Working as a Homeschool Mom
Part 1: Logistical and Time Management Tips
"I long for rest. I have not even the courage to struggle on. I feel the need of quiet reflection to think of salvation, which the complications of this world have made me neglect” (St. Zélie Martin).
Homeschooling is hard. Motherhood is hard. Being in business is hard.
Another way to look at those three things, of course, is that they’re sanctifying.
If God is calling you to homeschool and to work outside of your motherhood and home education, then it’s part of your path to holiness - at least for as long as He’s calling you to that life. Fortunately, He will never leave you to do this work alone. His guidance and grace are always on offer. He also loves to put people in our lives who can help us, too!
In that vein, I recently decided to reach out to some women who have been navigating the working homeschool mom life for a while and have wisdom to offer. Here’s what they had to say.
Multitasking Doesn’t Work
Multiple studies have found that multitasking is an ineffective way to do just about anything. Multiple homeschooling moms have, too!
“A few years ago, I stopped trying to multitask!” says Shannon Wendt, owner of ChewsLife, author, and 17-year homeschooling veteran. “I used to do work while the kids worked on schoolwork, but then every normal question from them became a distraction from what I fooled myself into thinking was my ‘real work.’”
Instead, Wendt organizes her time into school-time blocks and work-time blocks. This approach helps minimize distractions and gives her the flexibility to reshuffle when something unexpected happens.
“I had to face the hard truth that when I’m ‘multitasking’ I’m really just doing two things poorly at the same time,” she said, “and that everyone is much better served when I focus on one thing, exclude the rest, finish it, and then take on the next task.”
Megan Kreft, PA-C, a mother of three and a restorative reproductive health physician assistant with MyCatholicDoctor, agrees: “I have found that setting clear boundaries around designated work times is essential. It is easier to maintain that distinction when I am actively seeing patients via telehealth, as those moments feel clearly defined. However, it can be more difficult when completing administrative tasks. … When I intentionally schedule specific blocks of time for these responsibilities, I am much more successful in preserving the work-life balance that is important to our family.”
Another time-blocker is Jenny Bales, a mother of four, a 19-year homeschool veteran, and founder of Heart of a Mother, a homeschool consultancy. She says, “I have always had set hours where I work on business things and set hours when we homeschool, even though those hours have changed drastically in each season.”
On the other side of the coin is Ginny Kochis, author and founder of Quirky Catholic Kids, who homeschooled her three children from 2013 to 2021. She says that “for a while, we just sort of flew by the seat of our pants, and everything worked out fine.” (As a “quirky Catholic” mom myself — I have ADHD — I can confirm that sometimes God just works with what you’re able to give Him!)
Setting Priorities
Before establishing time blocks, it’s important to decide what your priorities are and what time of day you are most productive. Emily Brown, mom of seven and owner of Fiat Life Coaching and Homeschool Better Together, says for her, “It’s about prioritizing time with my kids and the Lord first thing in the morning, dedicating my first best thoughts and energy to them. After that, I carve out time for clients and business-related tasks … trusting that God will provide the time for the work He wants me to get done.” This approach helps keep her focused on the task at hand.
“I’m always mom first, life coach next, business owner third,” she adds.
Similarly, Bales says, “I’m a recovering perfectionist, so I know I can always choose to do more in either area. But if I do not decide which things to leave undone, my family and I suffer … I have limits if I want to find peace in our days and pass that along to my children.” So, she prayerfully prioritizes the essentials and lets go of the rest. She also makes sure to prioritize her husband in the evenings.
For Sonia Trujillo, PE, CFM, entrepreneurship became the way she could prioritize her family and homeschool. She started homeschooling when her first child started kindergarten while she was working full time as an engineer. They used a Catholic hybrid program in which her daughter received instruction twice per week, and she and her husband taught her after work and on Saturdays.
“Over time,” Trujillo says, “I felt like I was doing everything halfway. This was an internal struggle for me, because I’ve always felt inspired by St. John Paul II’s invitation to reject mediocrity and do our best work. That’s when I realized I couldn’t fully pursue a traditional engineering career and homeschool well at the same time and feel at peace with it.” So, she prioritized homeschooling and became a financial planner.
Michele Miller works a 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. job in finance from home, but has been able to juggle a traditional job with homeschooling by giving herself grace. “You'll find that kids are understanding, especially when they see you so busy. There have been many times I received a hug from them because they knew that the day was bad for me. It made all the difference, and they say they are grateful that I homeschool them, even if it can be hard sometimes.” As her children get older and more independent, it’s easier to manage everything on her plate.
Time-Management Tips From Working Homeschool Moms
Bullet journaling helps Gomez be more intentional with her time. “Keeping my goals, ideas, and daily tasks written out and visible helps me stay organized, focused, and accountable.”
Bales keeps a spreadsheet with deadlines and assigns repeating tasks to specific days of the week to help organize her time and responsibilities.
Assign blocks of time to each activity, whether it’s business, homeschool, or homemaking tasks.
Trujillo meal preps on the weekends to simplify weeknights. However, she and her family “make sure Sundays are free of obligations so that we spend them with God and with each other.”
Gomez says there are nights when she works after the children are asleep, but points out that rest is important and makes sure those nights aren’t “a constant habit.”
Kochis and Trujillo have both found providers through Catholic and Christian businesswoman communities, including, Kochis notes, the Catholic Women in Business Facebook group.
Higgins says that while she doesn’t always succeed, she tries to avoid overcommitting herself.
Miller and Brown both say their older children play with their younger siblings and/or help them with their schoolwork — a win-win-win all around!
Bales has a morning routine, a lunch routine, a dinner routine, and an evening routine. She makes her detailed homeschooling plans during the summer and sets daily chores. With this approach, the routines “don’t take much thought” — and it’s easier to get back on track when something unexpected happens.
Bales also sets limits on how much her family is out of the house each week in order to protect homeschool and work time.
Outsource What You Can
“Outsourcing is the greatest lesson I’ve learned on this journey of growing a family alongside a business!” Wendt says. “It’s been the key to my success as a mom and a business owner.” In fact, her first goal after starting her business was to make $200 per month so she could hire a house cleaner once a month. “Since then, every step of the way, I’ve been clear about the work in my home and my business that only I can do and the kind of work I love doing and want to keep doing, and I’ve outsourced pretty much everything else.”
Over the years, Wendt has learned how to hire the right people and build accountability systems. She now leads a team of almost 40 people, and she only works part time.
You don’t need to own a company of this size to benefit from outsourcing. Luisa Gomez, mom of three and owner of Loving Threads, says that “even small forms of help, such as assistance with household tasks, can make a meaningful difference, and I’m learning to discern when support would allow me to be more present and effective in both homeschooling and work.”
Brown outsources math to her husband and other teachers and has hired her teenagers to help with her business as it has grown. Trujillo is outsourcing some Algebra I instruction, which she said was humbling, since she’s an engineer, “and math is my subject.” Miller says that she will probably outsource some instruction when her oldest enters high school.
Formal outsourcing is also not the only way to find help. Kreft’s mother-in-law cares for her children for about a day and a half each week, giving Kreft time to see patients. Lisa Higgins, also a physician assistant, receives help from her mother with religion, reading, and history instruction. I frequently ask my mother, a teacher, for advice and resources!
The moms I spoke with for this article were a wealth of information. Stay tuned for part 2, all about building community and centering your homeschool — and your work — on Christ.
Author’s Note: Thank you to Catholic Heritage Curricula for connecting me with two of the moms featured in this article!
If you are working and homeschooling, join me in my new Facebook group, Catholic Working Homeschool Moms. We are all learning from and encouraging each other!
Taryn DeLong, co-president of Catholic Women in Business, co-wrote Holy Ambition: Thriving as a Catholic Woman at Work and at Home (Ave Maria Press) to help women hear and follow God’s unique calling for their life. Following her own calling, she currently spends much of her time caring for and homeschooling her two daughters.
Taryn studied psychology and education at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. Before becoming a mother, she worked in university advancement and then B2B editing.
Since Taryn was a child, she’s called the Raleigh area home, and she and her husband are now raising their family in a small Raleigh suburb. In addition to supporting Catholic women, she's passionate about inclusion of people with disabilities in life, work, and (most importantly) the Church. She also enjoys reading and playing the piano.
Connect with Taryn on Instagram, Facebook (and her Facebook group for Catholic working homeschool moms), LinkedIn, her blog, and Substack.
