homeschooling other people's kids

[jenmk]

Does anyone do that?

I'm contemplating doing that--sort of starting my own school, I guess. I'm planning to homeschool my kids and thought perhaps I could add a few more children into the mix. I'm thinking that we'd hold "school" in the mornings. The kids would self-direct, I'd stock up at the library each week to satisfy each person's current curiosity, just as I would for my kids. Possibly buy one or two curriculums to follow here and there.

What I don't know is whether I'd need insurance like a daycare/preschool does? Since these would be school age children (except for my younger ones) who I'd have at my house for a few hours each day, I'm not sure the daycare stuff applies. Anybody know?

Besides making this perhaps more fun by having other kids around too (and offering this option to parents who'd like to do it but may not feel they can for whatever reason) I'd love to have little kids around me forever!

What do you think? Is this possible?

[mnnice]

Well I offer no real advice other than I find the idea interesting from the other side. I think the legal standing of such an endeavor would vary a lot from place to place.

I see lots of positives in homeschooling, but I don't think it's for me. We have joked in our house that ds1 could be "grandma schooled" if grandma didn't live so far away. My mom is a retired educator/reading teacher and ds1 really likes reading and working on letters, quilting and doing crafts with her.

[3momkmb]

Definitely look into your state laws. I believe in some states you would be required to have a teaching degree to teach other people's children, even if you don't need one to teach your own.

I think the daycare regs might not kick in until you have a certain number of children. Of course I have no idea what number that is and it probably varies from state to state.

[Lillian J]

I think it could work well, but you really need to find out about the applicable laws in your state, county, and town to make sure you have all the details. In CA, for instance, you would establish a "private school" - the term "homeschooling" would have nothing to do with it - it's very simple, and you're not required to have any sort of degree. But I knew a family that did that, and they needed a permit of some kind for their neighborhood in order to have more than a certain number of children in their home - I think they may have needed simple building inspections as well. In other words, running a private school as a business in their home, in which other people's children would be enrolled, brought a bit more in the way of requirments than if they'd just been homeschooling their own children under the "private school" option. I'd definitely want insurance regardless of whether it's required - a lot of things can go wrong in the most unexpected ways.
Lillian

[jenmk]

Thanks, I will look into the laws. I'm kinda excited about this!

[theretohere]

Wow, that sounds interesting!
Update us when you know more.

[StormySar]

That sounds like a fun idea, but you will probably need to be prepared to explain your teaching expertise to parents who migth be interested in your services. Would you be charging for this? Keeping in mind parents usually take schooling (if they are planning to homeschool it might be different, but just keep this in mind) very seriously. While we can homeschool our own kids on our own schedules, miss a day as needed, start later, make allowence for family events and trips, other parents might not be so understanding when it comes to their kids.

My friend is going to be homeschooling her nephew and I think it is really neat. I have thought about how neat it woudl be to homeschool other kids along with mine then I realised it woudln't be the best thing - for me - because I don't want to spend all of our days inside homeschooling and want to get out and go places, and having multiple kids gets trickier if you're doing it on your own (which I woudl be, mayeb you'd have a helper in which case it might not be so bad!)

Best of luck momma! Let us know how it goes!

[Lillian J]

You can read up with the Holt books, The Unschooling Handbook, maybe David Albert's books, and about the Summerhill schools, and maybe even Rebecca Rupp's books, etc., for inspiration on how to describe what you have in mind. And Linda Dobson's book on learning activities would be fun. Just getting ready sounds like a fun project in itself. I think the thing would be to explain and give examples on how relaxed homeschooling can work, how you can provide basics in creative ways while following a child's interests, etc. I wouldn't get into describing it as a kind of "unschooling" though - that kind of terminology is unnecessary and confusing. Lillian

[cupofjojo]

I was just at a homeschooling conference and I was amazed at the number of "homeschool academies" here in Colorado.

There were about 4 at the event where they open there homes to other families. In one case the lady take in 20 kids. Another was about 6.

I asked my sister about such an operation. She is in early childhood education/daycare, etc. and has been for years. She said a lot of it would depend on the state and its regulations.

Some states have regulations and certifications that are a must for any daycare/school provider, and also rules for what can and cannot take place in a home based setting. You may need teaching certification once you are dealing with other kids and not your own, you probably will need business certification i.e. safety inspections. Depending on the number of children daycare regulations would then come into play. There's more and I can't remember all she said but there were quite a few considerations. If your state is not so regulating, it could be a great thing.

[hsmamato2]

I guess I'm the odd one out here.... who would be your target demographic? If it's homeschoolers, well,that's not homeschooling,that's tutoring,and if it's the schooled population, would you be concerned about teaching degrees,parental desires for their kids educational plans,etc?
or would you be looking for parents who like the unschooling style, but have no desire to homeschool their kids,and are looking for smaller setting?
I can think of similiar ideas, such as parent led co-op style activities,where other parents bring their kids for social learning times,etc- But In essence,you'd be running a school-so wouldn't school regulations apply?
Not trying to seem terrible, just very curious-I've never considered this before-
Oh,BTW, to a pp,and this is VERY kindly meant, we homeschool parents take our kids education every bit as seriously as those who send their kids to school
Love this board,love this board.....:

[StormySar]

hsmamato2, my comment was not meant to imply homeschooling families don't tae their kids ed. seriously - I was coming from that comment as more of a attendance type of thing if you read the rest of it - one of the benefits of homeschooling as you know is the ability to be flexible with our schedules. If you are in charge of teaching others kids, life will have to be scheduled and other parents might not be understanding if you have to take some time off of teaching their kids for a family function or something other than a weekend or national holiday, kwim? It woudl have ot be operated like daycare, where parents can depend on their kids being in school. if momma's sick and can't teach (unless you have a sub like schools), which is also a consideration, other parents will be left high and dry trying to find childcare for their kids. That's all I was talking about... as a HS mom myself, I know we take our kids ed very seriously.

I do think with lots of planning and backup plans, it could be something good!

[UUMom]

To me, hsing is a way of life.

If someone else were to school my kids, I would call that private schooling. Maybe it would be fabulous & wonderful, but I would not consider private school homeschooling.

[xanandali]

Ok, forgive me if I'm wrong, but seems to me that its not really homeschooling if you've got a group of other kids there. To me it would become like a private school that emphasizes the montessori or waldof method- it wouldn't really BE homeschooling. It just seems like even if you try to cater to all the other kids, at some point there's going to be more "schooling" involved that you might anticipate because you'll have to schedule activities around the time they'll be there, modify things you do to accomodate more kids, and make the other families' children conform to your home's rules which equates to conforming to a school's rules in my mind.

That said, its not a horrible idea at all. In fact it sounds like a lot of fun (and work!) But I just don't see it as being homeschooling if it becomes a bigger group of kids for which you aren't a primary caregiver or parent.

[hsmamato2]

I figured that's what you meant...and I agree, homeschooling our own kids does create a glorious freedom to make our own schedules...

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

Maybe you could try to find a family or families who only need someone part-time. They should be people you see eye-to-eye with on educational topics. So they would be homeschooling themselves, but with their need to work part-time (or whatever) they need part-time childcare for their homeschooled children. You wouldn't be 100% responsible for their education, but simply there to provide supervision and guidance in the children following their own interests. So I would still consider such kids homeschooled since they are with their parents most of the time, but they have sought out someone who understands homeschooling and can facilitate continued learning even when they aren't together. Personally that would be enough for me. You don't want to end up feeling like you never have time for your own family alone or that you are completely beholden to the other kids' parents as to the types of activities/experiences/curriculum you provide. If the parents know that they can pursue whatever they think is important in the days that they are with their children, then maybe they wouldn't feel compelled to micromanage what you do with them during the day.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

My two oldest boys are babysat 2 days a week by a home/Waldorf/unschooler who has 2 kids of similar ages. It works out great for us. They go on long nature walks, bake bread, paint pictures, catch bugs, go to the park, etc. She reads to them and is really "with" them, unlike a lot of other babysitting/daycare situations I've seen. I think, because she homeschools, that she interacts with the kids so much. She's not just babysitting. Does that make sense to anyone? :
They are definitely learning when they are with her and her kids.

[Liisa]

I think its a great idea if only you were in CAnada,Toronto lol s there who lives in CAnada,Toronto whos interesed in doing this?