Is it possible? Yes! 100% Every one of our owners works and home educates or has done in the past. It’s not always easy but for me, after 8 years we have an amazing education/home/work life. Remember, your child is now learning one on one, they have no targets they need to complete, exams can be taken at any time (or at all), you do not need to follow the national curriculum, and there are no set learning times!
When you take the above into consideration it starts to help realise how possible home education and working can be.
I work from home. It’s easier to set meetings around the children for a start. Currently I’m sitting up at the breakfast bar while my teen is curled up on the sofa under a blanket watching a fun documentary on the Ottomans. Having moved up from horrible histories, he now absorbs history and thrives on it. After he’s finished those he’s heading to the Open Learn site to finish his modules on the Ottomans and a map site to build a map of their journey. This gives me almost three hours to get my head down and get on. This evening we are off to a free event at my local National Trust on Turner’s art work, so he’ll probably amuse himself for a bit either playing a game or he might try cooking!
However, it’s also possible to work full time out of the home and also home educate. As home education has become more and more popular, activities and day long events such as forest school or meet ups are becoming more frequent.
The Elective Home Education Guidelines make it clear that home education does not need to take place between the hours of 9-3 or any school hours or term time. This therefore means your child’s education can take place at whatever time suits you. We often are home educating at 7 in the morning or 11 at night and we take full advantage of the weekends. The main thing is to work with your life and your child’s, be flexible! The key point to take away is that the education must be full time i.e. a significant part of their life.
Life became easier and less work when my child was old enough to learn independently. There is also the opportunity to do this with online classes, courses and even online schools. There is no rule about how old your child has to be to be left alone although obviously you must not place them at risk. It is individual for each child but we have friends whose children attend online classes when they are out for meetings or on days they have to attend the office.
How this can look depends on your approach to home education, it can be more difficult to achieve this using a child led approach as quite often the parents are relied on to observe and facilitate learning. The age of the child also can make life easier or trickier. Teens are less likely to need help and attention than younger children. But if you have younger children who need your attention, it is possible to then work in evenings. Some families find alternating working hours with a partner ensures an adult is always present and involved.
Childcare for home education can be limited. But there are childminders out there who are willing to look after home educated children. Whilst they are not there to educate the child, they can be part of supporting the child with ‘home work’ type activities, or taking them on outings. Its down to finding the right childcare. And if you have family around to support you even better! My parents have stepped in to go along on forest days or even help out with learning a new skill in maths I am struggling to support my son with this (that’s the joy of home education, if you are struggling with a concept there’s other people, or online resources to help you). It is worth remembering that while you remain responsible for your child’s education it is also fine for others to provide learning. My dyslexic son has a wonderful tutor for English, my mum teaches cooking and many other life skills, they often go on day trips too which tie into my child’s interest and what they’re currently learning. Friends who are both in the office for half the week arrange their childcare with each other. The children have a superb bond and learn completely different depending on which parents they’re with that day.
There are some families who decide that home educating is important enough to them that they are willing to downsize their lives, a smaller house, or a cheaper area, letting go of some of the expensive outgoings like a car etc, they sacrifice some things to be able to home educate. This then allows the ability of one parent to leave work, or lower their hours.
We know some families have no choice but to home educate, and it can be a struggle financially, Universal Credits work related requirements still stand if you home educate. Home educating does not negate the requirement to work. But it does allow you to tell UC the hours you are able to work, such as 4-8pm each day when the children are with an older sibling, or 8am-1pm and you use a child minder. Try to avoid mentioning home education to UC though as they often misunderstand it and can cause issues.
So whether you are in the office during the week, work from home, have a part time job or even a job where you can take the kids along it is possible! From lawyers to book sellers, to bloggers and influencers there is an ability to give it a go!
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