Homeschooling and a "teacher" coming in to help (cc)

[5knights3maidens]

I was really thinking that I would love to have someone come in 4 hours a day 5 days a week to help with schooling my 5 year old. crafts, a little math, getting her reading and playtime etc...She is all over the place. One of my older ds said to look for a college girl looking to make a little extra money. My dh said we can't afford it. I say pray about it and see what the Lord can do. What do you say?

P.S. We really don't have alot of money but we won't send her to ps or private school for that matter. I believe she should be home. I feel I need some help with her.

[SonshineLearner]

Here's a thought. How much money do you have to allocate to this? If you have enough, perhaps a Montessori kindergarten or something similar. OR, do you have 3-5 friends who are like minded? You could give up 1 day and switch with them.

Sometimes I think people get all wrapped up in "home-schooling" and what they can't do. I love homeschooling. I plan on hs all the way through highschool, even if we do more of a coop in highschool. BUT, those little ones when they don't have playmates. It's not that you can't make them behave, it's that it would just be nice for them to have some "little kid" time.

 

I feel for you...course...I have a 5 year old that I would love to have some sweet friends to play with during the day. Not everyone gets to have little playmates built into their family.

 

:-)

[FriedClams]

I don't have as many kids as you have - so I can't give an I-walk-in-your-shoes answer - but I wouldn't do it. A 5 year old shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to do school. I think with some planning you could divide up into 5 daily folders what she needs to do and assign your older kids to work with her. You could pick what's most important for you to do with her - say Bible lesson or read to her for 20 minutes - then sublet the rest to your kids. A 2nd grader could work with her on K math and feel all big and important. A middle schooler is capable of listening to her read - or an older kid if she needs help sounding things out. Perhaps a schedule and a buddy system might work well for you - as your kids rotate through their work one subject would be "child training specialist" and they get the little one to shadow them for the time you need her occupied. She could be their chore buddy - they could go walk the dog together - she could dance while the older kids practices piano - she could help an older kid make lunches every day, etc. I assume it would be a little tough to start - but with planning, accountability and it being on their schedules I think it could really work. HTH

[TeacherZee]

Here is an idea that I am going to throw out:

 

Do you know of any homeschooled HS aged girls (16-18) who would be interested in working with children when they are done school? Would they be interested in taking an elective course in child development? They could work with you little one as part of their hours and then read about child development as the other part.

[abbeyej]

Is there a compromise maybe that could be reached? Maybe you can't have someone in 5 days a week, but what about 2 days a week? And then divide some of the remaining hours each week among some of your older kids? If four of your oldest kids each took two hours of school time a week to work with the little guy and you could find a "teacher's helper" for two days a week (8 hours), then you'd only have 4 hours a week when you'd have to juggle everybody including the little one...

 

Maybe some set-up like that -- while not as ideal as what you had in mind -- might be financially workable *and* give you the bit of break / him the bit of one-on-one focus that he needs?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I've hired someone to come in one day a week to work with my youngest (age 5 when we started but now 7).

 

There are pros - one day a week I know that she gets someone's undivided attention.

 

There are cons - my "substitute" started out gung ho but now I need to push a bit for her to do those subjects that she doesn't like as much. My dd knows that she can get away more with poorer behavior when her teacher is here. I end up still having to monitor them. Also I have to get stuff ready for them and while that was easy at first - it isn't so easy to keep up on that now.

 

I can't imagine doing it more than the one day we're doing it. And I actually would like to stop doing it all together now but my sub (my neighbor) counts on the extra income (which isn't much but she's struggling financially) so I feel obligated to keep it. But anyway - that isn't important. I'm just telling you my situation so that you can see how it has worked out for us.

[TraceyS/FL]

I"m guessing it would cost you about $200 a week to get someone that you'd WANT to be in your house that long.

 

Personally, i'd rather have a cleaning person twice a week with that money! LOL!!

 

Do you think it's a phase in her development - or just going to be as it is forever? Can you pay an older sibling to do crafts with her for 1/2 hr a day?

 

But i'd go NUTS with someone around that often......

[PariSarah]

I don't know that I'd go about it quite the way you're suggesting--help for just one child out of your eight, 20 hrs a week. I mean, that's a part-time nanny gig, right there. If I were going to pay for a part-time nanny, I'd probably try to cycle several of the younger kids through "Nanny Fun Time" while working with the older kids. And then try for some one-on-one time with the youngers at a later time.

 

Have you asked your dh what help he thinks you CAN afford? Maybe he'd be willing to do something else that would ease one of your other burdens--housekeeping help, whatever.

Edited January 26, 2009 by PariSarah

[PinkInTheBlue]

I will be doing this as soon as we get moved to Atlanta. Our house here just isn't big enough for yet another person in it and our house there will be. Easton, who is 2 1/2 now, will have someone to play with him, take him outside and maybe lay him down for his nap while we are finishing school.

 

I know my situation is different than yours because my guy is younger than what you are talking about. I wouldn't want someone else to handle the school part of our day for our guys. School is so short at that age that I can do that. Our extra person will be just a nanny-type position.

[JFSinIL]

Here is an idea that I am going to throw out:

 

Do you know of any homeschooled HS aged girls (16-18) who would be interested in working with children when they are done school? Would they be interested in taking an elective course in child development? They could work with you little one as part of their hours and then read about child development as the other part.

 

This is a great idea. When one of my kids was in therapy for his autism, homeschooled teen girls made the best therapists and were available days! unlike college kids, they are not apt to disappear on you at the end of a quarter/semester, and do not have to be paid as much as a grown-up.

[chiguirre]

We have an ABA therapist come to our house 8 hours a week. She charges $20/hr, but that's fairly high for a therapist in our area. We also hire a BCBA (Board Certified Behavioral Analyst) who charges $100/hr, but you won't need much of their time once you're up and running. If your dd has an official dx, you may be able to get financial support from Medicaid or your insurance depending on your state laws and programs. You may also be able to find college students to volunteer or work at very reasonable rates to gain experience.

 

For us, our therapist is essential to our success in hsing. She is able to generalize skills and provide a useful perspective when we have challenges.

[Mary in VA]

This would be the kind of job my 18 yo dd college freshman would love. She is an education major and loves working with young kids. (I find it ironic my homeschooled daughter is an education major :001_smile:) Are there any colleges near you. The only problem would be scheduling the time between their classes.

 

Mary

[Pretty in Pink]

I haven't read the other replies but my first thought is to look for a HSed student who would be interested in doing this. There is a young girl in our HS group, she is 11 or 12, but she loves kids and has volunteered to babysit (w/ mother's supervision) or be a mother's helper for a reasonably low rate.

[datmama4]

Because you have such a nice large family, I would recommend doing some of the teaching yourself, but having the other children rotate through doing things with the 5yo and sharing some of the responsibility. Most siblings don't mind doing read-alouds with each other, and younger ones can do a playtime/keep-them-occupied-for-a-half-hour kind of thing. Math for a 5yo can be as simple as counting place settings for supper or lunch, or adding/subtracting snacks (pretzels, M&Ms, pieces of cheese, etc). You don't want to burn little ones out on too much structured school, but there's no reason why she needs to be running around distracting everyone else. Maybe she can even be "assigned" to teach her stuffed animals and dolls what she's learned, for a short portion of the day, simply to keep her still and in one spot for even 20 minutes.

 

If you really feel you need to have an outsider come in to help, perhaps you can afford it by trading off services rather than money (fresh bread, lawn care, trading child care once a week).

 

I only have three children at home, so I feel I can only offered limited advice, but I thought I'd try, anyway. :001_smile:

 

Lynda

[dirty ethel rackham]

When my mom fell and broke her pelvis, we hired a college student (formerly homeschooled) to help my youngest while I had to visit my mom daily in the nursing home/rehab center. She came 5 days a week for a couple weeks (then she had to start her schedule.) After that, I had her come once a week. I paid her $10 an hour. I worked out great. DD really progressed and she kept up on subjects that would have slipped (like history and science) if I had not done this.

[5knights3maidens]

I should have posted more earlier but I haven't been on. My 1st 3 are 20 and over. One is far away and 2 are working and one of them also goes to college. The 4th is in christian school. the 5th is 15 and 6th is 11 and trying to get their work done while #7 is all over. (adhd and pdd) . The 8th wants to learn (3) but follows. :glare:

DD has "taught" the youngest 2 and then she did her work at night but dh isn't fond of that. I was going to talk to him about this again. I really would love to have someone else come in for a short time to "relieve" us. ;)

 

Thanks to all who have responded. You ladies are awesome!!