Is it possible to be successful and homeschool?

“Is it possible to be successful and homeschool?”

I’m a member of several homeschooling groups and that is one of the most regularly asked questions I see!

I would say the answer is a definite yes BUT it very much depends on your definition of success. Both in your career and homeschooling.

In this post I’ll share some of the replies I have seen to this question, I have kept the information anonymous, these are answers I’ve collected over time. I’ve listed them loosely in areas of occupation, hopefully, this will give you an idea of what is possible.

Of course, there are many other factors at play such as:

Where in the world the family lives
The cost of living
Family support
Number of kids being homeschooled
Amount of support each child needs
Type of homeschooling the family is using

As I mentioned in previous posts in this series, there are so many variables that it is impossible to give a definitive answer.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.

Is it possible to work in Nursing/Healthcare and homeschool?

“I’m a nurse I work 3 days a week 12-hour shifts, and do four days of school. It’s very easy to fit it all in. I even have a second job as a photographer”

“I’m a nurse and do triage in the evenings as well as infusions spread over several days. The infusion days are on homeschool days and start before or after lessons.”

“I’m working in healthcare. I work 3 days and 12-hour shifts. I refuse to work over my 36 hours. I love my career and I have four days a week off.”

“I’m a gynaecologist and work at a clinic. I work 4 days, and 9 to 10 hours. We homeschool in the evenings and on weekends.”

“I’m a paramedic and homeschool my family. We do school in the mornings, then I work in the evenings/ night.”

“I’m a dental hygienist. I work 3 days a week, and 10-hour days. We homeschool the other days of the week and my husband and a tutor help with lessons, it’s not only me.”

Can you be a Virtual Assistant and successfully homeschool?

A Virtual Assistant (VA) works online, usually helping small businesses with tasks, more info on this post here.

“I found success, working as a VA and learning entrepreneurial skills. It is very different to working in corporate but it gives me the flexibility to control my hours and work around the kids. I don’t earn as much as I did in my corporate job but on the flip side, I’m not as stressed and have a lot more free time and time with the kids. For me that is success.”

“I’ve been homeschooling and running my VA business for 10 years, it fits well with homeschooling and I can, for the most part, decide my own schedule.”

“I’ve been a VA for 5 years, it got much easier when I found regular clients and have them on retainer. Trying to market yourself and clients and then do the work is hard but now I have a number of regular clients it is great.”

“My situation is a bit unconventional. My kids spend 4 days with me and 3 days with my partner. We are both passionate about homeschooling so we split the load and play to our strengths. He is much better at teaching things like languages and history whereas I’m the science and maths nerd. I started working as a VA and find it fits well with my schedule, I can do the work whenever I like as long as I hit the deadline. A lot of my tasks involved social media so I can do a lot just from my phone whilst the kids are playing in the park or at ballet class.”

Does remote work with homeschooling?

“I work as an ops manager, I work remotely.”

“I work remotely with a flexible schedule. My kids also do a drop-off co-op which has a reasonable volunteer commitment and I have a part-time nanny. I have been doing this for 15 years I enjoyed working most of the time it’s been hard somedays days but it’s been 100% worth it.”

“I work remotely and homeschool our 4 children.”

“I work remotely for healthcare quality and compliance for 32 hours a week.”

Can I work in the education sector and be successful and homeschool?

“I’m a college professor I’m less successful professionally than my career-focused colleagues but I’m also less intricately involved in some aspects of homeschooling the more homeschooling-focused parents.”

“I’m a college professor and successfully homeschooled my kids my oldest graduated this year. I started homeschooling when she was in kindergarten.”

“I teach online classes, it works well because I have a fixed schedule so I can easily arrange for childcare during the time I have classes. I have a lot of family support so that certainly helps.”

“I tutor kids, and the lessons are in the evenings so we homeschool earlier in the day, getting curriculum lessons out of the way early in the day. My kids are in a soccer club and swimming, I need to drive them there and wait. I use that time to prep my lessons and mark assignments.”

How do I run a coaching/counselling and homeschool successfully?

“I ran a thriving private practice but once kids came along I had to switch my role from management and administration versus direct patient care. But I have awesome staff and I create my own schedule, I work remotely as well as on-site.”

“I own a counselling consultancy which means my schedule is very flexible.”

“I run a small private practice doing mental health therapy from home but I try to keep it to 3 days a week and see about 15 clients a week. My boys aged 12 and 15 go one day a week to a co-op and we homeschool a total of 4 days. On the days I work, I take a very big break after a few clients. Then so some homeschooling and then start back at work in the afternoon it seems to work but I’m tired a lot.”

Be successful and homeschool by being a writer

“I’m an author and have been the sole source of income for my family the entire time I’ve been home-schooling. I ran a home daycare before that it was not conducive to homeschooling. It hasn’t been easy and it requires us to get up super early to write but I’m certainly grateful I’m able to do the two things I love most.”

I’m a single mom and freelance writer, I have a few regular gigs but I also have to spend time pitching and researching. I can’t write when the kids are around so I will do my research and admin jobs as they do their lessons (we do a lot of self-led learning). Then I write once they are in bed. I’m a night owl so it suits me better this way. The days are long but for the most part, relaxed and fun.

Computers/engineering and homeschool life.

“I’m a software developer, my company loves me I am also the family breadwinner.”

“I’m an engineer. I work mostly at home except for when I need to travel to start up a plant.”

“I’m an analyst with supportive bosses. We do a lot of self-led curriculum so I’m not teaching, just supporting and explaining when needed.”

“I’m a data scientist. I work full-time from home but with a flexible schedule and my daughter is capable of independent work. although I have to drive my husband to work and drive my daughter to her part-time job I still love our lifestyle.”

“I’m a machinist and the second shift supervisor I’m also the only woman. I have four kids who have graduated from homeschooling and I’m still home-schooling two more. I feel tired, I feel overwhelmed at times but yes I still feel pretty good about it all on a day-to-day basis.”

How do people run their own businesses and homeschool?

“I had a photography studio and homeschool it’s insane, but we managed it.”

“It’s not easy but I have two companies and I’m a speaker. It takes a lot of planning but we get it done. Both my kids have launched businesses as homeschoolers so we use that for a big portion of their education and real world applications.”

“I run a boudoir studio and homeschool. It gives me a lot of freedom and enough money to have fun a full life and educate my kids.”

“My husband and I have a marketing agency for over 20 years, while I office-schooled my five kids. The office situation gave them opportunities for them to learn real-life skills while we were working, teaching and interacting with clients. So in my personal experience yes it can work.”

“I own a cleaning business and homeschool 2 kids going into our third year. I used to clean solo but now I have a helper that comes with me most days because I can make more money per hour that way.”

How about working in law and being a successful homeschool parent?

“From January through to the end of the legislative season, I work as Chief of Staff full time, 60 plus hours a week in the office, my husband works with on homeschool from 9:00 to 3:00pm, Monday to Friday. Then he starts working around 8:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. most nights. He’s an attorney and a partner in his own firm so he has a lot of flexibility.

He might need to take an occasional phone call or meeting during the day, he pretty much focuses on school. After session I start picking up homeschooling around May and my son and I go from 9:00 to 2:00 p.m. most days except Sundays. We have a lot of enrichment lessons outside the home that we hire out. Such as art, piano, swimming, rock climbing, skiing, and science. Those lessons provide windows of time during the week where I can get my work done, check emails Etc. My husband and I both work crazy hard and we have to remember to stop and enjoy life together sometimes.”

Industry Not specified

“I struggle a bit but I do work every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. So I’m at home during the week. We miss out a lot of fun stuff but I’m home during the week to do the school stuff.”

“I was working part-time for my family’s business but I’m transitioning into full-time remote work. My work schedule will be 2 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. I have mornings to do school and then work in the afternoon/ evening.”

“I was a full-time homeschooling mom for many years but needed to find a job to help with our finances and was happy to find anything that met all my needs. I eventually found the industry I want to be part of, and I’ve worked in it for 3 years. I started part-time remote, I’m a full-time hybrid now. My husband’s contribution to our homeschool has helped make it doable.”

“I work from home we’ve been homeschooling for 3 years, my child is 11. The key for us has been using programs and curriculums that can be done independently, like teaching textbooks for maths, Outschool etc.”

“I work 20 hours a week. I waited to homeschool until the oldest could babysit as I worked. She begged for years to homeschool and was so willing to take on the babysitter role in order to get out of public school it had an amazing 4 years homeschooling since.”

“I have a decent job and a side hustle so I’m working a lot. But I do homeschool all year round with my daughter. It’s self-paced. and we try to limit it to 3 hours or less a day so that we’re not completely burned out. The rest of the time I’m just letting lessons happen as they happen. my daughter is still young and I go out of my way to give her educational/play opportunities so I know she’s always learning in some capacity.”

Conclusion

It is absolutely possible to homeschool and have a successful working life. But, it takes organization and commitment. It’s also easier if you forget the idea that a job has to be a 9-5 set up and school 9-4. Homeschooling can be done in much less time and when you have flexible schedules you can do it whenever you like! Whatever suits your family situation.

If you need help with all this, homeschooling and fitting in work without burning out, drop me a line, a have several ways you can work with me, depending on your time and budget.

If you missed the rest of the homeschooling series, check the posts out here:

START HOMESCHOOLING WITH CONFIDENCE: TIPS AND ADVICE FOR A SUCCESSFUL START

WHAT IS DESCHOOLING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR HOMESCHOOLERS?

UNSCHOOLING DONE RIGHT: CREATING A RICH ENVIRONMENT FOR INDEPENDENT LEARNING