Working and homeschooling your child in Australia is not only possible, but also manageable. I will share some ways that I have managed to work part-time and homeschool with three children and inspire you to be able to do the same.
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I understand that many families need at least two incomes (either both full time or one part time) to survive in this economy! As a family with our fourth child on the way and a mortgage, we are in the same boat.
When it came time for us to decide whether or not we could homeschool from a financial standpoint, I had to work for some time before having my fourth baby.
It is not only possible, but completely manageable to work and homeschool your children – I am proof! And so are so many other parents.
In this blog, I will show you how you can:
- Find a suitable routine that allows for time for you to work and time to complete all homeschool work
- Manage your schedule so that it does not feel overwhelming, but peaceful
- Find a suitable curriculum or homeschool plan that works for your family
Find a suitable routine that allows time for work and homeschooling
When it comes to working and homeschooling simultaneously, having a routine is essential.
Let me paint the picture of what it looked like for us for 8 months.
I worked three days a week at my church as the Kids Church Director. I worked on Sundays and Tuesdays at church and could work from home on Wednesdays.
Thankfully there was a lot of flexibility with the job. That is the first thing you need – flexibility. If you have a job that requires you to be at the office/on site for more than one day during the week, your homeschooling will take a hit. Unless you are able to find care for your child/ren and the carers are able to do the homeschooling, then that works perfectly!
On Tuesdays, my in-laws looked after my children while I worked. On Wednesdays, I was able to fit in my work in the afternoons after our morning of homeschooling was complete.
The beautiful thing about homeschooling is that you can often fit all your homeschool work in four days. So if you need to work for one day during the week, you have the freedom to do so.
We have a flexible but expected routine of completing all of our homeschool work in the mornings, so that the afternoons are free for me to work and for the kids to play/do extra-curricular activities.
The point of this is, you need to find a suitable routine that works for you. But make sure that the whole family knows what is expected and everyone is on board with it. This is key to thriving while working and homeschooling.
Manage your schedule so that it feels peaceful
Overwhelm is such a common feeling for us mamas. We are so quick to say yes to everything, including our own too long of a to-do list.
I love helping mamas simplify their lives because this means more of a peaceful and joyful life. You can find that while working and homeschooling too! It comes with a bit of planning and tweaking, but I can assure you, it’s worth it when it means a more peaceful, rhythmic life.
One way I like to plan our week is by having at least two home days. This means we are at home all day for at least two days a week. These days are for cleaning the house, preparing meals and baked goods, working and giving my children lots of time to play.
If we are out most days during the week, it feels overwhelming and I can’t seem to stay on top of housework, work and homeschool. So, for our family to thrive, we have at least two home days. Then the other three days are for my work, our homeschool co-op, catching up with friends and swimming and ballet lessons.
When you have a weekly schedule or rhythm that works for you in your season, then your life will feel much more peaceful and sustainable.
My hot tip would be to say no to commitments more than you would say yes. It seems selfish, but as a working, homeschooling parent, you are responsible for protecting your schedule. It makes a world of a difference when the mother of the family is operating from a place of peace and not overwhelm.
Find a homeschool curriculum or homeschool plan that works for you
There are so many great homeschool curriculums out there. We use My Homeschool, for so many reasons. One of them being that it is a very well organised and manageable curriculum for us. Everything is done for you. All you need to do is teach the content, with no major preparation required. The lessons are also really short, which makes our homeschool time more enjoyable.
For you, you may also need a curriculum that is easy to follow and requires minimal preparation on your part. If you work, then I highly suggest following a curriculum. You can definitely choose to go the non-curriculum route, but it takes more preparation and requires you to be more vigilant in sticking to the Australian syllabus. That’s just my take, although I’ve never experienced that personally.
If you choose to not follow a curriculum, then that’s fine too! I would simply suggest buying a detailed planner and mapping out each term’s content for your child. If you do all the planning in advance, it saves you from stressing out the weekend before because you have not compiled together all of your child’s homeschool content for that week.
Here is a wonderful homeschool planner that I have used myself.
Final thoughts
I hope I have painted a clear picture on what working and homeschooling can look like for you in the best way. I would like to acknowledge that every family situation and dynamic looks different, so you have to do what works best for your family.
If you are adamant you would like to homeschool, but need to work simultaneously, I am proof that, with some planning and scheduling, you can make it work and it can be totally manageable and dare I say, peaceful, for your family.
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If you work and homeschool, what has been some gamechangers for you?
If you are still on the fence about working and homeschooling, what are your hesitations?
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