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How Do You Homeschool When You Have a Job?

The most asked question I hear when someone finds out that I homeschool my children is, “How do you homeschool and still work a job?” I giggle a bit internally since this is second nature but I do truly understand where they are coming from! It seems like a foreign concept. Homeschooling my children while my husband and I both work. Seems impossible! I am going to break down our routines and show you how homeschooling for working parents is possible.

Can You Homeschool While Working Full Time?

Some parents questions their ability to balance working a full time job and homeschooling their children. They feel called to homeschool but also feel the increased pressure to provide for their family financially. The short answer is YES! You can homeschool your kids even while holding down a job.

It is important to educate yourself on the specific homeschool laws in your state. An easy way to do this is to check out the Home School Legal Defense Association website.

Homeschooling for Working Parents: What You Need to Know

One of the truly amazing parts of homeschooling is the flexibility you have to shape your child’s education. Remember, homeschool does not have to look like public school at home! What do I mean by that? Typically public schools run on a 8:00am-3:30pm (or some slight variation) schedule. Homeschool often runs on a much shortened instruction time schedule.

Another aspect of homeschooling is finding what type of homeschool method best fits your family! Do you lean toward traditional, classical, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, unschooling or an eclectic mix? If you aren’t sure, I highly recommend you visit my post about Christian Homeschooling for Preschool where I give you a resource to find out what homeschool method fits you best!

Creating a Homeschool Schedule for Working Moms and Dads

Over the past three years of homeschooling my daughter, our homeschool schedule has changed. Homeschool is meant to be flexible and keeping this in mind often brings a sense of relief to new homeschool families!

Whether you work full-time, part-time, on the weekends, or anything in between, you have the ability to create your own homeschool schedule that works for you.

A daily planner like this is simple to complete to and to keep track of your child’s progress. My current homeschool planner can be found here on Amazon. I love that it gives me options to plan out our month, week, and even each day!

Sample Daily Homeschool Schedule for Working Moms

Our family currently homeschools on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and sometimes Sunday after church services. I believe that our children learn so much through ever day life experiences.

Heading to the grocery store? Take the time to teach them budgeting, meal planning, nutrition facts, and how to count change. Going to the library? Talk with them about literary genres, attend a story time or other library sponsored activity, or check out books together focused on the current season (Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter). Are your children involved in sports, dance, or other club? All of that counts as education!

Our current homeschool days typically look like this. This is our bookwork time and will continue to change as my children get older and take on additional subjects. As they get older they will become more independent with their bookwork. Some days we choose to spread out our homeschool subjects while other days we knock it out all at once.

• 30 minutes of reading lesson and writing
• 15-20 minutes of math
• 15 minutes of science
• 30 minutes of art

The rest of our homeschool day is filled with arts and crafts, visits to the library, homeschool co-op meet ups, park dates, unstructured outside play, attending community theater, reading books, watching educational videos (we love Wild Kratts!) and so much more.

Time Management Tips for Homeschooling and Working

I work outside on my home on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and occasionally additional days depending on my work needs. My husband works full time outside of the home as well. How do we as parents work and homeschool our kids? Time management and family support.

On the days that both my husband and I work, our children are cared for by their grandparents. Typically this is on Wednesdays and Fridays. I know of some working homeschool parents who choose to work slightly different schedules so that one parent is always home with the children.

As a working mom, time management is essential to running our household in the best possible way. I use an app called Artful Agenda to manage my work schedule and I have integrated my personal schedule as well to balance my work and homeschool obligations.

Google calendar is another great free tool to use to help align your family’s schedule. If digital calendar’s aren’t your style, I highly recommend grabbing purchasing a physical planner to keep up with your homeschool and work schedule. This planner is blank and allows you to fill in the dates as you go. Perfect to use at any point during the year!

Lastly, we all have the same 24 hours each day. At some point, you may have to realign your schedule to better fit your family’s needs. Consider if your family has the capacity to be involved in multiple sports, groups, and co-ops. If you find yourself stressed by your time commitments, that is your sign to reassess and make changes.

Best Homeschool Curriculum Options for Busy Parents

We choose to center our children’s homeschool education on Christ. I have written a post about the Best Christian Homeschool Curriculum options and list our our chosen curriculum.

Tips for Working Homeschool Moms and Dads

Ask for help. If you are new to homeschooling, ask others for guidance and help. If you know of someone in your life that homeschools their children, ask them questions, and look to them for advice. When I was pregnant with our first child, I knew I was called to homeschool her. I joined Facebook groups. Find an online community that has walked this path before and be open to learning yourself!

Set boundaries. Remember time management? Setting boundaries is important. It protects your family, you, and your children’s education. Just because you homeschool doesn’t mean you have to sign up for every extracurricular activity, no matter how awesome it is.

Make it a family affair. Develop your children’s life skills by giving them responsibility. The whole family unit should be responsible for the daily upkeep of the home. Find age appropriate chores for your children to complete. As you children grow older, they will also work more independently!

Homeschooling While Working Full Time or Part- Time: Realistic Expectations

Repeat after me. Homeschool is not public school. Your time spent educating your children will look different than the average public school day, week, and month. Setting realistic expectations for your homeschool experience while working full time or part time is so important to avoid burn out. Stay laser focused on your own children and avoid falling into the trap of comparing your children to others.

Stay flexible and willing to pivot if something isn’t working. If the curriculum you chose isn’t serving your child then change it! It isn’t a failure on you or your child’s part. Your children are each uniquely made, it might take time to find what works best.

Balancing Work and Homeschooling: Is it Worth it?

Choosing to balance working outside of the home while still homeschooling my children will always be worth it. If you are considering homeschool, chances are it will be worth it for you as well. Whatever your reason for homeschooling your children is valid.

Will homeschooling while working a job always be easy? No! In the words of Abbie Halberstadt “Hard Is Not the Same Thing As Bad“ (a book I highly encourage you to read.)

You Can Do This!

So how can you homeschool when you have a job? Ask for help, accept support, plan and prepare, stay flexible, don’t replicate public school at home, and submit to God’s perfect will.

Homeschooling while working can be challenging but is so rewarding. With proper planning and support you are able to fully enjoy homeschooling while woking full time or part time outside of the home.