Lori Jackson and Steve Peck wrote these eight tips in May 2020 for parents who were working and homeschooling at once. A new section after their text updates the advice for families in 2026 whose work-from-home days vary from week to week.
As families settle into the new realities of home life during the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are finding themselves thrust into the roles of parent and educator. Although many school districts are instituting online remote learning platforms that feature teacher-led lessons, a vast majority of the homeschooling process has fallen on the shoulders of parents. Adding to the challenge is the distinct relationships that children form with teachers and parents. Following directions and listening, for instance, unfolds far differently in front of teachers than parents. By examining, understanding, and learning the different relationships that children form, parents can better set up to succeed in their newfound multi-faceted role.
How Children Relate to Parents and Teachers
Undoubtedly, parents wear a variety of hats in the lives of their children. They are the coaches, chefs, drivers, educators, and cheerleaders who support them unconditionally. Kids watch their parents as they wear multiple hats (often simultaneously) throughout the day. Similarly, teachers also play numerous roles in children’s lives, but their roles are usually easily understood and remain consistent. As a result, it’s easier for kids to know and anticipate the expectations of their teachers as they have spent a good deal of time setting them up for their classrooms.
While most parents have established expectations and rules in their homes, they likely haven’t covered how to behave during math time at home, for instance. It’s no wonder, then, that it’s a challenge for parents to settle into our new normal in schooling.
For parents who are working full-time and homeschooling, it’s especially challenging to get their children to listen to them in the same way they look to their teacher. If parents could influence their kids to adopt an at school attitude of listening quietly, and doing their work when asked, it could prove beneficial.
The Schedule as a Parent’s Best Friend
In the Wizard of Oz, it was all about the shoes. In the new normal, it’s all about the schedule! The daily and weekly schedule is the best friend to any parent trying to homeschool and work, and it’s the best friend to any child trying to anticipate what their day will be like in this very confusing new normal. To many parents, this may seem obvious. Many of us think of ourselves as highly scheduled, if not completely overscheduled. But whatever schedule we had before is no longer relevant. It’s time to create a new schedule to address current needs.
For parents trying to do it all―whether you’re an educator trying to teach both your students and your kids, or a parent in any other profession, trying to find that elusive balance―here are eight tips to keep in mind:
1. Sit down and write out your work, home, and now homeschooling obligations. Be sure to indicate what is flexible and what isn’t. You can likely change a call with one person, but perhaps not the full team weekly meeting. Your child might have online learning times pre-scheduled, as well.
2. Get creative. Find a surface in your home that can act as your daily schedule. Get markers and whatever other supplies you need to do the schedule your way.
3. Have a family meeting and fill in the schedule together. Talk about the different meetings you each might have. Note on the schedule when it is independent working time. Young kids will know this quiet time as “morning work” or “independent reading” time from school. Try to be as specific as you can.
4. Make sure to put in break time and fun time―and food! This is particularly important now when everyone will need some reinforcement and something to look forward to. Can you build in a fun activity after you have a quiet time?
5. When you are reviewing your schedule with your family, make sure to discuss what behavior expectations you have. Will you need quiet for a meeting? Will they? Where will everyone work? This is the time to make it clear.
6. Review your schedule in the morning during breakfast. Make sure to emphasize behavior you’ll need if there is a time you’ll need quiet and help your child make a plan for how to manage this time.
7. Have a quick recap at dinner. What worked well, what didn’t, what needs changing, and how is everyone feeling?
8. Be patient. Teachers spend the first weeks of school getting their students settled and into their routines. The balance will come, it will just take some time.
Creating Predictability in Uncertain Times
We are all craving some semblance of normal in this very uncertain time. Having a predictable schedule for everyone will help to create that. When kids know the expectations we have for them, they are able to match their behavior to our expectations. When one activity or time of day is more challenging we can look at it to understand why and make some adjustments.
Take the time to plan your week and you’ll see changes in your family’s ability to manage home school and all of the rest.
A kids home schedule in 2026: planning the day when a parent works from home part of the week
Lori Jackson and Steve Peck wrote the eight tips above in May 2020, when many families were suddenly combining a parent’s job with schooling at home. The situation has changed, and a kids home schedule is still useful. Remote and hybrid work continues, and many families need a plan for the hours before school, the afternoon after it, and the days a parent is at home. This section looks at what has changed, what the research says about routines, and how to adapt the eight tips for a family whose week does not look the same every day.
What has changed since 2020
Working from home has settled into a pattern. A Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research essay, Working from Home in 2025: Five Key Facts, reports a survey of about 16,400 college-educated, full-time workers in 40 countries, taken from November 2024 to February 2025. The average number of days worked from home fell from 1.6 in 2022 to 1.33 in 2023 and 1.27 in 2024 and 2025, and the level has held steady since 2023. The authors also report that overall rates are similar for people with and without children, but employees with children are much more likely to have a hybrid arrangement, usually working one to three days a week from home. The survey covered college-educated workers, so it does not describe every family.
For a family, this means the schedule is rarely a single plan. One day may have a parent at home, another may have a parent at the office, and a third may involve a child’s activity. Jackson and Peck’s advice to write out obligations and mark what is flexible still applies, with one change: make a plan for each kind of day.
What the research says about routines
A short article from the University of Connecticut’s UConn KIDS group, How Routines Can Benefit Children, summarizes the case for predictable routines. It says that predictable environments make it easier for children to cope with their surroundings, that routines with caregivers help children develop trust, and that predictability supports the brain areas involved in emotional regulation. The article is written by a research assistant, refers to developing research in general, and does not name specific studies, so it is best treated as a plain-language summary and not as a source of firm numbers.
Its practical tips line up with Jackson and Peck. It recommends a bedtime routine of predictable steps, shared family meals, telling children about the next task ahead of time, and announcing changes to the routine in advance, such as for appointments, travel or holidays. A family can use these ideas whether a parent is home or not.
Adapting the eight tips
- Write out each type of day. Jackson and Peck suggest listing work, home and school obligations and marking which can move. Make one list for days a parent is home, one for days the child is cared for elsewhere, and one for school holidays.
- Keep the schedule visible. A wall chart or whiteboard still works. For older children, a shared calendar on a family device can show who is where.
- Hold a short weekly meeting. The authors recommend a family meeting. On a hybrid schedule, a Sunday review of the coming week lets everyone see which days differ.
- Include breaks, food and something to look forward to. This is still advice worth following. A snack and a few minutes outside after school mark a change from the school day to the home day.
- State behavior expectations for calls. A sign on the door, a signal agreed in advance and a quiet activity on the schedule help a child understand when a parent cannot be interrupted.
- Review in the morning. Jackson and Peck suggest talking about the day at breakfast. A two-minute review of what is different today is enough.
- Recap in the evening. The authors suggest asking what worked, what did not and how everyone feels. This also gives children a chance to mention homework that needs help.
- Be patient. Jackson and Peck compare the process to teachers settling a class in the first weeks of school. A new schedule, such as one for a new school year or a new job arrangement, needs a few weeks to settle.
When to ask the school for help
A home schedule works better when it connects with the school’s. Parents can ask a teacher about the amount of homework to expect, when assignments are posted and the best way to reach the teacher when a child is stuck. If a child has trouble following the schedule, parents can bring that to the teacher or counselor, who may know whether the same difficulty appears in class.
The schedule is a tool for the family and does not need to be perfect. A plan that is posted, discussed and adjusted a little each month is more useful than a detailed one that nobody follows.
Further Reading
- KidConnect Blog – Articles
- eSchool News – Real-Time Advisory Sessions That Support Students’ Social-Emotional Health
- edCircuit – CoSN Podcast: S1E8, Vendor Perspectives During the COVID-19 Crisis
Related reading
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