Home, School, and Work: Can you do all 3 and do them well?

Many of you are familiar with the homeschool magazine, The Old Schoolhouse. You may not realize they’ve added a number of electronic resources to their repertoire. I just finished a very interesting e-book, “Homework Juggling Home, School, and Work Without Losing Your Balance” written by Martha Green of Marmee’s Kitchen.

I’m growing in my “E-ness,” and I have to admit I was initially intimidated by the length of the book, 95 pages. Once I started reading it, I was hooked. It is a compilation of short stories of real homeschool families who successfully run a business at home while educating their children. I really like that they included all kinds of different businesses run by moms with a variety of education and skill levels. There are families who began their enterprises based on hobbies or interests and others who followed their profession from the office to their home.

It isn’t a one-size fits all approach to starting and running your own business, but rather what did and did not work for particular families. I appreciated the honesty (and humor) of Gail Kappenman of Kap & Pen Publications who admits her “home business history has more bumps in the road than a Chicago highway under construction.” She encourages us to keep trying until we find our niche. If you don’t excel in sales, perhaps you’ll find success in a service-based industry.

I was happy to find that the book doesn’t paint a picture of a life of daisy-filled meadows with lambs skipping along merrily once you start your new business. It’s hard work and requires faithful diligence to be successful. It also admits that managing a home and a business while educating your children isn't for everyone. What works for one family in a particular season of life, may not work for another family - and that's ok.

The final pages provide a reality check with tax information and day-to-day organization tips along with web sites for a variety of work at home resources. If you are a homeschool family considering starting a home-based business, I heartily recommend this e-book as a place to prayerfully begin your research, and you can buy it here.