Part time and/or teachers come in and help :)

Nikkijo1022 · July 2014

I need help. Good ole' F14 tell it like it is help.
I have the opportunity to go part time this fall. I'm a teacher and so id be giving up my classroom, moving districts and working part time mornings still teaching General Ed but the students are learning from a bilingual teacher in the afternoon. The difference per month for our family after factoring the difference in childcare etc would be $600. I'm torn. I don't want to go back full time. But I also don't know how $600 less a month will be for us. I also know that I can never get back the time with my LO. For those of you who went PT or left all together - what are ways you found to make cuts in your spending? Any ways you found to save more? Things you've found you never knew you could live without but are? Are you happy with your decision?

For those of you who are teachers ... I've only ever had my own elementary classroom. Many of the things I actually love about my job are the ways I put my own twist on things, management , movement breaks, incentives, parties, projects etc. And I'd be giving up some of that if I am now sharing a class. I'm also in a great school with a supportive staff. That being said I would he gaining time with my child obviously, and since id be PT ...not as extensive report cards, meetings, conferences etc. My question is this. Do you think teaching is teaching and I'll still love being with the students regardless of the position.... or do you think the day to day little things of teaching is what makes it more enjoyable. Don't know if I'm making sense. If you're a teacher maybe you've been there... I know there are a lot of you with different classroom experiences. I just am having such a hard time. I never thought I'd want to be part time but I just can't get my heart and 100% to these kids next year and I know that's not fair. And so want to be with LO. I've heard many tell me to run with the opportunity for a few years and I can always go back, and others tell me they love work and having time away. Wish I was clear cut. Blah. Ok end ramble!
Any thoughts would be great! Thanks for reading.

hopefuldog · July 2014

I went down to 3 days/week after returning to work after 6 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. I'm not going to lie, we have had to dip into savings a little bit. I think that was mostly because it's summer and we've had a few vacations, on top of the unpaid leave. My husband and I had a serious talk this week about cutting back on spending for the next month to get caught up. I think/hope once we get caught up we'll be able to sit down and reevaluate our budget.

We do not have debt and bought a house well within our means, so we could survive off one income (although barely). I think we just need it to mentally click that I've dropped 2 days pay, plus we've added in huge costs (daycare, diapers, etc).

ramfan05 · July 2014

I would say that if it's something that you can afford to do, I'd try it out for a year and see how it goes. If you don't like it, you could always look for full time again next year. I'm like you, though, and would love to spend more time at home with my kids if we could afford for me to.

As for saving money, I agree with @RosiePeare about the menu planning. I also know people who have done away with cable and just use Hulu or Netflix along with Apple TV or Chrome Cast so you can watch it on your tv instead of on your computer.

One other thing that costs a little more up front but (I feel like) saves us money in the long run is having memberships to places. We have one for the zoo, the museum, and the botanic gardens. I feel like this way, we always have somewhere fun we can go to get out of the house without having to spend any money. All of these places allow us to bring our own food so we just pack a lunch and head out for the day. It gives us something fun to do and feels like something special and keeps us from spending money on doing other things on the weekends.

shellbell3845 · July 2014

I'm teaching pt in the fall, but it's two full days a week rather than partial days. For me, it's the perfect setup because I get to remain professionally active while also being with LO a ton.

I tend to say I love teaching for teaching. I've been in lots of different situations in the last five years, but I've always loved the kids. I'm super excited to have my own classroom in the fall after three years of not, but even something like that didn't impact how I felt about teaching.

For me, I'd do whatever it took to be at home the most with LO. I can teach full time when he's in school, but for now I absolutely want to be home with him.

p2k2c4bk2p2 · July 2014

With a co-teacher your satisfaction is going to be very dependent on who the other teacher is and how well you mesh.

I would also consider if half time is really going to be half time or if you are giving up half the pay and will still have to do 75% of the work. I have worked in places where halftime employees still had to attend meetings, participate in IEP meetings outside of contract hours and I would definitely think you still have to do grades. Is all this spelled out in your contract?

futuremrswinfree · July 2014

If you love your current job, I would stay. I am leaving classroom teaching after 11 years and moving into an administrative position. I was totally burned out and ready for something different, though.

Even if you do part time, you will still establish relationships with your students and parents. It just takes time at a new school

I am doing the full time working mom thing for the first time as well...I was a SAHM with my first. It's going to be hard, but my husband has a flexible schedule and is very helpful and supportive. I would have probably taken a part time position if we didn't need my income right now.

If you decided to do part time, it's really important to cut where you can budget-wise . I started coloring my own hair, doing my own nails, getting rid of cable , no Starbucks, etc... The day to day things we spend money on are the ones that really add up. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

MamaAllison · July 2014

I would be hesitant to make this move based on what @marthastokes‌ said. Is this truly going to be half time? I'm willing to bet you'd still have to attend meetings etc. I'm thinking that it may not be worth the drastic pay cut, especially if the time you get to spend with LO doesn't turn out to be as much as you are thinking it might. And based on experience, co-teaching sucks.

I'm sure some people have good experiences but I never have.

RedSoxGirl10 · July 2014

Very tough decision. I read this post earlier and my first thought was TAKE IT! I'm a full time teacher who was back for 2 months before summer and it was hard... so that's where I was coming from. Obviously any extra time with the baby is good

However, now that I've thought about it more I'm not sure I would. Here's why...

-I used to teach half day K. Technically, I was allowed to leave at 12:15, but I never was really able to. I still had to do all report cards, all conferences, and attend all meetings. When we switched to full day my life really did not change that much... actually it got easier because I had been running around tutoring like crazy trying to make up the pay difference. But seriously, it was not half the work. At all.

-You may have someone to share the report cards, conferences etc with, but you'll also have to collaborate with that person. Is she only going to be working in the afternoons because if so, you'll have to stay later to meet with her sometimes? Plus I would think you will probably both have to attend conferences.

- I think the more ideal part time schedule is when you don't have to work every day. You didn't mention if LO will go to daycare, but a lot of places won't significantly reduce the price for a shorter day. But even if they do, once you get LO up, pack up the food/clothes etc that LO needs, get both of yourselves out the door (and don't even get me started if you are pumping and you need all of that stuff) you will already feel like you had a full day.

-You'll be starting in a new district and position. Will you have to attend new teacher/mentor type meetings? Will you lose tenure? Will you have to get to know a new grade/curriculum? I have my job/district down to a science so switching to part time in another district would take a lot more extra time outside of the time the students were there where as now I am able to do my job pretty well with just an hour or so of extra work each day, maybe more when things get busy.

On a positive note...I think if you do take the job you'll still be able to do much of what you mentioned you love. You'll still have to establish everything for the mornings with the kids

The kids will get used to how you do things vs. how the bilingual teacher does things.

Altreed · July 2014

I chose to go back to work PT. It is a little tighter financially but we have saved by where we grocery shop, eating out less, etc. honestly, I have never regretted it once. It's the perfect balance of getting out of the house a bit but still feeling like I get lots of time with LO. If you can swing it, I don't think you would regret your decision!

Nikkijo1022 · July 2014

Thank you so much to everyone who has weighed in!
The money saving tips are awesome, regardless. I'm going to sit down and figure out just how much we spend on groceries bc we are very much "what do you want, let's go get it !" I think ill allot a certain amount for groceries and stick to it!
As far as the job...
I'd be teaching language arts and math in the AM and then they switch classrooms to learn a second language in the afternoons. They learn social studies and science in the PM's.
I should really call on Monday and ask more questions based on your feedback. I should clarify who does conferences, majority of report cards, Etc and how meetings work.

@RedSoxGirl10‌ you are absolutely right about being able to do my current job pretty easily as I have been in it for 3 years and I have it down. This would be starting a new district, and attending new teacher meetings etc (although I wonder how that works when you're part time?) moving classrooms and setting up a new one. Luckily it's the same grade so I can use a lot of the same things.

My DH works nights and a rotating schedule so we would need minimal childcare and have a friend that would take LO for the few hours a week we would need care- just when DH gets held over and maybe and hour a day if he's really exhausted. So no childcare costs but there would be some hauling of LO to friends house and picking him up (about 25 min round trip.) I would probably have to pump once while there. The good news is on Mondays they have a late start for AM teacher planning time so i'd be done at 9:30 that day/ no time with the kids. It's just such a different position than I've done before. Ugh still so torn.
Thanks again to you all

lots of thoughts I didn't consider!!

RedSoxGirl10 · July 2014

Definitely ask about the new teacher meetings. I was a new teacher when I taught half day and even being part time I still had to go. The meetings started at 3:15 so I basically had to stay 4+ hours past... although technically I could leave in between so depending how close you live.

Here are some questions I would ask:

1. What are your hours? In what instances would you need to stay outside of your hours, including: meetings (faculty meetings & new teacher meetings & iep meetings/team meetings), collaboration with other teachers conferences

2. How do report cards work- will you be responsible for writing them and then passing them on to the second language teacher? What about conferences, do you do them together, are you responsible for your own etc

3. What night time commitments are you responsible for? (at my school we have Curriculum Night and K Info Night)

4. Will there ever be times you need to do full day trainings etc?

That's all I can think of. Let us know what you decide

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Part time and/or teachers come in and help :)

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