While a home schooling mom’s day is filled with numerous lesson plans, she often still desires to work at home to help out with the family’s finances.  As a home schooling mom who also works from home, other home schooling moms seeking suggestions regarding how to manage a home, a school, and a business successfully without going insane often approach me.  It can be done with good organizational skills and proper time management. 

            Schedule In Advance:

            One of the best gifts a home schooling mom who also works at home can receive or give to herself is a day planner.  The best day planner will provide a week at a glance along with an hourly breakdown, preferable into15 minute increments. At least one week ahead of time, sit down and calendar in the times you will devote to your children’s education and their extracurricular activities.  Block them off immediately, as their education is your first priority.  Next, calendar in your business hours.  Always carry your day planner with you even when you leave the home.  When working from home and home schooling, you have to stay on top of your schedule.  A good day planner will help you do so successfully.

            Be Prepared:

            Organizing a home, creating, and implementing lesson plans are full time jobs all by themselves.  So, when you add a home business into the day, you must be organized and prepared to keep the day running smoothly. 

a.       Have your lesson plans ready to go in advance of your day.  Don’t wait until the school day begins to create your child’s educational goals.  Purchasing curriculums that create the lesson plans for you will save on preparation time.

b.      When schooling more than one age group, keep your lesson plans from year to year.  You will appreciate having them on file.

c.       Home schooled students do expect regular meal times and snacks to not go unnoticed! Plan your meals in advance and grocery shop accordingly.  Keep daytime meals and snacks simple.

d.      When preparing meals, allow for leftovers.  Utilize your microwave oven, crock pot, and food steamer. You will enjoy the extra family and business time this provides.

Delegate:

As moms we strive to meet home and family demands independently. When working from home, you must be open and willing to delegate some of the simple and repetitive tasks that can consume your day.

a.        Allow older siblings to help with lunch preparation. If all the ingredients are handy and available, most children can easily prepare a simple sandwich.

b.        Always have simple nutritious snacks on hand even the youngest can independently retrieve with permission.

c.        Create an age appropriate chore list for all family members, so housework is not your primary responsibility.  This will free up time and allow you to spend time working your business without household chores interrupting your business hours.

d.        Enlist the help of older children to help with some of the younger children’s schoolwork such as calling out spelling words, math flash cards, or listening to them read aloud. Older siblings typically enjoy being the “teacher” and the younger sibling usually enjoys the attention he receives at the same time.  It’s a win-win scenario.  Delegating simple educational assignments like this will allow the school bell to ring a little earlier and give you more time to work your business at home.

Control Interruptions:

The reality of our home schooling environment is that it is also our home, and it is filled with many distractions.  You must control these distractions or you will never finish school and have time to work your business.

a.        Control the phone!  Turn off the ringer and let all your calls go to voice mail until school time is done.  Entertaining unscheduled phone calls will only delay your school day and ultimately make you tardy for work.

b.        Hold firm to a No TV, No Computer, No Video Game rule until school is completely done by all students in the home.  These distractions are difficult to pull the students away from even after recess time.

c.        Hold firm to school hours, especially starting times. Allowing the kids to sleep late without justification will delay your working hours.

d.        Remember the day planner suggestion?  Have your calendar handy and stay in control of your school and workday. Frequently, as stay at home moms, we are perceived by friends/family as being readily available for unscheduled play dates and even unexpected childcare services.  Politely decline these requests by reminding them that you will be working during the requested time.  Eventually, they will learn to respect your time by scheduling in advance. 

Home schooling your children and working from home can be done.  Many mothers are achieving great success.

© 2005 Elizabeth Champagne, M.A., R.D. All rights reserved, but you may pass this along provided the following message is included in its entirety: "Liz Champagne is a Registered Dietitian and stay-at-home/home schooling mom of 3 sons. She has been working at home since July 2001. To learn more about how she can help you , visit her site http://www.home4kids.com