Can I homeschool while working full time?

Homeschooling while being employed outside of the home is not easy, but it’s definitely do-able! 

For the last 5 years I have been working full time while homeschooling my daughter.  The reality is, while I’d love to step away from working “outside the home” (I work primarily from home” and pour myself completely into homeschooling, homemaking, and parenting it’s just not in the cards for us right now from a financial standpoint. 

If you want to homeschool your child(ren) but can’t quit your day job, I’m here to make some suggestions that might help you out. 

1. Rethink your schedule

Depending on the type of work you do (meetings, or asynchronous work), where your work happens (at home, or away from home), and what your hours look like (rigid, or shift), this will look different for you. Step one is to forget about the traditional “school schedule”. You don’t need to start your day at the same time that the bell rings at your local school, and truthfully, you don’t need to commit to a set number of hours each day, or days each week.  Homeschooling can happen any day of the week, and any hour of the day. If you’re a routine-lover, pick a consistently available time in your schedule, even if that is an evening time. 

Take some time to step back and think about pockets of time in your day where you have the fewest interruptions. For me, this is early morning before anyone is awake. 

2. Don’t try to multitask while teaching

You may have heard the saying, “there is no such thing as multitasking, just context switching”. It’s true. In my experience, trying to work while sitting at the table during learning time leads to major frustration for both the parent and the child. Giving your kids a chunk of undivided attention will undoubtedly make your learning time more enjoyable for both of you, and lead to better productivity overall. This can be tough to do when your mental load is overflowing and it feels like the house is going to burn down around you if you don’t get XYZ completed today, but I’ve found it to be helpful to take a moment and ask myself, “is this task worthy of 45 minutes of my time?” and if so, give it the time it deserves, uninterrupted. 

3. Leverage digital tools 

While homeschooling gives you the power to design the education plan for your children, it does not mean that you have to be the only one doing the educating. Leveraging digital tools is a great way to buy yourself some working hours in a week while still maintaining some control over 

We have enjoyed our subscription to OUTSCHOOL during certain seasons. They offer a broad range of classes, clubs, and virtual tutors that cover anything from storytelling and poetry, to geography and acting. You can sign up for weekly recurring classes, or one-time events.  If you’re a homeschooler of 1 child like me, it opens up opportunities for some group work as well! 

Other digital options that I would recommend include MATHLETICS for math practice games, or READING EGGS for children who are learning to read.

4. Bring in some part time help

If you have a demanding job that requires more than 4+ hours of focus time in a day, I’d consider bringing in some part time help. I have done this in the past on a month by month basis with a university student and it worked quite well. We worked around their schedule and had them come in 3x per week. The 1:1 attention was helpful for my daughter in seasons when my job was particularly demanding of me, and having time to just lock myself in a room with my computer without feeling any guilt was immensely helpful for me. 

5. Work household activities into the mix

If you have a child(ren) who doesn’t do exceptionally well at keeping themselves busy, it can seem like you have a lot of hours to help them “fill” in a day while trying to simultaneously get your work done. I have found that integrating many household duties into the daily schedule has not only helped to lighten my load, but also keep my daughter busy with meaningful contributions. Seriously, it’s a win-win. Initially, I tried carving out a time bound schedule, but quickly learned that it didn’t work for us. So instead, I have given my daughter clear expectations on what needs to happen before we have any screen time, or go to any activities. If your child has a different currency that isn’t screen time, try to work that into the matrix. Ex: Must complete X before playing with ______ (neighbors, lego, etc)

My list of things to go before screen time looks like this:

1. Complete book work (we do some together, and some independently)
2. 20 minutes of reading
3. Chores (see chore chart)
4. Practice piano for 15 minutes
5. Get dressed and ready for the day

There are days when this gets done in 2 hours, and days when she wakes up late, or there are so many snack breaks and distractions that it takes us most of the day. For us, it works. Also, as a side note, when your kids have lots of ‘work’ to do (chores, book work, etc), it makes them SO MUCH better at occupying themselves once they’re done. They learn to appreciate their free time in a different way, and the boredom melts away. If you’re noticing that your child needs to be entertained a lot, try increasing their responsibility / perspective.

Lastly, don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. You’re going to have good weeks and bad weeks, and it’s all okay. Forget what/how you’ve been conditioned to think about school, and instead, focus on small bits of knowledge transfer to your children over time. That’s really it. I’m rooting for you <3