Homeschooling While Working Full-Time: How To Make It Work!

As I prepare to take a break from my corporate career, I’ve been reflecting on my experience homeschooling while working a full-time job. I’ve been thinking about how our homeschool will look now that I will have more flexibility with our schedule. I won’t sugarcoat it—homeschooling while working 40 hours a week was tough at times. There was definitely a learning curve in balancing it all. Despite the challenges, I’m grateful for the experience because it taught me valuable lessons about managing our learning time. It also encouraged me to think differently and step away from trying to follow a traditional school schedule.

I know many parents dream of homeschooling, but the idea of balancing it with work can feel overwhelming. If leaving your 9-to-5 isn’t an option but you still desire to homeschool, I’m here to share how we made it work. By addressing common concerns and offering practical advice, I hope to ease your worries and show you that homeschooling while working is possible. Let’s make your homeschooling dream a reality for your family too!

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Quality Education Doesn’t Require a Traditional School Schedule

A common concern I get from others about homeschooling is about the amount of hours we spend learning. Many people ask me if my children are getting enough education if we’re not doing a traditional full-day school schedule. While traditional schools have longer days, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re better. I think it’s important to focus more on the quality of the education and not the quantity.

Studies show that elementary-aged children need about 1-3 hours of formal instruction a day, while older children may need about 3-4 hours. Traditional school schedules include time for transitions, interruptions and managing larger groups. Traditional schools are also teaching to the group as a whole rather than one-on-one.

Homeschooling on the other hand, allows for dedicated, focused learning. Instead of rushing through subjects, homeschooling allows children to fully grasp concepts before moving on. It also gives them the freedom to explore their interests without the pressure of rushing to the next lesson. This focused learning time often leads to a deeper, more meaningful education in less time than a traditional school day.

However, if you’re still concerned that maybe you won’t be able to dedicate enough time or fit everything in, here are some tips to help set you up for success and keep you on track!

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Creating a Schedule that Works for You

First, a bit of tough love: I truly believe that you can and will make time for what matters most to you. It may mean you need to sacrifice watching your favorite TV shows every night or scrolling on social media, but remember that these sacrifices will give you something so much more fulfilling.

Take a very honest look at your schedule and see what you could adjust to fit in homeschooling slots. One of the joys of homeschooling is that it doesn’t have to fit into a normal school week/schedule. There are so many options to consider to make it work. Here are some tips to finding the time to homeschool and creating a plan that works for you and your family:

• Check the Requirements: Check the laws in your state/country to see if there is a minimum amount of daily hours of instruction required. This will help you make sure you are meeting the requirements. Once you’ve checked the legal requirements, the next step is deciding how much time you can dedicate to learning each week. While every family and child is different, here’s an idea of the amount of formal instruction per day by level:
  • Early grades (K-2): 1-2 hours
  • Elementary (3rd-6th): 2-3 hours
  • Middle & High School: 3-5 hours

• Prioritize Your Tasks: When you’re juggling work, school, and everything else in life, it can definitely feel overwhelming. A good place to start is by writing down your top priorities. What matters most right now? What can you adjust or even remove from your schedule? By narrowing your focus, you’ll be able to channel your time and energy into what truly matters.
• Look into Flexible Work Arrangements:  If possible, you can try to explore options to create a more flexible schedule that allows you to more easily balance both responsibilities. This could be working from home, working a reduced schedule or asking for more flexibility in the times you work. For example, my employer allowed me to take a three hour lunch break when I would teach our core subjects. 

• Coordinate Schedules with Your Partner or Family: Work together to create a flexible schedule that allows both parents or family members to share in the teaching/looking after children. If possible, sync your work hours so that one of you can be available to teach or guide learning during the day. This way, you can balance out the homeschooling duties and make it work as a team.

• Take Advantage of Family Subjects: Save precious time in your day by teaching subjects family-style! Subjects like Social Studies, Science, Art, Music and more can be taught together as a family with all grade levels. Not only can this save you time from having to teach each child individually but it also allows for more fun and opportunities for older children to teach the younger ones.

• Focus on Consistency, Not Perfection: It can be easy to get stuck in a cycle of comparison to the traditional school system as that is what most people know. But try to remember that homeschooling focuses on quality, not quantity. Even if you don’t get to everything you planned in one day, consistency is key! Focus on quality lessons and learning with your child and continue to make progress everyday. Consistency is better than perfection!

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Choosing Easy-to-Use Curriculum & Materials

When it comes to curriculum and materials, there are a few things you can do to help set you up for success and to avoid becoming overwhelmed with the planning and preparation each week.  

• Consider Choosing an ‘Open and Go’ Curriculum: ‘Open and go’ curriculums cover the planning so you can focus on teaching. Currently, we use The Good and the Beautiful for our Language Arts, Math and Science curriculums and we love it. As a working parent, the ‘open and go’ approach was a life saver as there is very little planning and preparation involved. 

• Plan and Prepare Your Materials and Activities in Advance: Preparing in advance can help you stay on track and avoid having to cancel or change your plan last minute. Whether you prefer planning monthly,  quarterly,  bi-yearly or for the entire year, set aside a day (or a few days!) to gather and buy all the materials you need in advance and organize them. This way, no matter what happens in your week, you will already have everything you need. 

• Take Advantage of Family Time and Weekends: Turn your family outings into learning opportunities by going to the zoo or aquarium, going on a hike, or visiting a local museum or historical site! There are so many ways to turn daily activities into a learning experience.

• Remember Education is More Than Curriculum and Academics:  Children learn many essential life skills by doing real-world activities like cooking, budgeting, gardening and more! Time spent reading, discussing ideas or exploring their own interests (such as arts or sports) also contribute to a well-rounded education. 

For fun and easy lesson and activity ideas, check out our Free Printables page!

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Encouraging Independent Learning While You Work

One of the challenges with homeschooling while working full-time is what to do with your children while you work. This will look different for each family because it depends on different factors – your child’s age, how many hours you work, when you work, and whether you work from home or in an office. 

• Create a Dedicated Learning Space: to encourage focus and routine. This could be a dedicated room but it can also be a desk or table that you use regularly for homeschooling. This simply a place where your child knows that when they sit down, it’s time for learning. (For more tips on homeschool spaces, check out our post: ENTER POST LINK!)

• Encourage Responsibility and Ownership: to help kids learn to take initiative in their learning. You can help them with this by creating a checklist of tasks or their own personal ‘morning menu’ for them to work on while you are working.  

• Assign Self-Led Activities: Activities such as reading, handwriting or worksheets can often be done independently, depending on your child’s age. For example, my children have a list of ‘homework’ to complete every day on their own. These activities encourage independent learning and keep them busy with meaningful work while I am working:
  • Practice worksheet from their math, language arts and/or handwriting curriculum
  • Typing practice 
  • French Language practice 
  • One chapter from their independent reading book
  • 30 minutes of outside play
• Incorporate Independent or Self-Paced Learning Programs: There are many online curricula and resources available that allow your child to learn without you having to teach them directly. These can be particularly useful for electives or interest-based subjects. This approach can foster independence while freeing up your time to focus on other core subjects with your child.

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Balancing Work, Homeschooling & Life: How to Make it All Possible

Balancing work, homeschooling, and life isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely possible. As a homeschooling parent with a full-time job, it can feel like you’re juggling a lot, and at times, it might feel overwhelming. But with intention, thoughtful planning, and a lot of flexibility, you can make it work.  Every family’s balance will look different, and that’s okay! Here are a few final tips to help make that balancing act a bit easier:

• Set Boundaries: Once you’ve set your priorities and dedicated working and homeschool times, it’s important to set boundaries as much as possible and stick to them. Avoid working overtime or delaying your homeschool planning/preparation. This will help you stay organized and on track.

• Be Flexible:  With that said, also remember that life happens and it’s important to stay flexible when something does occur that throws you off course. Flexibility allows you to find what works best for your family. If something isn’t working, make the changes you need to keep moving forward.

• Ask for Help and Support:  Whether is a family member, friend, homeschool co-op or hired help, ask for support when needed. While this could be actually teaching your children, it can also be watching them while you work or helping with other tasks around your house so you can focus on teaching your children. You can also find emotional support and advice through online homeschool communities.

• Make time for rest, self care and fun!: Finally, make sure that you’re also setting time aside for taking care of yourself. Dedicate time for you and your children to rest and have fun! One of the beauties of homeschooling is spending more time with our children and making great memories. 

Homeschooling while working full-time is not always easy. However, I can say from experience that, with some planning, flexibility, and a bit of grace, it is possible. Whether you’re just starting or already juggling both, remember that every family’s journey looks different—and that’s perfectly okay. The rewards for both you and your children are more than worth it.

The key is understanding that quality doesn’t have to come with a traditional schedule. By focusing on what’s most important, creating a schedule that works for you, and embracing the flexibility that homeschooling offers, you can make it all come together. 

And above all, be gentle with yourself. There will be tough days, but consistency is what will keep you moving forward, not perfection. Reach out for help when needed, and don’t forget to make time for rest and fun. You’re doing something amazing, and with a little intention, you can make this homeschooling journey work for you and your family.

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Share Your Experience

We’d love to hear about your experience balancing homeschool and working! Share your experiences and any tips you have in the comments below or tag us on Instagram using @mightylittlemindsblog!

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Additional Resources

Looking for more helpful tips on homeschooling? Check out our Homeschooling 101 page!