I am an active career mom and it is not easy.
Many days I face challenges and chaos, but with great time management and strategy I am able to conquer my days successfully.
There have been many misconceptions about career moms only being concerned about their career and salary. However, many career moms spend a great deal of time making sure that their children are learning and developing properly. Of course, it is very challenging having a career outside of the home and having to focus on meeting and exceeding the standards in our careers.
I have two children that are in different stages of life. My daughter is in middle school and my son is in elementary school. They are now at different schools, so I have to divide my time between the two.
I want to share with you eight ideas to stay an active mom in your child/children’s learning development.
- Establish a routine-
- Nighttime stories with my six year old. This has really helped him grow as a reader and is a great way for us to bond.
- Dinner time chat with my kids just to catch up on the highs and lows of their day. I ask them what was the best part of their day. It is interesting hearing what goes on during their school day.
- We take weekly trip to the Library, we have always visited the library, but with covid, we had to take a break. We go every other week to finish homework and to spend some time picking out good books to read.
- Company Volunteer Days– See if your job will approve volunteer work at your child’s school. There are service days many jobs offer, but why not see if you can volunteer your services at your child’s school. I used one of my service days to participate in my daughter’s “field day”. A physical activity day for all students. Not sure what is offered now since covid, but I will be looking into more volunteer days.
- Take off time – School hours are during traditional work hours. So it is not uncommon to miss out on sctivities due to conflicting work schedules. However, taking time off to visit your child at school if permitted is a good way to see what is going on at school and to let your child’s teacher know you are concerned with your child/children’s development.
- Chaperone a field trip– I have always been the type of mom to help on field trip days when I can. I don’t always because I want to give my children their freedom, lol. However, it is a good way to help the teacher and stay involved. I only chaperone my son’s trips now. Heaven is a little older so I give her a little more space.
- Participate in PTA- Parent teacher associations and clubs are great ways to stay involved with your child’s school. It is a good way to voice your concerns and ideas. Remember you are a key player in your child’s development, so you have to use your voice.
- Participate in Fundraisers- I know it can be stressful, but Fundraisers are important. A lot of the fundraisers are for good causes. It let’s your teacher and school know that you care about the school events. It also shows your children how to meet goals.
- Keep an open communication with teachers- It is always great to have interaction with your child’s teacher. Emails, parent teacher conferences, open house, and different apps created can build communication. I currently use class dojo. Class dojo is an easy app to talk back to all teachers and to receive announcements through your phone. It is very similar to Instagram. These types of communication keeps you up to date on your child’s progress.
- Help with projects and check over homework–
- I love helping with projects. My daughter had a project due today for science. The project was to describe the layers of earth. It gave us time to bond.
- I also, help my son daily with homework. He has a spelling test every Friday, so we make flashcards and study until his test day.
I hope these tips can help all my busy parents. Please list any below that you have.
-Tahnee Cole