Homeschooling moms: advice?

I've done it.

I have 4 children and I worked full-time and went back to school full-time for nursing. I now have a master's in nursing.

However, I'm going to warn you that it will NOT be easy.

First of all, I get really good grades without studying too hard. So, that saved me a ton of time. Second, I switched to a boring textbook curriculum for a while, so my children could be more independent (they are all still young).

But, the biggest thing is that nursing school, well, they'll warn you when you get in. It's not like regular school. First of all, the grading standards are harder. Instead of getting a 90% to get an A, you have to get a 92 or 94%. So keeping your GPA up is harder. Second, you have to get at least a C in every class in order to go on. Instead of failing at 60% like everyone else, you need to get at least an 80% or 84% to move on. Otherwise you have to retake the classes.

Nursing schools usually assign more homework than other classes. Nursing is a job you really want to know well, you don't want your nurse to only know halfway what they are doing, do you? I mean, do you want your nurse to come in and say to you "well, I've got this medicine here for you, I hope it's the right amount. It seemed right. Anyway, it has to go in through an IV, and I'm going to start one, but I've never done it before. But I've read a book once on it, so it should go fine, right?"

Nope, you want a nurse who knows her stuff, not one that's going to inadvertently kill you. Your accountant messes up, you're out a few thousand dollars. Your banker messes up, same deal. Your mechanic messes up, you might need a new car.

But, if your nurse or doctor mess up, you might be dead.

So, nursing students get more homework, and have harder tests in general than the majority of majors requiring the same amount of school.

Some tests, (especially those math-based) you need to get 100% on.

But, can you do it? Yes.

I am not trying to scare you off, but if you know what you are up against, truthfully, it is much easier to deal with. It is a lot harder to get 4 weeks into a program, and find out that you are falling behind, your C is really a D, and you are failing, and you have 14 hours of homework for a 4 credit class every week.

Once you know what you are up against, it is good. My mantra always was "I can do this for 15 more weeks" (or 10 more, or 4 more, or whatever the case was).

LPN degrees are easier than RN, and so forth on up the line. Actually, looking back at it now, LPN school wasn't bad at all, but it felt like it at the time.

Plus, there are clinicals, which you have to go to, and those are pretty specific hours, and they don't let you miss much.

And, a final boards when you are done.

So, if you are enrolling in a one-year program, keep in mind it will be a hard year, but so totally worth it in the end.

And keep in mind the admissions lady took business or something like that, not nursing. :) Those are completely different kettles of fish.

Up to you; if you know you plan on sending her back, you can always look up what the kids at the decent school districts are learning and plan accordingly; keep a portfolio of her work and just make sure she's "at least" in that level. Some people keep homeschooling, others don't, some do a mix or a slow transition or work with private schools...there are as many ways to go about it as there are kids and parents. We did a hybrid school and DD sure didn't learn much in the six months she was there. I have been left to look up the state's minimum standards and fill in the gaps where I know the poor thing doesn't have a clue. (The school also decided that History would be reading "I Heard Good News Today," which as you can imagine was more proselytizing than it was teaching History. Sigh!!! That's the last time I buy the line, "Yes, it's a religious school, but we really focus on academics.")

I have homeschooled my 3 boys and only one is still home with me, my 18 yr old is about to graduate from our community college with a 2 yr degree and my 16 yr old is about to start college. I worked from 5am in the morning till 12 in the afternoon 5 days a week and went to school for my business degree. I done alot of my classes online and I studied while the boys worked on their school work. I had to be very, very organized but I did it. I got each kids work ready on Sunday afternoons for the week so they knew what they where suppose to be doing and we study all together. I think you can do it...Good Luck!

I don't go to school, but I do work part time. I do school in the mornings, and work 4-5 hours 5 days a week. It will be a little harder for you because you will have to work in study time also, but it will be worth it. Perhaps your husband could help out a little while you are in school. The important thing is don't be afraid to ask for help so you don't get overwhelmed. Remember to take some time for yourself once in a while. Good luck!

You can do anything you set your mind to!

My mom wasn't in school but she was an RN working full time 12 hr shifts 3 to 4 days a week. She managed to school us without issues.

I plan to homeschool my 2 daughters (they are little right now so we have a few more yrs) and work and go to school so I am right there with you. I know it is doable.

If you've worked most of the time you've been homeschooling, I don't see why you couldn't handle your own studies in addition to those of your kids. The thing is, you need to schedule in time to do your own homework, which will be considerable in that program. I'd estimate for every hour you spend in class, you'd spend maybe 2 hours on homework. But if you can schedule all that in, as you did for your own paid work, I think you can do this. It'll take management skills to get it all done, but you've done that in the past.

I went to a couple of classes when the kids were tiny and not yet homeschooling.

Most of my work got done in the very, very late evenings. Plus the prof had mostly 18 y/o kids in the class, and he would often cut me a break, knowing that I already held a degree and was running a business. (I was there for software training.)