Written by Jill Dent- 4th and 5th grade teacher
For working parents all over, this past two years has likely presented a time where you have been working and homeschooling your child simultaneously. It has even been true for parents of brick-and-mortar school students throughout the pandemic. Let me also preface the rest of this article with an understanding that stay-at-home parents are also working parents. Much of this applies to you all, as well. Just tailor the conversation to how it fits with your daily tasks and responsibilities. No matter what your circumstances are as a working parent of a homeschooled student, it is hard!
The great news is that homeschooling is generally widely flexible. It’s important to maintain a schedule, but that schedule does not have to be a “traditional” school day. In fact, many families gravitate towards homeschooling because of this flexibility.
If you work from home, there can often be a bit more flexibility in your workday. Not all work-from-home jobs are designed this way, but many are. Start by laying out your weekly schedule for work on a Sunday evening. When are your meetings? What hours will you be unavailable for interruptions? What other activities do you have going on outside of the home during the week? Once you have assessed this, you can then sit down and figure out what chunks of time are available for focused, supported schoolwork from you, as the Learning Coach. Be sure you are realistic with this, as those chunks of time do need to be provided. They can just be spread out however you see fit.
The other thing to assess is the level of independence you can allow each individual child. Depending on age or just your student’s comfort with independent work, this can vary. However, there should be parts of the curriculum that you can assign for independent work during the periods of time that you are unavailable (either in or out of the home). For example, if you have a younger child, assign bookwork pages and physical items such as readings, handwriting practice, or math workbook pages. Older students who do well working independently can likely do a lot of the online lessons on their own. Just be sure to remind students of any age that if there is something they do not know, move on to the next item or subject and you all can go over anything that needs additional support when you are together. Providing an itemized list of the things they should be completing independently is helpful, as well. That way, they can cross off the list as they go. Remember to also include a list of things that they are allowed to do after all work is complete so that there is a smooth transition into that free time.
Working outside of the home can yield a little less flexibility, depending on your job and the hours that you work. If you work a more traditional 9-5, perhaps you can employ the help of another adult to be at home with your student and complete some tasks. If you can adjust your hours outside of that timeframe and do work in the afternoons, evenings, or on the weekends, that’s a good option, as well. Many people find ease and success in doing a three-day-a-week school schedule. This is much more rigorous on those three days, but the other days of the week can be for your work schedule, other activities, or relaxation (what’s that?!). Just remember, if you cut the schedule down to three days, the work that is “suggested” on the daily schedule for those other two days should be dispersed evenly across the working days. It still needs to be completed to stay on track with your goals.
So ultimately it comes down to choosing the schedule that is right for your family and your work schedule. The biggest thing to remember, though, is that you need and deserve downtime. Keep in mind that there are always options like doing schooling year-round. Keystone is a full year enrollment, but the default schedule is set to 180 days. That give a lot of wiggle room to spread out the workload for a longer period. It can take some of the pressure off both you and your student.
The fantastic thing about your choice to homeschool and work at the same time is that there is flexibility and there are a wide variety of families who follow this path. This is also one of the most challenging things, as there is no one-size-fits-all answer. You must try something, adjust, and try again. When you are feeling overwhelmed, and you will, just remember why you chose this path and think of how it is benefiting your family’s needs at this time. It’s hard, but you can do hard things and it is worth it!
The Live While Learning Collective 