Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Using a Teacher for Homeschooling

Is anyone out there using a teacher for homeschooling? We're thinking we may use a teacher for some of our homeschooling. Any idea of the cost? I've seen other posts on the cost of tutors, but they tend to be high school and college students. As always, your help is appreciated.

btw, for those of you who followed our drama (or was it trauma?) this is DS7 before homeschooling: and after:

I've never hired anyone to do this but I used to tutor kids in math when I was in college. Mostly the children of professors I knew. I think sometimes kids respond better to an adult other than their parents. Sometimes kids look up to young adults and will work hard to impress them.

I used to charge by the hour. I'm sure my rates would be meaningless now since that was 20 yrs. ago.

Do you mean like a public school teacher, but after school hours?

You might check places like Kumon or foreign language places like Baby Lingua to find what they pay their teachers. They probably won't tell you directly, but one of the job-seeking websites like Monster.com could probably tell you what you need to know.

And congrats on finding a good school fit! YAY!!!!!


Oh, and BTW...Is it wrong of me to feel driven to say "I told you so!" at this point? (Yes, it's probably wrong...)

Ah, but seriously, you know I love you and I'm THRILLED for you that it's working out, Questions! I'm so glad that you and your DS will both have a happier year this year! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Just wanted to say that I am glad DS is happy. May be your local hs group could give you an idea how much to pay.

Thanks LMom and thank you, Kriston. You were definitely right. I just needed to be brave enough to take the plunge.

And thanks for the idea of checking out the job websites. Did you know that Sylvan only pays about $12 or $13 an hour? School teachers around here seem to charge about $80/hr.for tutoring.

I'll ask our local HS group, but I'm not aware of anyone using a teacher. But once again, good advice.

Thanks again!

It's all good.

I just always worried that I was pushing you to homeschool in our PMs, and I did NOT want to do that! I tried to be as neutral as I could possibly be because I honestly do not believe that HSing is the right solution for everyone...

...but even so, I couldn't *help* but feel like it would probably be a very good solution to many of your problems with your DS! I'm just glad to hear that if I was perhaps a wee bit more *ahem* assertive *ahem* about my opinion with you than I like to be when it comes to HSing, that at least it all turned out well for your family in the end. That's a very, very good thing!

Really, I'm doing a little happy dance for you in front of my computer! Can you see me?

Our homeschool group passes on mentions of people offering relevant services, Dottie, so you might check with a group near you and see if they'll mention you. I've found babysitters, foreign language and art classes, testing services, used books for sale and other such good stuff in our weekly homeschool group e-mail message. They usually just pass on a one-paragraph blurb detailing the service offered, the person's qualifications, costs, location, and any other pertinent info.

It's worth a try!

I know a teacher who also tutors. She charges $30 per hour. I'm sure you'd pay more in big cities or less in rural areas. She only works with elementary aged kids.

P.S. It's usually a homeschooler who suggests the posting be made, so they don't just take random ads. However, offers of tutoring are not exactly in the same class as other ads, I don't think. Anyway, the worst they can say is no, right?

Kriston is right, Dottie. If you know any homeschoolers see if they would help you to get the info out. If not contact the hs group coordinator and see if she would post your info in a newsletter or on the mailing list. I just helped a friend of mine to get her ad into our newsletter. You may also try to offer group classes and see if people are interested.

Good luck

Questions, I'm glad things are going well, so great!



We have been summer schooling and things are sooooooo pleasant!

I know a SAHM who was a math professor who is willing to tutor DD8 and I am about to follow up with that.

Just start asking around people you know. I think you will track someone down.

Good luck.

Thanks, Incog. I have someone wonderful. I just don't know what to pay her and we haven't discussed it yet. Just wanted to get an idea before we do.

I am glad you asked this question because I have been thinking about this also, but I think what my son really needs is a math "mentor", possibly a college student who really, really likes math. I have always wondered if my attitude toward math has somehow affected my son's attitude the subject. He has always learned math concepts very quickly and he always liked to find other ways of coming up with the answers, which I think is probably a good thing, but I was often impatient with him when he did this. I was only taught one way of doing math and I felt like I didn't really understand math inside and out the way I needed to. There were too many times that I told him "why can't you just do the problem the way I showed you or the way the book shows it and get it over with?" With science, history, literature, everything else, we spent lots of time discussing the subject because we both enjoyed these subjects, but math was a different story and I wish I could take back all those times when I was tired and cranky and not helpful at all when he wanted to discuss math. As a homeschool mom I sometimes feel a little guilty about this.

Lori, have you looked into Johns Hopkins CTY and/or Stanford EPGY? They both include tutors in their classes and some have virtual classrooms where the kids listen and speak via the computer. They're expensive, but they might offer assistance.

Even ALEKS, a less expensive option than JH CTY or EPGY, has somewhat of a teacher function, though not a real person. My dd8 says that it is like having your own personal teacher. She occassionally needs assistance from a real person (me) so that may not be sufficient for your needs. Though it might be feasible and more affordable to have an online curriculum with the occasional tutortial rather than depending on regular course instruction from a tutor.

We might try those in the future. He used Aleks for a while and did well enough with that, but I just don't think he will ever like math the way he does all the other subjects and I just wonder if it is my fault. He enjoys learning about every other subject, even through the summer, but he reminds me that it is summer break if I try to get him to do anything math related. I just wish that he could find a friend or mentor that really liked math, and could convince him that math was actually fun.

He does have one friend his age who is in the gifted class at the public school and this kid says he likes math, but they don't let kids work above grade level at this school so my son is doing higher grade level math than he is. His other gifted friends don't really like math as much as other subjects.

Lori - have you tried any of the Zaccaro books? I just got "10 Things Every Scientist and Mathematician SHould Know" and DS has liked it so far. We've not done any of the math in it just reading the stories. It's all stories about things that have gone wrong (Challenger disaster, Destruction of the Mars Orbitor, a bridge collapse etc" due to errors in math or science. At the end of each chapter, there are 4 levels of math problems with answers in the back.

The other book is CHallenge Word problems (two levels, one for PRimary and the other for middle-high) and it too has 4 levels of problems (final level being Einstein Level) which your son might like to work through on his own to see which levels he can do. The stories that go with them are cute. There is a website where you can peek inside the books.

We haven't tried any of the Zaccaro books and that sounds like something my son would really like. Thanks for the suggestion. I think I need to work with his love of science and technology to get him more involved with math.

Fractals can inspire people! Learn about graphing, complex numbers, iteration, computer programming, limits, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Thanks. I'll have to have him look at fractals too. I just don't have the time or energy that I used to have to find just the right homeschooling materials since my dad needs us to help take care of my mother, who is probably in the last stage of dementia and very likely in her last year of life. I think it is going to be a really rough year or two for us. I do appreciate the help we get from this message board.

Wikipedia is actually a really cool free resource.

He has used Wikipedia for years and he has learned so much by looking up the answers to his questions.

But most of his math questions recently have had to do with probability and statistics and I have had trouble finding a good resource for that.

We started reading "10 Things Every Scientist and Mathematician Should Know" last night and my son does like the stories and discussion questions. He hasn't tried any of the math problems yet. He likes books that make him think.

We might try some of the others when he finishes this book.

Lori - we just stared "10 Things Every ..." as well and both my boys really enjoyed it.