Blogging from A to Z Challenge—LETTER J

There are a few different directions that I could go in when it comes to homeschool jobs. For this post, I have decided to focus on what we can encourage our children to do when they begin looking for part-time jobs. When I was a teen, I have fond memories of babysitting neighborhood kids from when I was twelve until I went off to college. With the rising popularity of The Babysitter's Club books, I had a Kid Kit and everything filled with crafts and activities. I even attribute some of my parenting skills to some of the knowledge that I gained babysitting. I never had brothers and now I am raising four boys. I learned a tremendous amount babysitting boys that helped me when I became a parent. In addition to babysitting, I worked part-time as a library page. This was the coveted job in my town because it paid slightly more than the fast food restaurants, but was much less stressful. Here, too, I learned life skills and was surrounded by one of my favorite things of all time—books!

Would I encourage my kids to do these jobs for their first jobs now? Yes and no. I love the idea of having my daughter take the babysitting route but I have two issues. First, now that I hold to Christian values, if an opportunity arises for her to watch other kids, it is usually in a ministry situation so I wouldn't want her to ask for money, but to do it as a blessing for another family. Second, we live in a rural area so the opportunities aren't as vast for babysitting neighborhood kids like it was for me. I could always walk to the homes since I started this job before I started driving. 

Instead, I have three top suggestions for homeschooled teens looking for part-time income:

1. Local Farm Work: Many states have extremely lax laws when it comes to teens working on a farm. The amount of hours are not always limited to only three hours a day with required breaks. Homeschooling lends to flexible schedules but so many fast food restaurants or chains are used to hiring kids with a traditional school schedule. Farms are often looking for hard workers and are open to various hours of the day. 

2. Become a Reseller: If  your child has a particular interest in something that they can restore and resell, there are plenty of opportunities to do this online. Local auctions, yard sales, and estate sales are great places to find inventory. 

3. Use the Internet as a Platform: Think about the skills that your teen has. Is it something that could make money online? If they are a writer, look for online opportunities. Are they good at an instrument? Have them set up online Zoom classes. YouTube tutorials are also an option for so many different skills out there. 

What was your first job?