Single SAHM wanting to Autonomous Ed

[goldendolphin]

Hi,

I am really interested in AE or unschooling and would love to do this with my kids, (18month old and 1 to be born soon!) However, being a single mum, i'm wondering how it will be possible to earn money / have an income without having a partners financial support?

Also, the sanity of it, being single I dont get a break or help every evening etc. Obviously at the moment 18 months is very young, and i'm not wanting to put him in nursery, so my only break is when (and if he sleeps)

Obviously my situation may change in the future but has anyone else gone this route and if so how did you earn an income? how did you manage?

Thanks!

hopefully someone will come along with the link to the Single Parents HE list, folks there will be experts in this!

Although I didn't HE very young childen we were totally autonomous.

Children will learn wherever they are if they are happy and content.
HE (and of course especially autonomus HE) doesn't mean you have to be learning 9-3 weekdays and term time!
Have you a helpful mom who could have the children for a while? or maybe swap child free time with a friend?

Lots of single parents I know work for themselves-maybe selling online or something, some use a child minder.
some use a 'babay sitter' and work in the evenings.

hope that is food for thought, sorry it's rushed, I'm off out now, but will give some more thought to it!
I'm sure you can make it happen!

Thanks! I'll look around google to try and find the groups. that would be a great help.

I like the idea of doing something online. Its something I've tried but not yet succeeded at , but there's plenty of other things I can do I guess.

thanks!

Your options for work and childcare after your children reach "school-age" are very similar to what they are before they reach that age. You can pay for childcare, do childcare swaps with other parents, or find/create work which you can do with your children with you.

The nursery option disappears because most nurseries won't take over-5s. The "after-school clubs" (childcare based usually at a school) are generally open to all children, not just those who attend the school.

You can still use childminders for older children. I'm not single, but I sent my older daughter to childminders for a few years when she was 5/6 while I worked. I chose home educating childminders, which was lovely because there were older children around for my dd to play with during the day. But you could use any CM who is willing to have older children in the daytime.

Remember you can use the childcare element of Tax Credits toward the cost of childcare even after your children are older, and regardless of what time of day you use it.