Why Dad Freelancing at Home Makes Homeschooling Much Easier

Let’s talk about how freelancing as a dad can make homeschooling easier for your family. 

If you're a homeschooling family like us then you've probably experienced some of the same struggles of trying to figure out what that looks like, because it's so different from what most people are doing. 

It's certainly not what I did growing up, although my mom actually attempted homeschooling a couple of times. She would pull us out of school when she was sick of it. And then she'd put us back in because she didn't know what to do. There was a lot less support in the nineties for homeschooling. 

There's so much more support now, so much better curriculums, and it makes it very easy on parents to homeschool their children, even if they're not experts on certain subjects. 

Still, when you find homeschooling content, it's usually always the mom that is homeschooling. 

The dad's not even in the picture, right? The dad is off doing his employee job working 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday nine to five. And he's not really there.  

He might be very supportive of the kids being homeschooled but he's not involved in it. So that really is all on the mom. And that can be really stressful, especially when you have young kids. 

For us, we have a five-year-old and a two-year-old. So what do you do with the two-year-old, when you're trying to teach a lesson to the five-year-old and they're at very different ages and different stages? My two year old is only saying a few single words. But when dad is at home, freelancing, dad can be involved in their homeschooling and it makes it much easier. 

We’ve only barely started homeschooling because my oldest son is only five. So we've been doing little things here and there, kind of preschool-like stuff, but now we're starting to really get into a more regular schedule. 

We do like 20 to 30 minutes a day of bookwork and of actually going through a lesson and learning letters and numbers and so forth. The rest of the schooling is really just throughout the day and throughout different life experiences.  

Our goal is to always find opportunities to teach our kids things that are relevant to life moments, because honestly, that’s where you really learn the most. 

Those everyday life moments are where you see the relevancy in what you're learning. So like, as we're out and about, my son will say, “Hey, what does that sign say?” And he'll start reading letters on a stop sign or on a street sign or in a store.

It's in all of those moments that you really learn, because then you see the relevancy of what you’re learning. For example, learning how to read, rather than just being told. Or telling your children that they have to learn this because that way they can get into college and then they can get a good job. It's like, why is it relevant for a five-year-old right now?

Anyways, back to the freelancing topic: 

If you're a dad who would love to be more involved in your kids' homeschooling, and you're currently not really enjoying the fact that you're spending 40 hours a week away from home, consider freelancing. 

I only work about 25 hours a week, sometimes 20 hours. And so even though I'm at home working, I'm working a lot less and I'm earning much more money than I was ever earning as an employee.

Because of that, I'm able to be more involved in my kids homeschooling. I'm able to watch my two year old while my wife does a lesson with my five-year-old and it just makes it much easier for her. As our kids get older, this will keep evolving, but right now, that’s something that is a big help for the family. 

When they’re older, I’ll get involved in other ways that will be relevant and important to the family also, and I’m looking forward to those phases as well. 

I enjoy being involved in this. If you're like me and you’re a millennial dad, you might have a stronger desire to be with your family, to be at home, and to be more involved with raising your kids.  

I'm 31 and I think our generation of dads has that desire more than the past generations have. I think each generation has had that desire more than the last generation. My dad had a stronger desire to do that as well. 

Each generation, it seems to get more and more intense and the dad wants to be more of an equal partner with his wife in raising kids and being involved in their kids' lives. Freelancing makes that possible.

If you want to be at home with your family, I really encourage you to consider freelancing. 

If you're not sure where to start, I have plenty of videos on this channel and on my blog teaching you how to transition from being an employee and to being a freelancer. I put a lot of emphasis on how to do it safely, because your number one concern is supporting your family, and I know what the pressure is like. 

And I know that a lot of times, even if you've considered it before, you've probably snapped back into just keeping your comfortable employee job because it's paying the bills and your family needs to have a place to live and so forth. 

I promise you, you can find stability and security as a freelancer like I have. And if you get the right education and you follow the right strategies, you can make this transition very safe and smooth where you can quit your employee job at the right time when you're ready to start a freelance business. 

Technically you're going to be starting it before you quit your job. But it's something that I encourage you to look into because it really is the only way that you're going to be able to come home and be more involved in your kids' lives. 

Especially in this blog, I'm speaking about homeschooling specifically as one of the biggest perks of being a freelance dad. Because it's fun. 

It's fun to be a part of your kids' education. 

There's certain things that I enjoy teaching. I like to teach my kids about history.  Although I guess it's mostly my five-year-old right now, because my two-year-old is still a little young for that. 

I like having science experiments / lessons and things like that. And I like building things and teaching my son how to work with wood and build and construct stuff. The point is, you'll figure it out regarding what you and your wife each do with the homeschooling. 

But it's just funny as you look out there for homeschooling tips and advice and YouTube channels - It's mostly always the mom who is the one talking about homeschooling. She's the one running the school and she's all alone in it. The dad is off working in his 40 hour week job. 

And I know that there are many dads out there that don't want that situation.

They want to be more involved and they want to be at home and they want to be able to work less and earn more than they are in their employee job. 

So if you're that dad, have faith that you can make this work because I truly believe it’s possible for you and it’s incredibly important for your family. 

I have a blog called freelancingdads.com. That is my tight knit community, specifically for dads who are trying to make that transition and who want to freelance, but aren't sure how to make it work. 

Be sure to go to that blog and download my free book on that website, which will help give you some initial steps and initial education on what this transition looks like and what you have to prepare for and what you have to do. 

So if you have any questions, make sure to comment below, and also you can email me over at www.FreelancingDads.com. My email is there. Let's just start having a conversation. I want to help you make this transition so that you can be in the position that I am right now, where I am able to be at home. I'm working 20 to 25 hours a week and am more involved in my kids' homeschooling. I am able to really be more of an equal partner with my wife and help take a lot of the burden off of her of having to do everything related to home life and raising our kids. 

So if that’s your goal as well, keep getting educated, keep working towards it, and have faith that you can do it. We’ll see you next time.