I don’t normally do “story time” on this blog, but this question comes up a lot so I thought I’d address it. Is homeschooling possible when both parents work? It should go without saying, but I can only speak to my situation. There are as many work situations as there are people, so just take my advice with a handful of salt and the knowledge that whatever you’ve got going on is sure to be different. With that said, let’s hope something I say is helpful.
My Situation for Context
My husband works anywhere from 60 to 70 plus hours a week at a high-stress job. That means I generally do a lot of solo parenting. My husband is up and at work before me and the kids wake up. And I wake up at 5 am. He also goes to bed before us. So I usually get all three kids ready for bed by myself. And a lot of the time, I’m bringing all three kids to extracurricular activities. So when it comes to taking care of the kids and home management, that’s about 98% on me. I’m the stay-at-home parent. So how does that work?
1) Share Values with Your Partner
My husband and I both have financial goals we are working towards and we both believe that homeschooling is the best education we can offer our children. That is why we both do what we do. In my opinion, sharing values with your partner is the very foundation for homeschooling when both parents work.
2) Set Work Priorities
Yes, both parents can work. But somebody has to prioritise homeschooling over outside work. Both parents cannot simultaneously prioritise outside work. If you are the parent whose first priority is homeschooling and have another job, you just have to find a way to make your work fit around your teaching job. It doesn’t work the other way around. You should have non-negotiables set for your home school. For me, that’s in terms of hours. From the hours of 9 am to 3 pm, my role is teacher. I do not try to do other work unless the kids are on a short break and I have a few minutes to do something small. But when the timer goes off, I drop what I’m doing and we go back to work. School work that is.
3) Get Creative
So when exactly do I work? That actually depends on my husband’s calendar. I founded my own consulting firm so I could work with whom I wanted, when I wanted and charge what I want. Sounds ideal, but when you’re still in your scrappy start-up phase with one employee, you’re the CEO, the consultant AND you’re doing all of the marketing work. It’s an insane workload.
Insane maybe, but doable. The bulk of the work can be done on my own time, but scheduling a one-on-one call with a client requires my husband having the time off so he can take care of the kids. I do a lot of content marketing for my consulting firm because it lands me the most leads. And that’s all stuff that can be interrupted if somebody needs me for something. But I have learned to work very efficiently, so if I have time with my laptop you can bet I’m not scrolling on social media. And by charging a premium for my time, I make sure that the time spent with a client is worth it for everyone.
4) Communication & Mutual Respect
Homeschooling when both parents work requires communication and mutual respect for your partner’s time and commitments. I know that my husband is not a machine and needs time to unwind when he’s home. So I don’t begrudge him his little bit of free time. It’s few and far between. And he knows I need quiet time to hear myself think so I can focus on my consulting business. We help each other whenever we can.
5) Acknowledge the Season
As nice as it would be for me and my husband to have had our financial goals met before having kids, life doesn’t happen like that. And once kids come into the picture, they can’t wait. They do this weird thing called growing. Like, all of the time. So we have to find a way to make it work for us right now. But that doesn’t mean it always has to be this way. We work extra hard now so we can have more of what we want later.
6) Accept Help
My approach to help is: Accept it when it’s available, but don’t expect it. I always plan like everything is on me. Then, when it works out that the load is lighter, I take advantage of it. Currently, my help consists of a grandmother taking her granddaughter to a dance class two nights a week and, recently, watching the two youngest during the oldest’s violin lesson. My husband watches the two youngest kids twice a week – when he’s home – so I can take my oldest to a class. When he’s not home, they all tag along. Other than that, I have a dishwasher and a washing machine that are both worth their respective weights in gold. If I’m in a position to outsource more and it doesn’t take away from time with my kids, then I’m all for it.
7) Make Sacrifices
Even with a partner on board who respects your time; even with help; even with the reminder that it won’t be this way forever… homeschooling when both parents work requires sacrifices. It means family vacations are nonexistent right now. It means every bit of “free time” is accounted for, whether it’s working or resting in order to work some more. It means forcing yourself to get up early enough to exercise and meal prep healthy food because it’s the only way you have energy to get through the day. It means never binging Netflix or doom scrolling because you have something more important to work on.
Homeschooling When Both Parents Work: Is it worth it?
For us, absolutely. Entrepreneurship and business building is something I’m totally in love with. Yes, I have other hobbies and interests like reading, playing the violin with my daughter and blogging about education, homeschooling and productivity. I enjoy learning how to optimise my time and be productive so I can accomplish all the things that I enjoy. The productivity tips I share on this blog come from years of learning how to do things as efficiently as possible. All while be 100% present with my kids and loving homeschooling. I have so many ideas for projects and things that I want to do. Life is just too short to waste it being lazy and making excuses for why you can’t accomplish something.
That’s my two cents when it comes to working and homeschooling. What would you add? Or a question for a future blog post?
Keep Reading About…
Productivity tips for homeschool moms, especially the ones balancing serious extracurriculars on top of everything else: Productivity Mindset and Productivity Hacks
The best apps for staying on top of it all: 7 Productivity Apps for Homeschool Moms
And how to reset when life is in chaos: Are you an overwhelmed homeschool mom?
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