My experience in dabbling with creating a 'work from home' income

by Beverley Paine

The ability to 'work from home' while homeschooling comes up a lot in online support groups. There are so many different aspects to this issue that it might pay to break them down into groups:
1] creating time and space to express oneself through work, hobby, service, etc
2] practical considerations regarding employment arrangements - childcare, help with household chores, etc
3] values; what's more important right now  - my needs or the kids?
4] social support

Within my immediate family (Robin and the kids) I have always had the support to make time and space to satisfy my passions. It helped enormously that how people learn is one of them, and that homeschooling was like a learning laboratory. Not only could I observe how learning occurs for individuals from birth onwards, but I could observe and reflect on how learning occurs in group situations, including alternative school and adult education settings. I come from a family who dabbled in retail, and Robin and I had already run a small business when the children were toddlers - it seemed only natural to combine my passion for writing (expressed early in life) with homeschooling. I began small - writing newsletters and organising local support networks, then began writing in earnest when my youngest was six and began self-publishing. It's taken ten years to develop my hobby into a small work-from-home business. It still has hobby status in the income stakes though, and I doubt I'll grow it into a supporting income. Had we needed an income to live on I think I would have found a low stress, low responsibility, easy and as relaxing as it can be, part-time job, probably in retail. I've known a couple of homeschooling friends who are involved in doing surveys, one for a commercial company and the other for the ABS. That sounds good too.

For me, the practical considerations were relatively easy. I relaxed about housework and did only what was required to maintain health and sanity. It took me until my early thirties to kick away the need to clean and tidy the house for impending visitors - the need to impress and seek approval from others to feel okay about myself, a hang-up from school life and the way I was brought up, took a lot of work to overcome. Our house is designed using permaculture principles, with an emphasis on placement to avoid unnecessary use of energy. Its a good way to go, especially if you are starting from scratch and building a new house. Open plan living (with lots of windows!) allowed me to keep an eye on the children while I worked at the table or my desk.

We encouraged the children to be involved in our hobbies and passions. For example, our children were involved in our Trees For Life voluntary tree growing most of their lives. They've grown and planted thousands of trees. Some wise person once said that if a child gardens before she is five she will be a gardener for life - I have my Dad to thank for my love of gardening. My children gardened with me. Like most kids they had much more interesting things to do, as I did when young, but I'm pleased to see that my eldest, nearly 25, is creating garden beds and growing vegies... I think, that unless you're like Peter Cundall, an absolute enthusiastic, it's gardening is something we return to. As a family we grew plants and sold them at open air markets for a number of years, earning a little pocket money, as well as covering a considerable number of educational 'outcomes'! They were also important members of my early homeschooling newsletter production team. :-)

I was forever in turmoil about my role as educated woman, mum and housewife. I felt that in addition to looking after and educating the kids I should also be working and earning an income - 'fulfilling my potential'. It didn't help that my parents, especially my dad, sees success in terms of earning lots of money. I was caught in a bitter dichotomy - to live up to his standards I would need to not only be the best and most efficient housewife with the best-behaved kids in town, but also hold down a job as a brain surgeon (or similar). The key to success in life, according to him, was a university degree leading to a high paid job... I needed to sort out in my head what I was doing and why, and then work out what I need to do to feel okay about me and achieve my goals. Once I began to do that, it became much easier to organise so that I felt fulfilled as an individual as well as took care of my family.

Taking care of my family definitely meant teaching them to take care of themselves... A child that can organise their own nutritious lunch is a huge help! Children who cooperatively participate in daily chores make life a lot easier for working mums. Anything that sets family life on this path is brilliant. I especially like the writings of Alfie Kohn - his articles, and later his book, challenged me to think differently about how to parent, and how to win children's cooperation.

For some families, social support is crucial. My social support was cocooned within my immediate family and that's all I needed, because I found it easier to work at home and was able to combine my passions and interests with everyday family life. Friends and extended family, homeschooling networks, and community services are there to help us achieve our needs. Sometimes it's hard to ask for help, or to set up an arrangement, and sometimes we feel guilty if we can't repay a kindness immediately. Ultimately though the happiness we derive from looking after ourselves properly will benefit everyone around us.