Finding a Homeschooling-Friendly Sitter (for ~20hrs/week)

[mrsfrenchy]

I'm a long way off from actually homeschooling (my oldest is not quite 2) but I'm still trying to figure out what is feasible for us.
DH and I are both in school right now. We'll both graduate around the time that DD1 is ready for Kindy. We're both planning on working full time (at least until we get student loans paid off--5ish years--then one of us may drop down to part time).

We're hoping that one of us will get a position that allows us to work something like 4a-noon or 2pm-midnight....something like that. That way, we'd just need childcare for half of the day, the time when both of us are at work. All nearby relatives work FT, so that would leave us to find a care provider for those hours. I wouldn't expect the careprovider to do the bulk of the homeschooling, though I would leave things like books to read with them (related to whatever we're discussing), worksheets (if we do any, that is), or the math and language computer games (like starfall).

Has any one had luck in finding someone like this? Where would I even start?

[lotusdebi]

I'd start with local homeschool groups - see if any homeschooling famlies run a home daycare.

[phathui5]

I ended up giving in and paying to use care.com. I didn't want to, but I just couldn't find someone. We got a couple babysitters through there.

[pigpokey]

You know that is in the realm of normal nanny duties. It's not unlike doing homework. I haven't needed a sitter in a long time, but when I did I found them on Craigslist and by advertising at the local university.

[Rivka5]

We are planning to homeschool, but prior to kindergarten my daughter has been going to a play-based nursery school. (My son is a toddler and home full-time.) I work part-time and we have a part-time nanny. I haven't had any trouble finding people who are interested in PT nannying jobs - it's great for students or for moms looking for PT work.

Once we start kindy (in four weeks!!), my husband will be going to a 4-day compressed schedule so that he can be home one weekday a week. I will be rearranging my hours so that I am home one full day and three mornings. And we'll still use our nanny three afternoons a week.

We're not planning to have our nanny do any homeschooling, although if it turns out to be okay with our HS group we may have her take the kids to a park day or on a field trip. Homeschooling is so efficient that it just doesn't take much time. Also, keep in mind that you can also do academic stuff in the evenings and on weekends, leaving nanny/daycare time for just playing and social time.

[One_Girl]

If you only need care for half a day then you or your husband will probably be able to teach your children what they need to know before going to work. It takes very little time to teach each subject with as much or more depth than they would cover it in public school. If the things you set up are self directed activities that the kids can do on their own (like homework) then I don't think you should have a problem finding someone who has no problem with that. If you are going to want someone to teach the lessons then you may need to pay more, but you should still be able to find someone willing to do that. If you have a university or college in your area then you may find someone through their career center.