Wreaths of Maine
For some families, choosing the fulfilling path of homeschooling means losing all, or at least a portion, of one income stream. Full-time employment for both parents is usually out of the question. And most outside-the-home part-time jobs have inflexible schedules that don’t always work around homeschooling time. This means that, unless you were already a stay-at-home mom or dad, you’re probably looking at anywhere between a 25–50 percent cut in your weekly household cash flow.
Lower costs for childcare may help to reduce that loss to a more reasonable level. But many homeschooling parents look for additional ways to create income even though closely tied to home. Here are a few ideas and things you can do to help make it easier on yourself to make money while homeschooling.
Don’t treat yourself like a failure because you feel the need to work. You may have set an expectation for yourself that you would be 100 percent devoted to the education of your children. But the truth is, not every family is the same. It’s very challenging, and sometimes impossible, for families to thrive on just one income. And single-parent homes have even less resources to fall back upon.
Cut yourself some slack. Finding a way to bring in income doesn’t make you a failure. It means you’re multi-talented. And probably very busy.
Be flexible. Teaching lessons, helping with schoolwork, and keeping up with household chores will most likely keep you busy until after dinner. So that means sometimes you don’t get to start “work” until 7:30p.m. If the work you’re doing can be fit around the things in your life that can’t be moved, then be flexible and go with the flow.
If that means school starts at noon on Tuesdays because you work late on Mondays, then so be it. Life happens and your kids will learn to adapt to it the same way you do.
Be INflexible. Some days will be so hectic, you’ll do a million things, and yet feel like you didn’t make headway on any of them. When these days happen, the only thing you can do is section off some hours of your daily planner devoted to one task, and work on it until it’s done. It’s time to stop being flexible and it’s your family’s turn to accommodate your needs.
It’s also good to teach your kids that just because you CAN move things around on your schedule doesn’t mean that you always should. Sometimes you have to start lessons at 8:00 a.m. even when you’re not feeling like it.
Integrate chores with family time. And work too. No one likes doing dishes, but two people together can have great conversations while doing them. This is actually a good opportunity to multi-task and overlap things on your To Do list. It also helps spread the tasks around so that you can devote a little more time to tasks that generate revenue for the family, while teaching your children responsibility at home.
You may find that your family is interested in helping you with your work too. Repetitive, menial tasks can seem fresh and exciting to those who have never had to do anything like them before. Involve your family and farm jobs out when you can.
Wreaths of Maine has a long tradition of helping to support homeschooled students and their families. Thousands of homeschoolers have sold for us, earning commission on every wreath that they sell. That commission can go toward funding your homeschooling efforts, to defray the cost of educational trips, or even—as some families have learned—to help generate household income. If you are interested in supplementing your income by selling our wreaths, please order a sales kit today at https://wreathsofmaine.com/node/22.
