Working from Home and Homeschool
From web development, to sewing, from
legal work to farming, parents have figured out ways to continue
personal development and increase income while still homeschooling
their children.
Dateline: 6/14/04
by Ann Zeise & members of the Email
List
From: Scrapsensations
I haven't even started homeschooling yet but I will be in
July! yeah me! I am very excited about this adventure but I would
like to financially help my family and make money for myself.
I have been a stay at home mom for four years and it is really
getting to me. My husband will be finishing his degree this month
and I am jealous to say the least. I want to make money too but
I want to enjoy my children----I WANT TO RAISE THEM! I wanted
to know if anyone else works from home that homeschools and what
they do. There are so many things online that look interesting
but I don't want to be scammed and I don't want to be pulling
my hair out everyday just trying to do a little work. Any suggestions
from those of you that do work at home or know someone that does.
I would like to have an honest business, something that I could
be proud of!! Please help! Thanks!!
From: Ann Zeise
Basically, don't get into anything that makes you invest money
up front. Don't get into any multi-level marketing scheme.
Often just owning one fairly complicated piece of software,
reading a book on how to use it, and practicing a bit, makes
you better than 90% of the people in your town. Not kidding.
I learned PageMaker early on and made a nice living doing nice
documents for people in town, from "special order"
slips for a local bookstore to product bulletins for semiconductor
companies and business proposals for a temp agency and "how
to" manuals for Apple Computer. (It surprised the daylights
out of me how many people AT Apple didn't know how to use applications
ON one! I taught Apple CEO John Sculley how to open a file by
double clicking on the icon -- and this wasn't when he was new
at Apple!)
There are a whole lot of mom and pop enterprises among homeschoolers.
I have one advertiser -- maybe you've seen Times Tales ads on
my site -- They've created a product to teach the "big number"
times tables in about an hour. Worked for them homeschooling
their kids, so they've made something up on their computer, and
when orders come in, they dash down to Kinkos or wherever and
run off more copies. They maybe make $100 a day. $3000, less
costs, a month. Not bad for a couple of stay at home moms! And
they don't have to split the profits to any "high ups"
in a MLM scheme!
You just need an IDEA for a product or service. Poke around
my site, especially in the "Curriculum Shopping" area
where many of these small businesses are linked. Try to look
for "holes" where you could come up with something.
For example, music materials are skimpy. I just haven't found
many vendors with music materials properly set up for homeschool
families. One homeschool dad came up with an "improvement"
for the game Monopoly. If your kids have about outgrown Monopoly
or you want to give them some experience with inflation and depression,
get his product. There are families selling planners, almost
too many, but they sell.
Take a self-inventory about your interests and skills and
what you know about that you think others would buy. Your screen
name makes me think you like scrap booking. How about learning
all you can about making homeschool portfolios. What states offer
this as an option instead of testing and what is wanted in one.
Learn what colleges want in the way of portfolios. 3-Moms, one
of my vendors, has a real cool portfolio they sell. Beautifully
set up. Just follow the directions and plunk in sample of your
kid's work! Have him send you one, and then figure out another
way to do it. He uses a binder system. Some may prefer more of
a scrapbook system. We need choices! http://www.3moms.com/
Ann Zeise
A to Z Home's Cool
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com
From: Renee
I work from home. I teach private music lessons, violin, viola,
and cello. I take only as many students as I feel I can handle.
Another friend who homeschools is starting her own cleaning
business, and cleans a couple of houses each week. She does pretty
well with it.
I have a homeschooling friend who edits for people, too, when
she can get the work. It isn't as reliable of an income however,
as the music or cleaning.
Renee
From: Elizabeth
--- In A2Zhomeschool@yahoogroups.com, Ann Zeise <
homeschoolguide@g...> wrote:
> Often just owning one fairly complicated piece of software,
reading a
> book on how to use it, and practicing a bit, makes you better
than 90%
> of the people in your town. Not kidding. I learned PageMaker
early on
> and made a nice living doing nice documents for people in
town
Wow -- the Silicon Valley phenom! :o) Loved the Apple story,
Ann, since I, too am on a Mac. How did you make it known that
you were available to do the sorts of things you did? Big bucks
advertising or word of mouth?
I've often thought that learning basic web design would be
a good thing to carry into a home business. There are lots of
small companies which might benefit from having a web page, but
whose employees don't know much about designing a web site. How
did you learn that skill, Ann? Your site is so full and well
done. It requires some sense of being able to determine what
your customer wants/needs, but it certainly isn't a tapped out
market yet, at least as far as I can see on this side of the
country.
> On Apr 14, 2004, at 12:01 PM, scrapsensations wrote:
> I wanted to know if anyone else
> > works from home that homeschools and what they do.
I work from the home - well, actually the field - as I am
a market grower, raising and selling pesticide free produce,
flowers and eggs to sell at our local farmers' market 6 months
a year. I also manage the market, so I am making money on two
fronts - selling the goods and managing the thing. It's A LOT
of work. Probably too much of a hair puller for most, and it
is for me sometimes, too. I have done this since my girls were
very small. Now, they are 7 and 9, and they, too are getting
involved in the market. Last season,they sold their own cucumbers
and "tussie-mussies". This year, they're working on
starting a little worm farm and plan to sell worms! The youngest
wants people to sign a form promising they won't use the little
critters as BAIT - only for garden use.
Probably not a good marketing scheme - LOL!
Even though there are times that I cant imagine how I can
keep doing all this (if only you'd read some of my more recent
posts!), I know that I am doing something I believe in. That
makes all the difference. Here's my point: try to be sure that
whatever you choose, you really do enjoy it...or you won't make
time for it in the midst of homeschooling! You also might want
to see how it is to be homeschooling before you decide what it
is you'll be doing. You might have some real "aha moments"
once you really get going on the homeschooling that will affect
your decisions profoundly.
Good luck,
~Elizabeth
From: Diana
Date: Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:15
pm
Subject: Re: [A2Z] Homeschool and work at home?
Hello All :-)
I am enjoying reading all the response on the working from home
emails. Back in 1990 I had just finished up my paralegal license
and started work in a law firm. My little ones were 2 years and
6 weeks at the time. As anyone that has kids knows, it's a tug
of war at Mom's who work outside of the home after you have kids.
You want to be home full-time with the babies and on the other
hand the family finances may dictate otherwise. I began to notice
my friends and family asking questions about their legal needs
for this and that. I did 2 divorces (prepared their documents)
for a cousin and a nephew. They simply went to the local office
supply store and bought a legal kit containing all the necessary
legal forms to be filed with the court. I then sat down with
them on a weekend date and wrote them up on their behalf. It
was at that point I realized that I may have something going
that would enable me to stay home with my little ones and make
money at the same time.
I went to our local Office Max and ordered 100 business cards
and passed them out to whoever would take one. It is amazing
how well word of mouth works as an advertising tool. It was not
long before I had more work than I had time for! People that
need legal matters taken care of that may not be able to afford
an attorney or don't need one at all depending on their situation.
Of course I would advise them to consult an attorney when I could
see that was needed. With some imagination and interest in something
you want to do it is possible to get a work at home situation
up and going.
Best of luck in your journey. I have had a blast being with
my kids and homeschooling. Not a day goes by that I don't learn
something right along with them. They are at the age now that
they both help me out with my work as well. So when we are not
teaching and learning the basics for their age, they are learning
a bit about the legal field when helping mom out.
From: Vicky
I don't work from home but wish that I did. I am presently
working two nights (11-7) at a nursing home. My son who is seven
is the only child I homeschool.
My daughter is 19 and in college but went though ps. My husband
works days - Mondays - Fridays. I work Sunday nights and then
come home and sleep for a couple hours then get up and do a partial
homeschool day. Then we school Tues - Thur. I work Thursday nights
(tonight :( ). So in the morning I'll come home and go to bed
for a couple hours and get up and we will do our errands and
shopping for the week. I bring in enough to feed us and that
much helps. The all nights can get pretty tiring but I'm a night
person so it's not too bad. We don't start school till 10:30
but are done by 3:00. It works for us. I have thought about cleaning
houses but just never have looked too much into it. The all night
thing gets to be too much sometimes but it lets me homeschool
and bring in money so I'm happy for now. :)
Vicky in MO
From: Christina
Thanks for the tips and information Ann! I appreciate it.
I am already rethinking selling my more elaborate materials-
my husband pointed out some common sense stuff to me that I tend
to overlook- in my enthusiasm. :)
I put probably 10 or more hours into one relatively simple
work and more on the complex ones (with the research, cutting,
gluing, and the covering with clear contact paper. I need to
somehow lessen my work time in order for the sale to even be
out of the red.
From: Connie
I've been working at home for years. At first it was to add
to the family income, and then, since my divorce it has been
to support myself, and kids. I started by designing sewing patterns
for breast feeding moms. This business completely bombed, but
from it I started making re-usable cloth nursing pads and now
sew them by the thousands. It has been my solid (or not so solid)
base sometimes :-) . I make them for some WIC agencies and Motherwear.
I tried selling re-usable cloth gift wrapping bags. I didn't
do well with this, but they are a great idea. I think I needed
to be BIGGER and have the fabric cheaper--
Now I perform weddings. I became a reverend through the Universal
life church. I collected all kinds of ideas for ceremonies and
vows, which I have in a file for my couples. Each ceremony is
unique. I posted my services on any web-list I could find for
free. I've done about 40 weddings. It is fun, happy work if you
are comfortable speaking in front of people, and a take charge
kind of person, since you usually organize the ceremony unless
they have a planner.
And now I've self-published my book on homeschooling, HOMESCHOOLING
REFLECTIONS. It was an interesting experience to take it from
an idea to a real book. Now I'm in the marketing stage - contacting
anyone I can think of to get exposure for the book.
I'm certainly not wealthy, but I AM home with my youngest
son (now 15), and have been able to stay home since the end of
my marriage seven years ago. Part of this was because my former
husband had to split his military retirement with me since we
were married the entire time of the service. But he got the house,
and I ended up paying child support for a while (long story!).
When there is a will there is a way! It helps to find something
"unusual", you can make much more money than a regular
job unless you are really skilled in something.
Best of luck ---
Connie
From: Wendy
My name is Wendy, and I have never posted. Just sitting back
and soaking up all the info you provide. I have a 15, 3, and
2 year old at home. I work at home opening accounts for a large
pharmaceutical company. All done over the phone and internet.
It is pretty interesting.
From: Amy
Money making idea!
'Tis the wedding planning season! Small talk after bible study
was on how much a veil costs-how hard it is to get the one you
want. How well can you sew? How much does it take in materials
anyway? They were pretty funny! I had a friend make mine-so I
was spared the gory details! I guess that you can make about
$100.00 on one. How many orders can you get? How many can you
make before everyone is married and you are broke? I don't know!
Amy
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