The Working Parent’s Guide to Homeschooling

“There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

The Working Parent’s Guide to Homeschooling

The homeschool movement continues to grow every year.  Over 2 million families are now homeschooling in the United States.  Many are single working parents or two-income families. Many more, yet would like to homeschool if they thought it was possible while continuing to work.  The truth is that homeschoolers can be found in all walks of life, every financial bracket, and every race, creed, sexual orientation, and lifestyle situation.

“I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.” ― Agatha Christie, An Autobiography

Now, more than ever, the tools and resources are readily available to working parents. The options are exploding. School can be accomplished online, offline, with ereaders, conventional textbooks, library resources, yard sale, and thrift store finds, and even satellite television. The costs can range from zero to hundreds of dollars a year, and time invested on the part of the parent anywhere from half an hour to all day.  

Parents need to be informed of the possibilities that exist to homeschool their children if they choose.  It is the goal of The Working Parent’s Guide to Homeschooling to inform and empower working parents with the tools and resources to pursue their children’s education to the betterment of their family life.

“It is hard not to feel that there must be something very wrong with much of what we do in school if we feel the need to worry so much about what many people call ‘motivation’. A child has no stronger desire than to make sense of the world, to move freely in it, to do the things that he sees bigger people doing.” —– Homeschooling pioneer, John Holt

The Working Parent’s Guide To Homeschooling answers questions such as, “How can I work and homeschool?” by showing the reader how to find what works for them.  Working parents will explore issues such as:

• Time management
• Childcare arrangements while working
• How to teach

Real-life working parents’ solutions to each of these issues are presented in chapters on:

• Scheduling
• Who watches the kids?
• Curriculum
• Resources

“Now that homeschooling is becoming more racially diverse, it’s time to think about becoming more economically diverse. At present, those of any and all racial backgrounds who are the worst served by the public schools are the least likely to consider homeschooling.” —– Mary Pride, creator, and publisher of Practical Homeschooling Magazine

Written specifically for working parents, the author’s own experience peppers nearly every chapter of The Working Parent’s Guide to Homeschooling.  The author also uses several other families’ experiences to illustrate solutions to scheduling, childcare, etc.

“School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.”                  ― Ivan Illich

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I am currently editing the 2nd Edition of The Working Parent’s Guide to Homeschooling. Limited copies of the 1st Edition are available directly from me or used on Amazon. This page will be updated when the 2nd Edition is published.

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Review

Robyn Dolan’s neat, smart, direct book, The Working Parent’sGuide To Homeschooling, is precisely what it claims.  A fine resource for a family that suddenly finds itself homeschooling, for any one of a number of reasons (that she discusses in her book). 

Ms. Dolan has taken a two-pronged approach to helping the novice homeschooler get successfully started.

1) She has used her own experiences, as well as other homeschool families that she’s familiar with, to paint a compelling picture of the joys and the difficulties of homeschooling. This is a rather up-close, intimate look at the trials and mechanics of an activity that millions of families in the U.S.alone are moving rapidly toward, or already engaged in.  The up-close-and-personal touch makes the information more real, and more approachable than other such books have done. 

2) An information and resource approach.  She provides a fair amount of listed resources for curriculum, homeschooling information (different from state to state), as well as ideas the newer homeschooling family can use to get going. 

The Working Parent’s Guide To Homeschooling provides enough ideas and information, and emotional support (don’t underestimate the need for a new homeschooling family taking a great, big gulp at the daunting task before them) to set a “newbie” family on the road to homeschool success.  It’s a valuable addition to the growing library of information and resources supporting a burgeoning homeschool movement.

Steven Horwich
Author, educator

From the Author

This homeschooling adventure started when my 3 children began coming home with stacks of homework. We would sit down at the kitchen table right after school, take a break for dinner, then struggle to finish up homework that seemed never to have been explained to them during class. Finally, I would fall into my old lazy boy rocker with my first grader and his reading assignment. The next thing I knew, he was waking me up with a despairing “MOM”. It didn’t take long for me to decide that if I had to be the teacher anyway, I might as well bring them home.

I purchased a pricey curriculum. I gave each child their textbooks and assignments, sat them around the kitchen table and waited for the joy of learning to begin. What I got were blank stares. Then I met Kate and her 5 energetic homeschoolers. What was their secret? What was I doing wrong? With Kate’s helpful guidance, we set about the wonderful adventure of exploring literature, history, math, and science. Our curriculum no longer cost a fortune. The children could do most of their work on their own, and I had plenty of time to build my business and work a part-time job. I felt more balanced than I had in years. Most important of all, my children were learning, and they knew it.

About the Author

As a single, working mother of 3 children, earning less than $25,000 per year, the author, Robyn Dolan wanted to spend more time with her children and supervise their education. She took the plunge into homeschooling and never looked back. At times, working outside the home, full or part-time, at times working at home, Ms. Dolan has now homeschooled all of her children, including a fourth, born after the others had left the house.

Two of her grown children have received bachelor’s degrees from California StateUniversities, one is working on a master’s degree. Her oldest son has a successful career and her youngest already has his own online shop, selling handicrafts. He also excels in math, reading, creative writing, and ice hockey.