Should You Quit Your Job to Homeschool?

There are pros and cons to giving your full attention to homeschooling — here are three questions you should ask before you pull the plug on outside work.

Cassie* didn’t love her job as an insurance underwriter, but she did love homeschooling her three kids — and her full-time job made homeschooling a lot more challenging. Like so many homeschool parents, she was faced with a big decision: Would it be better to quit her job so she could focus on homeschooling?

Allyson* had the same question: She’d become a reluctant COVID homeschooler, and with her software tech job online, she was overwhelmed with keeping the kids, the house, and her career running. Something had to give. She loved her job and had worked hard to move up in her career, but maybe quitting was the smart option.

There’s no right answer to this question: You can be a great homeschool mom whether you have a job or not. But leaving a job is a big decision, and it’s one that you should make thinking about what you need and want as much as what your family needs. These three questions will help you figure out whether quitting is possible, practical, and part of your happiest life.

Can you afford it?

Of course we can’t predict the future — but we can focus on the parts of our budget that we can control, says Manisha Thakor, director of wealth strategies for women at the BAM Alliance, a community of wealth management advisers. Ideally, you should have enough money coming in to be able to afford the basics without falling behind on bills or relying on credit cards. (Don’t forget health insurance costs may change, and include this in your calculations.) If this sounds impossible without a full-time job, don’t panic: Most people can afford to live more frugally than they do, and giving up little luxuries is often an essential part of reducing your family budget. Consider places you can cut expenses from the small (changing your insurance or packing a lunch) to bigger ones (downsizing your house or getting rid of your second car). You might also want to consider a non-job-moneymaker that you can pick up when you need to, such as Airbnb-ing an extra bedroom, baby-sitting for friends, or delivering for a grocery or restaurant service. Thakor recommends having a six-month cushion for living expenses before you quit your job, but you can never tell when your emergency fund might get hit by an actual emergency.

If cutting back seems like it would make you miserable, that’s good information to have, says Thakor. Now may not be the right time to call quits on your career — it may make more sense to talk to your boss about a more flexible schedule.

How do you deal with the resume gap?

Many homeschool parents will need or want to go back to work eventually — and that means you need to keep your resume in mind even if you’re taking a break from your career.

“A gap in your resume can be a positive if you can show that you engaged in experiences that expanded your skillset,” says career coach Kathy Carino. It can be a bigger challenge in some fields, though, so you need to know if yours is one of them. Carino recommends looking around the office: Are there women who’ve left for family reasons and returned to work? Are there women with kids who hold important positions? How many women older than 40 has your company hired over the last few years? If you don’t care about returning to this particular job, just to a decent position, the path to your return may not matter much, but if you’ve worked hard to make a place in a competitive field, leaving mid-career may mean that you won’t be able to get back on the same career trajectory you’d have if you stayed, so it’s important to know if this is something you are willing to give up, says Carino. If it’s not, that’s OK — you don’t have to choose between homeschooling and your career, though you may have to keep getting creative to make it work.

That doesn’t mean you can’t quit your job to homeschool in 2021, but it does mean you should put plenty of careful thought into making the decision. Try keeping a journal for your work life over a month or two, being as honest as you can about the good and the bad. Reflecting on your journal can be a helpful tool in determining whether you’re reacting to a temporary crisis or a real desire for a major life change.

“You don’t have to choose between homeschooling and your career, though you may have to keep getting creative to make it work.”

Is it just a sign of the times?

Things are hard right now, and any change can seem like a good one, says Carino. It’s important to get in touch with how you’re feeling and why you want to quit. If it’s the impossible balance of parenthood, learning, and quarantine you’re fed up with, quitting your job may not solve the problem because all the issues of dealing with quarantine will still be there — you may be just as depressed, stressed, and frustrated as you were when you were working. (You may even miss having something work-related to focus on!)

“A pandemic isn’t always the best time to make life-altering decisions,” says Carino. That doesn’t mean you can’t quit your job to homeschool in 2021, but it does mean you should put plenty of careful thought into making the decision. Try keeping a journal for your work life over a month or two, being as honest as you can about the good and the bad. Reflecting on your journal can be a helpful tool in determining whether you’re reacting to a temporary crisis or a real desire for a major life change.

If your problems seem now-focused, consider asking your boss about a reduced schedule or even a sabbatical while you’re quarantining. Many companies are more open to these kinds of options now since it can save them salary costs while keeping good employees on their teams.

After several months of reflection, Cassie decided to leave her job, and she has no regrets. “I’m happier, the kids are happier, and not being able to afford fancy coffee is a small price to pay for that,” she says. Allyson opted to keep working, but she carved out a big block of time in the middle of the day, with her boss’s approval, to focus on schooling. “Now I work from about 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., but I get to do all the things I care about, and I feel good about that,” she says.

“It was the right decision for me,” both women say. 

*last names have been removed for online publication. This article originally appeared in the winter 2021 issue of HSL.

---