Desire Homeschool but Work Outside of Home

How about teaching for one of the homeschool organizations? There are several out there. K12, Connections Academy, IDEA to name a few.

I, personally, used to be a public school teacher and chose to homeschool my children. I use the K12 Online program. My son's 3rd grade teacher is homeschooling her son while being a K12 teacher.

This comes up fairly frequently in Homeschool land.

Because its MURKY.

There are many different options.

1) Parents are homeschooling their own children legally, but are farming out classes. MOST homeschoolers do this. ESP at upper levels. (Including RunningStart / Dual enrollment programs. The teen takes all their classes at the community college ... To either transfer to Uni as a Jr., or to use as their highschool transcripts.) Whetger its 100&200 level college course, drama, biology, game design, soccer... The parents are 100% responsible -legally- for their child's education. Personally I "farmed out" about half my son's education with outside classes/camps. I ALSO taught classes on a quarterly basis at the local community center. A&P, and MicroBio for 6-12yos.

1a) If you want to teach individual classes like this that parents sign up for... Do keep in mind you need business licensing & tax info.

2) Parents hire their child's education out either via a governess or private tutors. These laws vary state to state. Sometimes this counts as homeschooling, sometimes it doesn't.

3) Homeschool Co-OP. these run in a LOT of different ways, and have different laws that apply, depending on the state. Some: parents trade teaching. Some have regular parent teachers. Some have hired specialty teachers. Some are purely taught by outside staff.

4) Parents send their children to a private school. Even if its a school of TWO several states require that if you're teaching other people's children on more than a casual basis that you be licensed as an actual school. And in TWO states (last I checked) all homeschool families have to register as actual private schools.

... There are other options, but those 4 main branches cover most. What you're out lining could be in any of those 4... Depending on how you set it up and your state laws

_______________________

The Greater Seatlle Area has over 20,000 registered homeschoolers. Many "out if work" teachers, and many homeschoolers teach a primarilly targeted homeschooling demographic privately via option 2 (As I did). Those who do it full time often clear 100-200k per year. Just teaching THREE clasess, I made more than I could make as a PS teacher (no benefits, obviously). In addition to the "school day" demographic, full times teach evening/weekend classes to allow those who attend Awayschool, but cannot afford a good private school, to supplement their child's education.

______________

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/directory/Legalities.htm

http://www.hslda.org/laws/

These will probably be your two best resources in starting your research
________________

Not fighting my phone anymore... Whatever grammar me bestest / fat finger/ autocorrect mistakes are left, stand.

- Homeschooler for 5 years

I have a friend that does her one-to-one homeschool teaching during the evening hours because she works during the day. Her daughter has a sitter at home while her mom is working and has some assigned online work or workbook material to do during the day. Her sitter also takes her to a once a week homeschooling group. Maybe that would be an option?
I would look into some homeschool groups in your area, see if you can get some input and ideas from them. They might be able to steer you toward resources to help you navigate the laws in your area. I am guessing you would have to be licensed to charge for schooling.
Best of luck to you.

Personally, I would not pay someone to homeschool teach my son. We are homeschooling, and an added benefit (but not one we sought out) was that we didn't have to pay for private school. If I'm going to pay something, he might as well be in an actual school...ya know? I only speak for myself. Others very well may be interested. Look into homeschooling groups and co-ops near you. Get your feelers out. Even involve your daughter in the groups and go on field trips or meetups that might happen on the weekend. I will say, I can't see how you could make as much as your salary. This could involve reworking your spending and budget, and getting out of any debt, if you have any.

I believe you would need to start a private school, in order to charge to teach children other than your own if you are teaching children from more than 2 families, yours and one more. You would then be under additional regulations and requirements, liability insurance being one. Additionally, a parent could sue you if they felt their child or children were not properly taught, as you would not be protected by a school district you worked for. I recall reading this when I initially looked into homeschooling before I did it, I researched it extensively ;)

Essentially, you want to start your own school. I don't see this working, sorry...not legally, practically, or as far as customer interest is concerned.

I homeschool my children, and I would never CONSIDER letting someone ELSE do it. I do it because *I* want to be the one teaching them!

There are certain scenarios I think you are borrowing from...for example, I can crochet, so I end up teaching a class now and again to other homeschooled kids and they count it for part of home-ec, etc. Or, say my daughters want to learn woodworking...well, they aren't going to learn that from me, so I'd have to find someone else to teach them.

For the core education, though, it needs to be a parent, and I don't think you would be legally able to do this besides. Sorry... :(

If you do want to homeschool, there's always a way! I'm in full support of it!

As an educator I would think you would be pretty familiar with the laws in your state.
If not I would start with a google search and go from there. Denver is a large progressive city and I'm sure there are many home school groups and parents you could meet up with for more specific information.
p.s. this is just kind of a funny little thing but do you realize all your question marks are upside down?

i don't know what the laws state in CO, but in MD you cannot homeschool somebody else's kid. it's pretty clear that the parent must be the primary educator.
that being said, there's plenty of opportunities to get paid for doing some teaching in the homeschool world. i have taught classes in co-ops, and done a lot of free classes here at my home in a pay-it-forward fashion, because of all the help and networking my co-ops provided for me.
i've also taught paid classes in co-ops, and currently teach homeschool enrichment classes at the local community college.
i also worked while i homeschooled both of my boys. my wonderful community made that possible.
i suggest that it will be a stretch to make homeschooling other kids your living. but you can probably work part-time and supplement your income with some paid homeschool classes if you're offering something unique and wonderful.
khairete
S.

Hi A.,

"Homeschooling or homeschool (also called home education or home based learning) is the education of children at home, typically by parents or by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school."
Now, teaching homeschoolers may seem unlikely because the majority of us do not want to send our children to school in order to teach our kids ourselves; we choose to educate our own children at home, take the responsibility and the joy to teach our children according to our expectations, values and a curriculum we selected: a family thing that goes beyond how good or bad are public schools or how expensive are the private ones.
However, and based upon on states's regulations you may find families who are interested in your services as a tutor, or participate in some HS support groups or co-op groups. I suggest you to read HSLDA site
(The Home School Legal Defense Association) so you can get further information about it.
Responding to your other question about curricula, it is not a matter of choosing any curriculum you may think is good; the wonders of homeschooling is that we, as parents, can choose the right curriculum for our children, either a boxed curriculum, a Curriculum Units, a Classical Curriculum, a Religious Curriculum, a Secular Curriculum, a blend of curricula, or our own made curriculum out of several resources based on our kids' learning style, our own style, maturity, time, schedule, expectations, values, etc.
I have friends who work and homeschool, and others who supplement their children's education during evenings. It is not easy, but doable if you really want to home school and improve your kids' education.
It probably would be a good idea to start to home school your own child and start from there, that way you will see how this really works. Get all the information you can, go to the library, get in touch with some home school groups, organizations where you can provide your services like teaching arts, music or something different as an enrichment class. Before anything else is important for you to know the reality of Homeschooling. There is not just one reason to home school but many.
I wish you the best!

Although the state laws vary from state to state I do not think there are any laws that state what hours of the day you need to teach when homeschooling.

Most homeschooling parents get through their lessons within two to three hours (depending on the kids and how many). You really only need someone to care for your child while you are at work and you can do the lessons in the evenings.

You can also find homeschooling groups on Yahoo and/or do a Google search to find other groups and all the laws for your state.

I think you could actually make a decent amount of money being a homeschool teacher. I know in South Denver, there are a couple of rec centers where certified teachers will rent a room to teach home school students. They charge a significant amount so even if you taught a couple classes a week, you could probably make it work. I am currently in a small town in Alaska and there is one teacher who offers a small homeschool/ one room school house option. It seems like a wonderful option for working parents who don't like the other options in town. The kids attend in the mornings, about 10-12 total, then work at home in the afternoons. If I were to homeschool, I would look for a similar setup. The kids are getting a certified teacher, structure and monitored peer interaction but also curriculum tailored to them. I think if you set it up well, you would be in high demand.

I have some friends in Brooklyn toying with this scenario. I'm currently homeschooling and am part of a lage network of homeschoolers. Within the network are many styles of homeschooling (I do a Classical Education, but there are unschoolers, Christian homeschoolers, cyber schoolers etc.) There are SO MANY different curriculums and pieces to curriculums (styles of math curriculums, styles of science, styles of literature...) to choose from, you would need to find people who agree with exactly what you choose to teach. Maybe people who agree with the basic public school system but don't want their kids in school would like you to guide their kids in a cyber program...or whatever you decide to offer-if it's allowed-I'm not sure on that.

Most of the ladies in my network would not be interested in having someone else teach their kids full-time, because they have carefully researched and selected their style of education, but they do co-ops (once per week different moms teach different classes) and lots of group activities where everyone meets up on locations for hand-on learning days. Some are free, some are cheap or just cost of admission or donation.. I don't participate in the co-op because my curriculum is pretty heavy and I can't spare the school day, but we do attend the better group events. A couple of moms have put the word out in their communities that they would take extra students (not sure for a fee or not), but no takers, and in the end they're glad not to have to wrangle other kids along with their own independent schedules. As for people who can afford to send their kids to a good school, they usually have their kids in private schools. Not saying you don't have a niche, but saying it could be tricky to find it.

I leave my kids on a Mennonite farm a few times per month for the day, and for the cost of "daycare" The mom -who also has her kids there- guides their daily lessons in the morning. She taught in a Mennonite school before her kids were born. I LOVE this arrangement. If I could afford it five days a week my life would be eeeeasy :)

As for my friends in Brooklyn, they are into the homeschooling concept, they work and can't do it themselves, so they're toying with ways to team up and pay each other (or someone) to teach....but to be honest, when they saw how many options there are and how much work it is, they weren't able to find the right teacher, and for now all three of them have their kids in private schools while they sort it out. It will be hard for you to "charge" and prove what you're offering is more than a school can offer, but not impossible with your school background if people don't wan their kids in school, or feel you would offer a better eduction. I dont' know the rules though if you're even allowed to do this....

To be honest, if I won the lottery, and I could assemble a team or pay a Superperson to give my kids an Well-Trained Mind style classical education instead of doing it myself, I'd do it. But I wouldn't pay anyone to just give them the equivalent of what my local school provides, because I could send them to school for free.

If you're interested in homeschooling on your own for a bit while working, the Well Trained Mind Guide to Classical Education has a section on working it around a work schedule-and I'm sure there are lots of resources about that. Good luck!

I was just going to say what Mamazita said.
I don't know how much you need to make but don't expect to make what you do now, not impossible, but very unlikely.

Once you find some homeschool groups you can ask how many would be interested and see if you can get a group going. You have to get yourself circulating in these groups and let them know your intentions. Also you may want to check out homeschool fairs or even have a booth, maybe you can get people to sign up for your teaching their kids at your home.

Just some thoughts. Good Luck with it - I appreciate where you're at with this.

My 2nd grandson was having problems in school so they suggested private school which was even worse. They found a lady through a church that was a certified teacher. She was able to legally administer tests, they didn't have to go to a testing center....?

Anyway, she was teaching the kids out of her home in a home school setting. She charged $80 per month, same as the private school they had been having him attend. They had to purchase the books and materials separately thought. She provided lunch for the kids too through some food subsidy program I think, not sure if she claimed to be a child care facility to get on that or not. Don't know but she did serve a hot lunch each day.

The question marks are throwing me off lol

I agree with Mamazita though.

Whether the idea is viable depends on how many kids you can design individual plans for. What I mean is most people choose homeschooling so that their child's education is exactly what they need. If you try to do it like a regular school no one will pay for that because they can get it from a private school.

So figure out how many kids you can properly handle, figure out where the fee would fall for that, and figure out if anyone would pay that. Then find out what laws apply.

There was a group doing that in our area a few years ago but I lost track of the participants so I don't know if they are still at it. I am sure if you meet the curriculum requirements you can legally do that here and being a teacher I would think you could find other parents who may be in your situation (wanting to home school but can't) and would be interested in what you have to offer.

We didn't home school but I did start a business before I got pregnant in order to stay home with my girls. Best decision we ever made.

If you want something figure out a way to make it happen, don't listen to the nay-sayers and don't take no for an answer. I've found that if you work hard and never give up you can accomplish some pretty great things.

ADDED: After reading these responses I really think a lot will depend on what's going on educationally in your area. I live in Monterey County, the town we live in and one other nearby town have excellent schools. The rest of the county is a mess, the income disparity here is one of the highest in the state.

People are desperate to escape their local schools. Charter schools have lotteries with hundreds of kids left out and private schools here are very expensive (several charge 25K for KINDERGARTEN). Right after you see if it's legal, determine if there is a market for it in your area. If working parents are unhappy with the education their child is getting they will not care so much about the exact curriculum or teaching style they will just want their kids to have a good education.

I am pretty sure that if you want to be paid to teach other people's children then that is considered a private school, not homeschooling. You would have to learn about and conform to all of the laws for private schools in your state. That would be a HUGE hassle and probably not worth it. Perhaps it would be better for you to simply homeschool your daughter after work each day (I know, that would be a super busy schedule) and during the day have her attend a day care, have a nanny or other childcare provider, or possibly attend a charter school for homeschoolers. I know that last one might not be an option where you live, but my little sisters were able to attend a charter school like that in Arizona, it was not a full curriculum school, they offered electives that homeschoolers may have a hard time doing on their own like drama, dance, science labs, and they also had math and reading classes because I think those were required by the state. Which brings me to another option, perhaps you could try to work at and get your daughter enrolled in an existing charter school whose program of study/values are more closely aligned with your own. Or you could try to start a new charter school, parents and teachers have collaborated to do so before. My children used to attend a charter school that was started that way, my kids would still attend that school but we ended up moving away. Now my kids are in a traditional public school, and I have to say, it's actually a really great school! So another idea for you is to try to find a public school like maybe a magnet school that you like and try to get your child enrolled there. Best of luck!