The following is a sponsored guest post
Homeschooling can be a rewarding experience for both parents and children. Historically, homeschooling meant that at least one parent must stay home to oversee the homeschool education. Home education requires parents to dedicate a significant amount of their time to plan the curriculum, provide instruction, and evaluate progress.
However, with all the resources available to homeschoolers today, working parents can successfully home educate their children. Parents can homeschool their children, work, and still have time to spend with family and friends. If you are considering homeschooling your child as a working parent, the following tips can help you balance your student’s homeschool education with your career.
Online Programs Automate the Busy Work
One of the most important resources that allows working parents to homeschool is the availability of online programs. Many aspects of homeschooling can be time-consuming. Planning curriculum is a tedious process, even for homeschoolers with teaching backgrounds. With online curriculum programs, the busy work of homeschool becomes automated, and lessons, assignments, and other materials are already created by experienced educators. Most homeschool curriculums provide the core subjects of math, language arts and reading, social studies, and science. Therefore, you will not have a problem meeting any state mandated subject requirements.
Students Become Independent Learners
Many homeschool students have proven to become more independent at a younger age. Many online programs are self-paced with video instruction, help videos and resources, and assignments. An online program provides all instruction on your student’s device. This self-paced, online structure allows your student to learn independently, which they can do while you are working or completing other tasks.
Although young students may need more handholding, older students can learn on their own with the resources provided by online homeschool courses. When they come across difficult concepts or something they don’t understand, you can set aside time to address these questions at the end of each day.
Online curriculums provide numerous courses and electives. You can also choose courses based on your student’s interests, which will help them stay engaged and feel a sense of accountability around their schooling.
Self-Paced Curriculum Allows for Flexible Schedules
Flexibility is one of the many benefits of homeschooling and a big reason why many families transition to home education. You can choose a schedule that works best for your family’s needs and your work schedule. The typical 8:00 to 5:00 work schedule may be difficult to homeschool around. However, you can provide instruction in the early morning, in the evenings, and on the weekends. If you work in the evening or weekends, it can be difficult to spend time as a family. Homeschool frees up time to spend together during the day, while also allowing you to work through lessons and learn with one another.
Some states have requirements for hours of instruction provided each year. However, you can teach during the summer and winter when students in traditional schools are on breaks. As long as you abide by your state’s requirements, you have the freedom to implement a work and school schedule that works best for your family.
Straightforward Lessons Save Time
The traditional school schedule is often 8:00 to around 3:00. Much of this time, however, is spent at lunch, recess, or transitioning class from one class to the next. This doesn’t take into account the time it takes to get to and from school each day. When it is only you and your student, you can free up your schedule because it takes less time to complete your daily lessons. You can free up time for other educational experiences and activities that your student can attend while you’re at work, such as a homeschool co-op. Homeschool offers families freedom and flexibility, which means parents can work and students can participate in other activities.
Although it takes careful planning, you can successfully homeschool your child while being a working parent. Homeschooling may not be for everyone. However, if you feel like it would be a great fit for your child, your career does not mean that you can’t home educate your child.