The best online school for prereqs are the college or univeristy itself that you want to get into. Either a community college, or university. It doesn't matter much which. The reason is that nursing school is harder to get into (nationwide) than medschool. Some schools have over 6000 applicants for 40 spots. They can REALLY pick and choose their candidates, and to be competitive to get in, you need the name of a NON online university backing up your application.
But at a 'real' school... 80% of your classes can be taken online. All universities and community colleges have online courses, and many have hundreds of online classes. The few that can't (nursing prereq wise) are laboratory classes where you really *need* to be in class anyway (unless you have a lab in your home).
Even with all of your prereqs... be prepared for a 'lag year'. This is the year that you sit about and wait because you applied, and got in. You apply the year prior. But in order to be accepted, you have to be competitive, which means having everything 'done'. So you're looking at 5 years before you have your RN. 2 years of prereqs, 1 lag year, 2 years of nursing school.
With that timeframe, SERIOUSLY consider your BSRN. Time? 2 years for transfer degree (community college, includes all your nursing prereqs). 1 lag year. 2 years of nursing school.
5 years for your RN
5 years for your BSRN
BIG pay difference.
Also career opener. Because once you have a BSRN, you can "5th year". Which means specializing (peds, surgery, whatever). Which is another jump in pay. And then later get your masters if you want to. (another jump in pay)
But for either your RN or BSRN, it's the same time commitment, and only 2-3 extra classes make up the difference between prereqs and an A.S.
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About balancing school and family:
I'm triple majoring (My BSRN being one of them). I've come to know MANY moms in school, and rather like parenting... we all do things differently.
For myself, I could never study while my son was awake and in the same house as me. I became a mediocre mom, and a mediocre student. So when he was little (I started when he was 2mo old) I studied during naps and after bedtime. When he was older, I studied during preschool and after bedtime. Now quite a BIT older (and we homeschool, so I don't have time in the day where he's gone for a big chunk), I study while he's in outside classes and after bedtime.
((Many of the other parents I know had it easier/different in that they could study while their kids were awake, or had a spouse who shared childcare with them on a daily basis -I didn't, I was on 6 days out of 7, and I had a child who did NOT do independent play. Raging extrovert, my son. Only at age 8 is he able to SOME days, spend some time on his own or working parallel to me, and it's been YEARS of coaxing him to that place. Extroverts are pretty demanding kids as far as attention goes)).
Class time is a non-starter. Even at my heaviest courseload... that was 10 hours a week. 10 hours, v 40 hours??? There is absolutely no way I can complain about that. Most quarters, however, we're talking needing 4-6 hours a WEEK in childcare.
PRACTICUMS are an entirely different beast. Practicums mean working full time and being in school. Consider them double practice for your first year as a new-grad RN (aka lousy hours/shifts). First year as a newgrad RN, and for your 1-3 quarters of practicums, you need to set yourself up NOT be the primary caregiver. Either your partner, or a rockin' child care provider will be doing the vast majority of your childcare. After that, you're gravy. But for those 1.5-2 years, expect 60+ hour weeks on rotating schedules. For the 3-4 years prior, you'll only need 10 hours a week of childcare. But it's something to be aware of, and to prep for. Mad flexibility to almost no flexibility.
