Time management for working homeschool parents is essential to avoid getting overwhelmed with your many responsibilities. The landscape of homeschooling has changed a lot over the years. In the late 80s homeschool families were mainly single income families where one parent stayed home with the kids and the other parent worked fulltime. These days, it’s not unusual to meet homeschool families with two working parents. Parents are stretched more than ever, especially if they’re homeschooling multiple children.

In this blog post, we’ll share our tried and true time management strategies that take you from just surviving to thriving! So if you’re wondering if you can work and homeschool, the answer is a resounding YES!

Keep reading for six ways to manage your time homeschooling and working.

1. Get your students started with work that they can do independently

Depending on their ages, your kids could be writing spelling words, practicing their penmanship, reading quietly to themselves, reading aloud to younger siblings, or even doing some chores while you work with another child. Helping older children to be more independent is good for them and for you. Being able to stay on task and work independently is a skill that everyone needs. Creating a physical or virtual list (Trello is a fun one with a free version) that the kids can access helps to keep them and you on task.

2. After getting your older kids started, take some time to read with your younger children and do some engaging activities

When you spend time with your little kids, you’re able to fill their emotional needs and they won’t be as needy when you’re occupied with the older children later.

When I was homeschooling my first five children, I created a little preschool environment for my youngest children. I made sure that I had activities and snacks prepared the night before so I was ready to go in the morning. Changing the activities and toys on a daily basis kept the children’s interest high and they were able to occupy themselves while I worked with an older child.

3. Have everyone do the same subjects at the same time as much as possible, even if they are at different levels

My children all did their math, science, and daily Bible readings at the same time. We sat together at the dining room table or in the living room and I helped each child as needed. When kids are working on the same subject matter, it’s less distracting to hear someone discussing the topic than it would be if one child is doing math and another is working on grammar. Additionally, you only have to have all the materials for that subject out at one time, rather than all day long.

4. Utilize audio books to help you cover read aloud selections for your students

I’m a Charlotte Mason homeschooler which means we have a lot of books that we read each term. Currently we have 16 books that we’re reading. My son is not yet able to read all of these himself, so when I am running short on time I go to trusty old Librivox to help me get the reading covered.

We often listen to a reading selection while I’m working at my computer. Audio books are great for entertaining younger students while you work with an older child. Audio books also help you to cover literature while everyone is in the car if you have a lot of outside activities. In addition to Librivox, some devices with read aloud features are: Yoto, Kindle, and iPad.

5. Use educational videos, websites, and online instruction to do some of the teaching for you

Many curriculum publishers (Math-U-See is one) have videos or online resources available that can be very useful. Many homeschoolers are finding Outschool to be an affordable valuable resource for many subjects and if your budget won’t stretch that far, YouTube has a lot of educational content across multiple subjects areas for all age levels. If you already pay for a streaming service, check them as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the educational content available on Amazon Prime. And of course, we can’t forget Khan Academy.

6. Lighten your load by doing less and simplifying as much as possible

What exactly does that mean? When I had five children ages newborn to age 10, I realized that it wouldn’t hurt my children if we pulled back our academics for a while (a semester or a year) to the basics (math, reading, writing, and spelling). We didn’t join a co-op, and we limited our social activities to low-commitment activities to reduce stress on me, the main educator.

Don’t worry that your kids won’t learn enough if you temporarily lighten the educational topics because they will continue to learn all sorts of things that you don’t have on your education plan. You may even want to organize your children’s schoolwork into a four-day school week.

In the same vein of lightening your load, try to simplify as many of your non-school activities as possible to free up more of your time for teaching your children. In my home, this means that I make certain meals on certain days of the week, do certain household tasks on certain days of the week, and I have daily routines to keep my home running smoothly. Putting necessary tasks on auto-pilot conserves your energy because you aren’t constantly reinventing your schedule.

7. Don’t mix school and work

Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the trap of multi-tasking. Rather than making everything more efficient, it can actually slow down school and work. I have learned that it’s best to use a block schedule to get the most done for school and work. I have designated the morning hours for household and school work. Once school is done, then I can focus on work while my child is using the computer, building with his Legos, or reading.

Wrapping up

In short, time management for working homeschool parents involves viewing your job as a home educator as any professional job where you apply management and efficiency to the tasks at hand. Good luck and happy homeschooling!