Free Work-From-Home Homeschool Mom Survival Pack
Published:
August 11, 2020
Contributor:
Sarita Harbour
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.
When you’re a work-from-home (WFH) homeschool mom, the rewards are many. You get to spend time with your children to share your family’s values. You can shape their education. At the same time, you model a strong work ethic to provide for your family, whether as an employee or a business owner.
Yet working from home and homeschooling also has some challenges – believe me! Over the past seven years, I’ve been working from home and homeschooling my two youngest children. And I’ve worked hard to create schedules, routines, shortcuts and hacks to juggle my WFH homeschool mom life.
In today’s world, I know there are more moms working from home and homeschooling than ever before. And working homeschool moms need encouragement and help! That’s why I created my free WFH Homeschool Mom Survival Pack. You’ll find a link for it down at the bottom of this post.
But first, here are a few tips to help you start out strong and get organized if you are a new work-from-home homeschool mom.
A Work From Home Homeschool Mom Nightly Routine
Start planning for your day the night before. See what’s coming up on your work and homeschool agenda for tomorrow. This will help you focus on what you need to do to get prepared. Your nightly routine could include things like
- noting tomorrow’s webinars, Zoom meetings, and work deadlines
- setting out clean business clothes (for your top half, at least!) for any videoconferencing meetings
- organizing tomorrow’s homeschool assignments
- laying out tomorrow’s clothes for younger children
- setting the timer on your coffee maker!
Just 10 minutes of prep each evening helps reduce morning stress as a work from home homeschool mom.
MM Quiet Time Activity Boxes
Wondering what the “MM” stands for? It’s “Mom’s Meetings!”
From about the age of three, I discovered that my children would play quietly and independently for 30 minutes or longer with these homemade boxes of activities. And that was often all the time I needed to complete a Zoom meeting, phone call, or webinar.
It’s easy to create your own MM Quiet Time Boxes. Include age-appropriate supplies, toys, or crafts in each child’s box. Black construction paper with sparkle gel pens, Rubix cubes, Maze Books, crayons, Adventures in Odyssey CDs and special coloring books were popular with my girls.
Use these Quiet Time Boxes (the girls just decorated old shoeboxes with stickers for theirs) ONLY when you have at-home online meetings or phone calls/interviews. That way your kids’ know they’re special. And they’ll look forward to your work calls instead of crawling all over you when you’re trying to talk to clients, customers, or co-workers.
(Note: we homeschool off the grid and don’t watch television. If we did, I’d keep a favorite DVD in the Quiet Time Boxes as well.)
Plan Easy “Serve Yourself” Breakfasts
I’ve found over the years that the way our mornings begin sets the tone for the rest of our homeschool day. So setting myself up for success in the mornings makes the whole day go smoother.
One easy fix I found early on was planning easy breakfasts the kids could get themselves. While I was getting the baby or toddler ready for the day, my preschooler and older children were getting their own muffins, yogurt, or fruit. And they were learning independence and an important life skill too.
With the right tools, prayer, and a little determination, I know you’ll succeed as a WFH homeschool mom.
