Struggles and Solutions for Working + Homeschooling Parents

Not a single parent I know who works and homeschools claims that it's easy. But everyone I know who does it also makes it work, so it's definitely not impossible.

As a working + homeschooling mom myself, I find that anticipating major problems and preparing solutions for them ahead of time helps me to better take things in stride.

If you're working + homeschooling, here are a couple of common struggles that can pop up and a few solutions that you can try.

Struggle 1: Hectic Schedules

When you're working and homeschooling, it's easy to feel like a slave to the schedule. "So much to do and so little time" and everybody's got somewhere they need to be. The problem with constantly being on the go is that exhaustion and her best friend burn-out are usually lurking right around the corner.

Try: Commiting to Less

Maintaining a light load (as light as possible anyway) is a good first solution for hectic schedules. The reality is that as much as we would like to do all the things, it's often not practical to maintain and it's way too easy to end up feeling completely drained.

Parenting is a full-time job. So is homeschooling. Add your work commitments on top of it, whether it's part time or full time, from home or from the office, and your plate is FULL. The more things you add to that plate, the more OVERFULL your plate will be.

When we take on more commitments than we can practically handle, we also take on more stress, more frustration, and more reasons to feel overwhelmed and start dropping the ball in the areas that are important to us.

Committing to less helps prevent this by allowing you focus on the things that are truly matter to you, and letting go of the things that don't so you have more room to breathe and enjoy the time with your family.

Try: Maximizing FLEX Learning

FLEX learning is an approach that prioritizes flexibility over strict scheduling.

Think: pre-recorded classes that can be logged into from anywhere at anytime. Another example are lessons that can be covered during your morning commute via a podcast, youtube series, or audiobook. Self-paced, adaptable curriculums are also an option.

Keeping learning flexible helps create space for your children to move through material at their own pace and allows for you to create a routine that works for your family, rather than having to force your family into someone else's pre-designed schedule.

Struggle 2: Split Attention

Working and homeschooling means your brain is juggling A LOT and it's easy to feel like your attention is never fully here nor there. But when you have children relying on your for instruction and enagagement, divided attention doesn't really work. So what can you do?

Try: Leaving Work for Working Hours

Keeping work during "work times" helps free you up mentally and physically to be more present and actively involved when it's time to be with your children. It also helps model for your children how to be more fully present for others.

For those who work outside the home, this can be as simple as not bringing the work home with you so that your time and attention can be for the family.

For parents working from home, it can be a little more tricky and you may need to implement a kind of Block Scheduling where set blocks of time are used for similar types of work activties and other set blocks are used for simialr types of homeschool activities.

In our house for example, mornings after breakfast are usually used for book-based lessons. Our afternoons are reserved for outings, meetups, and/or other household errands. And my evenings after we've had dinner are usually reserved for completing work-related tasks for my clients.

Try: Limiting Distractions

Limiting distractions is easier said than done but if you can make a habit of it, it helps A LOT. And it can start with very small, simple changes.

For example, if you know you tend to be distracted by notifications on your phone, put the phone on silent or airplane mode while working with your children so you know that for that set time, you'll be able to give them more of your attention.

If you work virtually with clients, make it known the times that you are UNAVAILABLE for communication so that you aren't getting disrupted by work-related phone calls or texts while homeschooling.