How Busy Working Mums Can Help Their Child Ace the 11 Plus Without Burnout
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

How Busy Working Mums Can Help Their Child Ace the 11 Plus Without Burnout

For working mums, balancing the demands of a career, family life, and preparing a child for the 11 Plus exam can feel like walking a tightrope. When your evenings start after an afterschool club pick-up or after collecting your child from a childminder, it’s natural to feel pressed for time. Add to that the fatigue your child might already be carrying after a full day at school, and the preparation process can quickly become stressful for everyone.

But here’s the good news: with thoughtful planning, focused strategies, and a supportive approach, your child can prepare for the 11 Plus exam successfully—without burning out. Let’s dive into actionable strategies tailored specifically for busy mums.

Setting Boundaries: How to Enjoy Family Time and Switch Off From Work During Christmas
Posted inParenting tips Relationships tips and advice Things to do with the kids

Setting Boundaries: How to Enjoy Family Time and Switch Off From Work During Christmas

The school Christmas holidays are perfect for creating cherished memories with your family and it’s always a real blessing to be fortunate enough to give that to our children. However, for working mums, it can be challenging to switch off from work and fully engage with the kids during family time when there are deadlines, work pressures and money to make. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to have the best of both worlds. Here are some unconventional tips to help you set boundaries and make the most of the festive period with your loved ones.

Juggling Remote Work and Summer Holidays with the Kids
Posted inParenting tips Things to do with the kids

Summer Survival Guide: Juggling Remote Work and Summer Holidays with the Kids

As the school summer holidays fast approach, many of us working mums who are working from home will have the yearly challenge of ensuring our children have a fantastic break while we balance the pressures of remote working.

If you are looking for some inspiration, here are some tips to help get the balance right so this summer is one to remember (for all the right reasons):

1. Create a “Yes Day“

Designate one day a week as a “Yes Day,” inspired by the popular book and movie, where within reason, you say yes to most of your children’s requests. It adds an element of surprise and excitement to their week and gives them something to look forward to. Plan your work around this day to ensure it doesn’t affect your productivity.

mother and child against a sunsetting backdrop highlights the importance of work-life balance
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

Work-Life Balance: The Balancing Act We Didn’t Sign Up For

Remember the days when ‘balance’ meant mastering a yoga pose or perhaps not falling over after a night out with friends? Those were the days. Now, ‘balance’ has taken on an entirely new meaning involving work deadlines, school runs, and what might be an impossible juggling act.

Is work-life balance a mythical creature for working mums, or is it a reality waiting to be claimed? Let’s dig in, shall we?

An Essential Guide for Mums Applying For Secondary Schools
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

Navigating the Maze of School Choices: An Essential Guide for Mums Applying For Secondary Schools

The world of education can be quite overwhelming, as you navigate through a myriad of options and decisions that need to be made to ensure your child gets the best experience (and education) at school.

But fret not! We understand the challenges you face, and we’re here to provide you with the guidance and support you need to simplify this process. Let’s explore the journey of finding the perfect secondary school for your child – one that will nurture and shape their future.

Girl doing homework at desk
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

How to Help Your Child Overcome Mathsphobia (A Fear of Maths)

It’s not uncommon for children to develop mathsphobia (a fear of maths).

This fear can be debilitating and stop them from enjoying school or doing well in their exams, which is why it’s important to make sure your child doesn’t suffer alone. Here are a few ways you can help overcome mathsphobia!

summer reading loss
Posted inParenting tips Things to do with the kids

Should Children Be Given Summer Homework?

School’s almost out, and the summer holidays are just around the corner. Already (I hear you scream). Yes….sorry!

Your child is probably looking forward to the weeks of freedom from learning (and homework!). It’s as if the lockdowns didn’t even happen this year. We all need a break and some fun, but summer learning loss in children is a reality!

How to Encourage Your Child’s Independent Learning
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips

How to Encourage Your Child’s Independent Learning

Juggling work and homeschooling sounded straightforward enough. For years we have heard how our American counterparts actually opt for that lifestyle, many of them running businesses or side hustles alongside this.

But somehow, when the way that homeschooling is to be administered is dictated by schools, topped off with reams of worksheets and obvious knowledge gaps us parents have to fill, it just doesn’t seem quite as easy.

But one way to ease some of the pressure, and help salvage some semblance of a good relationship with our children is to encourage them to work independently.

https://www.motherswhowork.co.uk/memory-games-for-children/
Posted inParenting tips

Memory Games for Children

In 2005 (a full three years before the launch of the App Store), a brain training video game became an overnight sensation in a way that would not be seen again until 2016’s Pokemon Go. The game was everywhere. The premise was simple. You solve the puzzles in as short a time as possible and the game – which was ostensibly based on principles of neuroscience – would tell you your mental age. It was sort of a fun way for people who knew they were smart to show off, and for those who knew their cognitive abilities had been collecting dust since high school to share a laugh at their pre-teen mental age.

How to use the half term to help your child improve their writing
Posted inParenting tips Things to do with the kids

How to use the half term to help your child improve their writing

Story writing is a key part of the skills required at the primary school level, however, schools have so much to cover in the curriculum that some children just don’t get as much practice of writing as they should.

 

Like anything school related, if you want your child to do well, you have to put some work into it outside of the classroom. Here are some tips to help you get your child writing sparkling stories before school’s back in!

What did you say: slang dictionary for mums with teens or tweens
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips Relationships tips and advice

What did you say: slang dictionary for mums with teens or tweens

If you’re a Mothers Who Work regular, you’ll know that I also run a tuition business called Geek School. With more than 100 students attending different schools, and coming from different areas, keeping up with what the children are saying (slang, for ‘old ladies’ like us!) is a task, I tell you!

Here’s a breakdown of some of these terms, which I have had my 13-year old gloss over to avoid embarrassment!

Four places to get free childcare during the summer
Posted inChildren & Relationships Get organised Parenting tips Things to do with the kids

Four places to get free childcare during the summer

With just a handful of weeks left before children break up for the longest school holiday of the year, parents around the country are looking for ways to not only keep children busy, but to cover childcare while they work…you are not alone!

So, what have you got planned? Here are some ideas that start at zero cost to less than £100 per week.

Surviving the school holidays: the cheat sheet for parents
Posted inChildren & Relationships Parenting tips Things to do with the kids

Surviving the school holidays: the cheat sheet for parents

With the school Easter holidays now here, many of us are full of mixed emotions. On the one hand, it’s always great to spend some (more) quality time with the children. But on the other, keeping them busy and happy for almost three weeks can be a task…an expensive one, at that.

So here are few things to remember while you get through the holidays:

Get your ship in order: How to lessen the load as a working mum
Posted inChildren & Relationships Get organised Parenting tips Relationships tips and advice Staying healthy Staying sane

Get your ship in order: How to lessen the load as a working mum

Forget all notions about being Superwoman. By now, you’ll know that it was fictitious and she didn’t have children anyway!

Being a working mum takes some effort. All the juggling of childcare, shopping, work commitments, social activities for the children, and then just taking a breath for yourself can be exhausting.