Simpedia

Jane S., West Australia

I have been homeschooling for 11 years now and have been teaching Simply Music for 4 years. Both jobs are necessary, not optional, and I feel I could not do one without the other. I quite frankly don’t know how I could teach every afternoon and send my children to school. I would never see them.

I home school between 9-3pm and I go off to teach at 3pm feeling good that I have had that time with my children. I teach most afternoons from 3pm onwards. Yes, the demands of both are a struggle to juggle. I am often up late or early doing paper work or cooking meals, but I truly would not be able to think of a better option of two jobs that work in together.

There is one morning where three of my boys go off to table tennis classes and so I squeeze a few adult lessons in during that time.

The beauty is that with both jobs, I am in charge of the hours. You couldn’t ask for better than that. I also coach my children to help me run my studio. My 15 year old is learning to manage the bookkeeping, the little ones are in charge of cleaning. My 17 yr old is in charge of maintenance and furniture and helps at recitals. My daughter takes over many home duties like evening meals and caring for the younger ones. My children know what it takes to run your own business. I couldn’t do it any other way but as a home school family.

Embrace the challenge, reap the benefits.

Debbie V., Oklahoma

I only have 1 left to homeschool this year! In the past few years I have had 3 to teach. Our schedule has always been school in the morning, starting at 8:30, with my “teaching” first. At 10:30 our joint classes were usually done and the kids would move on to the subjects they can generally do on their own (math, writing, reading). I would clean, fix lunch, dinner, pay bills, or anything else I needed to do from 10:30 till 12:30; during this time they could come for help if needed.  After lunch I would practice most days for about 1 hour and then on Monday and Tuesday teach from about 3 to 7:30pm.

I think the age and number of children makes a huge difference. Older kids who are more independent in school make juggling a lot easier. I couldn’t imagine doing SM when I had all 5 home in school. By afternoon I needed a nap!!!

Your kids are only home for a short while, so carefully consider how much time you can give to SM so it is not a burden to you or your family. Being well organized and keeping to a schedule will be a big help!