Nursing and homeschooling 3 kids

chalsa · Jan 7, 2015

Just to clarify some things.. My concern is if I will be able to do nursing school while also homeschooling, not if I can homeschool while doing nursing. If my children's education will suffer then nursing will be put on hold. Our plan is for the children to do their lessons during the day which consist of workbooks and in certain subjects they have a textbook that goes along with the work book. We use Christian Light Publications and a lot of the work can be done independently because of how the workbooks actually "teach" the lesson. Of course I'll be teaching them new material in the evenings and helping them learn what they do not understand from their light units (workbooks). As far as my mom and mother in law not teachingâ€¦. my mother in law does not have the skills to correctly teach a lesson. My mom does but does not have the curriculum at hand to fully understand the methods used to teach as I pack their daily lessons depending on what they are doing that dayâ€¦ and she only watches them a couple of days a week and my MIL watches them the rest of the week at their own homes. I grade their papers in the evenings and plan out their lessons as well as read ahead so I can know the areas we'll need to touch on that have not been learned yet or need extra teaching besides what the units can offer. The great thing about home school is that we can relax and take it a little easy during the colder months then work a normal schedule during the summer which is our plan since we live in the HOT south and it's just too hot for the kids to play outside much. So even though they are being taught lessons during the cold months I do lighten their work load since they will be schooling in the summer. home school is flexible and not always taught at "home". Anywayâ€¦ defending my choices wasn't the reason for my post. I was just wondering if the nursing program was so hard that you really do have to give up jobs and most of the family time.

allnurses Guide · Jan 7, 2015

You have a good plan in place, and kids do really well with their workbooks at their own pace, and feedback in the evenings. After my husband died, I continued to hs, get my masters, run 2 GS troops & 1 Cub pack, then Asst. ScoutMaster for BS. While working nights (2 12s). And getting my Black Belt after the kids got theirs. And band with private music lessons.

All are now college grads (cum laude).

Second the Khan Academy as a supplement to Christian Light, which is a curriculum we used once. Don't let anyone else make you feel guilty or unable to do it. If grading papers happens on weekends, that works too. As long as they are reading a lot, they are learning. I liked the Focus on the Family history series, I think they were the Christian Heritage series (we read them out loud for fun in the evenings by the fire).

baseball mom · Jan 8, 2015

I just finished my first semester of nursing school and homeschooled my three children. They are 13,11&9. It's definitely doable. You just have to stay organized and flexible. ( great thing about homeschooling) We school year round and take our breaks when we want so if I had an especially busy week at school they had a lighter week.

HelloWish, ADN, BSN · Jan 8, 2015

I personally think it is doable if you are having someone help with their lessons during the day! Your kids may be old enough to plan some units around the material you are learning such as science, anatomy and physiology, infection control, hygiene, basic nutrition, etc. I think you can all sit around the kitchen table and study at the same time and you help your kids as needed! It would be fun to practice your assessment skills and teach them at the same time. I taught my 8 year old how to find a pulse and listen to breath sounds as I was studying my assessment! It is going the challenging, especially if you do not have time yourself to study once you are at home! But many people work full time jobs and go to nursing school and survive to tell the tale as RNs. A support system will be extremely important!

Also, I agree Khan Academy is awesome and they sit right along side of you if you are watching a youtube video regarding nursing.

Many of the dosage calculations you learn in the beginning can be taught to your older children such as the basics of the metric system...what is a gram, what is a kilogram...it is fairly simple math in the beginning like basic fractions, etc.

Finally, I assume you have summers off. Perhaps you could do much of their homeschooling then.

HisKids37 · Jan 8, 2015

I homeschool my children as well. The first semester was pretty crazy, because we were all adjusting to my being away from home like never before and trying to fit in their schooling. It was just very stressful. However, I'm going into my third semester now and I think we have pretty much got it down. We do a lot when I'm on break (that means that, for example, my kids got Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day off and that's about it) and on my off days during the week, and they do what they can without me when I am at school. It is extremely important to me to continue homeschooling, so we just do whatever we have to to make it work.

Wave Watcher · Jan 8, 2015

I went to nursing school and home schooled also. All learning does not have to take place "at home" or during conventional school times. For those who have home schooled before "get it", for those who have not....you probably wouldn't really understand how it all works.

You can do it!! And your kids will be just fine!

w292737 · Jan 8, 2015

Well crap. I typed out this whole response and it seems to have disappeared into the ether.
Condensed version: I'm a former home schooler who realized that once I had to do more outside the home, I wasn't doing right by my kid by expecting her to basically take care of her own education. We found an awesome classical Great Books public charter school and are thrilled with how our kids are doing there. Also I think it's odd that you don't want the grandmas to help if they're willing.

I'm in this boat. I'm homeschooling my middle daughter, she knows that once I'm in the nursing program full time, we will have to figure out something else. which might mean she has to go back to campus and attend a traditional school with her siblings again. We do have other plans, such as my mother and MIL helping out with schooling based on my plans, but will I have time to keep up making lesson plans for her and my own studying, which in this case ultimately takes priority. We are doing some trial and error over this summer, and will go from there.

take it in stride and just see what happens.

sheruns83 · Jan 8, 2015

I don't really have much advise for you. I start nursing school in July, my job is making me work 40 hours while in school. We are pending a layoff so I can't just quit or I will lose out on 18,000 for my severance pay. So while I'm going to school, working I also have a 3 yo who stays at home, a disabled husband who is retired and a 5 yo in kindergarden. I think you will do fine since you have the help, just organize, study whenever you get a chance and make sure your kids understand what you have to do and I'm sure at their age the will be helpful and understanding.

rnstudentjaymie · Nov 6, 2016

I'm hoping that some of you are still active in this thread. I am hoping to get some insight from someone who has homeschooled their children while attending nursing school. I am currently homeschooling and am midway through my first semester. So far so good, but I would really like to know what your experiences have been like. Thank you!

jvanwoman · Nov 7, 2016

I graduate from a BSN program next month and my life and kids were never put on hold. I didn't miss any of their events, we still vacationed, family get togethers. I think it depends on your personality, ability to prioritize, delegate and handle stress. You may find it a bit more tricky because my kids are in school, which left ample time for me to study and not have to worry about finding a sitter Monday-Friday 7-3.

Swimming-duck · Jan 8, 2017

I'd love to hear more feedback from those that have attempted this. I have three boys and a baby on the way this coming summer. I've been working through nursing pre-reqs and co-reqs. So my plan was to apply for this coming fall (2017). I will have one homeschooling this year and one homeschooling light (still young, so just some basic reading readiness, math, and good readalouds) and then the second year of the program (I'm doing the two year ADN) I'll have two that are schooling. The third little one will still be young enough that I won't have to do any schooling with him and of course the newest family member will also not need anything as far as homeschooling goes. I go back and forth and back and forth on whether or not this is what I want to do. I honestly hate spending time away from my children and love having the time to properly homeschool them. So I worry about schooling them through this and having to make too many sacrifices to their education. But I also see the payoff of getting through school. And after a few years full-time in my specific nursing niche (hopefully L&D), I want to cut back to a more manageable part-time or per diem/agency type nursing as we travel around the country with hubby, who will be a full-time travel RN by then.

Anyways, I'd love to hear feedback from moms who've done this. On another note, I don't mean to insult anyone, but honestly it's not helpful for people who've never homeschooled children to pipe in and say they don't understand how we'll have the time. I assure you that being on public school's time clock, getting assignments in when the teacher wants them, and having to ensure completion of homework will be just as time-consuming, if not more so than homeschooling! Trust me - because schooling is tailored specifically to our children, we don't need the same amount of time that teachers need when they are teaching an entire classroom of students! :)

DeeMari · Jan 9, 2017

I will read the other comments soon, but I just wanted to write a quick "You can do it!" I am entering my third semester(not counting prereqs) in my ADN program. I have 4 kids, ages 5/9/11/14, that I have always homeschooled. We have definitely had to adjust how we do things, but so far, so good. When I am with them, I focus on Math and Science, and when I am at school/studying they do lots of field trips, outside classes/sports/music lessons/watching documentaries/reading good quality books. I also signed up for Time4Learning, an online program where things are already preplanned and they can be more independent.

I am fortunate enough to have great family support, or I wouldn't be able to provide adequate learning opportunities for them AND manage my own school. I am pleasantly surprised with how it's going so far. Planning is KEY. I plan out my week for my homeschooling time, study time, grocery shopping etc. I think your success will have a lot to do with how flexible you are willing to be in doing what works vs doing things the way you always have done them. I don't know what style of homeschooling you favor, but if you are normally very school-at-home and formal, you may have to flex for a couple years.

Things are less formal for us that I would like right now, but still rich in learning. The kids have learned a lot about whatever I am learning in my classes, and they see mom tacking new challenges and growing. When I graduate, we will reassess and adjust.

OK this is not really such a quick post, but I am excited to see someone else homeschooling and going to nursing school! You can do it!