can a two career family unschool?
pelirojita
Hello,
I am new to the list and have tried searching the archives for my
topic, but search terms such as "work," "job," or "career" bring up
posts that are not related to my question.
I am very interested in unschooling our son who just turned 3 years
old. If our family goes this route it would be pretty much up to me
to make it happen.
Our situation is that my husband is an astronomer, with a fairly
demanding workload but a reasonable amount of flexibility in his
schedule. He also spends lots of time at cool places with large
telescopes and it is not difficult to join him on these trips. I
teach at our local university (though I am staff not faculty, i.e. I
don't have a PhD, but also don't have the stress of publishing) in a
program that I love and am uniquely well-qualified for. What I lack
in lucrative pay from this job, I make up for in satisfaction,
autonomy, and a very flexible schedule.
I am willing to scale my job back to part-time, but I would hate to
give it up entirely. My husband can probably adjust to a 4-day a week
schedule as long as he is available via computer to fix things that
have a tendency to go wrong at his telescope. My mom is in her
mid-60's and finds it challenging to keep up with my son, but is quite
happy to babysit one or two times a week.
I would love to hear what other families do that have two parents with
jobs outside the home. If there have been previous discussions on
this topic, please point me in the right direction as I was unable to
find this issue in the archives. Am I kidding myself that we could
make a go of this without one stay-at-home parent?
I can take my son to work with me on the days/times I am not in the
classroom teaching, but when he is there I get very little work done.
I realize this situation will improve as he gets older.
In the various unschooling literature and articles I have come across
I have heard mention of single parents or couples with full-time jobs
who were unschooling their kids, but the kids all seem to be teenagers
and there is no mention of how they accomplish this.
Thank you to all in advance. Sorry to write a book on my very first post.
Kerry
Tucson, Arizona
I am new to the list and have tried searching the archives for my
topic, but search terms such as "work," "job," or "career" bring up
posts that are not related to my question.
I am very interested in unschooling our son who just turned 3 years
old. If our family goes this route it would be pretty much up to me
to make it happen.
Our situation is that my husband is an astronomer, with a fairly
demanding workload but a reasonable amount of flexibility in his
schedule. He also spends lots of time at cool places with large
telescopes and it is not difficult to join him on these trips. I
teach at our local university (though I am staff not faculty, i.e. I
don't have a PhD, but also don't have the stress of publishing) in a
program that I love and am uniquely well-qualified for. What I lack
in lucrative pay from this job, I make up for in satisfaction,
autonomy, and a very flexible schedule.
I am willing to scale my job back to part-time, but I would hate to
give it up entirely. My husband can probably adjust to a 4-day a week
schedule as long as he is available via computer to fix things that
have a tendency to go wrong at his telescope. My mom is in her
mid-60's and finds it challenging to keep up with my son, but is quite
happy to babysit one or two times a week.
I would love to hear what other families do that have two parents with
jobs outside the home. If there have been previous discussions on
this topic, please point me in the right direction as I was unable to
find this issue in the archives. Am I kidding myself that we could
make a go of this without one stay-at-home parent?
I can take my son to work with me on the days/times I am not in the
classroom teaching, but when he is there I get very little work done.
I realize this situation will improve as he gets older.
In the various unschooling literature and articles I have come across
I have heard mention of single parents or couples with full-time jobs
who were unschooling their kids, but the kids all seem to be teenagers
and there is no mention of how they accomplish this.
Thank you to all in advance. Sorry to write a book on my very first post.
Kerry
Tucson, Arizona
Ren Allen
~~Am I kidding myself that we could
make a go of this without one stay-at-home parent?~~
Not at all!:)
I am a full-time makeup artist for MAC and my dh is a realtor.
Fortunately he does have that flexibility that allows us to tag-team
it in regards to being here for the kids. Occasionally there is a gap,
but with an older teen in the house and our youngest being 7 it works
out fine.
Yesterday while I was working, dh was helping the kids build a new pen
for our rabbit, organizing their bikes and outdoor toys under the deck
and playing games with them. He's become a very involved and proactive
unschooling Dad over the years so a two-career style works just fine
for us.
Don't get me wrong, there are days I lament not being here more and I
would dearly love to cut back to part-time. But right now this is our
choice and we both enjoy our work very much. My long term plan is to
get debt paid off and scale back enough to be running a mini-farm.
There are many ways that families get creative and make unschooling
work for them! It sounds like you have thought of all the options and
have some very interesting solutions in place. What a great experience
for your children to be able to come to work with both of you and be
exposed to your passions too.:)
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
make a go of this without one stay-at-home parent?~~
Not at all!:)
I am a full-time makeup artist for MAC and my dh is a realtor.
Fortunately he does have that flexibility that allows us to tag-team
it in regards to being here for the kids. Occasionally there is a gap,
but with an older teen in the house and our youngest being 7 it works
out fine.
Yesterday while I was working, dh was helping the kids build a new pen
for our rabbit, organizing their bikes and outdoor toys under the deck
and playing games with them. He's become a very involved and proactive
unschooling Dad over the years so a two-career style works just fine
for us.
Don't get me wrong, there are days I lament not being here more and I
would dearly love to cut back to part-time. But right now this is our
choice and we both enjoy our work very much. My long term plan is to
get debt paid off and scale back enough to be running a mini-farm.
There are many ways that families get creative and make unschooling
work for them! It sounds like you have thought of all the options and
have some very interesting solutions in place. What a great experience
for your children to be able to come to work with both of you and be
exposed to your passions too.:)
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
Heather
Hey Kerry,
Welcome to the list!
You could join our unschooling group right here in Tucson.
http://www.soaringunschoolers.com/
You might be able to work "playdates with friends" into the schedule at some
point.
sincerely,
Heather
...hosting an unschooling pool party this afternoon in Oro Valley
mom to Quentin, 12, & Sierra, 9 - always unschooled
Welcome to the list!
You could join our unschooling group right here in Tucson.
http://www.soaringunschoolers.com/
You might be able to work "playdates with friends" into the schedule at some
point.
sincerely,
Heather
...hosting an unschooling pool party this afternoon in Oro Valley
mom to Quentin, 12, & Sierra, 9 - always unschooled
On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 10:51 PM, pelirojita <kerrymurray7@...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am new to the list and have tried searching the archives for my
> topic, but search terms such as "work," "job," or "career" bring up
> posts that are not related to my question.
>
> I am very interested in unschooling our son who just turned 3 years
> old. If our family goes this route it would be pretty much up to me
> to make it happen.
>
> Our situation is that my husband is an astronomer, with a fairly
> demanding workload but a reasonable amount of flexibility in his
> schedule. He also spends lots of time at cool places with large
> telescopes and it is not difficult to join him on these trips. I
> teach at our local university (though I am staff not faculty, i.e. I
> don't have a PhD, but also don't have the stress of publishing) in a
> program that I love and am uniquely well-qualified for. What I lack
> in lucrative pay from this job, I make up for in satisfaction,
> autonomy, and a very flexible schedule.
>
> I am willing to scale my job back to part-time, but I would hate to
> give it up entirely. My husband can probably adjust to a 4-day a week
> schedule as long as he is available via computer to fix things that
> have a tendency to go wrong at his telescope. My mom is in her
> mid-60's and finds it challenging to keep up with my son, but is quite
> happy to babysit one or two times a week.
>
> I would love to hear what other families do that have two parents with
> jobs outside the home. If there have been previous discussions on
> this topic, please point me in the right direction as I was unable to
> find this issue in the archives. Am I kidding myself that we could
> make a go of this without one stay-at-home parent?
>
> I can take my son to work with me on the days/times I am not in the
> classroom teaching, but when he is there I get very little work done.
> I realize this situation will improve as he gets older.
>
> In the various unschooling literature and articles I have come across
> I have heard mention of single parents or couples with full-time jobs
> who were unschooling their kids, but the kids all seem to be teenagers
> and there is no mention of how they accomplish this.
>
> Thank you to all in advance. Sorry to write a book on my very first post.
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Lyssa Balick
Hi Kerry -
In our family, I work part time (about 20 hours/week) and my husband works a flexible full time job with summers off. We have 2 kids, who are aged 5 & 7.
As others have said, there is such a range of options out there. Now, we use a daycare about 4-6 times a month during the public school year (we started this when I started my job & the kids were 4 +6). The kids love the daycare and love having an adult role model as well as friends a variety of ages. I've also worked part time teaching and writing and the kids stayed home with me and have not worked at all when this felt right. It's all good.
One thought I had for you - try it and see. There are so many options out there and with time, something will work for you. It can also change as your families needs change as well....
Best, Lyssa
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
In our family, I work part time (about 20 hours/week) and my husband works a flexible full time job with summers off. We have 2 kids, who are aged 5 & 7.
As others have said, there is such a range of options out there. Now, we use a daycare about 4-6 times a month during the public school year (we started this when I started my job & the kids were 4 +6). The kids love the daycare and love having an adult role model as well as friends a variety of ages. I've also worked part time teaching and writing and the kids stayed home with me and have not worked at all when this felt right. It's all good.
One thought I had for you - try it and see. There are so many options out there and with time, something will work for you. It can also change as your families needs change as well....
Best, Lyssa
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
beeshnarob
Hi Kerry,
I'm so glad you posted this question. I'm new to RU and to Tucson,
both my partner and I work full time. We are trying our best to let go
and let our 4 kids be themselves. Hard to do as you all know. <g>
Our kids ages are 13 mos, 3.5 yrs, 9 yrs, 11yrs. We just started
unschooling in March. We have yet to make it to a gathering of the
local soaring group but we plan to soon!
You and your dh sound like you have some good solutions, here's what we
do.
I work at the VA hospital M-F and I have the flexibility to work the
opposite shift of my partner. She works at the prison and is currently
on the swing shift (2-10pm). She has to be at work at 145pm with
Tues/Weds off. I work from 7am-1pm on the weekdays she works. We
literally switch vehicles and kids in the parking lot of the VA. I go
home (or wherever) and she hops on the shuttle and goes to work. She
has the kids with her all day while I work 7-6pm Tues/Weds to make up
my 40 hours. I have the kids on the weekends. Together we have
Tues/weds evenings and Sat/Sun mornings as a family so we cherish that
time.
Confusing some days and not ideal at all but it's what we do now so
that we can have our kids at home with us doing what we all want to
do.
Our goal is for one of us to move up so the other one can stay home
full time. Most likely that will be me as this is my passion right now
and I know my time with them as kids is finite.
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling but to answer your question, yes, you
can do it if it's really what you want to do. We are and though we are
tired, we are happy with it. Much happier now than when I would have
to leave work to pick up my son from school every other day
for "inappropriate behavior".
~Robyn
I'm so glad you posted this question. I'm new to RU and to Tucson,
both my partner and I work full time. We are trying our best to let go
and let our 4 kids be themselves. Hard to do as you all know. <g>
Our kids ages are 13 mos, 3.5 yrs, 9 yrs, 11yrs. We just started
unschooling in March. We have yet to make it to a gathering of the
local soaring group but we plan to soon!
You and your dh sound like you have some good solutions, here's what we
do.
I work at the VA hospital M-F and I have the flexibility to work the
opposite shift of my partner. She works at the prison and is currently
on the swing shift (2-10pm). She has to be at work at 145pm with
Tues/Weds off. I work from 7am-1pm on the weekdays she works. We
literally switch vehicles and kids in the parking lot of the VA. I go
home (or wherever) and she hops on the shuttle and goes to work. She
has the kids with her all day while I work 7-6pm Tues/Weds to make up
my 40 hours. I have the kids on the weekends. Together we have
Tues/weds evenings and Sat/Sun mornings as a family so we cherish that
time.
Confusing some days and not ideal at all but it's what we do now so
that we can have our kids at home with us doing what we all want to
do.
Our goal is for one of us to move up so the other one can stay home
full time. Most likely that will be me as this is my passion right now
and I know my time with them as kids is finite.
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling but to answer your question, yes, you
can do it if it's really what you want to do. We are and though we are
tired, we are happy with it. Much happier now than when I would have
to leave work to pick up my son from school every other day
for "inappropriate behavior".
~Robyn
Pamela Sorooshian
My husband is an economist and works a regular 8 to 5 job with the
regional power company. I teach college-level economics and
statistics. I usually teach three classes at a time and have been
doing that since my oldest was about 2 years old. It has been great. I
have taught for different colleges, depending on schedules they've
offered me. I've had a lot of variety of scheduling, depending on the
kids' ages and activities, For quite a while I needed to be available
during the day to go to lots of activities with them - we had a very
active homeschool group, for example. So I taught evening classes and
also taught some weekend classes (those were great - I'd teach 3
weekends in a semester - it would count for an entire semester course).
Something else to consider - I've started teaching online courses. I
wish that had been more available when my kids were younger. For now,
it is letting me have the chance to do other kinds of work. I've been
teaching economics and statistics since 1976, so 32 years. I'm happy
to start doing some other things - I'm running the box office at the
college theater, these days, and I'm in the process of becoming a
weight watchers leader. My kids are now 17, 20, and 23.
So - yes - you're in an ideal situation to continue to have a career
on your terms.
-pam
regional power company. I teach college-level economics and
statistics. I usually teach three classes at a time and have been
doing that since my oldest was about 2 years old. It has been great. I
have taught for different colleges, depending on schedules they've
offered me. I've had a lot of variety of scheduling, depending on the
kids' ages and activities, For quite a while I needed to be available
during the day to go to lots of activities with them - we had a very
active homeschool group, for example. So I taught evening classes and
also taught some weekend classes (those were great - I'd teach 3
weekends in a semester - it would count for an entire semester course).
Something else to consider - I've started teaching online courses. I
wish that had been more available when my kids were younger. For now,
it is letting me have the chance to do other kinds of work. I've been
teaching economics and statistics since 1976, so 32 years. I'm happy
to start doing some other things - I'm running the box office at the
college theater, these days, and I'm in the process of becoming a
weight watchers leader. My kids are now 17, 20, and 23.
So - yes - you're in an ideal situation to continue to have a career
on your terms.
-pam
On Jun 16, 2008, at 10:51 PM, pelirojita wrote:
> I am very interested in unschooling our son who just turned 3 years
> old. If our family goes this route it would be pretty much up to me
> to make it happen.
pelirojita
This has all been very helpful and I really appreciate everybody's
feedback and explaining how they make things work.
I joined the local unschooling group here in Southern Arizona and will
see if I can meet up with people and see what this looks like for
different families.
I will also start perusing the various blogs and websites that seem to
have popped up since I last seriously researched unschooling (this was
my obsession when I was pregnant, I was not worried at all about labor
but was terrified when I imagined trying to educate my son in the
current competitive, test-focused educational system.)
I appreciate the suggestion to teach online. I have been flirting
with that for years but haven't quite found the right opportunity.
I think I still have to wrap my mind around what unschooling looks
like from day to day. I keep feeling as if I need to be home doing
something specific with my son. Which is all in my own mind, as my
kid is as self-directed as they come, and able to immerse himself in
his self-created activities for hours at a time.
I would still love to hear from other families and how they split
their time between work and home.
Thank you,
Kerry
feedback and explaining how they make things work.
I joined the local unschooling group here in Southern Arizona and will
see if I can meet up with people and see what this looks like for
different families.
I will also start perusing the various blogs and websites that seem to
have popped up since I last seriously researched unschooling (this was
my obsession when I was pregnant, I was not worried at all about labor
but was terrified when I imagined trying to educate my son in the
current competitive, test-focused educational system.)
I appreciate the suggestion to teach online. I have been flirting
with that for years but haven't quite found the right opportunity.
I think I still have to wrap my mind around what unschooling looks
like from day to day. I keep feeling as if I need to be home doing
something specific with my son. Which is all in my own mind, as my
kid is as self-directed as they come, and able to immerse himself in
his self-created activities for hours at a time.
I would still love to hear from other families and how they split
their time between work and home.
Thank you,
Kerry