I remember feeling scared and frustrated when I became a single mother. One day, I just sat down and asked myself what I wanted to do with my life - what I wanted my son to learn from me. I had to weigh what was best for him with what my end goal was for my own life. In the end, I came up with a plan that allowed me to be home with my son, educate myself and still make a living that I could support us both on. I went back to school and opened a daycare using the details below to guide me along the way.

Make a five year plan. This wasn't something I had written in stone. It was just a tentative plan of where I wanted to be in five years. This part wasn't really for my son, though his needs were given consideration. It was a shining light for me personally to aspire to get to.
Set measurable and achievable goals. Every little step counted. Before I went back to school, I had to gather up all the paper work. In the meantime, I was also prepping my house to be a certified daycare. Alone, these tasks would have been easier to accomplish. Together with raising my son and working at my then current job, they sometimes seemed overwhelming and had to be broken down into small parts. Even if the task for the day was to fill out two forms that task put me two forms closer to success.
Keep a schedule. When I began the daycare, keeping a schedule was easy. The daycare had specific hours and I did my school work during their nap time and when my son visited with his dad. These days my son is older and keeping a schedule often means keeping him busy so I can get my work done. The trick is to make the kids as much a part of your goals as you can. Give them something to do that relates to what you're doing. Hence, when I do school work, so does my son. If he doesn't have school work, then he gets to work on a project I gave him.
Make a specific time for kids. Your kids want to feel special, too. While it's important to work on your goal, it's just as important that your child actually has time in your schedule. When that time comes, you need to stop what you're doing and focus on your child. If you put all your effort into achieving our goals and none into giving time to your child, he or she is going to feel that those goals are more important than they are.
Use your resources. If you're going back to school, take advantage of the many grants and scholarships available so that your financial burden isn't quite so heavy. Freeing up your finances means freeing up some time so you can spend it with your child. If you have something to work on and you absolutely can't work on it with your child around, then schedule it for a time when your child is regularly gone or arrange for a play date so that they have the chance to be a child while you're getting the work done.
Remind yourself why you're doing this. Review your goals on a regular basis. Keep the end prize in mind and remember what it means to you and your family. Keep a flowchart if necessary to see your overall progress. This is one way to literally keep your eyes on the prize.
Reward yourself and your family. While you're working hard, your family is making sacrifices too. Don't forget to reward yourself and your family for meeting goals. Remember that kids have a tough time thinking about long term goals. It's good for you and for them to have some play time as well as some work time. Make a reward plan that is concurrent with your goal plan.
(Source: shine.yahoo.com