Welcome to my new series, The Working Homeschool Mom! I’ve been a working homeschool mom since 2000. I’ve worked outside the home and since 2014, I’ve been a work at home mom. It’s my hope that this series will offer not only a peek into the real life of the working homeschool mom, but will also offer encouragement and helpful ideas that you can use to make your life as a working homeschool mom easier.

It’s the beginning of August and I’m in the throes of moving from summer mode back to homeschooling mode. I’m sure many of you can relate! My son spent six weeks in Alaska visiting his sister and her husband. But now, summer is about to be over for both of us and I need to make final decisions about curriculum, extra-curriculars, and how to fit it all in around being the main income earner for my family. Combining homeschooling and working is not for the faint of heart, hahaha! To add more pressure my son is going into ninth grade and I hear that clock ticking a little louder this year.

Whether you’re an experienced homeschooling mom or this is your first year of homeschooling, as working homeschool moms that means that getting ready for the school year requires extra planning and execution!

Scheduling

When creating your schedule, it’s a good idea to plug in everything that’s set in stone to see where you can fit in your dedicated school time. If you work certain days and hours, put those on the master calendar. If there are recurring homeschool events or activities like Scouts or 4-H, put those on the calendar. Schedule doctor or dentist check ups and put those on the calendar. Even if you’re sure you’ll remember them, put birthdays, holidays, school breaks, and vacations on your master calendar. To make sure everyone is on board, share your master calendar with your partner and your kids.

Once all the have tos and musts are on the calendar, figure out when you are doing school. Depending on the age of your kid, you might find that afternoon to early evening is best. Don’t worry about replicating a typical public school schedule because you’re not running a school. If your state requires a certain number of hours or days per school year, make sure you fulfill those requirements, but you can do it any way that works for you.

Curriculum/Classes

As a working homeschool mom, I’m always on the lookout to get the most possible benefit from everything we do. Sometimes this means outsourcing a subject or two, either online or signing up my kid for classes at an enrichment academy, or using library resources so that I can work while he is productively occupied.

I don’t recommend outsourcing all of your kid’s education to online platforms because teaching and learning with your child is one of the most enjoyable parts of homeschooling and creates wonderful memories. I do recommend identifying pain points in your homeschooling and changing curriculum when it’s not working for you or your kid. Case in point, my son asked for an online curriculum for math this year. I don’t mind teaching math, but the way I explain math and the way he learns best aren’t working well. It takes up a lot of time that we could both spend on other subjects or activities. This year, we’re going to give Teaching Textbooks a try. My son will be busy doing his math while I work and if he’s frustrated he has free tutoring available to him as part of this curriculum. My role will be to support him, help when I can, and monitor his work through the app.

Because my work is remote, I can do it anywhere that I have an Internet connection. In the past, we’ve used classes at the library for some of my son’s extra-curricular subjects. While he’s in the class I’m on my computer working, and library classes are usually free, so it’s a boon to my budget.

Meals/Grocery Shopping

Meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking can take up a lot of our time each day. And homeschooled kids want to eat all day long- or is that just my kid?

The best gift the working homeschool mom can give to herself is robust meal planning and having groceries delivered. I use Walmart Plus and Amazon for my grocery delivery. I simplified my dinner planning by assigning a meal type to each day of the week. For example, we eat Mexican themed food on Tuesday (Taco Tuesday!) and we have pizza on Friday. Other days of the week also have themes. This makes meal planning much easier and cuts down on decision fatigue. After giving each day of the week a theme, then create a monthly list that has a rotation of meals your family likes.

After creating your monthly rotation, you can try your hand at once-a-month cooking, freezer bag meals that go into the crockpot, or other meal systems. Be sure that you plan breakfast and lunch too. I’ve even made an entire loaf of bread into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and froze them. I like to prep breakfast and lunch ahead as much as possible by making breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos and freezing them, and packing lunch the night before and putting it in the fridge. You can get the kids involved here.

Your grocery delivery app remembers what you purchase often and suggests it to you when you’re shopping. This has saved me more times than I can count!

Chores/Laundry

When you’re a working homeschool mom, you don’t have the time to do all of the household chores and laundry, nor should you. Your child needs these skills when they’re grown and the earlier you involve them the better. I schedule chores to be done throughout the day, so that by the time my son finishes school and I finish work we’ve covered most of what needed to be done.

Wrapping Up

The life of the working homeschool mom is extremely busy and each day is chock-full. The good news is that taking time to get all of this done and planned before school starts will make each day and the whole year go more smoothly. Prior planning is a gift you give to your future self. I’m wishing you all the best! Happy Homeschooling!