Many of us feel left behind when in the thick of raising little ones, especially when we see our friends move on in their careers. In the middle of cooking or cleaning, or while our kids are at school or napping, we look at their LinkedIn and social media posts with – let’s face it – a bit of envy and a whole lot of wishful thinking.

But here’s the good news: whether you plan to remain a stay-at-home mom or return to the workforce eventually, you don’t need to wait for the “perfect” time to improve yourself or stay ahead of the curve!

There are plenty of institutions and websites that offer remote (or onsite, if you can make it work!) courses to upskill you and meet your need for learning. Some of them are even self-paced – so you don’t have to worry about keeping up with the rest of the class.

Here are five platforms we recommend you start with.

Did you know that the University of the Philippines has an Open University for anyone wanting to benefit from quality education without having to enroll for a 4-year-course?

That’s right! UPOU rolls out a set of certificate courses under its Open Distance eLearning program every term (each course lasts anywhere from 12 to 16 weeks). It’s a good idea to sign up for membership in its portal so you can immediately sign up and gain access to any of these courses.

Here are their current courses you can choose from.

If you’re looking to sign up for multiple courses, you’ll love Udemy! This platform has an entire library of remote courses that are priced affordably, for every kind of interest.

We’re pretty sure you’ll find a handful of modules here that will interest you, whether it’s personal development, parenting, or career development!

Here are some of the interesting courses we came across:

• Mindful Parenting (Diploma) for those looking to sharpen their parenting skills
• A complete ChatGPT course for freelance mamas who want to maximize the power of AI to generate more income opportunities for their craft
• Productivity and Time Management for the Overwhelmed, and
• Salary Negotiation, perfect for securing the job you want, at a compensation you’re happy with.

Similar to Udemy, Coursera offers the whole gamut of courses – but they also cater to organizations and universities. For those willing to invest a bit more, they offer Coursera Plus, which offers unlimited access to a wider range of world-class courses, hands-on projects, and even certificate programs.

Courses offered here are more academic, which is great for expanding knowledge and upgrading hard skills in your profession or chosen career.

Over 300 companies and universities have contributed courses to this platform, including Google, Johns Hopkins University, IBM, and Vanderbilt University, which speaks volumes of the platform’s credibility.

Of course, you can always opt to start gentle and try some free courses. Some that caught our eye include:

• First Step Korean, for those who want to watch K-dramas without the subtitles
• Yale University’s Introduction to Pyschology and Financial Markets, for those looking to get into investing, and
• Google’s Digital Marketing and E-Commerce course, a great option for mompreneurs!

EdX is most similar to Coursera as it focuses on hard skills (although there are courses that offer soft skills training, too!) and industry-specific learning. It also features courses from well-known institutions such as UC Berkeley, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Cambridge.

They also offer executive education, which is ideal for moms who are in high-level or leadership positions.

You can start off with free, self-paced courses, but when you’re ready and if interested, you can eventually pursue a degree here – all while doing so from home!

Here are some courses we found interesting:

• Cambridge’s AI Boot Camp
• Business Writing and Storytelling
• Copy-editing, and
• Introduction to Project Management

Last, but certainly not the least, here’s a wonderful initiative made by moms, for moms! Mamacademy PH is an organization that offers social events, upskilling courses, and modules that specifically have moms in mind.

Two of their flagship courses are Cultivate: How to Start and Launch Mama Passion Projects, for moms who want to turn their interests into potentially income-generating activities, and Purpose-Filled Motherhood, a reflective journey made to empower moms to thrive in their current season using their God-given talents and skills.

Some of their courses are fully remote, although they have started conducting face-to-face sessions already to increase social connection post-pandemic.

They even have a podcast on Spotify, where you can access rich and learning-filled episodes with various moms who share their stories on particular topics that are relevant to motherhood and beyond.

If you’re a mom who’s more after connection and community, this might be a great option for you!