hands-on-mama Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Okay, so I am going to have an extra student for the new year. I have already checked on legal issues and things of that nature. The mom and I met again today and she wants to go ahead with this set up. I told her what my minimum acceptable fee is (which is pretty darn low, lol), but she feels like I might be short hanging myself possibly. Any ideas for how to charge for this? She will pay me a separate amount for anytime I watch her daughter other than schooling, so I just need info regarding how to charge for the school part of our day. She is 12 years old and going into 6th/7th grade. Any help ladies?? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleowl Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 I don't have a clear-cut answer for you, but here are some questions that might be useful to think about: Are you developing lesson plans, evaluating progress and adjusting instruction based on that, etc.? Or is the mom doing all that and you're just presenting new info and providing help with homework? If it's the former, I'd charge more, because you'll have time involved that is not one-on-one with the child too. What's the going rate for tutoring in your area (regular tutoring) for someone with your background? How would you compare what you'll be doing with regular tutoring? What influence will your own kids' presence have on how much you'll be able to focus on this child's schooling? IOW, if it's going to take longer to teach this child something because you have to teach your own kids at the same time (or intervene in an argument or get a snack from the cabinet or whatever), then I think if you're charging an hourly rate, you should take those interruptions into consideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Okay, so I am going to have an extra student for the new year. I have already checked on legal issues and things of that nature. The mom and I met again today and she wants to go ahead with this set up. I told her what my minimum acceptable fee is (which is pretty darn low, lol), but she feels like I might be short hanging myself possibly. Any ideas for how to charge for this? She will pay me a separate amount for anytime I watch her daughter other than schooling, so I just need info regarding how to charge for the school part of our day. She is 12 years old and going into 6th/7th grade. Any help ladies?? TIA Is the dc going to be at your house every day? for most of the day? Then you should charge her a boatload. Seriously. If the mother thinks you are not charging enough, then by all means charge more. I'm not sure anyone could afford to pay me. :-) 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 (edited) Ignore this advice if it is already in your plan and if you don't want it since you didn't ask. ;). In addition to your rates, please set up a plan for sick days and other unplanned interruptions for both sides. If her child is sick or they have a something like family funeral to attend, will you need to make up the school day another time? We can't count sick days towards our 180 day requirement in our state. Your state may have different laws. If you or your children are sick or you have a family emergency, does she have a back up plan in place? Have you considered the tax laws? If she will be paying you enough quarterly to file taxes, you will either need to pay self employment taxes or she will need to pay in as an employer and you as an employee. I am not sure of specific ins and outs of that. Self employment taxes may be about double employee taxes. Will you provide meals and field trips? Consider food and gas costs. Is there a plan if her child doesn't meet educational goals? About the rates. My friend approached me about homeschooling her elementary aged son. I quickly declined for many reasons. The main one being she was going to offer me pocket money for such a huge responsibility. She thought it wasn't that big of deal since I was home educating my own children anyway. She just wanted to get out of private school tuition. Regardless, it got me to thinking under what circumstances I would homeschool another child. If I did, it would either be short term for free to help someone through a crisis or I would charge what I would get paid for my time if I had a comparable job in responsibility and commitment. Maybe around $10/hour for just babysitting and $15/hr for educational instruction and oversight. That is with me being able to stay in my home and take care of my own children's needs alongside the new child. More if I would need to pay self employment taxes, provide meals or trips, or any special educational needs. Edited May 2, 2016 by TX native 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 I almost did this for a close friend and got so far as planning and compensation and it would have been on par with what some (not the most $$ ones) private schools charge + they would have bought the consumable workbooks, supplies, etc. I would look at how many hours she'll be there and what level of control you have with regards to curriculum. I was doing everything and parents would only have to supervise homework. Cost is not why we decided not to, her dad got transferred. I was planning to get a cleaning lady 2x a week at least if I did it. Keep in mind not only will your kids take some attention from her, but she will also take your time from your kids. And she is getting 1 to 3 instruction versus 1 to 25 or 30 in a classroom. This year my eldest was 6th, plus I had a 3rd grader and 2 kgers. The 6th grader required a lot of instruction still depending on the curriculum chosen. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 I don't have a clear-cut answer for you, but here are some questions that might be useful to think about: Are you developing lesson plans, evaluating progress and adjusting instruction based on that, etc.? Or is the mom doing all that and you're just presenting new info and providing help with homework? If it's the former, I'd charge more, because you'll have time involved that is not one-on-one with the child too. What's the going rate for tutoring in your area (regular tutoring) for someone with your background? How would you compare what you'll be doing with regular tutoring? What influence will your own kids' presence have on how much you'll be able to focus on this child's schooling? IOW, if it's going to take longer to teach this child something because you have to teach your own kids at the same time (or intervene in an argument or get a snack from the cabinet or whatever), then I think if you're charging an hourly rate, you should take those interruptions into consideration. I will be doing the planning and curriculum choosing myself. The mother feels that I am more equipped to handle this with my background. This also gives me options to still incorporate some "family" learning in there as well. I expect there will be some adjusting to be done during the year with getting used to having another child in the house. Both my children, at this point, don't really take super long to get school done. They will be in 1st and 3rd. Ignore this advice if it is already in your plan and if you don't want it since you didn't ask. ;). In addition to your rates, please set up a plan for sick days and other unplanned interruptions for both sides. If her child is sick or they have a something like family funeral to attend, will you need to make up the school day another time? We can't count sick days towards our 180 day requirement in our state. Your state may have different laws. If you or your children are sick or you have a family emergency, does she have a back up plan in place? Have you considered the tax laws? If she will be paying you enough quarterly to file taxes, you will either need to pay self employment taxes or she will need to pay in as an employer and you as an employee. I am not sure of specific ins and outs of that. Self employment taxes may be about double employee taxes. Will you provide meals and field trips? Consider food and gas costs. Is there a plan if her child doesn't meet educational goals? About the rates. My friend approached me about homeschooling her elementary aged son. I quickly declined for many reasons. The main one being she was going to offer me pocket money for such a huge responsibility. She thought it wasn't that big of deal since I was home educating my own children anyway. She just wanted to get out of private school tuition. Regardless, it got me to thinking under what circumstances I would homeschool another child. If I did, it would either be short term for free to help someone through a crisis or I would charge what I would get paid for my time if I had a comparable job in responsibility and commitment. Maybe around $10/hour for just babysitting and $15/hr for educational instruction and oversight. That is with me being able to stay in my home and take care of my own children's needs alongside the new child. More if I would need to pay self employment taxes, provide meals or trips, or any special educational needs. Thankfully, there are already back ups in place for sick days and things of that nature. The mom actually works from home 3 weeks out of each month. I plan to speak with her about tax issues next time I speak with her to find out how she wants to go about taking care of that. I almost did this for a close friend and got so far as planning and compensation and it would have been on par with what some (not the most $$ ones) private schools charge + they would have bought the consumable workbooks, supplies, etc. I would look at how many hours she'll be there and what level of control you have with regards to curriculum. I was doing everything and parents would only have to supervise homework. Cost is not why we decided not to, her dad got transferred. I was planning to get a cleaning lady 2x a week at least if I did it. Keep in mind not only will your kids take some attention from her, but she will also take your time from your kids. And she is getting 1 to 3 instruction versus 1 to 25 or 30 in a classroom. This year my eldest was 6th, plus I had a 3rd grader and 2 kgers. The 6th grader required a lot of instruction still depending on the curriculum chosen. Thank you for this! I have considered how it will take attention away from my own. I think my kids would rather I do this than the work I am currently doing from home. I just hope it works out as well as it seems it will! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 A friend of mine was doing this and the cost was not far from what a private school would charge. I don't think school, and non-school time should be separated. i think, if she sent her kid to a private school the private school would be doing everything you are doing, whenever they aren't teaching. Like recess, clubs, gym, etc. I just really think it should be the same price a private school would charge, so like 7K for the year up to 12K depending what the schools there charge. If your kids love this kid, the kid is easy, helpful, loves to pitch in and is totally a joy, charge on the least side. If the kid is a normal kid, charge more. LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 (edited) A friend of mine was doing this and the cost was not far from what a private school would charge. I don't think school, and non-school time should be separated. i think, if she sent her kid to a private school the private school would be doing everything you are doing, whenever they aren't teaching. Like recess, clubs, gym, etc. I just really think it should be the same price a private school would charge, so like 7K for the year up to 12K depending what the schools there charge. If your kids love this kid, the kid is easy, helpful, loves to pitch in and is totally a joy, charge on the least side. If the kid is a normal kid, charge more. LOL A friend of mine did this -- homeschooling a friend's child with her own for a year. No cost -- she did it out of love to help the child (who had missed a lot of school the previous year because of a brain disease) and hoped to really help her progress. She was just as glad it did not continue after that one year -- the girl's parents were NOT willing to enforce homework at all. if it did not happen during the day, it did not happen. And it required her to be home everyday or take the third child with her when they went out. They couldn't be as spontaneous about field trips, etc. but had to preplan everything. Her kids definitely suffered because they were both on different levels than the third child (even though one of them is just days apart in birth). And there was a lot of friction about the differences in levels. Edited May 3, 2016 by vonfirmath 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 A friend of mine was doing this and the cost was not far from what a private school would charge. I don't think school, and non-school time should be separated. i think, if she sent her kid to a private school the private school would be doing everything you are doing, whenever they aren't teaching. Like recess, clubs, gym, etc. I just really think it should be the same price a private school would charge, so like 7K for the year up to 12K depending what the schools there charge. If your kids love this kid, the kid is easy, helpful, loves to pitch in and is totally a joy, charge on the least side. If the kid is a normal kid, charge more. LOL I personally would charge more than private school tuition. The private school teacher gets paid way more than the cost of one student's tuition. With private school, the student isn't getting a specialized education designed just for him or her. The private school teacher also gets sick time, personal leave time, and health benefits. If you charged the same time a child would be in private school which is about 10K for the year for a 7 hour day 180 days it would add out to be about $8/hr. Then you take taxes off that, unpaid sick time, outside time you are planning lessons, and benefits you aren't receiving. I understand you are home anyway, but there is a difference between choosing to be at home a specific 180 days with your own children and being required to be at home a specific 180 days as someone else's employee. Just food for thought. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 I personally would charge more than private school tuition. The private school teacher gets paid way more than the cost of one student's tuition. With private school, the student isn't getting a specialized education designed just for him or her. The private school teacher also gets sick time, personal leave time, and health benefits. If you charged the same time a child would be in private school which is about 10K for the year for a 7 hour day 180 days it would add out to be about $8/hr. Then you take taxes off that, unpaid sick time, outside time you are planning lessons, and benefits you aren't receiving. I understand you are home anyway, but there is a difference between choosing to be at home a specific 180 days with your own children and being required to be at home a specific 180 days as someone else's employee. Just food for thought. I will take this into consideration. For what it's worth, the private school she goes to is only about $5k for a year. We live in a very low cost of living area. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 And the private school is including overhead, insurance, and benefits, etc. Each student's tuition covers only a part of the teacher's salary. If there are less students the price doesn't go up for the remaining to cover the costs. I did preschool for a family member for no more than an inexpensive daycare would have cost her. She paid for any outside classes, field trips, school supplies, etc. I just treated her like one of my own. I did decline to carry over into elementary school for her. I may have done it. Our arrangement worked fine, but I had just had my newest baby. As for including an older child, I might consider it if the circumstances were right. And I honestly wouldn't charge and arm and a leg either. But if she says you are charging her too little, by all means, ask for more! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 If you think about it, update us in a few months to a year about how things work out. I'm not talking about specific details on amounts of money, but details on if it ends up working well on both ends along with the pros and cons of the arrangement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 There was one year where we had a home schooled child come to our house twice a week, 9-5. the child was super sweet, super helpful, and 3 years older than my kids. She did her own schoolwork and her mom had it all perfectly planned in great detail, and saved anything that might be new or confusing for the evenings or days when she was at work with her. It was a wonderful addition to our family, and of course there were times it was tiring, even though she was so wonderful, to have another human around, who needed interaction, love, attention, etc. But it is a memory I am glad to have. Because of the mother's difficult circumstances I did not charge her, but instead she found a way to bless us in many ways, and to this day even 2000 miles away both are our dearest friends. I hope the situation works as well for you. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Sure, it may be legal in your state to homeschool someone else's child, but there are so many factors to take into account that I could it easily being a huge head-ache for you. I don't think the money would be worth the potential issues that could very easily pop up. I've had a couple friends do this, and it lasted less than a year for both. It was a major problem for my friends' own children, and there were always issues popping up. My friends are both very flexible, very kind ladies, and it was just too much for them and their own kids. My advice would be to do a trial of a month, and decide after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Would it be possible to do it 2 or 3 days per week instead of every day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nannyaunt Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I am doing this right now. The mother pays me the same amount that she was paying for private school however school only takes from 9:30 to 1:00. This includes a 30 to 40 minute break for snack and play. The boys are only 5 & 6, in a kind of kinder/1st grade curriculum we put together for both of them. We have found using the public library is most effective for focusing and it allows us to use some of the art and story time programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstharr Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I've been after schooling my rising 6th grader since kindergarten. Basically, it is 4 one- hour long sessions a week consisting of advanced math, vocab, and standardized test practice. he has excellent grades and test scores. I was approached by a group of parents to tutor their children. I agreed to assess and prepare individual program for the 4 kids that would have them one grade level ahead in math in 6 months, They all left, when I told them I wanted $1000/month each. They were thinking $1000, or less. for all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I think my kids would rather I do this than the work I am currently doing from home. I just hope it works out as well as it seems it will! Just a thought: If it doesn't work out, will you be able to return to what you are currently doing from home? Don't want to burn any bridges, KWIM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I would charge a minimum of $40-50 per hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I don't know how much to charge, but I agree with setting it up on a trial basis, so that you have a way to end the agreement if it is not working out for either family. Until you begin, you won't be able to predict how much help she will need, how much time it will detract from caring for your own children, and how the social dynamic of adding an older child into your day will pan out. I can say that homeschooling my own children, where I have one older child and three children who were doing work at the same (or similar level), proved to be difficult. I always felt I wasn't meeting someone's needs as well as I wanted to. When you add an older child into the mix of children you have at your home, you might find it to be more challenging than you anticipate. Have a way to back out. Even if you want to commit to a longer term, make it a semester, not a year, and say that you will give a month's notice if you decide to discontinue, so that the family has time to figure out another plan. I would encourage the other family to have a back up plan, just in case. Make sure you discuss what will happen if their child or yours are sick. How healthy does she have to be to come to your house? Also discuss whether she is permitted to go out of the house with you if your family has an appointment. I would put everything in writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 There are so many factors to pricing - how much the client can comfortably afford and that you can be happy with - how much higher are you charging compared with equivalent acceptable options. For example a former teacher that is retired or quit teaching in school. Or a private school that the client is willing to consider. - what subjects are you covering compared to a similar price range private school. - you have two much younger kids so what is the arrangement like during academic time. For example I pay one to one rate for my kids tutors for some subjects and a group rate (ability grouping) for other subjects. We just drop an instructor for answering non-urgent phone calls (>5mins) often during academic time when she can let it go to voicemail. I would charge a minimum of $40-50 per hour. $55/hr for a kid would be able to get me a school subject teacher to come to my house for extra income. My neighbor would babysit for $15/hr for both my kids including homework help but not teaching. At $40 per hour, that would be $160 if we are talking half day of 4hrs. At $3,200 for 20 days per month, there are many local private schools which would look after the child from 7:30am to 6:30pm at a cheaper rate. My cheapest local K-12 is a baptist school for <$6k annual. Cheapest secular full day K-8 school would cost me <$2k per month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artichoke Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 (edited) I've been after schooling my rising 6th grader since kindergarten. Basically, it is 4 one- hour long sessions a week consisting of advanced math, vocab, and standardized test practice. he has excellent grades and test scores. I was approached by a group of parents to tutor their children. I agreed to assess and prepare individual program for the 4 kids that would have them one grade level ahead in math in 6 months, They all left, when I told them I wanted $1000/month each. They were thinking $1000, or less. for all. Do you live in a high cost of living area? $62.50 per student per hour for a small group tutoring session is a bit steep. Am I misunderstanding, and it's for a private tutoring hour? Edited May 4, 2016 by Artichoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaceeM Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 This is what I do full time. I am a home-school graduate with a degree in education. My fees depend on the family, the number of students, and whether or not I am doing all of the planning or just teaching the parents plan. If you want more specifics (numbers, etc) PM me and I would be happy to talk with you about all of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) Random thoughts. What are your kids going to do while you teach a 12 year old most of the day? We've had plenty of threads of moms trying to sort out this problem. You might end up needing a mothers helper for your kids while you teach your friends child. Has she checked with the school and found out what their expectations will be for next year if she doesn't keep homeschooling? Wouldn't she have to pay $5,000 dollars in childcare? How is this cheaper than your local private school? If it's fun for you that's another thing. :D Edited May 5, 2016 by Starr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I would set it up as private tutoring and charge accordingly. In our area, tutoring the more difficult subjects (math, instrument, chess) runs about $35/hr or $140/month for four one hour classes. That would include overhead and I presume payroll taxes, etc. as well as prep time. My piano teacher and chess club did not charge extra for prep. I live in a mid-high COL area. I would round to $40/hr for taxes and insurance, so assuming there is six hours of instruction per day for five days a week (including unsupervised but curated individual projects and field trips, review, etc.) that comes out to $1200/week or $4800/month. At least I'd give her those rates as a baseline and then say, "Okay, we are going to discount this and give you a $3,600 friends and family rate." Or something. Friends and family rates are very real--my MIL does them for her family--and I think it's reasonable. Teaching a middle schooler for free is a LOT of work unpaid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I would charge $250 per week. A housekeeper in my area is $120 a visit and I'd need weekly housekeeping. The rest would be compensation for my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.