Do you think anyone would be interested in this kind of hs help?

[Tiramisu]

Dh is a Latin teacher. He has tutored over the summer before and has taught other languages. We are thinking about having him do a summer intensive for hs students who need help getting started or completing a foreign language credit.

 

I've thought about doing a writing class over the summer. I've taught at coop before and people have asked me to tutor their younger kids after seeing their older kids benefit from my class. 

 

I've also had a lot of mom's share their concerns with me about how their children are behind in their high school work, and I would like to provide a service of setting up a schedule and working with their children over the summer to make sure the work is completed when the mom is overwhelmed herself.

 

What do you think about these ideas? 

 

In our area, "lessons" generally cost us $25 per half hour. Dh often charges half that, which sometimes irritates me since we have to pay so much more for lessons for our kids. What do you think is reasonable to charge assuming this is something that would be of interest to our local hs community?

[TechWife]

I wish you lived here! I could use your help - DS needs to write a research paper this summer and I would love it if someone else would shepherd him through it! 

 

As far as rates go, I think $25/hour is appropriate. If there is a group class, establish "tuition" that covers a set number of weeks. I also recommend you have people pay ahead for either group classes or private sessions. If not, at least have them leave a "last lesson" deposit with you in case they are a no show one week and you never see them again. 

[I talk to the trees]

I wish you were near me! I would sign dd up for Latin! I think your rates sound perfectly reasonable, but you may want to offer a "family rate"- maybe a 20% discount per child if more than one signs up? And I agree with Techwife about the deposit. It's hard because you don't want to sound mean or unreasonable, but you don't want to waste your time, either!

[Goldilocks]

Another class idea might be a crash course for the homeschooling parent in how to teach Latin.

[G5052]

Yes, there are people in my area who do these sorts of things.  I never have done summer workshops, but used to teach paid classes during the year, so I learned by making mistakes! My favorites were 4-week science workshops (one a week, one hour).

 

For a group class of 8 or more, I priced it at $10-20/session per student.  I required a $10-20 materials fee to reserve a spot.  No refunds on that because I had to buy materials ahead of time and make copies, and the money insures that you have commitment. Then they had to pay in full on or before the first class with no refunds if they missed, left class early, etc. etc. So for a 4-week science seminar for grade school students (1 hr/week), it was a $10 deposit plus $40. For a 30-week physics class with two-hour class sessions, I had a $20 deposit plus $300/semester, to be paid on or before the semester started. I had a handout with all of this explicitly laid out up front, and also specified minimum class sizes in order for it to go.

 

Advertising through homeschool email loops was plenty.

 

 

[DawnM]

Are you talking about individual lessons or group lessons?

 

$25 is low for individual lessons or tutoring, but high for group lessons.

[Serenade]

I wish you lived here!

This was what I was thinking! Where do you live? I would love to find someone like that.

[toawh]

I think if you come across confident in what you are offering no one will think twice about putting down a deposit or paying your fee. If you apologize for it people will start wondering if they agree. That is what your classes cost and the way the payments are taken. If a person really doesn't like it, they will continue shopping around. If you put your price too low you might get some students that you would've skipped out of with a higher price, but you will also lose students whose parents feel a cheap course might equal a low quality or haphazardly assembled one.

[Tiramisu]

Are you talking about individual lessons or group lessons?

 

$25 is low for individual lessons or tutoring, but high for group lessons.

 

I was thinking that if we pay $25 per HALF HOUR for our children's private music lessons, for example, we could fairly charge about $50 per hour for a private lesson. We did one hour lessons in special circumstances for a limited time, but, to me, that's a lot of money to put out on a regular basis. But it is lower than ps tutors in our area. I think some subjects would require more time and then I think it's reasonable to go lower per hour and do more time. For a group class, I think we could divide the same amount by the number of students.

[Tiramisu]

Yes, there are people in my area who do these sorts of things.  I never have done summer workshops, but used to teach paid classes during the year, so I learned by making mistakes! My favorites were 4-week science workshops (one a week, one hour).

 

For a group class of 8 or more, I priced it at $10-20/session per student.  I required a $10-20 materials fee to reserve a spot.  No refunds on that because I had to buy materials ahead of time and make copies, and the money insures that you have commitment. Then they had to pay in full on or before the first class with no refunds if they missed, left class early, etc. etc. So for a 4-week science seminar for grade school students (1 hr/week), it was a $10 deposit plus $40. For a 30-week physics class with two-hour class sessions, I had a $20 deposit plus $300/semester, to be paid on or before the semester started. I had a handout with all of this explicitly laid out up front, and also specified minimum class sizes in order for it to go.

 

Advertising through homeschool email loops was plenty.

 

I am not a science person, but I think a series of labs over the summer would be a great opportunity for moms who are intimidated by the labs and/or can't find time for them over the school year. I wish I were more science savvy.