How to Homeschool Your Children If You Work Full Time

Many parents struggle with the question of whether or not they are making the right choice for their child's education. I once struggled with that question. I tried a couple of school public and private. In the end I had to choose what was right for my child. That answer for my child was homeschool. My dilema was that I work full time and no matter how many times I rework my bills, I absolutely had to work full time. How on earth could I homeschool my child? TI can tell you from experience. I work full time and homeschool my children. How you ask? Where there is a will there is a way. I homeschool when I'm not working.

One of the main questions parents have is where will my child go if they are not at school?

Quick answer: With family, daycare, grandparents, nanny or caregiver, at work with me if my job is flexible or home alone if child is old enough.

If your child is too young to stay home alone or you do not feel comfortable leaving them home for long periods of time then some kind of sitter will be your answer. It could be an aunt, grandparents, older cousin. If family is not available then a nany or caregive might be a good option. Sites such as Care.com has a nice selection of available caregivers with different levels of experience and education.

If you own your own business or have a job that is flexible, you might be able to take your child to work with you.

On the other hand if your child is old enough and you feel comfortable that they will be safe and get their school work done, you could let them stay home alone.

For me personally this is how their schedule goes. Monday they spend all day at their homeschool co-op taking elective classes. Tuesday and Wednesday they are home in the daytime with their father. This is his weekend. I manage homeschool on Tuesday and Wednesday night. On Thursday and Friday their and their grandparents watch them in the daytime. The children do their school work in the day or with me on these two days.

• what homeschool programs are available that can almost run themselves?
• who will watch my children while I'm at work? can they stay home alone?
• what days and hours can I set aside time specifically for my child's homeschool?
• who can be your support system to help you if you are not available?

One of the main things that a parent must do first is research what program to use or not use. When looking into programs, I decided pretty early on that I needed an easy to run program. There's a couple of different choices.

• Virtual School - Virtual Schools are popping up everywhere. Many public school districts now offer their own version of district run virtual homeschool. If your local district does not offer virtual school there are other companies such as K-12.com and Time4Learning that offer the same thing. With this kind of homeschool, a teacher will be in charge of your child's classes, scores and growth.
• School of Tomorrow - School of Tomorrow offers a paper and pencil version of homeschool. Each subject has 10 booklets called Paces for that academic year. Students are able to work at their own pace and score their own work. Parents are responsible for keeping track of records, scoresn assigning Paces and reteaching if your child does not understand the topic. I personally use this program because I do not want my children on the computer all day.
• Hybrid School - Hybrid School is a combination of conventional school in an actual classroom and homeschool. Usually two days at school and two days at home completing assigned school work. With this kind of schooling a teacher at the Hybrid School will be in charge of teaching, testing, records and growth. Parents are responsible for making sure that their child completes the assigned work on their "home" days.