Single Parent Homeschooling

[ne14Jesus]

I am a single parent wanting to homeschool my 5 year old.. My oldest son went through PS and it was not a pleasant experience and I cannot afford private school. I was just wondering if it is possible to homeschool while being a single parent. My mom is willing to assist, her concern is what if he doesn't listen to her while she is trying to teach him..

[proud2Bgreen]

O' yes you can!!!
Most of us even if married or in a relationship usually end up going it alone ( thou I am sure some daddys like to help ) I know my son who just finished the pre-k and my daughter did the kindergarten,1st & 2nd grade levels in T4L really enjoyed doing the lessons so you may be surprised that your child might want to do thier school work. If they do not I think maybe setting up a reward system (you could do stickers or earning tv time treats etc ) may help him be more willing.
I know this is a real concern but, try not to worry too much untill the problem arises ~> If it does that is what we are all here for to help listen & give suggestions

[Cailin'sMamma]

You can absolutely do this as a single parent. My daughter is 4 and doing the KG lessons on here. We usually do 1-2 hours of T4L every other then and on the other days I just do some work sheets or review the letter sounds and such with her. Some time just practicing her writing skills. Using this program does not take a huge chunk of time out of your day and like most of the other stories I have read on here, She absolutely loves her "schooling". Having your moms help is great, since I also have my mother to turn to in this department. Your son may give her a little trouble at first but once it is routine for both of you to be part of his schooling it should even out. I'm not a single parent homeschooling, but I am the one who does all of her schooling. My husband works up to 15 hours a day and his normal involvement is checking out her reports or reading the worksheets she has done for the day. But I am the hands on one. I say give it a shot, try your best and see where it takes all of you. We were nervous at first but as I watch my daughter grow by leaps and bounds, learning at an unbelievable pace I know we are doing the right thing for her. Best of luck to you.
Colleen

[StacyA123]

I'm a single parent and have been trying to figure out for a year how it would be possible to home school. If I homeschool, I don't work and therefor we're homeless. So I'm baffled by the idea that single parents can homeschool.... unless you have the type of work where you can bring your child.

[Mandy in TN]

I'm a single parent and have been trying to figure out for a year how it would be possible to home school. If I homeschool, I don't work and therefor we're homeless. So I'm baffled by the idea that single parents can homeschool.... unless you have the type of work where you can bring your child.

A few possibilities:

You find fun childcare while you are at work and homeschool when you are at home. This works well if you are something like a nurse and can work weekends. Maybe a family member can watch your child on the weekend and then you homeschool during the week.

You find someone that will co-school with you. If you work odd days, then you and a friend can co-school. For example, if you work in retail and always have Mondays and Wednesdays off, then you can have an extra student on Monday and Wednesday and they can have yours on Tuesday and Thursday. If you find a Friday tutorial, then you have the week covered.

You can hire a tutor to do work with your child. This way, even if you are not able to do all the home education yourself, you can still be in charge of your child's education.

Another option is to work from home and home educate.

I have a friend who is a single mother. I have her daughter, Cuppycake, on Tuesday afternoons and all day on Thursday. Tuesday during the day, Cuppycake is at a tutorial. We are there as well, so I just bring her home with me. Wednesday, the Cuppycake has piano lessons and homeschool swim team. Friday she goes drama classes, art classes, and swim team. She takes her laptop and does T4L. She has memory work, grammar, and composition from her tutorial. She also does Sequential Spelling with the CD. At home her mother has some other things that they do on Mondays and she has literature that they do at night. They have a ton of support in the homeschool community. Honestly, I don't know how Cuppycake could go to the public school and still be on a swim team, take piano classes, art classes, drama classes, and have the kind of close friendships that she has with her homeschool friends. If she were in a traditional classroom, she would ride the bus, come home to an empty house, and sit there for a couple of hours alone.

If you are single and strongly feel that home education is right for your child, look for ways to make it happen. It may not be a possibility right now, but keep your eyes open. Think outside the box and maybe someday something will fall into place. Until then, be a strong after schooler building that relationship with your child and supplementing his education with those things that you think are important.

HTH-
Mandy

[fairylover]

I think the first thing we all have to remember is that there is no law that says school must take place between 9 am and 3 pm. We often do school work at midnight. As long as you have good child care to supervise your child during the time you are working, you'll be fine. You can do school when it best fits your schedule and your child's. Ideally another homeschooling family to care for your child would be the best answer. But you can make any situation work. I am married but when it comes to schooling I may as well be a single parent. I wish I could get more help, especially in the science areas. But that's not going to happen for us.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

[Syele]

Im a single parent that homeschools. Sometimes its a challenge! But it is definitely possible. Right now, I work from home so that makes it easier. In the past I have had jobs that I could not be there with my daughter. When that was the case I had various solutions depending on my job, finances, and the year.

When she was 5 years old, she went to the daycare with the preschool class (mostly 4yos and a few 5s who missed the school deadline) while I worked, and then did schoolwork when I was home with her.

For awhile, I was blessed by a friend who homeschooled her boys. My daughter went to their house when I was at work and did T4L on their computer while the boys had their lessons. She even sat in on their geography and Bible lessons. We did extra things together on the weekends and evenings.

For one year, I hired a babysitter. At the babysitter, she still did some of her T4L lessons but the babysitter was not very good with helping with questions she had or with supervising any non-computer work so we did what was left when she got home.

[fairylover]

Sounds like you are making it work for your family. I know it can be done. It just takes a bit more planning than it does for a two parent family.