Go Back to Work or Continue Homeschooling?

I have to say up front I am not homeschooling so I don't come from that perspective, but one thing to bear in mind is that eventually your son will go to college and you and your husband will retire -- you do need to think now about how ready you will be to pay for college when the time comes, and whether you are planning and saving now for retirement or other financial needs. If working would help substantially with those issues, that's a factor to consider. There certainly are other factors involved, including the educational benefits you find in homeschooling, but if you don't already have a specific plan where you are already saving for college and retirement, you need one, whether you return to work or not.

Also, you mention that you have homeschooled for five years and he's entering sixth grade, so he has never been in a traditional school setting except maybe for kindergarten--? Is that correct? One thing to consider is that your local schools (public or private) may be different from what you expected or experienced when you started homeschooling. Again, I am not against homeschooling and know a variety of people who have done it for a variety of reasons--some have removed kids from school as late as high school to do it, while others did it through elementary but put their kids into schools in middle school onward. It sounds to me like maybe you need to do more investigating about what the schools are like right now where you are; they may serve him very well now, even if they had issues earlier, but you would have to do some research and make visits to find out.

Also, if he is entering sixth, is that the last year of elementary or the first year of middle school in your school system? If it's the latter, that may provide a natural transition point that is a good time for him to go to a school if you want that; he would enter middle school with other kids who are coming in from many different schools and meeting new kids for the first time, just as he would be. If he enters elementary in sixth, the kids would all know each other already for years but if it's middle school, they are more in the same boat as far as meeting new kids and being in a new environment together.

You mention "if I can find someone to continue what we are doing as far as homeschooling" but isn't that in effect placing him with someone else as his teacher, as if he's in their "school"? Check your state laws on homeschooling because they may prohibit simply placing him with someone else who is also homeschooling their own children, if one of his own parents is not one of his teachers any more.

how flexible is your job? i homeschooled my two while working, but i was able to set my own hours, and often took my kids to work with me. they just brought their schoolwork and a book, and a gameboy for if they really got bored (yeah, i'm old<G>.)
we also relied heavily on our homeschool network, so if there were co-ops or field trips or study groups or just hanging out days i had a bunch of people who happily brought my kids along. i reciprocated by offering free shakespeare and ancient greek classics' classes here at my house.
one of the best things about homeschooling is how adaptable it is!
it's wonderful to be in your position, to have such great choices. jangle your network tree and see if you can expand the choices even further. don't give up homeschooling without at least seeing if it can still work.
good luck!
:) khairete
S.

Not in the same boat, but could you find a homeschool coop or a friend to occupy him for part of the week? He's old enough to stay home alone, so it would be a matter of just making sure he has people he can see daily.

I'd think by now he can handle his own schooling without you.

Have you asked him what he wants? I'd start there.

Ask your son since he will be impacted by your decision. He may want a traditional school at this point.

Here is a question: Would the job allow enough flexibility that you could homeschool on a different schedule? Perhaps instead of starting at 9AM you could leave your son assignments before you come home, and do the teaching part in the evening? And if so, is he the type of kid who can handle that, alone? Or is there a PT program you can have him in, augmented by the study you do with him later?

Is he your only child? I think it's an excellent age to switch into school. I homeschooled for a few yeas and might again one day, but this coming year I need to put kids in school. They loved the last six weeks of last year when I threw them in our local public school. They loved the place, the people, the experience. I was not happy with level of material (WAY TOO EASY) but I was still impressed with many other things. This coming year I plan to treat their school day as the "bare skeleton" of information they need to learn for tests, and then I'll try to supplement all the stuff they're not getting at home. I have my doubts if it's possible since they are burnt out after long school days, but it's worth a try, we can always go back to homeschooling.

Take the job!!! Give it a year. Quit and homeschool again later if it's not working for you.

A kiddo going into the 6th grade should be 11 turning 12 or older.

A 12 year old kiddo can take babysitting classes through the Red Cross.

I imagine a 12 year old that is going to babysit another person and make sure they're alive and well at the end of their babysitting job is old enough to be capable of watching themselves sufficiently.

Since you'd be working close to home I assume you can come home in a hurry if needed. Are there trustworthy neighbors around? I think you should train him for home alone time and go to work. Then do the homeschooling stuff a couple of hours in the evening and on weekends.

I personally think Jr. High is a hard time for anyone. But it's also the time when everyone comes together from all the elementary schools and they start bonding and making those lifelong connections.

I think I'd take the job because tomorrow is uncertain. I'd love to have all my bills paid off and to be able to have money each month to go and do anything we wanted.

I was faced with a similar job offer recently. My girls are going into 5th and 7th grades, and this was our first year homeschooling. I asked them what they thought, and they were adamant that they didn't want to go back to public school. Even at the salary I was offered, private school is still very spendy in our area, so... we are homeschooling for another year! We will see how it goes. I guess the beauty of homeschooling is that you aren't locked into it. At any time, you can change what you're doing. If my kids had been enthusiastic about going back to public school, my decision might have been different (although probably not; I'm not exactly impressed with how things were going the last time they were there, so...).

I homeschool and have quite a few friends that also homeschool. One of my friends works full time and so does her husband. If you can find someone to care for your children while you are working then you cant teach them at night. Since your kids are older they can probably do most stuff on their own.

It wont be easy but if you all work together then it can work for you. You can also hire a tutor (Florida allows this) and do it that way.

Good luck!

It depends on your reason for homeschooling. If it was for his needs, perhaps all of you need to sit down and discuss the opportunity that is available to you.

Could you spread his work into 6 days a week with few hours? That is what I did in college. Isn't that the beauty of homeschool? I don't know, I never did it.

Does his school work consist of you sitting with him for 6 straight hours? My neighbor across the street always complained that her youngest daughter required her to sit over her to do her HS work. If that is not the case, perhaps it is feasible for you to take the job.

Best of luck to you.