How I am Navigating Online Learning as a Full Time Working Mom

Last week, in an effort to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, many districts throughout the country announced school closures for grades K-12. For us here in Washington State, the announcement from our Governor was that schools would be closed through April 24. As in six weeks of no school. My district had already been closed over a week so we are looking at over seven weeks of school closure. Moms across America, I know we all had the same immediate reaction;

What are we going to do?!

Regardless of stay at home mom, full time working mom or somewhere in-between, it hit us all and it hit us hard. Of course our number one priority is the health and safety of our children. Of course we want to protect them at all costs. But am I a monster of a mom for also wondering how the heck we are supposed to not only hang onto our day jobs but now also have our kids home 24/7 and ensure they don’t just sit on an iPad all day?

I know this hit us all in different ways. Many parents have hourly jobs that don’t qualify into a telecommuting option. When we don’t work, we don’t get paid. My husband and I both have office type jobs that we can technically telecommute into. However, as many of us have discovered over the past week or days, working from home with kids isn’t exactly easy. Telecommuting means we have the same responsibilities, the same meetings, the same deliverables. It doesn’t mean we are now just home and able to put 100% of our focus into ensuring the kids are still being productive humans despite not being in school.

For many of us full time working moms, we have just been thrown yet another challenge to tackle and balance. As I continue navigating how to balance my full day of work with also sort of being thrown into home-schooling my kids, I have already learned some tips I hope can be helpful to you.

Create a schedule– This is not an easy task and may change daily depending on your work schedule, the ages of your kids and other variables. The plan I have is pretty detailed and includes different websites provided by our school district for my kids to go to for multiple subjects.

Include breaks in the schedule– Think about a normal day for your child at school. They are not doing class work from 9-3. Depending on the ages of your kids, build in time for them to run around outside, to have free play and to just be a kid.

Let your kids help with their learning plan– When putting together the schedule, I ask them things like what day they want to do Science or Social Studies. Every day will include subjects like Math, Reading and Writing but I also let them be a part in figuring out what online resources they want to use from day to day.

Set Rules– We have made it clear to our kids that mom and dad are working during the day and that means they need to be as well. We provide plenty of breaks but we are not allowing this pause in school to be a pause from learning. It is not an early summer break in our house.

Have set work stations- If possible, ensure each member of you household, parents and students, have a set workstation. This can help the house to look less chaotic if you each have your own area. It can also ensure the kids have what they need (sharpened pencils, worksheets, chargers etc) without frantically figuring it out each day.

Stagger your hours if possible– Can you wake up an hour or so earlier to get extra work done before the kids wake up? Maybe you and your husband decide on “shifts” to conquer your career and parenting. My husband has been starting his day at about 5am so he is typically done in the early afternoon. I then help a bit more with morning kid needs and leave it to him when it comes to the afternoon things. It also helps so we are out of each other’s way if possible. This is necessary for my sanity. Figure out a plan that can work best for your family to also ensure you are still engaged and productive at work.

Utilize your village– Not in the physical sense since the reason for cancellations is so we can hunker down and not be around people unless absolutely necessary. But reach out to your friends not only for your sanity but also to share resources for online learning. My friends and I all shared our plans and while they are each unique to our own family needs, it’s nice to pull things in order to ensure my kids have a variety of resources.

Get dressed each morning– Our daily schedule includes a morning routine of brushing teeth, cleaning rooms and getting dressed. Comfy clothes are ok but staying in pajamas all day is not. Same goes for us as parents. I wake up, shower and get ready like I would any other day. But maybe utilizing joggers and yoga pants versus dress pants and blazers. I promise this will help get your day off to a stronger start.

Set boundaries– One of the challenges with telecommuting is you are at your “office” all day every day. Try to set working hours just as you would have if you were in an actual office. I make sure to fully shut down my work computer each night and tuck it away so it’s not constantly staring at me.

Be realistic– There are going to be times when you are on a call and your kids break out in a fight or need help with a math problem. You are less likely to completely lose your mind if you just plan on those things happening. You are not alone in this. Many of your colleagues will be facing the same challenge and we need to be understanding of that with not only ourselves but with others.

Assess each day-What went well? What could have gone better? Don’t be afraid to then shift the plan from day to day. I know for us, each day literally looks a bit different. This is really hard for my Type A personality but I simply have no choice.

Lean into us here at All Mom Does. We can be your online community for encouragement, resources, tips and tricks. This is a unique and crazy time but remember, you are not alone!