Parenting: A Mom or A Teacher – What is Your Identity?
By Mimi Rothschild
Many women think that once you have children, your identity switches from career woman to Mom. Does this really have to be the way? No. Since many Moms continue with their careers, you can be both Mom and career woman. What happens when you decide to homeschool your children? Will you feel as if your identity is somehow lost? If this is the case, think again. Many women who homeschool their children not only gain new identities, such as educator and instructor, but also feel they are the best to provide their child an education. Parents know their children best and will take pride in helping them learn to their best ability during homeschooling.
Wanting a career may make you think twice about homeschooling your children. Whether this is because of the need to have the income, or just because you are more fulfilled with a job, you can still homeschool your children. Try working part time and having your homeschool days organized. Many times children who are homeschooled can go through a curriculum twice as quickly as public schooled children. In large school settings, teachers will need to take time out to answer many questions, listen to many reports, take recesses at scheduled times, and often are interrupted by behavior problems. Learning at home through homeschooling gives you the opportunity to tune into your child and teach them on your own schedule.
Consider taking a work-at-home job which will allow you the time to homeschool. There are many online jobs, telecommunication jobs, transcription and even phone text messaging for pay. Do some research to find the best way for you to earn money while at home. Homeschooling can be an option, even for the working mom. If you feel that you need a career to establish your identity as a provider and hard worker, then look into such online jobs: writing web content articles, inputting data, or making phone calls from home. Writing articles for your local homeschool group's newsletter can be rewarding; at the same time, you can network with more homeschoolers. There are many jobs available for part time online work. You will be surprised to find many other moms earning money this way while homeschooling.
Earning money is not the only way you can identify yourself. Having the identity of a mother and teacher for your child can be quite rewarding. A person's identity really comes from within. No matter what you choose to do in life, whether you are a career woman, a homeschool mom, or a work at home mom, your identity is yours alone. Whatever you decide to become, you should be proud and take on the wonderful task of homeschooling your child.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.
Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.
An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Homeschooling News Café Blog consists of the most current and relevant education news.Electronic reproduction of this article is permitted if content is published unchanged, appropriate credit is given, and the article title links to corresponding article webpage.
