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It's important to keep in mind that one reason why a parent might choose to homeschool is so that they can spend more time together as a family. The argument that they could work and send their child to an elite private school instead of homeschooling would not make sense for many homeschooling families.
Perhaps, but if you stay home and do housecleaning, then your time is worth what a housekeeper would get paid for those hours. If you mow the lawn, those hours are worth what the kid down the street gets paid to mow your lawn. If you don't want a babysitter on a night you want to go out, then your time is worth what you pay the babysitter.
I think it is a matter of being organized. Having grown up in a family where both parents worked, I saw none of the downsides you have listed above.
You have stated one example of where you thought it was hard, and I have stated one example where it was executed fluently. So we have both demonstrated examples of existence of each type of lifestyle.
So now we only have to identify the variable that is different between the two examples.
I never said it couldn't be executed, I just reaffirmed the fact that someone that stays home to homeschool will also be able to get more things done. Two working parents often have to delagate, and can't necessarily go grocery shopping at 10am or take a 3pm piano lesson or feed the kids at 4:30 before football practice. There is just so much you can squeeze in from 5:30 to 9pm, so you often have to pay someone to pick up some slack.
I didn't make a judgement that one was harder than the other, they are both hard, I simply stated that a SAHM gets more things done at home.
I would think the biggest cost is losing the salary of a working parent. Even though working means other costs (mostly childcare), any college educated individual should be able to get a job that pays more than the salary of, say, a part time nanny to watch your kid and do some minor chores around the house.
I was lucky. I have two professional parents and we lived in an area where the public school was excellently funded and, I'd venture to suggest, as good as many private schools. My 4 siblings and I were cared for by a housekeeper 5 days a week who acted as sort of a second mother, cleaning and picking us up from school and keeping us until a parent got home at 5. I was never lacking for quality time with my parents or stimulation from peers, teachers, or my education.
Maybe not everyone is in a position to have the experience I had, but I can confidently say that my education and my family's financial freedom would not have been as high a quality as it was had I been homeschooled by a parent.
It's important to keep in mind that one reason why a parent might choose to homeschool is so that they can spend more time together as a family. The argument that they could work and send their child to an elite private school instead of homeschooling would not make sense for many homeschooling families.
Given that part of our jobs as parents is to prepare our kids to leave home and venture out into the real world, I'm not sure that really makes sense. Spending nearly all of your time with family isn't conducive to this end in this culture. It made sense when we were learning skills to run a farm or take over a family business/trade but not today.
I never said it couldn't be executed, I just reaffirmed the fact that someone that stays home to homeschool will also be able to get more things done. Two working parents often have to delagate, and can't necessarily go grocery shopping at 10am or take a 3pm piano lesson or feed the kids at 4:30 before football practice. There is just so much you can squeeze in from 5:30 to 9pm, so you often have to pay someone to pick up some slack.
I didn't make a judgement that one was harder than the other, they are both hard, I simply stated that a SAHM gets more things done at home.
But the cost of picking up that slack is minimal. When we had a housekeeper, we paid her $75/week but we got a spotless house out of the deal and I didn't have to lift a finger. And what you have to squeeze in from 5:30 to 9:00 won't change with parental working status. Football practice is when football practice is regardless of whether or not parents work.
And having ONE parent stay home only fixes a time issue for ONE parent. I've always wondered why dad's don't count. One of the advantages of having two working parents is neither parent has to live in fear of losing their job so they can say no to projects and risk taking sick days to see a child in a play. There is security in knowing your spouse is there to pick up the slack.
To answer the question, the cost of homeschooling starts with the lost wages of the parnent who stays home to homeschool. Then add on materials, private lessons, field trips, etc, etc, etc... Homeschooling is likely a lot more expensive than public school.
To answer the question, the cost of homeschooling starts with the lost wages of the parnent who stays home to homeschool. Then add on materials, private lessons, field trips, etc, etc, etc... Homeschooling is likely a lot more expensive than public school.
(I don't know where Whoville is, so I can't comment on that location, but I know that Horton and the Grinch know about it, and it is a speck of dust on a clover flower or a snowflake)
But around here, a good fraction of the SO's don't work (single-income). So the lost wages of a second income is $0, I would give $1000 for materials (that is really, really generous), private lessons would happen anyway, so that is $0, field trips (we go on them all the time), so that is $0.
But for the rest of us paying taxes to support the public school system, we give homeschoolers a thumbs up because they are paying them too, and not using all the school resources like the other students.
Of the people I know that do homeschool (and both people work), numerous of them are nurses, so they can work varying shifts to account for activities and such that they need to do. So in that case, they can have their cake and eat it too.
If some family/couple had thought about homeschooling, then a little advanced planning (way in advance) could make it much easier.
(I don't know where Whoville is, so I can't comment on that location, but I know that Horton and the Grinch know about it, and it is a speck of dust on a clover flower or a snowflake)
But around here, a good fraction of the SO's don't work (single-income). So the lost wages of a second income is $0, I would give $1000 for materials (that is really, really generous), private lessons would happen anyway, so that is $0, field trips (we go on them all the time), so that is $0.
But for the rest of us paying taxes to support the public school system, we give homeschoolers a thumbs up because they are paying them too, and not using all the school resources like the other students.
Of the people I know that do homeschool (and both people work), numerous of them are nurses, so they can work varying shifts to account for activities and such that they need to do. So in that case, they can have their cake and eat it too.
If some family/couple had thought about homeschooling, then a little advanced planning (way in advance) could make it much easier.
Why think about homeschooling? What's the advantage?
There are things I don't like about the public school system but I think my kids are better off because they have been taught by both parents and teachers.
I think our percentage of SAHP's is pretty typical. I don't see the draw to homeschooling. I know of more homeschooling disasters than I do successes. Most people I know who have homeschooled quit and sent their kids back to the public schools.
Why think about homeschooling? What's the advantage?
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really?? -differentiated education, compact curriculum, not having to wait for glue sniffers to catch up, independent study, being able to teach Latin or classical music in elementary, being able to fit education in to 3 hours a day instead of 7 and the rest being *free* to be a child, not being "capped" at a reading level because that is the rule for that grade, not being bored to tears when you don't need to practice simple addition 100 times, not getting exposed to lice or rodents on a daily basis.... I could go on and on....... and i'm not a homeschooler, all my children attend public school. But I can certainly see the advantages..... as I can also see the disadvantages.
But the cost of picking up that slack is minimal. When we had a housekeeper, we paid her $75/week but we got a spotless house out of the deal and I didn't have to lift a finger. And what you have to squeeze in from 5:30 to 9:00 won't change with parental working status. Football practice is when football practice is regardless of whether or not parents work.
And having ONE parent stay home only fixes a time issue for ONE parent. I've always wondered why dad's don't count. One of the advantages of having two working parents is neither parent has to live in fear of losing their job so they can say no to projects and risk taking sick days to see a child in a play. There is security in knowing your spouse is there to pick up the slack.
I don't want to get too off topic, but of course you have to squeeze less things between 5:30 and 9 on any given day. That quick trip to the grocery store was done in the day, dinner is already done, kids have eaten early, homework is already checked and packed, mail has been opened, piano lesson/ballet was done in the afternoon, kids have had outside play to unwind, no messages on the voicemail, random errand taking care of.... all that's left to do is have some down time and football practice.
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because they are paying them too, and not using all the school resources like the other students.
