IfIOnly Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) I just posted a request on our Yahoo homeschool group for someone to do just that and asked to be contacted with qualifications and their cost per paper. I've received one reply from a certified teacher who has taught mostly IEW writing, which is similar to the curriculum we use. My child will edit their own work using the MC checklist (it's fabulous), and, then, we'll edit it together. Next, I'll submit it via email to our editor. Last step will be a final revision. So what would you pay per paper and be looking for in hired help? My biggest thing is finding someone who is encouraging and reasonable in their expectations for my children's ages, yet inspire. Ha! Obviously if you'r a strong and knowledgeable writer, you probably wouldn't be doing this, but I'm not and am. :p Edited November 25, 2015 by LavenderGirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 How long is the paper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 The stories, reports, and essay lengths vary. There are maybe two longer projects a year, most though are two pages or about 5-8 paragraphs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a tutor and I charge $50/hour which includes grading mock essay tests. To have the edits be effective, I have found that I need to do more than just fix/clarify/explain the specific essay in front of me, instead I need to figure out what the bigger issues are so that my comments can be applied to other essays. Editing a paper is very easy and fast; however, identifying and explaining these bigger issues is what is so time consuming. For me, it takes between 30 minutes and an hour for a 2-page handwritten essay depending the handwriting and how poorly the essay is written. Ruth in NZ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Instead of pricing by the paper, what about pricing by the hour? Fifteen years ago, I was getting $20 an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) The essay will be typed and sent via email, so handwriting shouldn't be a problem. Lewlema, did you mean to type you spend about an hour and a half on a paper that length or a half an hour up to an hour? Edited November 25, 2015 by LavenderGirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) I spend up to an hour. If the writing is clear, then the problems in content, structure, and style can be identified easily (so I might only need 30 minutes, but I will admit that that is rare). If the writing is confused, it is much more difficult to figure out what is the appropriate next step to suggest. Also, the longer I work with a student, the faster I can process an essay. The first essay for a student can take me 90 minutes because I need to identify the issues. Later essays go faster because I am already looking for improvement in certain areas. ETA: I should also mention, that if there are fewer papers being written, you may want very detailed suggestions, some written to the student and some written to the parent. This approach would take quite some time, like 2 hours per essay. The essays I have commented on happen during exam season, where I get my students to write an essay a day, and I mark one a night to return the next day. When I do 4 essays a day, I can really pick up speeed, and pump out 4 in 2 hours with clear cut comments to be implemented the next day. Rereading your posts, I think you may want to get separate suggestions for the student and the parent. I have taken this approach with science fair evaluations -- give a very few suggestions to the student and be positive and encouraging, and then give the parents a long list of things to work on for the next project. Edited November 25, 2015 by lewelma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a tutor and I charge $50/hour which includes grading mock essay tests. To have the edits be effective, I have found that I need to do more than just fix/clarify/explain the specific essay in front of me, instead I need to figure out what the bigger issues are so that my comments can be applied to other essays. Editing a paper is very easy and fast; however, identifying and explaining these bigger issues is what is so time consuming. For me, it takes between 30 minutes and an hour for a 2-page handwritten essay depending the handwriting and how poorly the essay is written. Ruth in NZ Just so we are comparing apples to apples, Ruth, this is in New Zealand dollars, yes? Based on a conversion tool online, that would be about $33/hr US. Some providers who do a per-paper evaluation for comparison purposes (I haven't used either service, just found them when I was looking for this information previously and noted it for future reference): http://www.writeathome.com/Learn_More/PayPerPaper_Service.aspx https://squareup.com/market/leah-vogel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Too bad PHP doesn't offer this service. Hint, hint, SWB. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) Yes, I am in NZ and a large city, but a public school teacher's salary here is $40-80K so prices/salaries are usually comparable to USA. If you had looked at the exchange rate a few months ago we were 88 cents on the dollar. Also, there are lots of different rates. I know some tutors that charge half my rate, but then I have a waiting list so I have no reason to charge less. University students are often much cheaper, because it is just side money for them and not a job. And sometimes you get lucky. I have a friend who found a retired professor who tutors for $20/hour because he just wants to help kids out. So hunt around. Edited November 25, 2015 by lewelma 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhopper Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 You might look at writeathome's payperpaper service for a sense of their pricing structure and what it includes. I considered it when I was looking for outside writing help, although I ended up going with one of their full-year courses because I thought it was a lot more cost effective for me. (Now I'm not so sure -- the writing assignment are scheduled over several weeks, so for the *same* amount of editing, I might've been better of with the pay per service. However, I think what I really would've preferred was *more* writing requirements, and of course that would've cost more regardless...) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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