Any working parents homeschool?

[PhiloMed]

We are a few years from having to make a decision on this, but our local Catholic school just announced it was closing at the end of this year. I am so sad about this. We chose our home partly based on walking distance to the church and school. We had hoped to send both kids there.

Has anyone ever homeschooled with working parents? Hired tutors? A quick Google search gives me some families doing variations of this when both parents work traditional hours. I’m just looking for some personal experiences.

There is another Catholic school a few miles away. I went to this one as a child and remember it being a toxic environment because of the types of families in the area (all money, no faith). This other school had a very different sending area and a lovely group of families.

I’m just exploring other options now.

 

[Gliggle]

There must be some other sad families in the area in your situation. Maybe put up a flyer and call a meeting? Maybe you can see whose out there and plan to do some sort of shared home schooling. You know, you could roster each other on your days off to teach the other kids… I dunno, I guess its one of those things that could be trickier than it sounds. Either way hope you find a good solution.

 

[gardenswithkids]

I’m sorry to read your parish school is closing. How disappointing for you. I’m always a little sad when I hear of Catholic schools having to close.

I know some two-working parent homeschool families. Usually at least one jobs is very flexible and more commonly part time rather than full time. How successful it is depends on the demands of the parents’ jobs, among other things.

One family I knew hired a nanny for a time and used an accredited Catholic homeschool program. The mom would go over the material with the older kids before or after she left for her job. They’d work while she was gone and the nanny was there taking care of the youngest. They no longer have a nanny. The youngest is school age, and the mom works part time now in a very flexible job. The whole family is exceptionally bright, the children are well behaved, and the mom has more energy than just about everyone I know. She’s the kind of person who would be successful at anything she did.

Another homeschool family I knew hired a family member to watch the kids when the mom went back to work. The next year they decided to put the children in a charter school.

 

[egamino]

My wife and I work for an IT company that used to allow us working from home some days of the week. I used to work 2 days a week from home while my wife the other 3 days. For a couple of years we took advantage of that flexibility to homeschool our kids, now 14 and 13. Since we had not much time to teach them, we decided to sign them up to a Catholic online school, Fisher More Academy. The tuition was very affordable compared to Parochial Schools. It was a great experience for me to get closer to my children, having breakfast and lunch together, helping them with homework and doing chores as a team. We looked for after-school programs in sports and arts to keep the socialization.

This year our employer changed the working-from-home policy and we have to go to the office daily. Our kids are back in regular Catholic school and have been doing very well, my daughter was top in her class the 1rs quarter. Homeschool helped them to be more independent in their learning.

Fisher More Academy shut down this year but the founders opened a new online academy: Queen of Heaven Academy

queenofheavenacademy.org/

 

[nursemom6]

I am a full time RN and I home school 4 children. Up until recently My husband worked as well. My job is flexible in that I work home care, so I have been able to set up their day and assignments. My husband and I both reviewed material with them in the evenings. My children Also attended a parish school until it was closed several years ago. Public schools were never an option. We prayed and eventionally chose Seton Home Study School. My oldesr daughter graduated last year and now attends a good local Catholic university on partial scholarship. I won’t praise the advantages of one school or curriculum over another, but I can say that we needed structure and an accredited program which we could have the children work with at home. We also managed to make most evenings into teaching and review periods. After a couple of bumpy years ironing out the minks everything runs smoothly now. The bottom line is there are options. A school day does not need to be 9 to 3. We also have managed ballet, soccer and Music. They have friends and are able to carry on conversations without an electronc device in hand

 

[PhiloMed]

Thank you for all the wonderful responses!

I am so devastated that our parish school is closing, but I know that realistically they can’t manage with the low enrollment. They need around 220 to sustain operations and currently only have 107. On the up side, our parish CCD program is thriving and they are always looking for new teachers since they have at least 2 and sometimes 3 of every class from K-8. Unfortunately, those families just can’t afford to send their children to the school.

Now that I see homeschooling is a possibility, we may consider making this work. My job will allow me to work from home at least 3 days/week starting next year (though I have almost 2 years before needing to arrange school for the kids). I will absolutely continue to look into this.

We will also consider one of the other parish schools. My only concern is that I would love for my children to have their sacraments at their home parish. Maybe this could be arranged even if they are in a neighboring parish school.

 

[nursemom6]

Your family is in my prayers. At least you have the option to plan ahead and consider all of the options avaiable and that may become available with prayer. Also, take a good look at ALL of the Catholic Home school options- there are certainly more than one to choose from.

I chose to have my children receive their Sacraments at our home parish. Our school faced many of the same economic problems that many parishes are facing nowadays. Interstingly enough- the Catholic Educattion program did increase enrollment- but the enrollment to needed to keep the school open was too low.