to teach 1:1, but most kids wouldn’t be at their best for learning between 7 and 11 pm….If you’re working until 5, that’s about when you could start. Also, you could teach in the evening, but that is when most social activities for kids happen. Church groups, youth athletic leagues, ect all meet in the afternoon or evening. If you’re home schooling during those hours, it will be harder for him to take part in those activities. He could still go on home school field trips and activities specifically for home schooled kids, but you will need a nanny or other care giver who can take him to those activities. If you can’t afford a 1:1 nanny, that would be difficult. An 11 year-old isn’t old enough to be home alone in charge of his studies all day. I would look for the best school situation you could. Middle school is difficult. A k-8 school, like a Catholic or Christian School might work. I am not against home schooling. I just believe this is one situation where the people who say home schooling is best for all students all the time miss the point of what is reality for many people.
When I was in 8th grade I was apart of a homeschool group where my mom droped me off at my teachers house and then when was school over she would come pick me up. My mom worked a full time and a part time job. Look up some groups in your area and check them out. My mom wasnt stressed out about it it. Infact she was more stressed when I was in public school . Their are some schools that are like a private school but do homeschool work and activities. If you cant homeschool him who about private school? Go for a school with a small student teacher ratio. Smaller schools in my expericence have been great. I belonged to a school with 47 kids. 9 of the kids that year were in high school. We were a great tight knit family that took field trips and everyone knew everyone’s parents. One kid even graduated and got an whole graduation ceromony dedicated to him because he was the only one that graduated that year. But it all depends on your son. But i would suggest if cant homeschool him than do private or a religous school(if your religious)
I home schooled my daughter during her middle school years, and continue to do so now for high school, while working full-time during the day.
Some of how this may work for you would depend greatly on the laws of your state regarding the age of minors being home alone, as well as your son’s maturity level and his ability to work on projects and assignments while you are out of the house. Some young people are very responsible and able to be left with tasks to complete, while others tend to “goof-off” because no one is there watching them.
My daughter, luckily, was the responsible type and we continue to do the same things now as she nears tenth grade as we did during seventh. She phones me each morning by 9am, which is when she is required by me to be up and ready to begin her work for the day. I assign worksheets, textbook work, etc., for her to complete during the day and when I get home from work we go over everything and spend about two to three hours of instruction time.
This works well for us, meets with our state’s requirements of number of annual hours of instruction, and allows for a great deal of learning and creativity on my daughter’s part. It does require quite a bit from me preparing lessons for her%
As long as you’ve got someone to look after him while you’re at work you can cover your contribution to his homeschooling in the evenings and at weekends. It’s much more efficient being 1 to 1 so you won’t need to put in anywhere near the number of hours he would be at school.
I homeschooled my son through middle school while working full time. It was the right thing for him at the time, and it was actually much less stressful than having him in regular school. If he had been in school, I would have spent my evenings helping with homework, trying to keep up with what he was being taught by other people, trying to communicate with teachers either from work or in the evenings, missing work for school conferences, etc.
It was quite a juggling act, but we worked it out. You can hook up with other homeschooling families so your son has people to be with during the day; even get some homeschooling time in with them. You can work with him in the evenings to go over basics and give him some projects or assignments to do the next day.
If your job skills allow, and you can manage it financially, you might be able to work from home, either for an employer or for yourself. Additionally, you may be able to bring your son to work with you now and then.
Home school is not just doing school-type work at home. It can involve project time, field trips, self-directed learning, time at the library, work study, apprenticeships, and more. And, unless your state laws require it, you don’t have to do all the teaching yourself. There are many homeschool co-ops where parents take turns doing different things with a group of kids.
For instance, a co-op might be set up where one parent does math projects on Mondays, another one does reading seminars or book clubs on Tuesdays, another does history workshops on Wednesdays, another does art projects on Thursdays, another does science labs on Fridays, and another does cooking and shopping classes on Saturdays. Just as an example. There are lots of ways to do this, and it is very successful to work with kids of different ages.
If homeschooling is the right thing for your child, there are a lot of ways to work it out.
The first answer is true, but realistically, it isn’t always the best set up. It does take fewer hours to teach 1:1, but most kids wouldn’t be at their best for learning between 7 and 11 pm….If you’re working until 5, that’s about when you could start. Also, you could teach in the evening, but that is when most social activities for kids happen. Church groups, youth athletic leagues, ect all meet in the afternoon or evening. If you’re home schooling during those hours, it will be harder for him to take part in those activities. He could still go on home school field trips and activities specifically for home schooled kids, but you will need a nanny or other care giver who can take him to those activities. If you can’t afford a 1:1 nanny, that would be difficult. An 11 year-old isn’t old enough to be home alone in charge of his studies all day. I would look for the best school situation you could. Middle school is difficult. A k-8 school, like a Catholic or Christian School might work. I am not against home schooling. I just believe this is one situation where the people who say home schooling is best for all students all the time miss the point of what is reality for many people.
When I was in 8th grade I was apart of a homeschool group where my mom droped me off at my teachers house and then when was school over she would come pick me up. My mom worked a full time and a part time job. Look up some groups in your area and check them out. My mom wasnt stressed out about it it. Infact she was more stressed when I was in public school . Their are some schools that are like a private school but do homeschool work and activities. If you cant homeschool him who about private school? Go for a school with a small student teacher ratio. Smaller schools in my expericence have been great. I belonged to a school with 47 kids. 9 of the kids that year were in high school. We were a great tight knit family that took field trips and everyone knew everyone’s parents. One kid even graduated and got an whole graduation ceromony dedicated to him because he was the only one that graduated that year. But it all depends on your son. But i would suggest if cant homeschool him than do private or a religous school(if your religious)
I home schooled my daughter during her middle school years, and continue to do so now for high school, while working full-time during the day.
Some of how this may work for you would depend greatly on the laws of your state regarding the age of minors being home alone, as well as your son’s maturity level and his ability to work on projects and assignments while you are out of the house. Some young people are very responsible and able to be left with tasks to complete, while others tend to “goof-off” because no one is there watching them.
My daughter, luckily, was the responsible type and we continue to do the same things now as she nears tenth grade as we did during seventh. She phones me each morning by 9am, which is when she is required by me to be up and ready to begin her work for the day. I assign worksheets, textbook work, etc., for her to complete during the day and when I get home from work we go over everything and spend about two to three hours of instruction time.
This works well for us, meets with our state’s requirements of number of annual hours of instruction, and allows for a great deal of learning and creativity on my daughter’s part. It does require quite a bit from me preparing lessons for her%
As long as you’ve got someone to look after him while you’re at work you can cover your contribution to his homeschooling in the evenings and at weekends. It’s much more efficient being 1 to 1 so you won’t need to put in anywhere near the number of hours he would be at school.