Free Online Classes for Stay-At-Home Parents

Stay-at-home moms (SAHM) and dads (SAHD) often put their learning and career paths on hold to provide childcare. Online learning opportunities give these parents the chance to develop skills with self-paced coursework from their own homes.

Free online classes and courses allow parents the flexibility that a full-time bachelor's or master's degree doesn't provide. Learners can participate in interactive lesson plans with hands-on coursework to learn high-demand skills to return to their career path, or even start their own business.

Some online courses include a certificate, but some don't. You can determine which is right by evaluating if you can benefit from upskilling or if you need certifications for your resume or LinkedIn profile.

10 Free and Low-Cost Online Courses for Working Professionals

Some top learning platforms and universities offer low-cost and free online courses. These programs don't include certification, but they still cover important skills for career advancement or starting a business. Learners will study entrepreneurship and communication skills at their own pace, providing benefits whether they work for themselves or others.

1. Coursera Launch Your Own Business

Online businesses allow stay-at-home parents to make money without sacrificing their child's development. However, it isn't always easy to take your plans from an idea to a fully formed business. This four-module course teaches skills for naming and branding your business and the basics of social media marketing to reach target consumers.

2. Coursera Learn to Program: The Fundamentals

Gaining fundamental programming skills can prepare stay-at-home parents for working in fields like computer science and web development. Students in this course will primarily work with Python, but there will be discussion of other programming languages. The University of Toronto helped design this 25-hour course.

3. Coursera The Strategy of Content Marketing

Content marketing is a form of marketing that involves copywriting, video, and audio content to convey messages. Most content marketing is combined with search engine optimization (SEO) to achieve high rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Learners will look into different types of content and learn how to use them to reach target audiences.

4. Coursera Generative AI for Everyone

Generative AI is a term that describes artificial intelligence that is used to make everything from poems to video clips. This course teaches students how to use generative AI to enhance their work. Learners will practice writing prompts and learn about the advantages and disadvantages of AI.

5. Udacity AWS Machine Learning Foundations

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Machine Learning Foundations teaches the basics of different AI processes and provides learners with hands-on experience using various Amazon AI tools. Although this course teaches using Amazon tools, many of the theories and best practices can be applied to other programs.

6. Udacity Android Basics: User Interface

Android device applications require different programming than apps designed for computers or iOS devices. This course uses the Kotlin programming language to complete real-world projects. This hands-on education teaches learners how to program basic applications that they can expand upon with additional classes and certifications.

7. Udacity Intro to Deep Learning With Python

Deep learning is a type of machine learning that relies on multiple layers of programming, called neural networks. This course breaks down the structure of deep learning. Students complete this four-week course with a hands-on final project.

8. HarvardX Introduction to Computer Science

HarvardX's Introduction to Computer Science is an online free-to-audit version of Harvard University's CS50 course, Harvard's largest on-campus course. CS50x teaches the same high-quality computer science education as its on-campus counterpart. Students will work with programming languages like Python, SQL, C, and JavaScript.

9. HarvardX Introduction to Programming With Scratch

Most programming languages use text-based code to create algorithms and commands, but Scratch works differently. Scratch uses graphical elements to replace text-based programming. Students in this course learn programming fundamentals in Scratch, which can also apply to some text languages.

10. HarvardX Web Programming With Python and JavaScript

Continuing learning doesn't always mean transitioning from online courses to a formal degree program. This course continues the teachings of CS50x, which is a prerequisite for this course. Learners will go into a deeper study of various programming frameworks and work with app design and implementation.

Free Online Courses With Certificates

Auditing courses online can provide stay-at-home parents with skills they can use for personal development or to help start their own businesses. However, some stay-at-home parents pursue online education to return to the workforce as their children age and begin to attend school. This isn't always easy, especially in certain career paths.

These parents will need to pursue certifications. Many programs will require payment for certifications, but learners can find programs that result in free certificates that can be used when applying for jobs.

Coursera Introduction to Data Science

IBM has been a pioneer in data science for decades. This online course teaches the fundamentals of data science and how they can be applied to new technologies, including machine learning. Coursework was designed with input from IBM employees. Students will work with multiple data science tools.

Coursera Supervised Machine Learning

Students in this program learn how to use Python to create functioning machine-learning models. Learners will practice with Python libraries in addition to writing their own code. This course takes most learners around 33 hours to complete, spread out over three modules consisting of hands-on learning and quizzes.

Alison Introduction to Digital Marketing

Digital marketing courses teach skills that allow stay-at-home parents to pursue remote opportunities and promote their own enterprises. This program teaches the fundamental principles of digital marketing and goes over related methods like SEO, social media, and content marketing.

This course takes learners roughly five hours to complete and provides the baseline knowledge they'll need to continue their education to other certifications or a degree program.

Saylor Academy Introduction to Computer Science

Computer science is a diverse field that includes multiple specializations. This free certification course reviews the basics of each major branch of computer science while providing the foundation needed to pursue additional studies. One major advantage of an introductory course like this is exposure to different areas of the field, guiding students to pursue more learning in areas that excite them.

Saylor Academy Business Administration

Stay-at-home parents looking to develop business skills can benefit from this introductory course. Students will review skills for various business units, like human resources and accounting. Completion results in a certificate that can be used to apply for entry-level jobs or as transfer credit to continue a degree program at some schools.