In my pre-kid life, I never envisioned that some time or another I’d be a housewife-hello, I went poorly graduate school to spend my days evolving diapers. Be that as it may, when I held my first infant, Mathilda, I had an entire difference in heart. When we bolted eyes, every one of those vocation and money related stresses blurred. They didn’t vanish, however they surely ended up optional.
I have huge amounts of companions with comparable encounters. They’re not clones-the present homemaker (SAHM) might be an inked shake artist, the CEO of her own organization or a green-living lobbyist-however they all have something in like manner: a profound want to be there for each snapshot of their infants’ lives-the great, the terrible and the amazingly chaotic. In case you’re thinking about existence as a SAHM, both sweet rewards and extreme difficulties anticipate. Read on for understanding and exhortation from specialists and mothers who’ve been in the trenches.
More Women Are Becoming Stay-at-Home Moms
We’re not living in a Leave It to Beaver world anymore, where 49% of women in 1967 were stay-at-home moms with a working husband. The numbers from a recent Pew Research study do show that the number of women who are becoming stay-at-home moms is on the rise, though.
While 71% of moms do work outside of the home, 29% are staying home. That number is up 6% from 1999.
But the numbers shouldn’t matter. Quitting your job to become a stay-at-home mom shouldn’t be out of guilt or peer pressure. While there are many great reasons to be a stay-at-home mom, being an at-home parent isn’t for everyone.
At-Home Parents Benefit Older Kids, Not Just Younger Ones
A recent study found that the benefits of having a parent at home extend beyond the early years of a child’s life. In the study, the educational performance of 68,000 children was measured. They found an increase in school performance all the way to high school-aged children. The biggest educational impact in their research was found on kids ages 6-7.
Most homeschoolers also have an at-home parent instructing them. A compilation of studies provided by the National Home Education Research Institute shows a number of statistics that support the importance of a parent at home for educational reasons. For example, research has found homeschoolers generally score 15 to 30 percentile points above public school students on standardized tests and they’re achieving above average scores on the ACT and SAT tests.
Whether you’re an at-home parent homeschooling your child or you’re simply there when she gets off the bus after school, more studies are finding a parent at home is giving children an academic edge over their peers without a parent at home. Regardless of whether you stay home or work, the National Education Association’s research has proven that parent involvement in schools makes a difference in a child’s academic performance and how long she actually stays in school.