For stay-at-home parents, a return to school may seem unfeasible, but thanks to advances in learning technology, it’s now often possible to fit your studies around personal obligations. Today, we will provide a few key tips to help you upskill, so you can reenter the workforce or start a new business with confidence.
Degree Types
Before we delve into logistics, it’s important to determine which types of degrees can improve your business acumen or viability in the modern workplace. Ideally, you want something that will help you to understand technicalities as well as theory. A business degree, such as an MBA, can provide a solid foundation in business principles and management. This can be especially useful if you’re considering starting your own business.
Alternatively, degrees in marketing or finance can also prove hugely beneficial for entrepreneurs, as they give you the skills to create and manage a successful marketing strategy and financial plan. Not all online degrees provide flexible learning options, so be sure to check this in advance and be certain the institute you apply for is properly accredited and offers competitive tuition rates.
Balance
Once you’ve found an affordable opportunity to go back to school, it’s important to figure out how to balance learning while parenting and starting/running your business. Time management is key here. You can begin by creating a schedule that allows you to balance your responsibilities as a stay-at-home parent and student. This may mean taking classes during non-traditional hours, such as at night or on the weekends. Try to set clear boundaries between your responsibilities as a parent and a student to prevent burnout.
Childcare
It may not be possible to stay with your kids throughout your entire time learning. If you’re going back to school while starting or running your business, it’s important, therefore, to have a reliable childcare option. You could consider hiring a babysitter or nanny or even looking into a daycare center or after-school program. It’s also worth looking into programs that provide free or low-cost support for students.
Support System
Speaking of support, having a system in place makes all the difference when balancing parenting responsibilities with learning. This may comprise a network of other stay-at-home parents or entrepreneurs, a mentor, or even a therapist. Whenever possible, try not to rely overly on a single partner – stress or burnout is more easily handled when spread out.
Applications
Eventually, the time will come when you’ll need to start applying for new roles. Thankfully, there are plenty of online tools to aid with this. A curriculum vitae (CV), for example, can be assembled easily using a free template for a cv. These will allow you to choose from a library of professionally designed templates (with the option of adding your own copy, photos, colors, and images) to better showcase your academic background, career experiences, and skills.
A return to school can be a great opportunity for stay-at-home parents to improve their business acumen and set themselves up for success. By identifying degree types, building a support network, and figuring out how to balance learning while starting a business or applying for jobs, it’s possible to turn your professional dreams into reality.
About our Guest Contributor
Amanda Henderson is a preschool teacher and a mom to two wonderful, active boys.
She enjoys writing in her free time and recently decided to create Safechildren so that she would have a place to share her thoughts and favourite resources on parenting and child safety.
Other Posts By Amanda Henderson on One Motivated Mommy
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- Restorative Self-Care for Mothers with Children with Special Needs
- Trading Burnout for Fufillment: Practical Ways to Flourish in Work and Life
- Understanding the Fourth Trimester Postpartum
