Balancing Homeschooling while Working: Make It Work So You Can Keep Homeschooling While Working Outside The Home
Want to juggle homeschool and work?
Do you like the idea of homeschooling but find yourself wondering how you’ll homeschool and work full time, part time, or even any time?!
Do you want to supplement your family income?
Or keep a foot in the workplace door?
Need some tips and ideas so you can work at home and homeschool?
It is possible! In this blog post I will help you find ways to balance homeschooling and work.
Table of Contents
Homeschooling and Work - The Podcast
How I create a schedule and handle my time management so I can work and homeschool
Feel confident about your homeschool curriculum so you can easily fit in your career.
Use my planning checklist and feel confident about your choices.
Strategies for working around your homeschool
Finding a flexible work schedule and routine so you can balance homeschooling while working full time
It is important to find something flexible that allows you to create a schedule and then work around it. Part-time, remote, or freelance work can provide opportunities to get things done on your own time. Working parents will find plenty of time to really meet the needs of both their careers and their homeschool because learning will happen at any time – especially in the evenings and weekends. You can even homeschool while working full time by creating a routine that fits around your work shifts and your children’s homeschooling journey.
Do you have a skill, knowledge, or prior work history that you can do online?
Can you build a business that lets you set your own work hours?
Is there an employer who is happy for you to work flexible hours around your homeschooling?
Can you set up independent learning activities for your kids while you work?
Not sure where to start?
Check out job sites that specialise in remote or flexible work. Approach your existing employer about flexible part-time or work-from-home opportunities. Talk to local businesses and let them know your skills, knowledge. So many business owners are happy for work to happen outside of a traditional 8 hours a day working style.
Practical tips to incorporate homeschooling and work outside the home
Make it work with self-directed learning, online learning, and homeschool resources your family loves
Self-directed learning is a wonderful opportunity to empower your kids to take control of their education and complete some school work while you’re working. This gets easier the older your child gets, but even a youngster can start some moments of working independently. In fact, this alone is a valuable life lesson for your kids.
It can certainly be a challenge to work while being constantly interrupted. So proper time management is key. Whether you work 8 hours a day, or only a few days a week while the kids are sleeping – working while homeschooling does require you to keep some headspace clear for both of your priorities. So you will love developing a homeschool routine that supports both parts of your life.
" Independent or self-directed learning is the ability to be responsible for your own learning. It's the skill that equips us for lifelong learning. Children who are encouraged to explore and learn in a self-directed way develop an innate curiosity and the ability to learn independently. This prepares them for the challenges of a rapidly changing world, where they'll need to be flexible and adaptable in order to succeed. "
Not sure where to start?
If self-directed learning is new to you then start small with projects and activities you know your child will love. Help set them up with tasks that are easy enough for them to accomplish. And celebrate their achievements to encourage them to delve deeper into independent work.
Connect with your children and design academically rich, exciting, and inspiring projects.
You’ll have more motivated children so you can balance yourself between homeschooling and work.
Parents who homeschool while working outsource some help
Finding childcare solutions so you have time for both homeschool and work
If your career path requires you to work out of the home, or at least distraction-free, during work hours you might need childcare solutions. Homeschooling is the perfect lifestyle to find opportunities to occupy your children while you work. You might connect with other homeschooling families in your area and share child-minding so you can get work done. You might arrange or attend a co-op where your children participate in learning activities while you get a break to work. Or you might take your laptop to your children’s regular sport, music, or other activities and squeeze in some work time. Another option is to hire a babysitter or nanny. You could do this for your own family or even collaborate with some other local families and split the cost. Homeschooling might seem like a barrier to work, but in reality it is such a flexible approach to parenting and education it provides the perfect opportunity to fit in work.
Not sure where to start? Start with what you have. Do you know other parents homeschooling their children while working? Can you fit some work hours around your current activities? Can you afford to outsource childcare for yourself, or will you need to split the cost with other families? Reach out to other local homeschooling families and ask if anyone would like to work with you to create some time to work. You will be amazed to learn how many other parents are trying to do the same thing!
How to record learning that happens around work time
Balancing homeschooling registration requirements
At the end of all this it is important to make sure you can dedicate enough time to homeschooling your children. Of course this can be challenging, but you will quickly find your groove. And once your routines are more predictable and solid you will be well on your way to creatively squeezing more homeschooling opportunities around your work. You don’t need to to replicate a public school schedule, but you will feel better about yourself and your homeschool if you are doing both things well.
Not sure where to start? Could you consider schooling outside of traditional hours such as early in the morning, late evening, or on weekends? That could free up some work hours during your day. Could your work become a part of your child’s education? Do you use a skill, knowledge, or trade that your child could learn from you? For example, if you run your own business including your child in your bookkeeping can tick math, business, and economics topics. Are you a writer? Ask your child to proofread your work to enhance their literacy skills. If you need some tips about how to put this life-based learning onto paper for your homeschool registration, download my free ebook here.
Challenges of Working and Homeschooling
What it really looks like when families juggle homeschool and work full time or part time
If you spend your time doom scrolling Instagram or Tik Tok you will likely see countless manicured, perfectly curated families who seem to be pulling off homeschooling and working full time as if it is as easy as breathing. It just isn’t. Like anything else homeschooling, what we see on social media just isn’t what our reality will truly look like. If you already are, or want to become part of the working homeschool mom club, it will really pay off when you keep your expectations real and embrace life as a working mom.
What does that mean? It means being honest about what your family needs and wants. You might need some trade offs. This might look like letting your house keeping expectations drop a little, or you could hire a cleaner. You may not have the time to do all the home education with your child so you might use online learning, tutors, or organised homeschool networks to educate your child during school hours. Many parents beat themselves up trying to do everything perfectly but when you are splitting your attention between work time and home schooling you need to set yourself up for success – and success looks like happy, healthy children and a content family.
Learn how to identify what your children really need and build a homeschool curriculum that works for your unique family.
Balancing homeschooling and work can be a challenge, but it is possible. By finding flexible work, childcare solutions, self-directed learning, and balancing homeschooling requirements, you can successfully fit both work and homeschooling into your days. Give yourself some grace – some days will be harder than others, but that’s OK because life is like that. You will be teaching your children valuable skills for their adult lives.
My online course, Nurture Your Homeschool, will help you identify how you can plan and create the perfect homeschool for your family no matter your circumstances.
