What do you do about phone calls while homeschooling???

Question

I am just curious to know what other homeschoolers do about the 'phone call' situations while schooling. Especially relatives calling throughout the day. Thanks in advance for your answers/suggestions!

Answer 1

We moved our answering machine near the school table so I can hear when someone leaves a message, and answer if it's someone I want to talk to.  Everyone knows we hs so if we don't answer they don't get bent out of shape. If we are between subjects and I feel like talking anyway, I answer and just give the kids a break for awhile.

Answer 2

This is something I have been struggling with.

Sometimes I answer, but try to keep it short.

Sometimes I don't answer the phone, based on who it is and how important it might be (caller ID). But with that, it is still distracting to hear the phone ringing and someone talking on the answering machine.

Sometimes I turn the ringer off and the volume way down on the answering machine. That way we don't even hear it and it isn't a distraction to us. The only thing about doing it this way is that I tend to feel guilty and worry that someone might actually NEED something or there might be an emergency while I have it set to where I can't hear the phone.

Most of it depends on the mood I am in, how much we have going on that day, and whether or not I feel able to deal with the distractions LOL

Answer 3

Unfortunately we run our own business so I can't ignore the phone.   This can be a royal pain.

A lot of our clients however, know that we homeschool and some actually make the effort not to phone in the mornings which is nice.

We rarely have relatives that call in the morning.  They've all learned not to.

Answer 4

I turn off the ringer and while on our breaks I will check to see if anyone left any messages. My family knows what time I am teaching my daughter, and they would only call my cell if it were a true emergency. I keep my cell on vibrate and near me.

Answer 5

my sister has a situation where she gives out business cards and she has on it the never call hours unless it is an emergency  and she has her email and phone # on it .

Answer 6

If I am in middle of something, we ignore it.  If we answer it because we are expecting important call and find out that it is family just wanting to talk, I usually just tell them I'll call them later.

Answer 7

caller ID, definitely. That way I can make a determination to take the call or not. If it is a high priority call (doctor returning call, things like that) I will take the call. But everyone else must wait. Even if it is fifteen minutes, I found it was important to return calls instead of picking up. That way I can say "hi! I saw you called but we were in the middle of a lesson, but I have a few moments now while the kiddos are reading. Whatcha need?"

That way, I could establish with the caller that school is the priority, not the phone. Especially with relatives who always seem to think they are exempt from the "no calls during school" rule.

LOL

Answer 8

Turning your ringer off may not be the answer.  What happens if there is a life treating emergency?

So here goes:  1.  Let your family know what your school hours are. 2.  Get talking caller ID.  3.  Turn your ringer off so that it will not disturb your lessons.

If anyone calls now you will hear their name or phone number in the background and it is up to you if you want to take that call at that time.  I hope this helps.

Answer 9

You can screen your calls with caller ID and also by putting a message on your answering machine/voice mail that says something like, "during the hours of 9-2 we are doing school...blah blah blah".

I "trained" everyone not to call me during the day our first year of HS'ing by having dial up 'net access.  Since our curriculum is delivered online, they always got busy signals.  Once we got DSL no one still called.  We didn't have CID at that time, but now we do and it's soooo nice to have to screen calls.  I do the same on my cell b/c many people, when they don't get a person on the land line, they try the cell.  I just let them leave a message.

Answer 10

Plain, and simple; let the answering machine get it, screen calls, and let the message reflect that call will be returned after 4, or 5 PM.

The phone is there for your convenience, not the callers.

Answer 11

I don't answer the phone during "school hours" and when I call back i usually just say that I don't like to answer the phone during school as it distracts me and my child...that usually prevents a repeat

Answer 12

Just let them know that your schooling and ask for a time to call them back.

Answer 13

I never answered. I was homeschooled by teachers (not my mother), and they were fine with my having the cordless phone by me and checking the caller id if it did ring. Rarely did I pick up. The answering maching got it, and I would check it after they left.

Answer 14

ignore them unless its a doctor making an appointment

Answer 15

It depends on who and when. If my sister who home schools calls then I'll answer it bc its usually kind of important (we work a lot together). If its my sister in Germany then I'll answer it b/c shes so far a way and by the time I return the call she's asleep. Pretty much any one else gets the voice mail b/c I'm busy. I'll just check the caller id to see who's bugging us.

Answer 16

We have caller ID, but typically answer if it is family.  But we don''t do "school at home", so it doesn't really bother us anyway.  We are unschoolers.

Answer 17

I usually don't answer. We have caller ID so I can see who it is. I don't even answer it if it's my mother and she's calling in the morning; she can leave a message and I'll call her back in the afternoon.

Really, if you have an answering machine, you could let it get all of the calls. If it's an emergency, you'll hear it and can pick up if need be. 99.99999% of the time, there's no real need for you to pick up the phone right then.

Answer 18

If we are in the midst of actually doing something I just do not answer, the machine picks up.

Answer 19

unplug, turn off ringer, turn off cell phone, shatter the sob into a million pieces when it does ring..just to name a few options.

include a back charge option if your sessions are disturbed by constant annoyances like the phone of a client.

Answer 20

The phone isn't much of a problem with an answering machine and caller ID letting me screen each call. I don't answer until I am available unless it is an emegency.

Company dropping in at the door, that can be a bit harder to work with because you cannot screen that. About ten years go we had moved to a house a mere mile down the road from my parents after living 780 miles away in another sate. My parents began dropping in on a whim quite OFTEN for a visit or arrive announcing that they wanted to take the kids shopping in the middle of a school day. Now THAT was disruptive. I often felt out of control back then beacuse I didn't want to hurt their feelings nor have to be the bad guy saying no to a spontaneous shopping trip for the kids.

It wasn't easy, but now my parents accept that plans need to be made ahead of time and we work around homeschooling in that planning.

Answer 21

Answering machine for land line.

Answering service for cell phone. And caller ID

Most people know that the best way to communicate with us is through email or IM.

Answer 22

My mom gives us an assignment (unless we are already on one) and takes the phone and tells them she is busy and then calls them back at lunch or after school or something!