The Homeschooling Handbook_ From Preschool to High School - Mary Griffith [45]
Many homeschooling families become devotees of thrift shops and yard sales, finding everything from clothes and toys to books and hobby equipment at outrageously low prices. This can be a terrific way to try out new interests without risking much money on whether the attraction will last. A few families enjoy the challenge of doing as much as possible on as little money as possible: buying secondhand goods, bartering, growing their own vegetables. Most don’t take things to this extreme, of course, but a few savings here and there add up to quite a bit over the course of a year.
Books and newsletters such as the Tightwad Gazette, the Cheapskate Monthly, and the Frugal Corner offer plenty of advice and suggestions for cutting expenses, and several maintain Internet sites as well.
Alternatives to Stay-at-Home Mom
At least 90 percent of the time, the stay-at-home homeschooling parent is the mother. Most often, hers was the job that provided the lesser income and hers was the easier career to forfeit or postpone. Many homeschooling parents, though, find it ironic that their unconventional educational choice results in such a conventional, traditional lifestyle, at least superficially, and work hard to avoid indoctrinating their kids with gender stereotypes. They may opt to rotate all household tasks among all family members, so that no one person always cooks or cleans or mows or fixes the car, or cares for the kids.
Of course, alternatives to Stay-at-Home Mom exist. Some families opt for Stay-at-Home Dad, if the wife’s income is better or the couple simply prefers a less traditional allocation of duties. Rare these days is the local homeschool support group without at least one homeschooling father in regular attendance at park days and field trips.
Frequently, the at-home parent will develop some sort of work at or from home to generate extra income. More than a few parents who take to selling books and other materials for homeschoolers, at first just for the wholesale discounts, find themselves with a full-fledged at-home business on their hands. Others, with occupations such as computer programming, accounting, word processing, or writing, find working at home a satisfying solution.
After I closed my retail business when my oldest daughter was born, money was very tight. My husband was in a teacher credential program and working only part-time. We did some brainstorming and together created a business where he is able to teach something he loves, and I can do what I love—grow a business with my daughter at my side. We marketed our kung fu school to after-school day care programs, day care facilities, and private schools so our daughter could be with us while we worked. In eight years, we have seen our business grow and change as well as our family. We’ve had two more daughters, and the girls help now with all aspects of the business: mailing, bookkeeping, inventory control, setting up class equipment, and designing newsletters. Not only have they learned the basics of math, reading, and writing while working along with us, they’ve learned one of the most important skills—how to pursue your passions in life.—Elizabeth, California
Sometimes both parents are employed outside the home, working different shifts so that one or the other parent is always home with the kids. Or they may work out arrangements for their children to spend part of the day or a few days a week with a grandparent, another relative, or other homeschooling families.
Organizing Your “Schoolroom”
State regulations may cover what children must learn or how many days of instruction are required, but they don’t dictate the physical conditions for learning within your home. Unless you operate a licensed family day-care facility or teach other families’ children in your home, there are no specific requirements for furniture, lighting, ventilation, or other items typically covered in school building codes. Physical arrangements for homeschooling are as varied as all the other