Homeschooling Another Child

[hands-on-mama]

Hi all!

 

I wasn't sure how to word this so I'll just have it. **Disclaimer** I have already checked the legality of this in our state and since I am a certified teacher, I would be considered a private tutor and this would all be legal (holy run-on sentence....it's still early). 

 

Without going into too much detail, a mom I know from working in a daycare has asked me to help homeschool her child. She is 12 years old and going into the 6th grade. I have known this girl since she was 3 years old. I'm confident she and I can be successful with this. She is dyslexic but has been through a specialized tutoring program and has graduated from it. I'm prepared to deal with modifying what she needs and working with any issues that arise from this. 

 

Any suggestions from people who might have done this? This could be a great opportunity for my family. We have been praying about me leaving my work from home job. We don't always need my small income but we were building our savings with it to get in a better place. The hours have become very complicated though and I am slowly becoming super frazzled. I feel like this could be a wonderful answer and would fit into our schedule much better. I really just want some experiences or suggestions. My girls are going into 1st and 3rd and are very excited at this prospect. I already have ideas of how we could study the same time period as long as the mom is okay with what we are using. The mom and I will be meeting this week, so I wanted to get some advice from others before then.

 

Thank you!

[OneStepAtATime]

1st, I think you are going to need to find a way to determine her decoding/fluency level as well as her comprehension level.  Do you know what program she used?  If she is having trouble with picking apart reading material from a comprehension and analysis standpoint you might look at running her through the Critical Thinking Company Reading Detective and Inference Jones material on the side.   

 

Also, for math, what has she used in the past?  Is she behind in this area?

 

Do you know if she has a Kindle?  I was thinking if you needed to assign her readings that were above her decoding skills but not above her comprehension skills then an audio book, maybe even paired with Whispersync so she can see the words highlighted as they are read to her, might be a good compromise.

 

Did she have an evaluation or is the mom just assuming dyslexia?  I ask because if she had a full eval, the information there may be invaluable for determining how to help her.  For instance, does she have low working memory?  Executive Function issues?  Poor word retrieval?  Plus, look for her strengths.  Does she have excellent visual memory or great 3D spatial relations?  Really great narrative memory?

Edited April 24, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[hands-on-mama]

1st, I think you are going to need to find a way to determine her decoding/fluency level as well as her comprehension level.  Do you know what program she used?  If she is having trouble with picking apart reading material from a comprehension and analysis standpoint you might look at running her through the Critical Thinking Company Reading Detective and Inference Jones material on the side.   

 

Also, for math, what has she used in the past?  Is she behind in this area?

 

Do you know if she has a Kindle?  I was thinking if you needed to assign her readings that were above her decoding skills but not above her comprehension skills then an audio book, maybe even paired with Whispersync so she can see the words highlighted as they are read to her, might be a good compromise.

 

Did she have an evaluation or is the mom just assuming dyslexia?  I ask because if she had a full eval, the information there may be invaluable for determining how to help her.  For instance, does she have low working memory?  Executive Function issues?  Poor word retrieval?  Plus, look for her strengths.  Does she have excellent visual memory or great 3D spatial relations?  Really great narrative memory?

 

These are all great questions! 

 

I don't know as of yet. We have only talked initially once but we are getting together to go over this more. I know which group she went through a dyslexia tutoring program with, so it would be easy to find out what was used. The mom could also get that info. I will definitely look into those two resources.

 

I'm not sure yet if she owns a Kindle. I do own an iPad that uses Whispersync though that she could use here and I have no doubt her mom would buy a Kindle if I thought she needed it. We use Whispersync and loved it. 

 

She is currently using BJU at the private school she is at. I'm not sure yet if she is doing well with it though. I had already planned on asking about that since math struggles sometimes coexist with dyslexia. If we plan to move forward, I plan to get together with her early summer to see where she is and make sure we have her placed in appropriate programs.

 

i am pretty certain she was fully evaluated. From what I have been told so far, the evaluation was in 3rd grade. They felt for the years before that that there was just something a little bit off. I will find out if she has that paper work. 

 

Thank you!

[OneStepAtATime]

You are welcome.  What you might do is also start a thread on the Learning Challenges board once you have more information.  Lots of great people who could help with resources and tweaking things out.  :)

[Ellie]

Hi all!

 

I wasn't sure how to word this so I'll just have it. **Disclaimer** I have already checked the legality of this in our state and since I am a certified teacher, I would be considered a private tutor and this would all be legal (holy run-on sentence....it's still early). 

 

Without going into too much detail, a mom I know from working in a daycare has asked me to help homeschool her child. She is 12 years old and going into the 6th grade. I have known this girl since she was 3 years old. I'm confident she and I can be successful with this. She is dyslexic but has been through a specialized tutoring program and has graduated from it. I'm prepared to deal with modifying what she needs and working with any issues that arise from this. 

 

Any suggestions from people who might have done this? This could be a great opportunity for my family. We have been praying about me leaving my work from home job. We don't always need my small income but we were building our savings with it to get in a better place. The hours have become very complicated though and I am slowly becoming super frazzled. I feel like this could be a wonderful answer and would fit into our schedule much better. I really just want some experiences or suggestions. My girls are going into 1st and 3rd and are very excited at this prospect. I already have ideas of how we could study the same time period as long as the mom is okay with what we are using. The mom and I will be meeting this week, so I wanted to get some advice from others before then.

 

Thank you!

 

It could work, but you and the mother need to be clear that you are not "helping her homeschool," unless the mother does the teaching most of the time and you teach a couple of subjects. If you are completely responsible, then you are full-time tutoring. Or you have a small private school, which would be the case in California.

 

If you are teaching the child every day, all subjects, then you should make the choices as far as what to do and when to do it and how to do it.

[hands-on-mama]

It could work, but you and the mother need to be clear that you are not "helping her homeschool," unless the mother does the teaching most of the time and you teach a couple of subjects. If you are completely responsible, then you are full-time tutoring. Or you have a small private school, which would be the case in California.

 

If you are teaching the child every day, all subjects, then you should make the choices as far as what to do and when to do it and how to do it.

 

 

I have already thought of this but thank you for mentioning it. I think the way that it will really work is that she is okay with the choices are make for our content subjects. For skill subjects, I might suggest sticking with BJU unless they are not working for her - simply for continuity's sake. The mother wants to keep at least a couple of subjects at home, but that will be hard since she works more than full time.