Balancing Homeschooling with Work at Home
Welcome back to our work at home mom tips series! If you haven't yet be sure to check out the first post which lists out all of the posts in this five day series. Today we're going to chat about how to balance homeschooling with our work at home jobs. Let me just start out and say that it's no easy task, so if you're a homeschooling work at home mama, kudos to you!When you add homeschooling to the general chaos of working from home, sometimes it can be a recipe for disaster. It's really important that we are proactive with our priorities, our boundaries, and our schedule to fit everything in without being crazy, stressed out, monster moms.
Balancing Homeschooling with Working at Home
Set Routines and Stick to Them
Every morning the boys play (relatively) quietly in their room while I get some work done. Then I go get them for breakfast, and after breakfast Mr. C starts his school work while I start on some work that I can easily be distracted from. This is when I answer emails, schedule social media posts, read and comment on blogs, etc. This is not the time to sit down and try to write a blog post or do client work.Mr. C works his way through his worksheets and stops me whenever he has questions. After he's done with his worksheets he takes a break, sometimes with a snack. Then we work together on his more teacher intensive subjects.Our schoolwork is (usually) done by lunch and after lunch the boys all go down for a "nap" (more like a rest time) and I have focused work time. This is when I do client work, meetings, and other things that require my full attention.After the kids' nap Chris gets home and we have family time, dinner, bed time, and then I get some more work done while Chris watches TV (like right now, as he is watching NCIS). When you have a routine you're much more likely to get everything done. Homeschooling, play time, work time, and even meals all need a routine or they will quickly be missed!
Be Realistic
Homeschooling mamas can often fall into the comparison trap. We look at other homeschool moms and wonder how they seem to have everything together all the time. They're always on time, wearing real pants, and their kids speak 214 languages. You don't need to be that mom, and you really don't need your kids to be those kids.If you have a busy season in your work, maybe cut the homeschool extras back a bit. If you're already stressed to the max, think twice about adding that next co-op. We work at home mamas tend to want it all, but the fact is that we just can't.If we try to fit in all of our client work, our meetings, our sales, our kids' homeschool lessons, the Tuesday morning active club, the Thursday night cub scouts, and all 214 languages that the other homeschool mom is teaching, we will burn out and give up.You won't be of use to anyone if you're burnt out and can't function. Set realistic expectations about what you think you can accomplish each day/week, and then take one or two of the tasks off. Then you'll have a realistic look at your week.
Set Your Day Up For Success
This will vary from house to house. If you need to have a clean and organized house in order to focus, do a quick clean up after breakfast before sitting down to work. Meal plan and make freezer meals so that you can have a hot fresh meal ready at dinner time without the 5 PM hassle.Write your to-do list the day before with only the tasks that you absolutely must get done. Set your kids' homeschool books out the night before. Start your favorite citrus oil in the diffuser to keep everyone's mood elevated throughout the day.Need a hot breakfast every morning? Try a crock pot breakfast that cooks overnight! Teach your kids to do their chores independently to take one more thing off your plate.Think through your typical day and try to find any little thing that would make it just a bit easier. Now do those little things before you go to bed at night. Trust me, your day will go much easier with a bit of pre-planning!What are your tips for balancing homeschooling with working at home? Don't forget to go back to the beginning of this series to read all five posts of work at home mom tips! And for more fun five day series read from the lovely bloggers of the iHomeschool Network.If you loved this post, you might also enjoy..
