Let’s face it: homeschooling is a full time job! So is cleaning the house and taking care of the kids. My husband, in my eyes could win a “Father of the Year Award.” He takes on all manner of extra duties so that we can home school our kids. Although I am home with the kids and I am primarily the one who does the teaching, my husband picks up the slack so that home schooling can work in our busy household of 5 kids–all under the age of 7, mind you. Here’s a list of the 10 things he does to help make things run smoothly:
1) Household chores–I cannot home school, and cook, and clean, and take the kids out all by myself. My husband shares in the household responsibilities. Whether that means that he does the dishes, cleans the bathroom or helps the kids with their chores, housework in our house is a divided 50/50. From his point of view, he works outside the home 40 hours a week and I home school for 40 hours per week–but we both have full time jobs.
2) Takes the kids out–Whenever my husband is out with our kids, many people comment how rare it is to see a dad who is with so many of his little kids. My husband understands that in order for certain things to get done–our kids need to be gone. He also understands that I need a break from my children. I love them, they’re wonderful and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. But sometimes a woman must be able to hear herself think.
3) Picks up the odds and ends–My husband always takes the kids to the library. He teaches science on occasion and he helps me take the kids on field trips. These odds and ends help make a complete well-rounded education. He also picks kids up from lessons allowing me one on one time with some of my younger children.
4) Read aloud time–My husband regularly reads out loud to the kids. He does all the really cool voices and when he’s not home, my kids tell me I do it wrong!
5) Put the kids to bed–My husband does the bedtime routine by himself–mostly. What this does is give me an extra hour or two to prepare for home schooling the next day, get some extra house work done or blog!
6) Cook dinner once a week–About once a week, my husband takes the time to make dinner for our family.
7) A daily encouraging word–At least once a day my husband mentions something about how well he thinks the kids are doing, how he likes something I did in the house, or even just that he thinks I’m fantastic! He knows I work hard (in fact he will frequently say that my job is at least twice as hard as his), and he knows encouragement goes a long way, especially on a bad day.
8) Take an interest in curriculum–I like to bounce ideas off of someone else. It is important to me that I have someone else to share the joys, frustrations, and triumphs of home schooling. Although he doesn’t use the curriculum when he teaches the kids, he knows what I do. He has a good idea of what I’m teaching and even adds in little things here and there to make it special for the kids.
These are just a few ideas to help get dad involved in homeschooling. I firmly believe that homeschooling a child has to be a family affair. Regardless of specifically you divide responsibilities in your household, your kids will only benefit from a team approach to homeschooling!