Can Work-at-Home Moms Homeschool?
One of the most common things I hear as a seasoned homeschooler is “I wish I could homeschool but our finances don’t allow me to be a stay-at-home mom. I have to work.” But I’m here to tell you, working moms or work-at-home moms are able to homeschool!
You just have to have the right tools!
Homeschooling is not something for the faint of heart. When you start looking at all the responsibilities that come along with homeschooling, it can feel totally overwhelming.
When you decide to homeschool, you will add a few more tasks to your plate:
- You have to cook your kids’ lunch everyday.
- Homeschool field trips and activities are usually during the daytime hours.
- Your house will be messier because kids are home more often than they’re not.
But for all the extra work, you’ll also be removing a few things from your plate, when you opt to homeschool:
- No more carpooling or trips to school.
- You can pick and choose what you want to spend money on. (No more overpriced school photos.)
- You don’t have to volunteer for PTO or other clubs.
The truth is, homeschooling is a give and take. There are benefits and there are drawbacks to both sending your kids to school and homeschooling. The secret is to choose what works best for your family.
But when you need to work, it can feel impossible. But it’s not! You just need to have a plan in place to help you be successful.
6 Life-Savers for Work-at-Home Moms
Lower Your Standards:
The first thing I tell ANY homeschooling mom is to lower her standards. As busy women, we already have plenty on our plate. Instead of beating yourself up for not being able to do it all, lower your standards.
That means your house may not be decorated like the houses you see in magazines. Your kids’ activities may not look like they came straight from a Pinterest board. Your clothes may be wrinkles and 3 seasons old.
But that’s okay.
Half of winning the battles of life is knowing where to focus your energy.
During the season of life where you’re homeschooling AND working, this is simply not the time to worry about impressing other people.
Trust me, social media is a lie. NO ONE is actually doing it all!
Set Boundaries:
The truth is, when you work from home, it’s easy to get overwhelmed quickly. You need to work but you also need to get something out for dinner, switch the laundry into the dryer and let the dog out. Then you try to add homeschooling on top of that and it feels impossible.
Instead of trying to keep everything clean, teach all the subjects and beat yourself up when you perform subpar at work, set boundaries with your time and stick to it.
The easiest way to do this is to look at your day as blocks of time.
- Set aside time for work.
- Then set aside time for homeschooling.
- Set aside time to complete household duties.
- Don’t forget to set aside time for yourself, too.
Then stick to your time blocks.
Treat them like you would any other appointment. For instance, you wouldn’t call and cancel your doctor’s appointment unless it was for a good reason, so don’t cancel these appointments with yourself.
Hire a Housecleaner:
A few years ago, I would’ve laughed in your face if you’d suggested this to me. Because, I had, in fact, inquired about a one-time deep clean from a local cleaning company and nearly had a stroke when they quoted me $750 for just the main living areas. (Don’t worry, she assured me they would even pull my stove and fridge out and mop behind them, too.)
It’s safe to say, that was simply NOT in my budget.
But a few years later, I posted on my personal FB page, saying I wish I could hire someone to just do the deep cleaning for me: washing windows, mopping floors, wiping down cabinets, changing sheets and cleaning the bathrooms.
Within a few hours, I had a couple of local friends who offered to clean for a MUCH cheaper rate! They were all women who didn’t work outside of the home and just wanted to make a little extra money.
Instead of paying $750 for a spotless house cleaned by professionals, I now pay a friend $120 for a full day’s work. She comes once a month and I LOVE it!
I don’t have to worry about how nasty my house is getting because I know she’ll be there soon. And she loves to clean and this is a fun way for her to make some quick cash.
It’s been such a blessing for both of us.
Delegate Tasks:
Within the first month of pulling my kids out of public school, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to do it all by myself.
Being home with kids means we are really living in our home, like ALL.THE.TIME.
And that meant messes were bound to happen.
I sat down with a list of duties that needed done and together, we divided up the household duties.
It was more than just chores, though.
- Natali was in charge of deciding that week’s dinners and together, we would place a WalMart+ order for our groceries.
- I asked my parents to take my kids to karate once a week. They loved going to watch (and grabbing McDonalds afterwards) and I was able to stay home and get some work done.
- My husband became the money manager of our house.
- Barrett was the “official laundry-switcher.”
- Emersyn cleaned the bathrooms and fed the dogs.
By giving everyone else one or two additional tasks to do around the house, it freed up a ton of time for me. I don’t struggle to work from home anymore because some many of our tasks are other people’s responsibilities.
Be Flexible:
Can work-at-home moms homeschool without losing their minds? Sure!
But their secret to doing it successfully is learning to be flexible.
Because even homeschool moms who don’t work know that homeschooling your kids means you need to change plans at the drop of a hat.
Learn when to throw in the towel and when to keep pushing through.
Just because you’ve already purchased a curriculum doesn’t mean you have to complete it.
When you feel a tug to relax and let learning take place more naturally, you should listen to your inner voice.
Closing the books for a few days while you relax and just enjoy being with your kids isn’t going to result in them being uneducated.
Flexibility is key and the sooner you realize it, the happier you’ll be!
Use Screens to Your Advantage:
Those of us who started homeschooling before the COVID craze spent YEARS defending the use of technology in our homeschools. But from the beginning, I was adamant that technology could be our best friend when homeschooling. And I was right.
When you use technology correctly, it can enhance your homeschool in ways beyond your imagination!
Field trips can be done from the couch.
Lessons can be taught while you’re in the shower.
Car rides are no longer wasted time, but can be educational.
Finding a curriculum company that enhances your homeschool and makes your life easier is the turning point in your homeschool days.
For us, that was stumbling upon Teaching Textbooks.
How Teaching Textbooks Saved Our Homeschool
Our first year of homeschooling, Barrett was just a tiny little toddler. He was in to EVERYTHING. We couldn’t focus because we were constantly chasing him, begging him not to climb on the counters, cleaning up spilled snacks, changing diapers…the list goes on and on.
He was 100% ALL BOY.
One day, I’d hit my limit. I was still so unsure of myself as a homeschooler and I felt like such a terrible mom because, a few months in, we still hadn’t been able to complete an entire math lesson, in one sitting.
History could be interrupted. Science allowed plenty of “stopping points.” Language arts didn’t require hour-long lectures.
But math?
Oh, math.
It was the bane of my existence.
We just needed ONE HOUR of uninterrupted time for us to complete a math lesson. One stinkin’ hour!
But we couldn’t get that.
Interruption after interruption left me with no patience and even less hope for our homeschool.
That evening I cried during dinner. I poured my whole heart out, telling my husband about how discouraged I was and how my kids were doomed. They were going to be dumber than a box of rocks and it was all going to be my fault.
I just didn’t know if I could continue in that way.
But my husband, being the sweetheart that he is, told me that I didn’t need to throw in the towel.
He told me to take Bear for a walk and he would catch the girls up on math.
And he did.
During that walk, I brainstormed ways I could continue to homeschool, without losing my mind.
When I walked back through our front door, my mood had shifted.
I COULD do this.
And I would.
That night, after the kids were tucked into bed, I grabbed my laptop and started searching.
It didn’t take me long to find Teaching Textbooks, because apparently every other homeschooler on the planet had already found this jewel and were raving about it everywhere I turned!
I signed up for the free trial and the rest, as they say, is history.
So far, I’ve graduated 2 kiddos using strictly Teaching Textbooks as our math curriculum.
And that little monster-child? He’s now in Math 7 and we only spend about 20 minutes each day doing math work!
All About Teaching Textbooks
The teaching is done for you:
There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to complete all the tasks we’re handed as busy moms. Teaching Textbooks takes all of the struggles out of teaching homeschool math.
Instead of spending hours explaining, helping them to solve problems then grading the work, I can do other things that need my attention. Whether that means curling up on the couch with a read-aloud for my other kiddos or working from home, it allows me to add more margin to my day.
Teacher video with every problem:
Every single problem, in every single lesson, in every single level offers a teacher video! That’s a whole lot of teacher videos, that are worth their weight in gold!
If your kiddo gets a problem wrong, they have a second chance to solve it. If they miss again, there is a quick explanation, explaining exactly how to do the problem correctly.
This is great because they don’t work out 10 problems incorrectly, only to discover they missed a step! A quick refresher is built into every single question!
Automated grading & instant feedback for every problem:
The automatic grading allows kiddos to see exactly where they’re struggling. Paired with the instant feedback on every problem, it’s easy to figure out what your student is doing wrong and correct the problem!
Affordable:
The price of a Teaching Textbook digital course ranges from $45.95-$74.95 a year! That means that you can get a high-quality math program for about $6 a month! Holy moly, that’s awesome!
Free trial:
Teaching Textbooks allows you to preview the first 15 lessons of each level for FREE! You can sign up for multiple levels at once, to find out exactly which level you want to go with. The free trials never expire so you can work through them at your own pace. Best of all, no credit card is required to get access to the free trial!
If you’re looking for an easy way to simplify your homeschool this year, you can’t miss Teaching Textbooks! It’s the #1 thing I recommend to busy work-at-home moms, who want to homeschool their kids!
Enter to win one of 5 Teaching Textbooks giveaways!
