How to Homeschool While Working From Home

Member

By Andrea Hermitt
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (6 Ratings)

When I started homeschooling my children who were six and eight at the time, I had to give up my work from home business. As a new homeschooling mom, I needed to fully grasp what I was doing with my kids and they also needed my full attention. Over time though, as my kids and I settled into a routine and as they got older and more independent, I found I had the time to once again scratch my entrepreneurial itch.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

Consider your skills. First, you need to determine what kind of business you can start from home while continuing to homeschool. Previously, when my kids were in school, I worked primarily as a muralist. I went into people's homes and painted kids rooms and did some minor decorating. My work hours were the hours my kids were I school. After we began homeschooling, I had to stop, as there was no way to continue this work and home school. When I was ready to begin again, I had to assess my natural skills, which were artwork, and writing.
Step 2

You need to assess your resources. Determine if you have the resources to make the most of your natural skills. As an artist, I decided to sell my artwork on eBay. I painted when my kids were sleeping as I hate being disturbed, and I entered descriptions and monitored my auctions during the day. It was a natural fit for my set of skills and made good sense.
Step 3

Get your kids involved. When you are homeschooling, getting your children involved in any family business is not only character building, but also skill building. At this time I started doing eBay, my kids were 8 and 10 and perfectly capable helping me package and mail my sales.
Step 4

Adjust and evolve as needed. Sometimes business resources or demand for certain items dry up and you need to adjust. In my case, art sales on eBay suddenly slowed and I had to find other ways to make money from home. I looked at my secondary skill and tried to determine how I could make more money writing. I hit a jackpot! Having previously written online articles as a hobby, I knew there was some money in it. As my kids got older and mature enough to allow me to focus for an hour or two at a time, I was able make daily monetary goals for myself and meet them. It took a couple of years to get to this point, but writing became my full time job.
Step 5

Remember that you are a family first. As a homeschooling parent whose first job is ensuring that my kids turn out as good, well educated people, I must be careful to never let my business take precedence. Because of that, I have learned to work around a schedule that allows for learning and family time off. Because I give my family time that they need, they have also learned that they need to give me the time that I need to work. With my kids now being 11 and 13, we have found a good balance.

Comments

trochelle said

Flag This Comment

on 2/8/2009 Thanks for letting me know, I am not the only one!

noram said

on 5/8/2008 Thanks for a wonderful inside look at how you homeschool and work, too. We've been homeschooling for about six years now and I have worked from home the entire time. Quite a challenge, but well worth it!

AutumnLeavz said

on 4/28/2008 Wonderful advice, especially step number 5! Thanks for all of the good tips!

prism said

on 3/22/2008 Excellent advice. I also homeschool and have worked at home. You have to be flexible and be able to recognize when to change in order to make it fit and work for everyone in the family.