How to Balance Your Master of Liberal Studies Program While the Kids are Home for the Holidays

When you enrolled in your online master in liberal studies, there’s a good chance you picked an online program simply because it worked best with your schedule. An online MALS degree means you’ve got the flexibility to study and do your assignments when it is convenient for you, which is exactly the kind of schedule busy parents need.

There’s a good chance your schedule is finely tuned, allowing you just the right balance of studying time, with parenting time, and possibly even a job as well. So what happens when that schedule is suddenly thrown completely out of whack thanks to the Christmas holidays? Suddenly that quiet time you have to devote to your studies disappears and now you need to figure out a way to balance everything until the kids head back.

Here are some tips you may find helpful and that will keep you on track with your online MALS program from a top school like Rutgers Online while keeping your sanity about you.

Easy on the Socializing

Obviously, the holidays is a time for socializing with family and friends, but with that said it’s also important to keep the amount of socializing in check. There is absolutely no reason you should feel pressured into saying yes to every invite that comes your way.

You still have your own daily responsibilities to look after, so making sure you leave time to get stuff done is imperative. It will also help you to relax and enjoy the socializing you do say yes to since you know there’s nothing else you “should” be doing.

Have a Sit-Down with the Kids Ahead of the Holidays

It will help to have the entire family on the same page as far as what your schedule requires. What this means is having a little sit-down or family meeting before the holidays begin. You can discuss the plans for the holidays, events you’ll be attending, and anything special you want to plan.

At the same time, it’s important to let the kids know you still have a very busy study schedule to attend to. Sure with online studies you can study any time of the day or night, but obviously you don’t want to be up until midnight each night simply because you ran out of time during the day.

Create Quiet Activities for the Kids

Another tip that can help is to do a little pre-planning and pick up some activities that the kids can work on while you study. Things such as arts and crafts, reading, watching Christmas movies, playing board games, working on puzzles, and word searches can occupy the kids for a decent amount of time. This allows you to focus without interruption and all kinds of background noise.

Ask the Kids to Join You

Lastly, you may find that the kids can actually work as fabulous study partners. Because liberal studies encompasses so many things such as history, social science and philosophy, it can be an enlightening experience for the kids to take part in discussions with you. This obviously works best with kids who are a bit older.

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