dinalauzon

How do others handle working a home business or working outside the
home and unschooling their kids? How do you make sure you are
available enough to help them with various interests? And is it even
necessary for you to "be there"?
I would appreciate any feedback or suggested reading material. I
currently a SAHM and have homeschooled for 5 years but now I am
considering starting a home daycare to supplement our income. I am
worried if this would adversely affect my 10yo and 8 yo. I believe
a daycare business would enhance the environment of my preschoolers
(I have 4), not sure about how to swing it with the older two.
I hope I was clear enough about my question.
Thanks!
dina

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/14/2004 10:34:03 AM Central Standard Time,
dlauzon32@... writes:

I am
worried if this would adversely affect my 10yo and 8 yo. I believe
a daycare business would enhance the environment of my preschoolers
(I have 4), not sure about how to swing it with the older two.
I hope I was clear enough about my question.



~~~

I know for me that extra kids would be extra pressure, even if I were
getting paid to watch them. I have considered having older kids in after school,
though. In your house, with 6 kids if I'm understanding it right, I guess
it's all about the kids, anyway. <g> I would definitely be looking to keep
older kids and not babies, and that's for the babies' sakes as much as yours and
your kids, too.

You should make sure you check your state laws and have a good idea how many
kids it is legal to keep for money in your home.

As far as unschooling, are your older kids already feeling like they don't
get enough time with you? I can imagine that a 10 yo might be pushing his/her
needs aside because they can see you are busy with the toddlers/babies.
Thus is the life of the firstborn, but there are and should be limits. If that
were the case, I'd be very hesitant. If you you are thinking that the older
kids would help you with the new kids, I'd be sure to get their buy-in on
that idea, and make sure they are getting compensated in some way, too. You
might have to accept no for an answer from your olders as well.

So, I say, check with your 8 and 10 yos and see what they think about the
idea. Give them an opportunity to give honest feedback, and take it seriously.
Your own kids should come first, of course. Good luck with that.

Karen


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Crystal

Hi Dina. Having a home day care is a great way to bring in extra
income in your home and still be home with your own kids. My advice
would be to first have an off-limits area for the day care kids
where your own kids could get away from the day care kids if they
wanted. This could even be their own rooms. Sometimes your own
kids might not want to share and that needs to be ok. Obviously
they will have to share YOU for a big part of the day every day, but
you could explain that to them before you even start and see how
they feel about it. The second issue is that it will be much harder
to do things during the day with extra kids. Sure, you could food
shop when the day care kids are gone, but if you wanted to go on a
field trip or even to a doctor's appt, you'd have to take all the
kids with you.

One positive thing that I did when I did home day care was I worked
for a day care center, rather than independently. That gave me the
freedom to take a day off because the center would find the parents
a replacement home for that day. If you work independently, your
parents lose care when you can't work. Another reason I liked
working for the center was that I never had to worry about getting
paid. I was paid a paycheck by the center weekly whether or not the
parents paid on time. Another benefit of working for the center was
that they provided me with any equipment that I needed such as high
chairs or playpens. Still another benefit of working with a center
is that if you don't mesh with a certain child, you can tell them
and they will remove the child and give you another one. I had a
child who cried all day long in my house, but they put her with an
older woman who had no other kids in the house and the little girl
was so happy. She needed the quiet 1:1 which I couldn't give her.
On the other hand I was a replacement for a boy who cried all day at
his regular day care home and he never cried at my house except for
the first hour of the first day.

Having a home day care is a big commitment. It's not like working
at Burger King where if you quit they replace you the next day and
no one notices. With day care kids, they become attached to you and
your house as if you are one of their family members. If you quit
and they have to go to a new home, you confuse them.

Crystal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am considering starting a home daycare to supplement our income.
> Thanks!
> dina

Alyce

--- In [email protected], tuckervill2@a... wrote:
>
> As far as unschooling, are your older kids already feeling like
they don't
> get enough time with you? I can imagine that a 10 yo might be
pushing his/her
> needs aside because they can see you are busy with the
toddlers/babies.


I tried this for a couple of months. Brought in a 4 year old and 9
year old who were supposed to be daycare/unschooling with us. They
used to be great friends with my youngest who was 7 at the time.
They ended up all being mortal enemies.. it's been almost a year and
my son still has negative feelings about them. We haven't seen them
since. :( I guess he felt overwhelmed by the extra kids on a full
time basis... my girls weren't thrilled but handled it better as
they were teens. So for us, it was just too much pressure and did
take away a lot of my time from my own kids. Perhaps it's just me.
I know people who juggle a lot more kids than that. Guess it
depends on the kids and the adults involved. :)

Alyce

Tosca

Heyas,

I am a bit confused are you saying you worked as an independant
contractor at home for a center? Or that you went to work in a daycare
center with or without your own children?

Tosca
--- In [email protected], "Crystal"
One positive thing that I did when I did home day care was I worked
for a day care center, ... That gave me the freedom to take a day off
because the center would find the parents a replacement home for that
day. ... that they provided me with any equipment that I needed such
as high chairs or playpens. Still another benefit of working with a
center is that if you don't mesh with a certain child, you can tell
them and they will remove the child and give you another one.

Gerard Westenberg

<<How do others handle working a home business or working outside the
home and unschooling their kids? >>>

One thing great about unschooling is that we don't have set bedtimes ( well, we never did really!). So, a lot of our time together, esp if I have been gone during the day, is at night. Like last night, one son wanted to start watching a video series on WWII. So we watched one segment of that and talked together ( eating dinner on our laps in the sitting room). Several other wanted to play the board game Stop Press ( a newsppaer headlines game). So that was next on the agenda. Around 10 o clock the 8 year old started getting tired and made his way to bed.

I just watned to point out that , if you are working and unschooling, make the most of all time together, incidental time and hanging out together - and this is especially do-able if the kids go to bed when tired and not at an enforced early time.

Evenings tend to be a great time for our famly to connect and for the kids to talk and ask about things....Leonie

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Holly Furgason

I've done home daycare and it was okay but I've found that doing some
type of class or activity brings in much more money for the time
spent "working". I've had a Waldorf playgroup, foreign language
classes (was our sole income while dh was in law school), after-
school care (more kids for a shorter amount of time).

Now have a homeschool mother's day out that been tremendously
successful and is simple. The mother's day out runs from 9 am- 1 pm
on Tuesdays. The kids play together and then we have a snack. Most
of the money I get goes towards materials that I couldn't afford
otherwise such as quality art supplies.

I have 6 kids and charge around $50 month. Everyone continues to
come back and I now have waiting list but can only do one day a
week. Even if you did it every week day with 5 different groups,
you'll only have to work 4 hours a day instead of 10 or more.

My next endeavor, as soon I get enough experience, will be dog
training classes for kids. There is no one in this city of 4 million
that will work with kids and their dogs. Everyone, including where I
work, requires the adult to handle the dog. My daughter has even
come up with a name- Pup Scouts.

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling t-shirts, hats, posters and more!
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], "dinalauzon"
<dlauzon32@h...> wrote:
> How do others handle working a home business or working outside the
> home and unschooling their kids? How do you make sure you are
> available enough to help them with various interests? And is it
even
> necessary for you to "be there"?
> I would appreciate any feedback or suggested reading material. I
> currently a SAHM and have homeschooled for 5 years but now I am
> considering starting a home daycare to supplement our income. I am
> worried if this would adversely affect my 10yo and 8 yo. I believe
> a daycare business would enhance the environment of my preschoolers
> (I have 4), not sure about how to swing it with the older two.
> I hope I was clear enough about my question.
> Thanks!
> dina

Crystal

--- In [email protected], "Tosca"
<toscasac@y...> wrote:
> Heyas,
>
> I am a bit confused are you saying you worked as an independant
> contractor at home for a center? Or that you went to work in a
daycare center with or without your own children?
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had a home day care in my house and with my kids. The centers
where I live only take kids 2yrs+9mos and older and they must be
potty trained. The kids age newborn to 2yrs+8mos, and some up to 4
years old or not potty trained go to a private home instead of the
center. The center advertises, the parents pay the center, the
center pays the private home. The parents take the child to the
private home every day, never the center.

I was independent for a while before I worked for the center. The
only advantage I can see to being independent is that you can charge
what you want, but if a parent ever doesn't pay or consistently pays
late, you are the one who loses. A center pays a per diem rate
based on full day or half day but you get paid every Friday no
matter what. The other good thing about this arrangement is that
welfare vouchers pay much less than the center's daily rate but the
center will still pay you the same rate. Most people on welfare
choose home day care through day care centers because many
independent home day cares won't accept them.

Maybe this is just something that happens where I live. Check it
out where you live if it sounds interesting to you.

Crystal

Nancy Jozwick

Holly! I love the mom's day out...... but how did you advertise or find the mom's???
nancyjoz

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

J. Stauffer

I agree with Holly. A friend and I are trying our hand this year at
offering one class per month in things we love, making soap, making cheese,
making baskets, etc..

So far the response has been very positive. You could also organize to have
someone else do the speaking and you could split the money.

julie S.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Holly Furgason" <unschooler@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 9:22 PM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Re: working moms and unschooling


> I've done home daycare and it was okay but I've found that doing some
> type of class or activity brings in much more money for the time
> spent "working". I've had a Waldorf playgroup, foreign language
> classes (was our sole income while dh was in law school), after-
> school care (more kids for a shorter amount of time).
>
> Now have a homeschool mother's day out that been tremendously
> successful and is simple. The mother's day out runs from 9 am- 1 pm
> on Tuesdays. The kids play together and then we have a snack. Most
> of the money I get goes towards materials that I couldn't afford
> otherwise such as quality art supplies.
>
> I have 6 kids and charge around $50 month. Everyone continues to
> come back and I now have waiting list but can only do one day a
> week. Even if you did it every week day with 5 different groups,
> you'll only have to work 4 hours a day instead of 10 or more.
>
> My next endeavor, as soon I get enough experience, will be dog
> training classes for kids. There is no one in this city of 4 million
> that will work with kids and their dogs. Everyone, including where I
> work, requires the adult to handle the dog. My daughter has even
> come up with a name- Pup Scouts.
>
> Holly
> 2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
> Unschooling t-shirts, hats, posters and more!
> http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school
>
> --- In [email protected], "dinalauzon"
> <dlauzon32@h...> wrote:
> > How do others handle working a home business or working outside the
> > home and unschooling their kids? How do you make sure you are
> > available enough to help them with various interests? And is it
> even
> > necessary for you to "be there"?
> > I would appreciate any feedback or suggested reading material. I
> > currently a SAHM and have homeschooled for 5 years but now I am
> > considering starting a home daycare to supplement our income. I am
> > worried if this would adversely affect my 10yo and 8 yo. I believe
> > a daycare business would enhance the environment of my preschoolers
> > (I have 4), not sure about how to swing it with the older two.
> > I hope I was clear enough about my question.
> > Thanks!
> > dina
>
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
http://www.unschooling.com
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Holly Furgason

I just put out a notice on local hs lists and it filled up quickly.
It's less work and much more fun than classes because there's no prep
and all you do is play.

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling T-shirts, Totebags and more
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], "Nancy Jozwick"
<nancyjoz@i...> wrote:
> Holly! I love the mom's day out...... but how did you advertise
or find the mom's???
> nancyjoz
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

nellebelle

How much do you charge?
Mary Ellen

----- Original Message -----
> I just put out a notice on local hs lists and it filled up quickly.
> It's less work and much more fun than classes because there's no prep
> and all you do is play.

Tosca

Where do you live and is this legal?

Here in CA having more than one family of kids in the home while
getting paid constitutes a "Day Care" which needs to be licensed and
regulated. Liability issues both State and personal.......

--- In [email protected], "Holly Furgason"
... homeschool mother's day out ....I have 6 kids and charge around
$50 month.

Tosca

Wow where do you live? Here in CA where I am at if you can find space
and afford it you can put your infant in a center.

Maybe I should move LOL I called a Nanny referral service which only
puts your name in a data base for parents to contact you and have you
come to them and the company was not confident people would even
contemplate hiring a mom and child.

Moms here that run their own day cares have contracts that set up
weekly payment sometimes in advance and regardless of missed days
except specific scheduled time off like parental vacation.

The families I have worked for I found privately.

--- In [email protected], "Crystal"
..The kids age newborn to 2yrs+8mos, and some up to 4 years old or not
potty trained go to a private home instead of the center. The center
advertises, the parents pay the center, the center pays the private
home. The parents take the child to the private home every day, never
the center.

Holly Furgason

It comes out to about $10 a day but I usually have "sessions" so
there's a break for all of us from time to time. I just figure the
number of weeks in a row that I want to have the MDO and then just
multiply by 10 to come up with a nice round figure. If we have to
cancel because of illness (the first session, all my kids came down
with scarlet fever) or something, I do a make up during the weeks
off.

All money is paid up front so that I can buy supplies and make large
purchases. I bought an Easy Set pool and all the chemicals and toys
for it with the summer money and we spend 3 of the 4 hours in it
every MDO. The kids go home happy and exhauted and I get plenty of
exercise.

This summer my sessions are only a month long because so many people
have other commitments. It's worked out nicely and allowed new
people to join us while some of the regulars are away. All the money
for the summer, no matter how many months they will be attending, is
still paid up front.

I can't tell you how fun this has been for me. I've got a nice group
of kids and we have *so* much fun. There's a mixture of unschooling
and homeschooling kids (ages 4-10) and it's been great to see the
homeschoolers relax and open up in an unschooling environment. I'd do
it more than once a week if I hadn't already started working at the
dog place- another job I love so much I can't believe they pay me for
working there.

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling T-shirts, Bumper Stickers and more!
http//www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], "nellebelle"
<nellebelle@c...> wrote:
> How much do you charge?
> Mary Ellen

Holly Furgason

I'm in Texas and there's no problem with it. I would thoroughly
check the laws though. When I've done day care in TX, CT and NH
there were lots of regulation but they have definite time limits
involved in the definition of day care. Having each individual over
for 4 hours a week for an "actvivity" wouldn't have fallen under the
defintion. Usually there's loop hole for just plain old babysitting-
at least I hope there is!

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling T-shirts, Bumper Stickers and more
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], "Tosca" <toscasac@y...>
wrote:
> Where do you live and is this legal?
>
> Here in CA having more than one family of kids in the home while
> getting paid constitutes a "Day Care" which needs to be licensed
and
> regulated. Liability issues both State and personal.......
>
> --- In [email protected], "Holly Furgason"
> ... homeschool mother's day out ....I have 6 kids and charge around
> $50 month.

Julie Bogart

--- In [email protected], "Gerard Westenberg" <westen@b...>
wrote:
> <<How do others handle working a home business or working outside the
> home and unschooling their kids? >>>
>
> One thing great about unschooling is that we don't have set bedtimes ( well, we never
did really!). So, a lot of our time together, esp if I have been gone during the day, is at
night.

Great advice! We've been experiencing something similar (especially in summer). My kids
sort of slow down and become more "cozy" with us around 9 or 10. We've been staying up
playing "spoons" or cutting out pictures and gluing them in books or watching movies or
playing board games.

My husband remarked one night that he couldn't believe the level of quiet concentration at
our kitchen table at 11:30 pm! (We had all five kids ranging from 17-7 gathered in one
room either on IM, playing X box or sitting at the table clipping words from amgazines
and catalogs and gluing them to little cards. (We then take these and label stuff weirdly in
our house... it's a word play game and my kids love it. I use it in my writing life.)


>>Like last night, one son wanted to start watching a video series on WWII. So we watched
one segment of that and talked together ( eating dinner on our laps in the sitting room).
Several other wanted to play the board game Stop Press ( a newsppaer headlines game). So
that was next on the agenda. Around 10 o clock the 8 year old started getting tired and
made his way to bed.

Same here. They just say, "I'm done" and we get them ready for bed or give a kiss.

I love the evenings with them so I've been using the mornings for my writing business.

Julie B

Holly Furgason

I found this information online about the exemptions to the CA
licensing law:

*Informal child care arrangements such as co-ops, shares, exchanges,
and *playgroups* where no money changes hands *for care*. [emphasis
mine]

Perhaps people in CA could charge "materials fee" covering snack, art
supplies, toys, electricity etc. :-) Other than that, it looks like
CA regulates the care of all children who are not with their
relatives or in their home.

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling T-shirts, Bumper Stickers and more
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], "Tosca" <toscasac@y...>
wrote:
> Where do you live and is this legal?
>
> Here in CA having more than one family of kids in the home while
> getting paid constitutes a "Day Care" which needs to be licensed
and
> regulated. Liability issues both State and personal.......
>
> --- In [email protected], "Holly Furgason"
> ... homeschool mother's day out ....I have 6 kids and charge around
> $50 month.

Vicki A. Dennis

Centers who "handle" diapers must meet much more stringent health code requirements............thus increasing overhead cost and cost to parents.

Interesting idea to "subcontract" for diapered kids.

vicki
----- Original Message -----
From: Tosca
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 3:16 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Location Options Re: Day Care


Wow where do you live? Here in CA where I am at if you can find space
and afford it you can put your infant in a center.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tosca

AAHH yes the loop holes heheheh I have been leaning towards hosting
classes for this very reason. Not to mention the profitability issues
with less time involved.

I know here there is a Co op loophole but then you cannot charge any
$$ only barter services.

--- In [email protected], "Holly Furgason" I'm
in Texas ... in TX, CT and NH there were lots of regulation but they
have definite time limits involved in the definition of day care....
for 4 hours a week for an "actvivity" wouldn't have fallen under the
defintion. Usually there's loop hole for just plain old babysitting

pam sorooshian

You can do it in California for one day per week, 4 hours per day
without becoming subject to licensing.

There may be other ways to avoid licensing requirements, I just happen
to know about those.

It is a good idea, Holly - I might consider that one, myself! I like
kids - it'd be fun to have a group over all morning or all afternoon,
once a week.


-pam

On Jul 16, 2004, at 1:00 AM, Tosca wrote:

> Where do you live and is this legal?
>
> Here in CA having more than one family of kids in the home while
> getting paid constitutes a "Day Care" which needs to be licensed and
> regulated. Liability issues both State and personal.......
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

Holly Furgason

But the law specifially states charging money for the care. That's
why I brought up the "materials fee". :-)

It just annoys me that something this fun and innocent, something
that provides a needed service and needed income is prohibited. I
put it in the same catagory of homeschool regulation. BLECH!

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling T-shirts, Posters and more!
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], "Tosca" <toscasac@y...>
wrote:
> AAHH yes the loop holes heheheh I have been leaning towards hosting
> classes for this very reason. Not to mention the profitability
issues
> with less time involved.
>
> I know here there is a Co op loophole but then you cannot charge
any
> $$ only barter services.
>
> --- In [email protected], "Holly Furgason" I'm
> in Texas ... in TX, CT and NH there were lots of regulation but
they
> have definite time limits involved in the definition of day
care....
> for 4 hours a week for an "actvivity" wouldn't have fallen under
the
> defintion. Usually there's loop hole for just plain old babysitting