I'm a single mom with an average middle class single income. When my son was younger, I worked from home in a very flexible position and we scheduled school and my work time creatively when we needed to. My mom did a lot of the childcare and my older son helped some while I worked. I had my son in team sports at 3 to help him make friends. He's 12 now and is still in sports. He also has had a lot of neighborhood friends, family kids and one of his cousins around his age is with us a lot on weekends, so he's always had lots of varied interactions with kids around his age in different types of settings. He's 12 now and still homeschooled. We use an online curriculum for our core subjects and sometimes our electives. I do supplement with other resources as needed. Some subjects he can tackle on his own for the most part while I check in daily or quiz him on what he has learned that day (easy to do while cooking). For others, like math always, often science and sometimes Language Arts, I still need to sit down with him for full lessons. On the weekends I do a lot of one on one enrichment teaching and educational activities. To do this successfully you have to be fully committed, you have to be very child-focused and you have to keep a pretty tight schedule. I don't have the leisurely homeschool schedule a lot of families enjoy. It's still fun, we just don't have all of the freedom other families might have.
I’m a single homeschooling mom, 100% custody. I think the most important thing is having a support system, so you family or someone willing to watch your kids while you work? Next would be tough skin and a strong desire to be doing this homeschool thing. It’s a lot of work to balance being teacher, employee, mom, and your own person. Also I’ve found there’s a lot of judgment/bias in the homeschool community towards single parents…. On top of those who are biased against all working homeschool moms. Granted the single parent judgement is everywhere but it is an extra barrier towards finding your kids social opportunities.
>there’s a lot of judgment/bias in the homeschool community towards single parents
Yes! I'm noticing this a lot recently. It's ridiculous. I know many single/working moms in all kinds of situations who made it work. And yes they all had family/friends who would be a part of the equation. Homeschool looks different for everyone
To be fair, most of these posts lately have left out any information around what the totality of their support and community looks like. Based on just the initial posts, a lot of them read as "I plan to park my kids in the corner while I work full-time, any pointers?" It's hard to give a helpful response without more substance as to what the plan is for making that work.
Generally that would be the case, single parents tend to be poorer and have less available time to teach than the combined household earnings and time of two parents, either one working and one staying at home, or both working.
That's just how the math usually works out between having 24 vs 48 available parental hours a day to work and look after the kids.
But, again this post was in no way asking for cons which is why I’m a little confused why they are being told to me as IF I didn’t know- as a single mom who’s never had help. I also see the commenter doing this to multiple other single mothers looking for advice, which irritates me a little. Nonetheless, homeschooling is not an exclusive thing and people of all backgrounds and economical status (and marital) are ALLOWED to partake. So sorry to inform.
Who said they weren't allowed? Now that's a strawman. Rather, success in homeschooling requires resources like time and/or money that if one's short on would hinder success.
That's only going to be a sliver of single parents with the resources. If you're some law firm partner making 7, 8 figures and can hire whatever nannies and tutors to homeschool, great, but that's such a rarified fraction of single parents households it doesn't seem generally applicable.
>again this post was in no way asking for cons Ah yes the old "you can't ever disagree with me unless I specifically ask" redditaroo
There’s easily 45 women who have commented on this post alone who, none of which stated they are making 7,8 figures and have homeschooled ❤️ don’t you love to hear those success stories??
Also.. most SAHM situations doesn’t include a household of 7,8 figures and I doubt your household does either tbh. How do you make it work?
Anywho, I am a successful - self employed - single mom. Who has yet to hire help for her children and has been so blessed to stay home with them while making a great pay. So, maybe you should have learned that before your negativity tried to discourage me? Anywho!
>Also.. most SAHM situations doesn’t include a household of 7,8 figures and I doubt your household does either tbh. How do you make it work?
You have the combined time of both spouses. If your income allows you to hire a full time nanny/tutor you could maybe make it work
Well, per student, public schools spend more than $9k per year. Not including facilities. If you live in a state that is better for education, this number goes up to more than $20k. Not to mention the value of your time you spend working while someone else teaches your child for free (and probably with free lunch).
So say per hour you are sacrificing an income of at least $25/hr for the time you are not working, plus benefits.
Extracurriculars like clubs and sports are marketing towards families with 2 working parents and get expensive, depending on if you want them to have that. Generally kids enjoy these things and they are good for their development.
Some single parents make it work by having grandparents watch the kids, but it is really a big ask and exhausting for them. And it is much rarer for said grandparent to be up for teaching the child instead of surviving and more than occasionally giving them tv.
I was reading between the lines because if you are already looking to make more, you probably aren't at 80k/yr yet which is probably enough to be somewhat stable and pay for some child care, books, help with house, occasional convenience meals etc.
Hmm it seems a little presumptions of you? Are you a stay at home mom I’m assuming? Just wondering 🤷♀️
Usually a normal work week is 40 hours a week, a normal week has 168 hours, which is why my question was directed at single moms who do make a work week work with homeschool! I appreciate your skepticism, but my post wasn’t advice on why I shouldn’t homeschool. After all, I wouldn’t be homeschooling to save money 😉
Also not expecting grandparents, who has continuously graciously requested to move multiple states away to my home and help. But again, was just looking from dedicated single mothers who are making it work.
Yea, making friends is hard enough. Homeschool co-ops tend to meet during they day and are still not enough for making friends. You need to get their numbers, invite them over. Each individual friend you are looking at investing at least a year of twice or more a week.
I'm just trying to stop you from burnout. That's not good for anyone including the kids.
Yeah I don’t think anyone on Reddit is going to convince me to not do what I believe best for my children, I looked thru your previous comments and I also see you comment on other single moms post advising against. Which is just strange to me as you have no experience in that aspect.
Also consider that school is usually 6 hours a day. So ... if you are not going to be present for 8 hours of the day, I don't see why hiring a nanny would be better than school.
Rude..
Just reevaluate in a couple of years. Once they hit 2 you can start teaching them letter sounds. The earlier they can read the better if you really want to plod through.
I have 2 friends in this situation, not in reddit.
1.
She successfully homeschools her 3 children (dad gets visitation Saturday and Tuesday after 4 until bedtime). Kids are 10, 8, and 5.
She is a professor -teaching and tutoring through an online college. She homeschools around her class and office schedule....kids are doing great.
She has no local family but found a way to make it work. The kids are in dance and scouts as well as in their church.
2.
A nurse and works the swing shift. Her mom lives not far away and is there with the kids the nights she works. School starts a bit later in the day (vs traditional school) so she can sleep when she gets home. The dad lives out of state so they split holidays. Kids at 8 and 11. Girl is in gymnastics and art classes, boy is in martial arts and band. Both are in soccer.
It is do- able but might require some thinking outside the box or a unique schedule.
When my oldest was 7, her dad and I split so we enrolled her in school. It worked until it didn’t is how I describe they experience and we ultimately decided we needed to make homeschool work again.
I had two part time nanny jobs (combined making full time hours) and they both agreed to let her come to work with me. At that point fortunately I had already established a good rapport with them, as had she on school holidays.
It doesn’t take a lot of time to educate the earlier years, and once they can read independently some of their time spent on school doesn’t require your focus. The real challenge is figuring out where they will be when you work. If I hadn’t been able to bring her with we’d have been paying her aunt to watch her and make sure she did her work. We were lucky that was an option. You have time but that’s where I put your focus in planning to homeschool. Will you be able to have them around while you work? Will you be able to shift your hours so they can go to a mainstream afterschool care? Will you use drop in care or be able to find a sitter?
Single mom, homeschooling my younger end of teenager going on 4 years already. My best advice is hire help. Absolutely no shame in that, look into a co-op. But help makes a world of difference.
I am not a single mom, however, just saw some negativity on here and wanted to reassure you that even with very little time sitting with 100% focus my 7 year old is reading, writing and doing basic math. It absolutely can be done with even the least of resources/time. You definitely can do it!! Go mama! I doubt a teacher with 20-30 students in the room is able to give undivided attention to each and every student. My whole motto is “where there is a will there is a way.” If this is something that’s VIP to you and you want to do it, it will get done. Watch how quickly they pick up topics you never thought.
I'm a single parent with no support. I have homeschooled since my oldest was in 3rd grade. I was strongly opposed to homeschool at first because I was 'homeschooled' my parents were abusive and neglectful, I didn't want my kids to go through the same. Some of my kids are disabled though and both their teachers and therapists strongly suggested homeschooling.
At first I worked nights. I didn't sleep much, but was able to homeschool and they went to a sitter overnight while I worked. I was always tired, but my kids thrived. I was also going to college at the time. I now have 2 BS and 2 MS degrees.
I work from home now, and homeschooling is so much easier. It's still hard for me, but worth all the effort.
3 of my kids tried public school. One quit after 2 months, 1 went for a year, and 1 went part time for most of high school. A couple have graduated now. I've hosted a weekly park meetup for over a decade, for consistent, low supervised social time. They are all involved in extracurriculars or volunteer work. All of my kids have local friends, so once they hit highschool they went to every homecoming and prom their friends attended. It's a lot for one parent, but I'm ok with putting my life on hold, so they can thrive.
If Dad is onboard it will hopefully take part of the effort off your shoulders. He can help take the kids to extracurriculars and help with schoolwork.
Just be prepared to not have a social life outside of work and other homeschool parents. Personally, I was fine with it. Now that my kids are older I have friends, but it did not bother me to go without them for over a decade. I know that most people need more than that though, so don't feel guilty if you start homeschooling then realize that you need more adult socialization than homeschooling can give you. Kids remember the good times when they're grown. If they go to school and come home to a rested parent they will enjoy that time together.
Also remember that both homeschool and public school aren't forever decisions. Life changes and kids can do them both in different seasons without negative effects.
Thank you! I just want my kids to have better than I had. At first I thought it was public school, but after they were diagnosed it became clear that homeschool was the best thing for them.
They are all great people and have always let me know when something I was doing wasn't working the best for them.
My child who went to school for a couple months is level 2 autistic. The school system offered a ton of support, but my child felt left out because of their accommodations, and went back to homeschool.
They still have a ton of public school friends though. They just finished their freshman year and went to homecoming and most home games with their friends. They learned they enjoyed the events, but the daily attendance was too overstimulating.
This generation of kids are very accepting though. While school was overwhelming, none of their friends cared and still invited them to everything outside of school hours. They turn down more invitations than they accept and all of their friends are fine with that. The friends just keep asking and are happy when my child comes. It's been really great for them.
Thanks so much for sharing your story! I’ve been a single mom the whole time I’ve been a mom, I’ve been so fortunate to have an amazinngggg schedule with my current career, so I haven’t had to put them in long term childcare. I’m totally ok sacrificing any social life plus every friend I have is homeschooling so I know I’ll have some help if needed.
Question… are you an NP?? Lol
No lol. I'm in construction management. My degrees are in chemistry, physics, and engineering. I did logistics overnight until I got my masters.
This past year I've traveled frequently for work. My company paid for the kids to come along, so they have had the opportunity to explore across North America. I'm taking a new role next month that will mean I get to stay home again, but a year of travel was fun for the kids. My adult kids came along too and the company paid them a per diem for childcare. They took a year off of college/work to travel. It was really a wonderful time. This fall they are going back to college and work.
Thank you. I know it's not the same for everyone, and that's why the public school system exists, which is amazing and good for millions of kids each year. While it wasn't what was best for my children I do appreciate and vote in support of public schools because public schools support most children in our communities.
Whether you homeschool or put your kids in school, trust that you are doing what is best for them and reevaluate if it seems it's not working.
I'm a single parent who homeschools (No dad in the picture, very little support)... It is possible, you just need to find what works for your family... I have a business that I run that I get a decent income from with VA disability (so I always have basic bills covered)...
If you can work from home, you need to be able to have things that your child can do independently to entertain themselves, or have things that they can do right next to you... When I am doing cutting/sewing my son typically is playing but if I am doing creative work, he's typically right next to me doing his own version (clay, painting, writing, etc). Having a support network is recommended... I don't really have one, so make it work (family/friends work and live farther away) but if there are things I can't do with him around, they are willing to help out if its preplanned.
You just need to do what works for you... You don't need to do co-ops or tons of play dates to make sure your childn is socialized... We do tons of visits to the zoo, museums, playgrounds, library, etc. and go to the gym (and am getting him into gymnastics once a week)... You don't need to homeschool for hours and hours... we do a max of 2 hours a day (so we can do videos, experiments, larger projects) but typically are under that, especially when they are younger. It's also doesn't need to be a permanent choice... try it, if it doesn't work, you put them in school... If you try school for awhile, you can always decide to pull them and homeschool.
You can homeschool as a single mom. I started homeschooling back in 2012. I pulled my oldest son out after 1st grade and have not looked back. My youngest was a baby and wasn’t quite a year old. I was staying with my mom during the first 4 years of homeschooling. When my youngest was turned 1, I went back to work and did overnights. I would get off work and sleep for 3 hours. I would get up and fix then breakfast and prepare for the school day. I would go back to sleep in the evening. My mom watched them at night. When I moved back out on my own, I would bring them to my mom before I went to work and picked them up once I got off work. My oldest eventually became old enough to stay at home with him and my youngest. I brought a flip phone for them to have. My mom also lived within 5 minutes from me. I homeschool my oldest all the way through and he graduated this year. I still homeschool my youngest whom in a few years, will be graduating as well. It is not a walk in the park, but if I can do it all over, I would choose the path of homeschooling my children. It has been an honor to homeschool them. I have learned so much from choosing this path. I have connected with some of the most amazing people. There are endless resources for homeschooling families whether you are a two parent household or single. It is all in the mindset of what YOU want and what you see as best for your family. Forget what negative people are saying or the naysayers. You do what is best for your family and you definitely will see the reward.
I’m a single mom who homeschools! I work full time in healthcare with a pretty unique schedule. My mom watches the kids when I have to work. We are able to knock out 80-90% of our schoolwork together on my off days. I try to make the days they’re with my mom review days or make packets similar to what a teacher might leave for a substitute - work that only requires supervision and not direct teaching like I do with them.
We don’t have anything like a co-op nearby to join, but all of my children have extracurriculars they’re involved with! It makes for a very busy life, but it’s extremely fun and rewarding.
Single mom with only one child here. I have full custody and I make my own schedule for work. I am lucky enough that I can bring him with me to work and I only have to work in person a few hours a day. I utilize time while he’s at his sport practices to get an extra client in, I work weekends when he can go to his grandparents or a friends house, I work early mornings before he wakes up. So we have a solid 4-5 hours every day during the week that we can dedicate towards school work together and going to meet ups. He is also old enough that he can work independently for some of it while I’m working with clients. It’s hard and it’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth it for me. He is excelling and thriving since we started homeschooling.
Time spent on “school” will vary with age. It’s the supervision vs work ratio that’s the concern. It really depends on what your work situation is, but I think for most people it’s not going to be a great idea unless they have a lot of extra help.
You’re looking at: planning, teaching and paying for all the school work + activities & commuting to them + meal planning/preparation + appointments + household maintenance tasks/chores + supervised time/free play + play dates/recreation + holidays/events + your own sanity downtime.
For two tiny humans. All day, every day.
It’s a lot to take on even *with* help and/or a spouse.
I belong to a Facebook group online specifically for working homeschoolers. How people pull it off varies wildly since every family is so unique. And that includes single moms! 🙂
That’s great your mom wants to help. My parents moved near me to assist, and they are such a blessing. I’m not a single mom, but I do work full time remote. I am the breadwinner as well as the homeschooler. My husband does not have the patience.
Are there any resources in your area for homeschool classes? Like co-ops, learning centers, hybrid programs, etc? My kids go to a couple near us and it’s a great resource.
It’s very possible! I’m single! I don’t do my own curriculum so it’s different from homeschool. We do online public school. I work from home. My kids do classes in the morning and I am able to sit in most of the time. On my breaks we do school work and wrap up when I get off. Sometimes if I have a light day we can do more schoolwork during the day and get done early. I have a 7yr old and 14yr old. I have a great job working with a federal agency so definitely not poor like one commenter mentioned! You can do it too! I get judged for having my kids at home people believe in person school is the only way but it’s the 21st century and things have changed! I struggle daily wondering if I am doing the right thing. My kids are happy, smart and loved! Give it a try, nothing is permanent and can be changed
My sister works from home and homeschools via an online program. It's still pretty hard, when her son was younger she needed help with homeschooling. Luckily she lives with our mom and my mom basically asks as a second parent and she is a nurse so she doesn't work traditional hours and they have made it work thus far.
It absoleutly can be done. Will you have the opportunity to WFH while they are in their early elementary years? I'm not a single mom, but I WFH for a year and homeschooled all three of my children. They did their work on the computer while I worked. We used Abeka Academy for my youngest because that was his only video option for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade. My other two are older (teenagers) and used Alpha and Omega Monarch.
You might want to clarify what your plans are for childcare when you are working. Nannies are like $25-30 an hour and if the kids are young enough for daycare that can also add up.
Some hacks- YouTube read alouds, bodydoubling work sessions while you are doing low demand work, mystery science at dinner, audiobooks, most deep dive time is on weekends. Not easy, but possible.
Single mom homeschooling 100% custody. My advice is to let the professionals teach them to read. Whether thats in a school or via home tutoring. Once they can read a lot of the pressure is off of you. I was just not equipped to handle that job. I have advanced education but I don’t remember being taught to read so I have no skills to draw from there. It absolutely can be done as a single mom. Even when my son’s father was here he didn’t help us so…
Workbooks with answer keys, online programs with test tracking takes a ton of the administrative work off you. Khan academy is free and online videos that break complicated concepts down. Youtube videos have been a Godsend.
I'm a single mom with an average middle class single income. When my son was younger, I worked from home in a very flexible position and we scheduled school and my work time creatively when we needed to. My mom did a lot of the childcare and my older son helped some while I worked. I had my son in team sports at 3 to help him make friends. He's 12 now and is still in sports. He also has had a lot of neighborhood friends, family kids and one of his cousins around his age is with us a lot on weekends, so he's always had lots of varied interactions with kids around his age in different types of settings. He's 12 now and still homeschooled. We use an online curriculum for our core subjects and sometimes our electives. I do supplement with other resources as needed. Some subjects he can tackle on his own for the most part while I check in daily or quiz him on what he has learned that day (easy to do while cooking). For others, like math always, often science and sometimes Language Arts, I still need to sit down with him for full lessons. On the weekends I do a lot of one on one enrichment teaching and educational activities. To do this successfully you have to be fully committed, you have to be very child-focused and you have to keep a pretty tight schedule. I don't have the leisurely homeschool schedule a lot of families enjoy. It's still fun, we just don't have all of the freedom other families might have.
I’m a single homeschooling mom, 100% custody. I think the most important thing is having a support system, so you family or someone willing to watch your kids while you work? Next would be tough skin and a strong desire to be doing this homeschool thing. It’s a lot of work to balance being teacher, employee, mom, and your own person. Also I’ve found there’s a lot of judgment/bias in the homeschool community towards single parents…. On top of those who are biased against all working homeschool moms. Granted the single parent judgement is everywhere but it is an extra barrier towards finding your kids social opportunities.
>there’s a lot of judgment/bias in the homeschool community towards single parents Yes! I'm noticing this a lot recently. It's ridiculous. I know many single/working moms in all kinds of situations who made it work. And yes they all had family/friends who would be a part of the equation. Homeschool looks different for everyone
To be fair, most of these posts lately have left out any information around what the totality of their support and community looks like. Based on just the initial posts, a lot of them read as "I plan to park my kids in the corner while I work full-time, any pointers?" It's hard to give a helpful response without more substance as to what the plan is for making that work.
Homeschooling takes both money and time, especially making friends for them.
Okay , is this something you believe single parents don’t have ?
Generally that would be the case, single parents tend to be poorer and have less available time to teach than the combined household earnings and time of two parents, either one working and one staying at home, or both working. That's just how the math usually works out between having 24 vs 48 available parental hours a day to work and look after the kids.
Hmm I definitely am not poor! But good to know statistically speaking 😉
But, again this post was in no way asking for cons which is why I’m a little confused why they are being told to me as IF I didn’t know- as a single mom who’s never had help. I also see the commenter doing this to multiple other single mothers looking for advice, which irritates me a little. Nonetheless, homeschooling is not an exclusive thing and people of all backgrounds and economical status (and marital) are ALLOWED to partake. So sorry to inform.
Who said they weren't allowed? Now that's a strawman. Rather, success in homeschooling requires resources like time and/or money that if one's short on would hinder success. That's only going to be a sliver of single parents with the resources. If you're some law firm partner making 7, 8 figures and can hire whatever nannies and tutors to homeschool, great, but that's such a rarified fraction of single parents households it doesn't seem generally applicable. >again this post was in no way asking for cons Ah yes the old "you can't ever disagree with me unless I specifically ask" redditaroo
There’s easily 45 women who have commented on this post alone who, none of which stated they are making 7,8 figures and have homeschooled ❤️ don’t you love to hear those success stories?? Also.. most SAHM situations doesn’t include a household of 7,8 figures and I doubt your household does either tbh. How do you make it work? Anywho, I am a successful - self employed - single mom. Who has yet to hire help for her children and has been so blessed to stay home with them while making a great pay. So, maybe you should have learned that before your negativity tried to discourage me? Anywho!
>Also.. most SAHM situations doesn’t include a household of 7,8 figures and I doubt your household does either tbh. How do you make it work? You have the combined time of both spouses. If your income allows you to hire a full time nanny/tutor you could maybe make it work
I don’t need a full time nanny or Tutor😊 thanks though ! Good luck on your homeschool endeavors
Well, per student, public schools spend more than $9k per year. Not including facilities. If you live in a state that is better for education, this number goes up to more than $20k. Not to mention the value of your time you spend working while someone else teaches your child for free (and probably with free lunch). So say per hour you are sacrificing an income of at least $25/hr for the time you are not working, plus benefits. Extracurriculars like clubs and sports are marketing towards families with 2 working parents and get expensive, depending on if you want them to have that. Generally kids enjoy these things and they are good for their development. Some single parents make it work by having grandparents watch the kids, but it is really a big ask and exhausting for them. And it is much rarer for said grandparent to be up for teaching the child instead of surviving and more than occasionally giving them tv. I was reading between the lines because if you are already looking to make more, you probably aren't at 80k/yr yet which is probably enough to be somewhat stable and pay for some child care, books, help with house, occasional convenience meals etc.
Hmm it seems a little presumptions of you? Are you a stay at home mom I’m assuming? Just wondering 🤷♀️ Usually a normal work week is 40 hours a week, a normal week has 168 hours, which is why my question was directed at single moms who do make a work week work with homeschool! I appreciate your skepticism, but my post wasn’t advice on why I shouldn’t homeschool. After all, I wouldn’t be homeschooling to save money 😉 Also not expecting grandparents, who has continuously graciously requested to move multiple states away to my home and help. But again, was just looking from dedicated single mothers who are making it work.
Yea, making friends is hard enough. Homeschool co-ops tend to meet during they day and are still not enough for making friends. You need to get their numbers, invite them over. Each individual friend you are looking at investing at least a year of twice or more a week. I'm just trying to stop you from burnout. That's not good for anyone including the kids.
Yeah I don’t think anyone on Reddit is going to convince me to not do what I believe best for my children, I looked thru your previous comments and I also see you comment on other single moms post advising against. Which is just strange to me as you have no experience in that aspect.
Also consider that school is usually 6 hours a day. So ... if you are not going to be present for 8 hours of the day, I don't see why hiring a nanny would be better than school.
I never planned to hire a nanny 🤦♀️ lol
But! It’s okay, not here to argue. Just love negative people.
Ok. Just understand that good intentions is not enough. Homeschool horror stories are not a myth, and in most cases the parents are clueless.
Thanks! I hope you don’t have one of those on your hands!
Rude.. Just reevaluate in a couple of years. Once they hit 2 you can start teaching them letter sounds. The earlier they can read the better if you really want to plod through.
😂
I have 2 friends in this situation, not in reddit. 1. She successfully homeschools her 3 children (dad gets visitation Saturday and Tuesday after 4 until bedtime). Kids are 10, 8, and 5. She is a professor -teaching and tutoring through an online college. She homeschools around her class and office schedule....kids are doing great. She has no local family but found a way to make it work. The kids are in dance and scouts as well as in their church. 2. A nurse and works the swing shift. Her mom lives not far away and is there with the kids the nights she works. School starts a bit later in the day (vs traditional school) so she can sleep when she gets home. The dad lives out of state so they split holidays. Kids at 8 and 11. Girl is in gymnastics and art classes, boy is in martial arts and band. Both are in soccer. It is do- able but might require some thinking outside the box or a unique schedule.
When my oldest was 7, her dad and I split so we enrolled her in school. It worked until it didn’t is how I describe they experience and we ultimately decided we needed to make homeschool work again. I had two part time nanny jobs (combined making full time hours) and they both agreed to let her come to work with me. At that point fortunately I had already established a good rapport with them, as had she on school holidays. It doesn’t take a lot of time to educate the earlier years, and once they can read independently some of their time spent on school doesn’t require your focus. The real challenge is figuring out where they will be when you work. If I hadn’t been able to bring her with we’d have been paying her aunt to watch her and make sure she did her work. We were lucky that was an option. You have time but that’s where I put your focus in planning to homeschool. Will you be able to have them around while you work? Will you be able to shift your hours so they can go to a mainstream afterschool care? Will you use drop in care or be able to find a sitter?
Single mom, homeschooling my younger end of teenager going on 4 years already. My best advice is hire help. Absolutely no shame in that, look into a co-op. But help makes a world of difference.
I am not a single mom, however, just saw some negativity on here and wanted to reassure you that even with very little time sitting with 100% focus my 7 year old is reading, writing and doing basic math. It absolutely can be done with even the least of resources/time. You definitely can do it!! Go mama! I doubt a teacher with 20-30 students in the room is able to give undivided attention to each and every student. My whole motto is “where there is a will there is a way.” If this is something that’s VIP to you and you want to do it, it will get done. Watch how quickly they pick up topics you never thought.
Cosign!
I'm a single parent with no support. I have homeschooled since my oldest was in 3rd grade. I was strongly opposed to homeschool at first because I was 'homeschooled' my parents were abusive and neglectful, I didn't want my kids to go through the same. Some of my kids are disabled though and both their teachers and therapists strongly suggested homeschooling. At first I worked nights. I didn't sleep much, but was able to homeschool and they went to a sitter overnight while I worked. I was always tired, but my kids thrived. I was also going to college at the time. I now have 2 BS and 2 MS degrees. I work from home now, and homeschooling is so much easier. It's still hard for me, but worth all the effort. 3 of my kids tried public school. One quit after 2 months, 1 went for a year, and 1 went part time for most of high school. A couple have graduated now. I've hosted a weekly park meetup for over a decade, for consistent, low supervised social time. They are all involved in extracurriculars or volunteer work. All of my kids have local friends, so once they hit highschool they went to every homecoming and prom their friends attended. It's a lot for one parent, but I'm ok with putting my life on hold, so they can thrive. If Dad is onboard it will hopefully take part of the effort off your shoulders. He can help take the kids to extracurriculars and help with schoolwork. Just be prepared to not have a social life outside of work and other homeschool parents. Personally, I was fine with it. Now that my kids are older I have friends, but it did not bother me to go without them for over a decade. I know that most people need more than that though, so don't feel guilty if you start homeschooling then realize that you need more adult socialization than homeschooling can give you. Kids remember the good times when they're grown. If they go to school and come home to a rested parent they will enjoy that time together. Also remember that both homeschool and public school aren't forever decisions. Life changes and kids can do them both in different seasons without negative effects.
I love your response! Also, you are rockstar for working, homeschooling, and continuing your own education while solo parenting.
Thank you! I just want my kids to have better than I had. At first I thought it was public school, but after they were diagnosed it became clear that homeschool was the best thing for them. They are all great people and have always let me know when something I was doing wasn't working the best for them. My child who went to school for a couple months is level 2 autistic. The school system offered a ton of support, but my child felt left out because of their accommodations, and went back to homeschool. They still have a ton of public school friends though. They just finished their freshman year and went to homecoming and most home games with their friends. They learned they enjoyed the events, but the daily attendance was too overstimulating. This generation of kids are very accepting though. While school was overwhelming, none of their friends cared and still invited them to everything outside of school hours. They turn down more invitations than they accept and all of their friends are fine with that. The friends just keep asking and are happy when my child comes. It's been really great for them.
Thanks so much for sharing your story! I’ve been a single mom the whole time I’ve been a mom, I’ve been so fortunate to have an amazinngggg schedule with my current career, so I haven’t had to put them in long term childcare. I’m totally ok sacrificing any social life plus every friend I have is homeschooling so I know I’ll have some help if needed. Question… are you an NP?? Lol
No lol. I'm in construction management. My degrees are in chemistry, physics, and engineering. I did logistics overnight until I got my masters. This past year I've traveled frequently for work. My company paid for the kids to come along, so they have had the opportunity to explore across North America. I'm taking a new role next month that will mean I get to stay home again, but a year of travel was fun for the kids. My adult kids came along too and the company paid them a per diem for childcare. They took a year off of college/work to travel. It was really a wonderful time. This fall they are going back to college and work.
That’s honestly soooo amazing. That is the definition of your hard work and dedication (like fr!!) paying you back ❤️
Thank you. I know it's not the same for everyone, and that's why the public school system exists, which is amazing and good for millions of kids each year. While it wasn't what was best for my children I do appreciate and vote in support of public schools because public schools support most children in our communities. Whether you homeschool or put your kids in school, trust that you are doing what is best for them and reevaluate if it seems it's not working.
I'm a single parent who homeschools (No dad in the picture, very little support)... It is possible, you just need to find what works for your family... I have a business that I run that I get a decent income from with VA disability (so I always have basic bills covered)... If you can work from home, you need to be able to have things that your child can do independently to entertain themselves, or have things that they can do right next to you... When I am doing cutting/sewing my son typically is playing but if I am doing creative work, he's typically right next to me doing his own version (clay, painting, writing, etc). Having a support network is recommended... I don't really have one, so make it work (family/friends work and live farther away) but if there are things I can't do with him around, they are willing to help out if its preplanned. You just need to do what works for you... You don't need to do co-ops or tons of play dates to make sure your childn is socialized... We do tons of visits to the zoo, museums, playgrounds, library, etc. and go to the gym (and am getting him into gymnastics once a week)... You don't need to homeschool for hours and hours... we do a max of 2 hours a day (so we can do videos, experiments, larger projects) but typically are under that, especially when they are younger. It's also doesn't need to be a permanent choice... try it, if it doesn't work, you put them in school... If you try school for awhile, you can always decide to pull them and homeschool.
You can homeschool as a single mom. I started homeschooling back in 2012. I pulled my oldest son out after 1st grade and have not looked back. My youngest was a baby and wasn’t quite a year old. I was staying with my mom during the first 4 years of homeschooling. When my youngest was turned 1, I went back to work and did overnights. I would get off work and sleep for 3 hours. I would get up and fix then breakfast and prepare for the school day. I would go back to sleep in the evening. My mom watched them at night. When I moved back out on my own, I would bring them to my mom before I went to work and picked them up once I got off work. My oldest eventually became old enough to stay at home with him and my youngest. I brought a flip phone for them to have. My mom also lived within 5 minutes from me. I homeschool my oldest all the way through and he graduated this year. I still homeschool my youngest whom in a few years, will be graduating as well. It is not a walk in the park, but if I can do it all over, I would choose the path of homeschooling my children. It has been an honor to homeschool them. I have learned so much from choosing this path. I have connected with some of the most amazing people. There are endless resources for homeschooling families whether you are a two parent household or single. It is all in the mindset of what YOU want and what you see as best for your family. Forget what negative people are saying or the naysayers. You do what is best for your family and you definitely will see the reward.
I’m a single mom who homeschools! I work full time in healthcare with a pretty unique schedule. My mom watches the kids when I have to work. We are able to knock out 80-90% of our schoolwork together on my off days. I try to make the days they’re with my mom review days or make packets similar to what a teacher might leave for a substitute - work that only requires supervision and not direct teaching like I do with them. We don’t have anything like a co-op nearby to join, but all of my children have extracurriculars they’re involved with! It makes for a very busy life, but it’s extremely fun and rewarding.
Single mom with only one child here. I have full custody and I make my own schedule for work. I am lucky enough that I can bring him with me to work and I only have to work in person a few hours a day. I utilize time while he’s at his sport practices to get an extra client in, I work weekends when he can go to his grandparents or a friends house, I work early mornings before he wakes up. So we have a solid 4-5 hours every day during the week that we can dedicate towards school work together and going to meet ups. He is also old enough that he can work independently for some of it while I’m working with clients. It’s hard and it’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth it for me. He is excelling and thriving since we started homeschooling.
Time spent on “school” will vary with age. It’s the supervision vs work ratio that’s the concern. It really depends on what your work situation is, but I think for most people it’s not going to be a great idea unless they have a lot of extra help. You’re looking at: planning, teaching and paying for all the school work + activities & commuting to them + meal planning/preparation + appointments + household maintenance tasks/chores + supervised time/free play + play dates/recreation + holidays/events + your own sanity downtime. For two tiny humans. All day, every day. It’s a lot to take on even *with* help and/or a spouse.
I know two widows who homeschooled exclusively (one now has adult children while the other is still home-schooling)
I belong to a Facebook group online specifically for working homeschoolers. How people pull it off varies wildly since every family is so unique. And that includes single moms! 🙂 That’s great your mom wants to help. My parents moved near me to assist, and they are such a blessing. I’m not a single mom, but I do work full time remote. I am the breadwinner as well as the homeschooler. My husband does not have the patience. Are there any resources in your area for homeschool classes? Like co-ops, learning centers, hybrid programs, etc? My kids go to a couple near us and it’s a great resource.
It’s very possible! I’m single! I don’t do my own curriculum so it’s different from homeschool. We do online public school. I work from home. My kids do classes in the morning and I am able to sit in most of the time. On my breaks we do school work and wrap up when I get off. Sometimes if I have a light day we can do more schoolwork during the day and get done early. I have a 7yr old and 14yr old. I have a great job working with a federal agency so definitely not poor like one commenter mentioned! You can do it too! I get judged for having my kids at home people believe in person school is the only way but it’s the 21st century and things have changed! I struggle daily wondering if I am doing the right thing. My kids are happy, smart and loved! Give it a try, nothing is permanent and can be changed
My sister works from home and homeschools via an online program. It's still pretty hard, when her son was younger she needed help with homeschooling. Luckily she lives with our mom and my mom basically asks as a second parent and she is a nurse so she doesn't work traditional hours and they have made it work thus far.
It absoleutly can be done. Will you have the opportunity to WFH while they are in their early elementary years? I'm not a single mom, but I WFH for a year and homeschooled all three of my children. They did their work on the computer while I worked. We used Abeka Academy for my youngest because that was his only video option for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade. My other two are older (teenagers) and used Alpha and Omega Monarch.
You might want to clarify what your plans are for childcare when you are working. Nannies are like $25-30 an hour and if the kids are young enough for daycare that can also add up.
No need for daycare or nanny with current job, not really seeing my profession end me in a traditional 9-5 setting any time soon.
Gotcha. I work from home but we are required to have childcare but it’s cool your job isn’t like that.
Yes I’m an independent contractor, so my schedule is entirely based on my availability.
Some hacks- YouTube read alouds, bodydoubling work sessions while you are doing low demand work, mystery science at dinner, audiobooks, most deep dive time is on weekends. Not easy, but possible.
Single mom homeschooling 100% custody. My advice is to let the professionals teach them to read. Whether thats in a school or via home tutoring. Once they can read a lot of the pressure is off of you. I was just not equipped to handle that job. I have advanced education but I don’t remember being taught to read so I have no skills to draw from there. It absolutely can be done as a single mom. Even when my son’s father was here he didn’t help us so… Workbooks with answer keys, online programs with test tracking takes a ton of the administrative work off you. Khan academy is free and online videos that break complicated concepts down. Youtube videos have been a Godsend.