Balance: Working and Teaching From Home
Balance: Working and Teaching From Home
In today's world there are many moms who use their skills and talent on a freelance or contract basis by working at home, blogging, computer engineering and marketing consultancy being a few of the endless options. This is a great way of earning an extra income while home schooling your kids. In 2011-2012 a US Department of Education report found that 1.77 million students were being schooled at home. Let's take a look at how you can juggle your university studies or working from home and home schooling — it is possible!
Many home school moms tend to teach academics in the morning then do an outdoor activity in the afternoons. Make sure that you have a daily schedule in place and stick to it so that you know how much time you can allocate yourself for freelance work. Perhaps you can teach the kids for a couple of hours, then set them work to do for an hour before lunch. Use this time to get your own work done! Make sure a simple lunch is already prepared for them so that you can carry on working for another hour before taking them on the afternoon activity.
Set realistic targets
Your children's education comes first, so make sure you plan in all the hours needed to fulfil their weekly learning goals. Then you can be realistic about how much time you have to complete work and let possible employers know your availability and flexibility. The above scenario gives you 10 free hours a week and if you put in some extra hours over the weekend you could make that up to 20! Remember that home schooling is hard work and ask yourself if the extra income you are receiving is worth the extra work.
Get some help
Never be too proud to request a bit of help from a friend or a family member. Your best friend, partner or parent might have a spare afternoon and would enjoy a few hours spent at a museum, gallery or sports event. This leaves you with an extra few hours to hit that deadline or go to a meeting about a new contract. You'll find that people are usually more than happy to help for a good cause and it’s also a chance for the kids to bond with family members and friends who they don't usually spend a lot of time with.
Think long and carefully before making the decision to both teach and work from home. It can be challenging but the rewards are worth it.
Images by laurencoleman55 and conxa.
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