Z.A.
Yup... sure can, although there are tons and tons of variables... Such as what kind of work, when... your own personality... what kind of curriculum you use, daycare, outside classes, all that jazz.
There are some HS'ers who could never imagine working while HS'ing, and others who can't imagine not working. Just like the SAHM v WM thing.
There's a specific yahoo group for HS'ers who also work full/part time or go to school as well:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WORKandHOMESCHOOL/
For myself I'm in school part time, I teach part time, I work for myself when I can (writing photography ceramics & glass), & HS full-time (lol, love how that one's last, when it's easily my biggest time commitment). For me it works out really well, because I can do much of my own work in piecemeal. Most of my work is done after kiddo (ds7) is in bed, but some is while he's in outside classes (he has at least one class/sport every day that ranges between 1-4 hours, and sometimes 2 classes), and some when he's working on something else. So we may both be at the table doing our own works. He's also in quarterly weeklong camps, so those weeks are always chockablock... and we may do a longer camp this summer.
We also set things up as a family that we have 3 day weekends. Friday is my play day with Kiddo (Dh has the day to himself to do whatever), Saturday is DH's play day with kiddo (meaning that's my 24 hour period to do whatever), and Sunday is family day.
I know many people who work and HS, although it's more *common* to know HS families who have one SAH parent, many many families have both parents working at least part time, and I even know many single parent HS'ers. Seems like the most common jobs split into two groups:
1) Odd hours or work from home like : firefighters (they only work 1-2 days a week), professors (who only have to be on campus for class & dept. meetings... as little as 4 hours a week, as much as 20), computer programming / DBA types (who commute online), artists/muscians/writers/photographers (who either set their own schedules or work at night), CPA/tax people (who alter their schoolyear so that the kid's "summer break" is tax season), swingshift 6pm-2am workers of all kinds, and part time workers of all kinds. (Many part time workers I know have their hs'd kids enrolled in "afterschool" care ... through the Y or similar, so the parents teach in the mornings, and work part time in the afternoons or evenings). The above are only some of the more common jobs... I know a fishing/hunting guide who's done with work every day by 10am, a private pilot whose kids fly with him all over the world, many many families who "travel-school" (parents have jobs that keep them on the road), a big animal vet who only does house calls. Any flexible or odd hour job falls into this category.
2) Night &/or Weekend schoolers (and this isn't so strange... an average public school curriculum is easily gotten through, with =/better retention in a 3 month average period for most when done at home... most of the HS'ers *I* know though, use more in depth materials than public schools... but even then 3-4 hours a day is more than enough to be above grade level for most). The types of jobs people work here run the gamut; any 8-5 type job, farmers, travelers, etc. This is most common amongst families with older kids, around age 10 and up. With any age group though, SOMETHING has to be done with the kids during the daytime hours... which gets tricky mid age 7-12... because most of their contemporaries are in school, so there are few if any programs for them in the daytime before 3 or 4pm.
I fall into group one (I'm in school and work for myself), so I basically set my own hours. I will eventually be working full time teaching... which still puts me in group 1 (college level teaching... hours are waaaaay more flexible than k-12)... but something to remember... if you're looking at wanting to work full time in GENERAL... the majority of HS kids are taking college classes in their early/mid teens. Some (not most) are even done with their degrees by the time their contemporaries are graduating HS. So if you're just considering life paths, and *don't* want to be HS'ing and working full time, working full time while your child is in college can realistically be contemplated as early as when they're about 14. I don't personally know very many full time college kids at 14, it seems to be more common for the early teens to take 1-2 classes a quarter rather than 3-4, but some do.
<laughing> and it's never too early to be thinking/planning stuff out.
:)
Z
Oh! And for a good laugh/reality check... make sure to check out The Bitter Homeschoolers Wishlist :
http://www.secular-homeschooling.com/001/bitter_homeschoo...