Single Parents and School: Can It Work?

There are quite a few single parents in the United States who could drastically improve their situation if they were able to get a better job. It isn’t easy in this economy to find a better paying job, but having a good education can help. Unfortunately, many single parents never had a chance to go to college, and those who became teenage mothers may not have even finished high school. There have even been studies done on single parenting and its effects on academic performance, and these point to the fact that it is a challenge to do well in school as a single parent.While it can be quite a challenge to raise children and attend school while still working enough to pay the rent and feed the family, it is possible. The question is, just how much does it affect the parent’s ability to study effectively? There are a number of factors in play here.Finances. Obviously, cost is a huge issue for single parents in the United States. Most of them are already struggling to provide enough for their family to survive and can't afford anything extra. Depending on the interest of the parent, it is possible to get a student loan or even find a single parent scholarship to tuition feasible. Parents should definitely consider looking into a scholarship or grant since these do not require the student to pay them back, as with a loan.Time. Most single parents who study do not do this exclusively. Whether they take night courses and work day shifts or vice versa, these people tend to work very hard and they put in as much as a regular person would in two days. With work, studies and children, it can be virtually impossible to get any studying done. It takes dedication and a decision to step away and find some quiet time to actually get homework assignments done. Effort. One of the main issues associated with parents dropping out of school is that they simply can’t focus enough on their work. It takes a lot of energy to look after children and study. If you are unable to put in the effort required to complete assignments in a timely manner, then finishing school is going to be extremely difficult. It’s often impossible to estimate just how hard it will be to actually complete a course until you are in the middle of it, and this frequently causes discussions about single parenting and its effects on education, as people drop out halfway through. Can single parents in the United States make school work for them? Yes, they can, but it requires a serious dedication and a lot of help. If you decided to go this route, it’s a good idea to read up on single parenting and its effects on education so you know what you will be up against. It’s also of vital importance to have good childcare that you can rely on for long periods of time. Studying while looking after children isn’t easy, and if you are adding a regular job into the mix, things are going to be even more difficult.