It s not as time intensive as you might think when comparing it with the length of time children spend each day at public school. The first year is probably the most time intensive because you are learning so much yourself and developing the organizational plan that will make the most of your time. During my first two years of homeschooling I dropped several outside activities including teaching Sunday School. That gave me the time I needed to focus on homeschooling. Once I got my sea legs, adding in other activities became possible.
Housework is a family affair.
We all work together to get the housework done. Tasks are divided up according to age. We ve also learned that with six people home all day working, playing and learning that we are going to have a messier house than people that spend the majority of their time away from home. We have come to accept the lived-in look of our home and find that most guests don t mind the clutter. They are usually astounded by the number of books we own and never get around to noticing the dust on top of the piano.