Home Ed Parents- what do you do for work?

[SparklyNavyHare]

Hi Everyone,

I am considering home education for my little one but I currently work 5 days a week in a pressurised job that if I do choose to home educate I would have to leave.

What careers do home ed parents have that fits around their child?
I’m not interested in MLM/join my team/ buy my course social media stuff- I don’t like taking photos of myself never mind posting videos.

Im happy to learn new skills, employed or self employed but want something realistic and where I can make a reasonable living- thank you

For me it was nightshifts at TESCO and state benefits. I was able to get DLA for my home ed kid and honestly, it would not have been possible without that.

I have looked at working nights- used to many moons ago as a care assistant but I’m not sure it would work with my husband as he leaves the house at 5am.

I have considered retraining to be a Nurse but 2 years for a Masters and then the complexity of shift work when on placement- i don't know how that would work but something to consider I suppose.

What about weekend work? Care homes are crying out for carers, it is not well paid but if you are prepared to work Saturday nights you will always have work.

Child minding? Parents are always looking for childcare particularly in the summer holidays, I don't know the rules for having your own child in the home, you would have to check.

No looking after other people’s children is not my thing.

I don’t want to go back into social care as a care assistant, Ive worked as an inspector for many years and I don’t feel I could go into that environment in an operational capacity again and whilst i’m not adverse to working weekends, I don’t want to commit to every weekend-

I would like flexible options where I can work from home around my child as well- what businesses do people have? Does anyone have an career that isn’t that well known that can be done remotely?

Most employers specify you can’t WFH and be caring for your child at the same time. What time is your DH at home?

If you retrained as a nurse how do you think the training would fit round your DC?

So you wouldn’t be able to work in the day time, you can’t work nightshifts and don’t want to commit to regular weekends?

I understand that- I don’t intend on working from home and caring for my child at the same time as I will be educating them- My husband gets home at about 16:30.

If I retrained as a nurse, my child would need to remain in school for 2 years until I was qualified and the logistics of this is why I have not pursued it at present.

I am just interested in what other parents in the Home Ed community do as a career to make it work.

Why are you thinking Home Ed? Why plan to pull a child out of school if you trained as a nurse? If they were happy there would you still consider Home Ed?

Im just asking what other parents do to make a living to make it work- Im asking for inspiration not annihilation 😂

All the Home Ed families I know have at least one parent not working. The amount of prep work, making sure there is some consistency, joining Home Ed groups and sorting out materials and content is effectively a solid part time (full time if more than one child) role.

Having had to Home Ed during the pandemic plus work, I wouldn't ever do it myself personally. Not unless there was a very good reason. And interestingly my DCs wouldn't do it again. Not because of my teaching, but because they missed their friends and the variety of subjects.

But people are giving you inspiration, you’re just averse to the suggestions as you are already limiting the times you can work. You will find it extremely difficult to work if you can’t work nights, can’t work every weekend and you will be limited to what you can do from home as you will be caring for little one.

how about evening work in supermarkets, bars, restaurants or similar?

I’m a childminder which currently works for me and worked when the children were younger. My children are older teens now so I may look for work outside of the home. I also have the ability to do another job from home. I am able to leave them work to do independently.

I’m afraid I don’t know any home ed families where both parents have a full time career… everyone I know had to make sacrifices and either work part time, live on benefits or one parent gave up work completely. Home educating is a full time occupation.

I know a couple of families who home ed and both work. They have a nanny/governess who does childcare and covers the education side of things. That's a possibility if your job pays well (and probably better long term for your pension etc).

In one family both parents work condensed hours so the nanny works three days a week and they each cover a day.

My littleone has AuDHD, hes not unhappy in school but as he gets older and lessons become more structured I envision he will struggle with that- I am just looking to the future and trying to have options available to ensure I can raise a happy child. I hated school with a passion and it made me miserable and depressed- I was diagnosed with ADHD in my late thirties- I don’t want that experience for him.

I was considering nursing as its linked to my background, there is such a variation of careers you can do when qualified- one of my friends works for an out of hours service triaging patients over the phone in the evenings and overnight for example (i know you need a few years post qualifying experience to do this)
But i’m just interested in what other Home ed parents do for a living.

I don’t work there is no way we could manage that. I claim carers allowance for DS.

My littleone has AuDHD, hes not unhappy in school but as he gets older and lessons become more structured I envision he will struggle with that- I am just looking to the future and trying to have options available to ensure I can raise a happy child.

See how he goes. He isn't unhappy in school. He may never be. I dont understand this planning for something that hasn't happened.

Youre almost expecting him to have the same issues as you and he may not.

I do freelance work as a copywriter

I don’t think a nursing career is compatible with home Ed -

way too intense -
and if u working the night shift/ unsocial hours and home Ed in the day … when would u sleep ??

Sounds like you had a great set up

I want to know what other people do-
I know my own strengths and limitations and Ideally I would like to work remotely in a role where I am intellectually stimulated. I can work evenings and nights if remote and weekends the majority of the time- and I know it would be part time not full time.

have you thought about sharing the load with your dh? Why is it you that has to give up work?

as in both of you cut hours. You could go to 0.7, and between you one can be at home.

then you are more financially stable should one of you not be able to work, redundancy etc. bigger income as you’ll get 1.4x salary rather than 1x. You’ll both keep pensions etc.
Plus it takes the home Ed load off you so you both get more of a balance.

I can’t see how nursing would work with home ed either - shifts are 7am-7pm or 7pm-7am, neither of which you could do. Or once you move off the ward, 8am-4pm.

Kindly, most intellectually stimulating jobs which allow you to work at home anticipate employees being available in office hours and to not be running work alongside childcare. Also, would you realistically have the energy to commit to this after a full day of Home Ed?

Well I think it’s sensible to plan for what if’s- especially if SEN reform changes the level of support he receives in school- but appreciate your point

Our eldest was home educated from birth to getting nine iGCSE's, and rarely did we study for more than four or five hours a day. So, you could do any job really, especially if they are motivated to learn. By the time he was nine, he was learning largely unassisted, with us just checking in and keeping him on track. It's very different to school, you can make a few hours a day, very productive.