It's Not Impossible: Working and Homeschooling

According to a 2007 statistical abstract by the U.S. Census, more than half of homeschooling families have two parents in the labor force. The number of homeschooling families with two working parents often comes as a surprise to those who do not homeschool, but surprises few within the homeschool community. As we look around our in-person or online support groups, we encounter many moms who balance employment and homeschooling. Particularly in these challenging economic times, I’ve known several women who returned to work in the wake of husbands who have been laid-off. The women I know who homeschool and work are employed in an extremely wide variety of professions, from small business owners and family and marriage therapists, to teachers and firefighters. As varied as the jobs are the number of hours these women spend working – from a few hours a month to full time jobs. And each family finds its own way of balancing work, family and homeschool.

I recently chatted with a couple of friends about how their families balance their many obligations. Laurelee Kovacs-Szabo and her husband Attila have two children, two jobs and a winery. Laurelee is a self-employed bookkeeper whose clients include several small businesses in and around Woodinville. She works primarily from home about 15 or 20 hours a week, although she goes onsite a couple of times a week. Attila is employed full time at Microsoft. They opened about five years ago, after Attila spent years learning the craft of wine-making. Fall is typically very busy for the winery, but the rest of the year it requires time and energy as well.

Although both Laurelee and Attila have always worked, they originally put their kids in public school. In 2007, after Kenzie finished second grade and Slater finished kindergarten, they decided to try homeschooling. Laurelee says they didn’t have a negative experience with the public school system, but homeschooling sounded like a cool experience for the entire family. On the days both Attila and Laurelee are at work, Laurelee’s mom, a nurse with a flexible schedule, provides child-care. The strong, consistent relationship with grandma is one of the benefits Laurelee sees to their situation. “Even now that the kids are older and can stay home alone, my mom still picks them up and spends the day with them,” she reports.

Laurelee describes the family’s approach to homeschooling as pretty eclectic, leaning more towards unschooling. Instead of following a formal curriculum, Laurelee and Attila “try as much as possible to let the kids follow their passions,” a method that seems to be working pretty well for them. Kenzie has always been drawn to art, theater and writing, and last year, at age 13, published her first novel, Dragon Claws, through Kindle. The kids have always done their learning pretty independently, but Laurelee admits to feeling like she should sometimes spend more time with them. Recently Attila has become more involved in checking the kids’ math and that has been helpful.

The biggest struggle, Laurelee says, is finding personal and couple time. “We’re both just spread kind of thin,” she comments. She’d love to spend more time in her garden and more time reading, but manages to carve out time for herself and with Attila to work out. Despite the challenges, Laurelee appreciates the financial benefits of working, and the fact that her job is flexible allows her to spend time reading to the kids and taking them on field trips and to classes. She describes herself as very organized, focused and efficient, and as a result, everything gets done.

Ana and Kevan Huston, another Woodinville couple, have homeschooled their two daughters, Emily, 7, and Maddy, 5, all along. Ana, who was born and raised in Peru, says growing up she spent a lot more time with family, including extended family, than with peers. “It’s not the educational piece that motivated me to homeschool,” she explains, “It’s the social. I want to have a stronger influence on their worldview and goals and ambitions.”

Ana works for Seattle Children’s Hospital as a nurse practitioner. She typically works about 20 hours a week, either in the evenings or on weekends. Kevan is employed full time at Microsoft. With the current schedule, Ana is able to keep the girls in a good routine. The family follows the Waldorf method for homeschooling, because of its focus on arts, crafts and literature. Mornings are typically for schoolwork and afternoons are for activites, including a Mandarin class and sewing with other homeschoolers. On the days she works, a friend or babysitter (sometimes Kenzie Kovacs-Szabo) provides childcare until Kevan is home from work and takes over. Ana appreciates that as a homeschooled teen, Kenzie is a positive role model for her kids. Ana says she realizes the girls "need a break from me, but they don’t necessarily need a break with 24 other kids." 

In addition to working and homeschooling, Ana is a self-described exercise addict. Last year she completed Ironman Canada and most mornings she is up at 5 a.m. to work out. She explains that she doesn’t need a lot of sleep and going without exercise she makes her grouchy. Even so, balancing her many obligations can sometimes leave her feeling as if she hasn’t prepared enough for homeschooling projects, something she is getting better at. Nevertheless, Ana is committed to her job. “I feel very passionate about the health care work that I do. I feel it’s a calling more than a job,” Ana says. And she is proud that she is modeling balancing a job she loves with being able to make compromises so that she can spend time with her children.

Needless to say, each family handles the challenges of balancing work and home life differently. One of the things that many working homeschooling moms I know say they appreciate about homeschooling is the flexibility. Learning isn’t confined to typical school hours. If both parents work during the week, school work gets done in the evenings and on weekends. Summer break can happen later in the summer and into the fall, if those tend to be busier times at work. Working moms have kids that learn to be independent and self-reliant. Also, depending on the job, some parents bring their children to work with them, giving them a first hand view at the world of work.

While working and homeschooling obviously isn’t for everyone, I think it’s reassuring and inspiring to know that it’s possible. If you homeschool your children and need to bring in some income, it can be done. If you are a working parent and you’d like to bring your kids home to educate them, it can be done.