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Nanny Homeschool

post #1 of 25
10/13/09 at 2:46pm
Thread Starter 
My husband and I both work fulltime out of the home. The nature of our jobs does not allow us to be self employed or work from home for another 3 to 5 years. We are away from him 10 hours/day during the week

Under those conditions is it feasible to homeschool our son and have him cared for by a nanny?

Has anyone done this and did it work?

My main reason for wanting to homeschool is that the public schools in my area are very crowded and the teachers apathetic. Even if that were not the case the requirements of the school district amount to a lot of box ticking instead of ensuring that learning takes place.

The private schools try to follow the public school format except for one which is wildly expensive.
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post #2 of 25
10/13/09 at 2:56pm

We may be asking the same question soon. In our case I still want to provide instuction; I just don't want to have to send my child to school simply b/c her dad got a job and we need a nanny.
post #3 of 25
10/13/09 at 3:29pm
You either get a housekeeper who is willing to do childcare and have a tutor come in some hours of the day (depending on the child ... a couple of hours a day would probably suffice). Or you hire a governess. The situation is extremely traditional ... much more so in many ways than full day school. Or rather than have a tutor come in, you have the housekeeper transport your child to a group study environment, such as to a homeschool mother's home who has agreed to add him to your brood, and to his home school enrichment classes.

Or depending on how old he is -- you may find that the amount of time you'd spend in your parental duties to a school + homework is more than sufficient to complete all his learning goals for the year. In which case the nanny or housekeeper would just need to drive him to the enrichment classes you select and keep him off of the TV (for example).
post #4 of 25
10/13/09 at 3:31pm
No one says that school has to happen between 9 and 3, Monday through Friday. School can certainly happen after 6:00 in the evening or on the weekends. A nanny could fill in with field trips during the day. I think in most states it does say that the "teacher" must be either a parent or state certified. So I would not trust just anyone to "school" my child. But facilitating field trips would be great.

I think there was another thread about this recently.

Kathi
post #5 of 25
10/13/09 at 3:33pm
Well, I know for a fact that you can do this if you go with one of the state-funded virtual academies. When we applied for our 2 oldest to do OHVA (k12 curriculum) there was a place for parents' information and then a spot for the learning coach information. I know one lady locally who uses OHVA also and her mother is the childrens' learning coach so that she can work FT (single parent situation) The downside is that you have to do all the state-mandated testing if you aren't one who likes that stuff. (for us it wasn't an issue, we had decided to do the standardized testing route for our reporting option instead of a teacher assessment/ portfolio review)

I don't know if that option would interest you though, I know a lot of hs'ers tend to shy away from the public virtual schools like we use because it still IS a public school, just in your home. (for us it isn't as invasive as we expected, I talk to the teacher on the phone once a month and I keep track of lessons we do and the time we spend on all lessons, not much else beyond that)
post #6 of 25
10/13/09 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota's Mom View Post
I think in most states it does say that the "teacher" must be either a parent or state certified.
Oh, no, I wouldn't think that. In my state if you are employing a tutor for some of your child's 4.5 hour a day, 180 day school year, the tutor needs to have a high school diploma or a GED. That's our law. Think about a private school: they are not restricted to certified teachers.
post #7 of 25
10/13/09 at 5:59pm
I second the K12 virtual academy option. The curriculum is so user-friendly that any literate person with the level of patience you'd normally require in a nanny anyhow can act as learning coach for the first few years. And non-parents are definitely allowed to act as the learning coach.
post #8 of 25
10/13/09 at 6:22pm
It's possible We both work FT and we homeschool two children right now. Honestly, it's just a matter of finding a schedule that works and being open-minded about WHEN school occurs. We ustilize daycare/kidsitter instead of a nanny, but same idea.

For us, as an example, school is Saturday-Wednesday with Monday and Wednesday being more of a half-school day each and Thursday/Friday is the weekend from school. We spend about 3 hours a day on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday and 1.5 hours on Monday and Wednesday.
post #9 of 25
10/13/09 at 6:43pm
Yes, our school week includes the weekends as well.
post #10 of 25
10/13/09 at 8:57pm
I used to homeschool children that weren't my own, and I've met several other people who were in the same situation (at least one for very famous parents!).

I think the think that you would really have to take into account is that you would be looking for an educated nanny who is very fluent in English, and depending on your area that can cost a considerable amount of money.

I have seen it work very well, though. I think the important thing is to be on the same page with the nanny, and for there to be A LOT of communication, while allowing the nanny to lead as she finds appropriate. One of the major perks of homeschooling is that the school day never ends, so you want there to be a smooth transition between caretakers (meaning, the nanny and you guys). I used to write a note to the parents every day about what we did.

If you have any questions, you can PM me.
post #11 of 25
10/13/09 at 9:51pm
We have one kid in our group who is hs'd by her nanny. The child is older, at least 13, and it seems to work for her.

The nanny is a former elementary school teacher. As far as I know the job is full time and the nanny is completely in charge of the hsing. The mother picks out the curriculum (I believe they use K12 or another all in one curriculum) and gets updates, but the nanny does all of the execution, as well as taking the child on field trips and get togethers with our group.

If dh and I both worked full-time and we had the money to pay someone, I'd do it. It's not ideal for me, personally, but I think it's a great option for others.
post #12 of 25
10/14/09 at 1:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FraggleLover View Post
My husband and I both work fulltime out of the home. The nature of our jobs does not allow us to be self employed or work from home for another 3 to 5 years. We are away from him 10 hours/day during the week

Under those conditions is it feasible to homeschool our son and have him cared for by a nanny?

Has anyone done this and did it work?
I know a family who is homeschooling their children and have actually hired a teacher (well, three - they have a lot of $$$) to teach them. A nanny could also work, if she was really motivated. But you might try to find someone who is also very interested in teaching, KWIM? It could be a person who is perhaps going to school PT, getting an elementary education degree, who would view this as a great opportunity to "practice" what she is learning on an actual child.
post #13 of 25
10/14/09 at 2:24am
There is a family in our homeschooling group who has their nanny bring their dd to most functions during the day. I know they have various tutors that also come to their house. (Her dd is only 4, but I guess they wanted to get started early.)
post #14 of 25
10/14/09 at 7:48am
Thread Starter 
DS is only a baby now. He shares a nanny with a little girl at her house. When she starts part time pre-school we will have to find another solution. So I'll be looking for a nanny who is willing to assist with the activities we choose for him.
post #15 of 25
10/14/09 at 9:03am
But you are saying in 3-5 years you will be more flexible in where you work? That would be about the time you'd start home schooling. Before that he needs quality care and probably the most educational thing you can do is pick a target second language already and get a nanny who will immerse him. Second is exposure to music. Third is probably reading to him in English, or having books on tape, that are as advanced in vocabulary as he can enjoy.

Also, home schooling for academics in the early elementary years is knocked out really quickly one on one and the bulk of home schooling effort in my home is supervising musical instruument practice, driving to performance arts and sports, and maintaining all the instruments and gear.
post #16 of 25
10/14/09 at 9:33am
Start by looking into the laws for your state. As another poster mentioned, in some states homeschooling law specifies the parent or legal guardian must be the one providing instruction. However, if that's the case in your state, I imagine there are ways to get around this, and there must be some provision for professional tutoring as well (ie. for child actors, dancers, etc.).
post #17 of 25
10/14/09 at 12:14pm
Thread Starter 
I am not in the states.

The laws regarding homeschooling here are that the education must be "acceptable to the minister"

Most homeschoolers here are from overseas and not planning to stay here permanently. So the are tolerated by the Ministry of Education. I only know of 2 local families who homeschool and it seems the officials were not quite sure what to do with them. There are not enough homeschoolers to require an official stance.

All of this to say I am not worried about official requirements.

I want feel comfortable in interviewing a nanny (and we plan to have more children) to explain that part of her duties will be to supervise them in part of their studies/activities and that my children will not be disadvantaged this way.

The answer I've gotten so far is yes, I can do this.
post #18 of 25
10/14/09 at 1:38pm
I live next to a mostly lower income rust-belt type city with a rather nasty school system. I've noticed that there are quite a few families with just one parent (who works) or both parents have to work full time that have hired a nanny/sitter for their kids during traditional work hours. The kids do most of their book work type schooling with their parents in the evening hours or on weekends, and then the Nanny seems to be the one taking them to activities during the day hours, like the homeschool library club and the YMCA program.

So I do think it's doable if you are open to other arrangements. I think the one woman I talked to said that the kids aren't allowed to watch junky-tv or play video games during the daytime while with the nanny, but can read/play/do creative type crafting. You said you are not in the States and so I don't know what sort of oppertunities you might have for the kids during the day, but perhaps you could find things with some digging? Then the nanny could do certain things with the kids and some could be reserved for the parents. And you could hire the nanny with the understanding that this is part of the responsibility (ie- make sure kid X reads this book, maybe you could have workboxes set up ahead of time and kid X has to complete something from it.) Might also make the job more interesting for the nanny as well, especially if you have someone who perhaps thought of education as a career at one point or something.

I do think it's doable with a bit of thinking.
post #19 of 25
10/14/09 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FraggleLover View Post

The answer I've gotten so far is yes, I can do this.
Absolutely!
post #20 of 25
10/21/09 at 2:26pm
I actually read an article recently that talked about how the trend lately (with hiring Nannies) is parents that are looking for Nannies are requiring that they are able to homeschool the children.

I'll try to find the article and post the link.