"Homeschooling" someone else's kid and you aren't

I’ve had parents approach me with similar requests, but am not sure it would be in the child’s best interest to be one-on-one, with minimal socialization day after day, and haven’t actually done it.

In my opinion, the way that would utilize my talents (and the parents’ money) most effectively would be if I taught the child the core subject of reading, writing, and mathematics, and he or she attended public school in the afternoons for lunch, special classes, social studies, and science. This would also give the child a chance to interact with peers on a daily basis. Unfortunately, Georgia does not allow part-time enrollment in the public schools, so despite an appeal to the state board of education, we’ve not been able to work this out.

Karyn

Hi des,

On other boards, I have heard about parents hiring a tutor who goes into the school during the “reading” time block (I suppose English in high school) to tutor the child. This is for the younger grades where the curriculum isn’t so strict. Of course, if this kid is in special ed almost full time, what IS the curricula?

Maybe you can work something like that out - including a period where you can work on study skills and tutor his homework in other subjects?

I image some school systems might see this as a threat for a variety of reasons - liability, if they agree to have you come in will they suddenly have to pay you, it might be disruptive to others in the school, they don’t have space for you to work one on one with the kid, etc. But it’s worth asking about, if you can’t do the part time thing. They may have no objections at all.

If that doesn’t work, can you tutor at the child’s house? That removes insurance liability for your own home.

Lil

I knew a former teacher who did this. Basically she ran a small homeschool in her house, taking in 6 students at at ime. In our state you can legally have a certified teacher homeschool your child; otherwise only parents can homeschool. What helped her was that 3 of the children were from the same family, so she didn’t have to do much advertising to fill the other slots. She advertised in a homeschool organization newsletter. Her tuition was similar to private school tuition — somewhere in the middle range of private tuition schools in this area.

I also know of a parent who ran a small homeschool for special needs children in her home for several years (because one of her children needed one-on-one and it was the only way she could afford to stay home and do it).

Both situations worked well for both the children and adults.

The first thing you might want to do is call one of your state’s homeschooling organizations (do a Google search on your state name plus homeschooling) and ask if it’s even legal in your state. If so, you may want to place an ad or two in newsletters.

Nancy

I am certified to teach in NM. I’m more worried about homeowners insurance and that sort of thing to be honest.

As for the socialization issue. Would be the same as for any homeschooling. And aren’t there homeschool groups that do some activities together? As for the kid, I would really doubt he gets that much socialization anyway, as he is very quiet and not esp. normal in this area as well.

I thought about the thing going into the school. I would wonder about the school “liking this”. They are already getting lots of complaints from the parents who they deem as troublemakers and I think are the neatest people!

Another idea I had was , how much time will a school allow a kid to miss a week to still be enrolled? What if he missed 6 hours a week? (I doubt they allow part-time enrollment as I know there is some no. they need to get their money). This would be a good one for you Nancy, how many hours have you taken your kid out for various “therapies”? I might ask this on the parent board as well.

I think I could do a LOT with him 6 hours a week. I could give them a bit of discount for taking hours I couldn’t normally fill and they would not have to worry so much what he isn’t getting in school.

—des

I wouldn’t like to do it at their house. I think the thing I like the best is for my dog to have a part in the program! (My dog is a wonderful pet therapist). Also having my stuff around and available and not having to carry around stuff.

—des

des,

The practical issue is this. Let’s say there are 40 weeks in the school year. At $150 per week, that would be $6000. per year (and I have no idea if you could get a lot more than that in NM)! But let’s think further. At $150 per week it would be about $5.00 per hour for 30 hours! You know what? I think tutoring for $25 to $50 per hour makes a lot more sense!

And I agree with keb that we should use our particular expertise in reading therapy, or whatever, as opposed to trying to teach all subjects. I

I do know a full-time tutor who gives a discount for people who come during school hours. That gives homeschoolers who often have only one income a break, and it helps to fill some of those daytime hours.

Janis

I would read up on the laws and the attendance policies of the school. What state are you in? How do they define homeschooling? In some states, you would be legally a “school” — which really might do weird things to homeowner’s insurance. And the whole concept of “tutoring” is probably a little bit of a grey area - it’s a business.

You’re right, the “socialization” issues are the same as for homeschooling (and I gotta tell ya, the social realities of being dyslexic in a school setting are *not* the kind of socialization I would want to inflict on anyone — though that is of course not necessarily universal.)

You do want to sort of play a “worst case scenario” in your head — definitely get the kinds of permissions/signatures that a babysitter would in case the book you’re should spontaneously combust and 911 would need to be called. If you’re really worried about the homeowner’s insurance thing, and the possible liabilities for “running a business” in your home, one out-of-the-box answer is to do the reading lesson at the library (just not in a quiet study area — and they may even let you have a room) or at a quiet table at McMaggots, er, McDonald’s. The dentist’s office might think you were a little weird if you camped out there — you’d probably have to move around from one waiting room to another … ANYTHING to get the kid reading, right ? :-) :-)

Frankly, I’d negotiate w/ kid and parent for things like lawn mowing or something else you’d rather “pay” somebody to do. Then you could charge a more affordable price but be helping each other out.

As far as “all the subjects” goes — in my experience, the LD extends to all subjects, and I’m comfortable with most of them. It *does* mean a *lot* of lessons, though!! However… what grade are we talking about? Miss Jones has been contemplating assembling a loosely structured “curriculum for the bright dyslexic” for some years now… sort of a Well-Traned Mind for the Struggler with Language…

>I would read up on the laws and the attendance policies of the school. What state are you in? How do they define homeschooling? In some

There are probably ways around this one. As long as the *parents* send the proposal in. The states rules aren’t very strict, and it is New Mexico we are talking about. LOL! Where it’s too much trouble to chase a car that has been driving on expired plates from another state for a couple years.

>things to homeowner’s insurance. And the whole concept of “tutoring” is probably a little bit of a grey area - it’s a business.

Yep. and I am operating out of my house. I don’t think I am strictly speaking going by the books right now.

> You’re right, the “socialization” issues are the same as for homeschooling (and I gotta tell ya, the social realities of being dyslexic in

This is not much of a problem. I think he would have better socialization. There are all sorts of informal homeschool groups that I could team up with. I think he would have MORE acceptance not less.

> You do want to sort of play a “worst case scenario” in your head — definitely get the kinds of permissions/signatures that a babysitter would in case the book you’re should spontaneously combust and 911 would

Yes indeedy.

>ou’d probably have to move around from one waiting room to another … ANYTHING to get the kid reading, right ? :-) :-)

McMaggots! You kill me, Sue.

BTW, funny you mentioned lawn. Don’t have a lawn. Grass what grass?
LOL! I’m really having a bit too much fun reading this tonight.

>As far as “all the subjects” goes — in my experience, the LD extends to all subjects, and I’m comfortable with most of them. It *does* mean a *lot* of lessons, though!! However… what grade are we talking about?

I’m not so worried about the subject part. He isn’t getting much of any subject follow-thru where he is. I’m thinking that anything to provide stimulation. I have a saltwater tank which he loves, there’s oceanography 101 right there! PE— we can run the dog thru my little agility course.. That’s PE plus lots of discipline, work on directionality, etc. Arts, I love arts myself— I’ve got lots of materials to burn. Language experience things like cooking (some math and reading in there), making/buiding things, etc. And various trips to be taken. So actually I think the subject part would be fun.

> Miss Jones has been contemplating assembling a loosely structured “curriculum for the bright dyslexic” for some years now… sort of a Well-Traned Mind for the Struggler with Language…[/quote]

The Lab School in Sally Smith’s book “No Easy Answers”, has such a program exactly geared for ld kids. All the curriculum is based around a single topic each year— Cavemen the first year, etc. The kids do a lot of play-acting etc. sounds great.

Of course, I think Janis makes quite a compelling pt. re: how much I could reasonably charge vs how much I could make. I’d really have to take three kids (and 3 is about max imo) to make money. That’s more of a hassle than one! And more issues could come up, re “school” vs “homeschool”.

I’m actually really wondering more now on the 2 times a week thing for part of the day. Just how long can the kid be out of school? It’s really a more workable solution. STill would be a business, I could help them by charging less during school hours, it’s sure cheaper that way, and if he had me for 6 hours his parents wouldn’t need to worry about what he wasn’t learning in school.

—des

I really agree with that idea, des. Take him out of school at noon for a couple of days a week and work on skills he needs. That should be ideal.

Janis

And New Mixico just might be able to handle such a “strange” concept, even. There are principals who would get wedgies in their drawers just thinking about somebody missing several hours each week of their invaluable curriculum.

It’s true that NM tends to be a bit looser on some things. I know it is true of the local police dept (which does not want to be on national tv anymore— why, it makes them look bad :-)). But I don’t know if this applies to principals in public schools. Maybe if they thought these parents would leave them alone and stop complaining….
:-)

—des

my little brother went to school in Socorro — I remember him grinning at the “undercover” police cars… with their own uniquely colored license plates…

>my little brother went to school in Socorro — I remember him grinning at the “undercover” police cars… with their own uniquely colored license plates…

They’re planning on changing that, manana…….
Gotta love this place. :-)

—des

I taught two brothers at home for a couple of months, many years ago. We just called it extended tutoring time at that time. It was a special circumstance where both boys had genetic handicaps. The school system saw the huge amounts of special ed funding they werte losing especially if both boys didn’t register the next year, and suddenly found much improved in-school placements for them.
The idea of going to the child’s home is very good — then it is actually homeschooling and the mother can do all the socialization and non-academic things while you tutor perhaps three hours a day.

I tried working with a child in a school last year. I didn’t want to, but the school insisted that he had to be under their roof for attendance rules (Three months later they reversed this decision, but by then it was too late for other attitude problems.) Working in the school was the disaster I expected it to be; the administration undercut us at every turn. They promised us a private space and then scheduled other classes in the same room. They moved us to a space that was the video storage space and had constant traffic to get and return the equipment. They sent a screaming autistic kid into the space. They moved us into the daycare space and then the daycare people came in for their daily coffee. Of course none of this was their fault and they hadn’t really promised a work space … I would disrecommend this unless you know the school principal personally.