Planning to Go Back to Work When You’re Done Homeschooling? Here's What You Should Know

If you’re planning to return to work when your homeschooling days are done, now—right now—is the time to start getting ready for career reentry

 It’s the thing we all dread: That moment in the future, in two years or ten years or twenty years, when we have to sit down in front of a computer and try to figure out how to fit a decade-plus of homeschooling into our resume.

Whatever your reasons for returning to the world of work, you couldn’t have picked a less hospitable time. Moms returning to the workforce have never had it easy — a Cornell University study found that just being a mom makes you half as likely to get called for an interview than your single peers. And now, with the economic downturn and high levels of unemployment, you’re going to be competing for jobs with other unemployed people who have more current experience than you do. How, then, can a mama with a hefty, homeschool-size gap in her resume, track down a gig in this competitive climate? The key is to start preparing for your job hunt right now, well before you’re actually in the market for a new job. Homeschooling has probably helped you hone and develop all kinds of new skills, but you will have to help companies understand your value — and to do that, you’ll need to speak a language that they understand. Here’s how to set the wheels in motion for your return to the working world.

Revisit your options.

If you’ve been out of the workforce for a while, consider whether the work you left is the work you want to return to. The degree you earned two decades ago may no longer be the right fit, and making the switch to a career you’re genuinely excited about can be liberating. Not sure where your career passions lie? Think about what people always compliment you on, suggests Whitney Johnson, author of Dare, Dream, Do. That could point you toward your next career act.

Plug back in to your field.

Knowing the buzz on issues and current players in your field keeps you from seeming like an out-of-touch, out-of-the- game applicant. make a point to get back up to speed by subscribing to a major newspaper, such as The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, and any go-to journals in your field. (Bonus: This kind of reading can inspire all kinds of fun homeschool connections.)

Reconnect to your professional network.

Ideally, you’d still be in touch with old bosses and coworkers, but realistically, you’ve probably been too swamped to even think about people you once worked with. That’s okay. You can start rebuilding your network now by reaching out to old work connections (Linkedin and other social media is great for this — you can reach out without feeling as awkward as you might about a phone call or email) and considering who your new connections might be: the photographer who shoots your co-op yearbook? The marketing director at the animal shelter where you volunteer? Establish your new network, and make a point of reaching out to the people in it every few months. When you’re ready to start job-hunting, your network will already be in place.

Make the most of volunteer time. 

Volunteer work works for your resume. so be strategic with volunteer efforts, and look for opportunities that will grow your resume in the direction you want it to go — whether you’re writing a monthly newsletter, soliciting community donations, or planning a donor party, community service can boost your resume with current skills. Most career counselors advise not putting “homeschool mom” on your resume, but that doesn’t mean you can’t include volunteer projects you tackled while being a homeschool mom. Running a co-op or teaching a weekly science class for three years running is absolutely resume-worthy.

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Homeschool Makeover: Is It Possible to Homeschool and Be a Working Mom?

Lauren’s excited to go back to work—but she’s not ready to give up homeschooling her two kids. We help her find a way to have it all.

The situation

“I’m going back to work part-time, and I’m struggling with how to make our new schedule work with our homeschool life. Help!”

“I feel so lucky that I got to be a stay-at-home, homeschool mom for so many years, but it’s just not feasible for us financially anymore,” says Lauren*. Lauren has been homeschooling her 10-year-old daughter Bree and her 12-year-old son Adam their whole lives, using what she calls a “project-based, Waldorf-type method.” After twelve years, Lauren is reentering the workforce as a part-time administrative assistant — she’ll be working from home, but she’ll have firm office hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. three days a week. “Even though I don’t do a lot of hands-on instruction, I am available all the time right now,” she says. “In a few weeks, that won’t be the case.”

As usual, we asked Lauren to track her homeschool time for a couple of weeks so that we could get a clear picture of how her family’s homeschool works before she started her new job. Lauren noted that she spends a couple of hours a day with Bree doing math and readalouds (Lauren uses the Build Your Library reading list as the spine for their homeschool, but they rarely do any of the recommended activities or projects) while Adam works on his Minecraft building project for a couple of hours. After lunch, they switch, and Lauren reads and does math with Adam while Bree tackles her own project time. (Lately, she’s been making a leaf identification guide for the leaves she’s collected on family nature walks.) Lauren is very hands-on with both kids — she frequently pauses reading time to answer questions about project work as they come up. Both kids use separate science curricula three times a week. (“I try to remember to prep for labs, but sometimes we end up just watching an experiment on YouTube,” Lauren says.) Adam and Bree have riding lessons on Saturdays and attend a weekly homeschool park day once a week.

“It doesn’t sound like we do that much, but with one thing and another, we really are going until dinnertime most days and sometimes beyond,” says Lauren. “I’m just not sure how to successfully condense what we do into two days a week.”

The Plan

It’s obvious that for Lauren’s new work schedule to work, Adam and Bree will have to fill in some gaps with independent work. Since readalouds are one of Lauren’s favorite things about homeschooling, we made keeping reading together time a priority, even though Adam and Bree read well enough independently to keep up with Build Your Library’s daily reading schedule on their own. Here’s how we suggested Lauren shake up their routine to suit her new schedule:

Think university model. Most college classes meet twice a week, giving students the rest of the week to tackle assignments and pursue other interests. Since Lauren has two open weekdays for homeschooling, we suggested that she condense as much hands-on instruction and learning as possible into those two days. These two days are the days to do science experiments, tackle new math concepts, etc.—anything that requires introducing new ideas or hands-on assistance from Lauren. On the days when Lauren’s working, Adam and Bree can solve practice problems, update their science notebooks with charts and definitions, and do other solo work.

Set up a Hey Mom station. Lauren’s new job requires her to be available during her scheduled shift, so Adam and Bree can only interrupt her during working hours if there’s an emergency. We suggested setting up a whiteboard in a convenient place where the kids can jot down questions that pop up during the day. That way, nothing important gets lost.

Reconfigure readalouds. The Build Your Library curriculum has more readalouds than the family can comfortably squeeze into two mornings a week, so we looked for other places in the family schedule where readalouds might fit in. We suggested moving the literature readings to bedtime on the days when Lauren’s working. Lauren can also add a couple of extra chapters to books on the two days when she’s actively homeschooling to help them stay on track with Build Your Library’s weekly schedule.

Bundle science classes. Bree and Adam are close enough in age to tackle the same science curriculum—and sticking with a single schedule of experiments and assignments is much easier to keep up with. Since Bree and Adam are covering the same material, they can also help each other answer tough questions or understand tricky concepts while Lauren is unavailable. (We talked about the possibility of bundling Build Your Library, too, but Lauren didn’t think it would work to jump Bree up two levels and Adam has already covered the grade in between them.)

Take advantage of “dead time.” The family is in the car for a little more than an hour every weekend taking Bree and Adam to and from their weekly riding lessons. Not all the books in their curriculum are available as audiobooks, but quite a few are—and Lauren can also record the poems Bree and Adam are working on memorizing so that they can practice as they drive.

The Results

Two months into her new job, Lauren says they’ve found a rhythm that works. “We’d always homeschooled a certain way and it had always been such a happy experience, so there was a part of me that kept trying to squeeze the way we’d always done things into our new schedule. It helped so much to have someone to help me see the big picture and to recognize that we could keep the spirit of our homeschool even if we changed some things.”

Lauren says the Hey Mom board has become an essential part of their homeschool and has really helped manage her own guilt about not being available. Condensing into two days has worked even better than she expected. “I’m so impressed by how Adam and Bree have taken the reins of their education,” she says. “They were definitely ready for this even if I wasn’t.” 

This homeschool makeover was originally published in the fall 2016 issue of HSL. *Last names omitted for online publication.

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Should You Quit Your Job to Homeschool?

There are pros and cons to giving your full attention to homeschooling — here are three questions you should ask before you pull the plug on outside work.

Cassie* didn’t love her job as an insurance underwriter, but she did love homeschooling her three kids — and her full-time job made homeschooling a lot more challenging. Like so many homeschool parents, she was faced with a big decision: Would it be better to quit her job so she could focus on homeschooling?

Allyson* had the same question: She’d become a reluctant COVID homeschooler, and with her software tech job online, she was overwhelmed with keeping the kids, the house, and her career running. Something had to give. She loved her job and had worked hard to move up in her career, but maybe quitting was the smart option.

There’s no right answer to this question: You can be a great homeschool mom whether you have a job or not. But leaving a job is a big decision, and it’s one that you should make thinking about what you need and want as much as what your family needs. These three questions will help you figure out whether quitting is possible, practical, and part of your happiest life.

Can you afford it?

Of course we can’t predict the future — but we can focus on the parts of our budget that we can control, says Manisha Thakor, director of wealth strategies for women at the BAM Alliance, a community of wealth management advisers. Ideally, you should have enough money coming in to be able to afford the basics without falling behind on bills or relying on credit cards. (Don’t forget health insurance costs may change, and include this in your calculations.) If this sounds impossible without a full-time job, don’t panic: Most people can afford to live more frugally than they do, and giving up little luxuries is often an essential part of reducing your family budget. Consider places you can cut expenses from the small (changing your insurance or packing a lunch) to bigger ones (downsizing your house or getting rid of your second car). You might also want to consider a non-job-moneymaker that you can pick up when you need to, such as Airbnb-ing an extra bedroom, baby-sitting for friends, or delivering for a grocery or restaurant service. Thakor recommends having a six-month cushion for living expenses before you quit your job, but you can never tell when your emergency fund might get hit by an actual emergency.

If cutting back seems like it would make you miserable, that’s good information to have, says Thakor. Now may not be the right time to call quits on your career — it may make more sense to talk to your boss about a more flexible schedule.

How do you deal with the resume gap?

Many homeschool parents will need or want to go back to work eventually — and that means you need to keep your resume in mind even if you’re taking a break from your career.

“A gap in your resume can be a positive if you can show that you engaged in experiences that expanded your skillset,” says career coach Kathy Carino. It can be a bigger challenge in some fields, though, so you need to know if yours is one of them. Carino recommends looking around the office: Are there women who’ve left for family reasons and returned to work? Are there women with kids who hold important positions? How many women older than 40 has your company hired over the last few years? If you don’t care about returning to this particular job, just to a decent position, the path to your return may not matter much, but if you’ve worked hard to make a place in a competitive field, leaving mid-career may mean that you won’t be able to get back on the same career trajectory you’d have if you stayed, so it’s important to know if this is something you are willing to give up, says Carino. If it’s not, that’s OK — you don’t have to choose between homeschooling and your career, though you may have to keep getting creative to make it work.

That doesn’t mean you can’t quit your job to homeschool in 2021, but it does mean you should put plenty of careful thought into making the decision. Try keeping a journal for your work life over a month or two, being as honest as you can about the good and the bad. Reflecting on your journal can be a helpful tool in determining whether you’re reacting to a temporary crisis or a real desire for a major life change.

“You don’t have to choose between homeschooling and your career, though you may have to keep getting creative to make it work.”

Is it just a sign of the times?

Things are hard right now, and any change can seem like a good one, says Carino. It’s important to get in touch with how you’re feeling and why you want to quit. If it’s the impossible balance of parenthood, learning, and quarantine you’re fed up with, quitting your job may not solve the problem because all the issues of dealing with quarantine will still be there — you may be just as depressed, stressed, and frustrated as you were when you were working. (You may even miss having something work-related to focus on!)

“A pandemic isn’t always the best time to make life-altering decisions,” says Carino. That doesn’t mean you can’t quit your job to homeschool in 2021, but it does mean you should put plenty of careful thought into making the decision. Try keeping a journal for your work life over a month or two, being as honest as you can about the good and the bad. Reflecting on your journal can be a helpful tool in determining whether you’re reacting to a temporary crisis or a real desire for a major life change.

If your problems seem now-focused, consider asking your boss about a reduced schedule or even a sabbatical while you’re quarantining. Many companies are more open to these kinds of options now since it can save them salary costs while keeping good employees on their teams.

After several months of reflection, Cassie decided to leave her job, and she has no regrets. “I’m happier, the kids are happier, and not being able to afford fancy coffee is a small price to pay for that,” she says. Allyson opted to keep working, but she carved out a big block of time in the middle of the day, with her boss’s approval, to focus on schooling. “Now I work from about 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., but I get to do all the things I care about, and I feel good about that,” she says.

“It was the right decision for me,” both women say. 

*last names have been removed for online publication. This article originally appeared in the winter 2021 issue of HSL.

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A Day in the Life: Homeschooling a 12th Grader and a 6th Grader with a Full-Time Job

There’s no “typical homeschool day” in our house, but here’s a representative day from 2019, when my oldest was a senior in high school, my youngest was a 6th grader, and I was juggling homeschooling with a full-time job outside the home.

(I wrote this for the magazine last fall when we were in the middle of my daughter’s senior year.)

Over the years, I’ve published a few different “day in the life” glimpses into our homeschool, and the thing they have in common is that they’re all completely different. Our homeschool shifts all the time — with the season, with my workload, with the kids’ interests. It’s never been a fixed and static thing, and I love that about it, but it also makes it hard to say “look, here’s what a typical homeschool day is like for us.” The “typical day” is probably a myth — but I thought I might share with you a representative day from this fall.

I wake up before 6 A.M. and start coffee while I check my messages. I work on a few short pieces for the magazine and double-check my lessons for the day — it’s Monday, so I’m teaching middle school chemistry and creative writing — while everyone else is waking up and having breakfast.

Around 9:25 A.M., my daughter logs into her online college class and the rest of us load up to head to the hybrid school we started a few years ago. My son is a 6th grader in the junior high, and he loves learning with other people so much I wonder what we would have done if we hadn’t started a twice-a-week school for him to go to.

Students arrive by 10 A.M., and Suzanne and I grab a few minutes to plan while Jason starts a lively Spanish lesson. I’ve got a scavenger hunt review lined up for chemistry, and Suzanne turns out to be a genius at figuring out good hiding locations.

Then we head off to do our things: I’m reading my daughter’s essay on Cry the Beloved Country, which she has declared “a mess.” It’s not a mess, though I can see why she thinks so — she’s got lots of ideas, but she needs to go back to her thesis to figure out how to hold them together. By now it’s 11:30 and she’s done with her class, so I FaceTime her, and we go through it together. At first technology felt like a weird addition to our homeschool, but it’s made it possible for us to keep homeschooling while I work full-time outside of our home, so we’ve adjusted.

Suzanne and I have lunch together, working through a book list for the high school’s spring semester. As usual, Suzanne has almost too many good ideas, and I am going to have to winnow my now-gigantic list down.

After lunch, I get the kids started on the chemistry review scavenger hunt, sending them racing around the school in search of hidden envelopes. They almost don’t realize they’re reviewing the periodic table. They find the last clue and crack the code, so we move onto creative writing. I’ve been trying to help them understand the plot arc, so we’re playing a variation of Dixit to practice the different parts of the arc.

When I get home, it’s around 4:30 P.M, and my dog is very, very excited to see me. I start dinner and take him for a speedy walk around the block. My daughter joins me, and we catch up about her day — she was working on some math as well as her computer class and essay writing.

We keep chatting while she helps me with dinner, and my son joins in, too, telling her about a new version of the Preamble to the Constitution that he and his classmates made for TikTok. They’re both giggling while they set the table, and we sit down to eat around 5:30.

After dinner, Jason heads off to teach math down the road, the kids settle in for video game time, and I sit back at my computer to work on the winter issue of home/school/life. I’ll work until about 11 or so, listening to a lecture series on the Hittites in the background. I end up chatting on Slack with a student about roller derby for about 20 minutes, too.

Around 10, the kids come clattering down with our current readaloud — Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, which I loved and am excited they’re getting into — and we read together for about 30 minutes. I’m thankful every night that we’ve managed to hold onto this piece of homeschooling that I love so much — snuggling up on the couch, reading together, and talking about what we’re reading. Because while lots of things about our homeschool have changed — and more will probably change in the future — this core piece has been part of our homeschool from the beginning.

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