We have or currently home school some of our children. We have used co-ops and special classes to supplement activities at home. I would like to get some feedback from homeschoolers, or from people that want to homeschool but can't on an idea that I have. My idea is to provide a Study Hall style environment for homeschoolers. I would be targeting grades 4-6 on the low end to 12th on the high end. I would provide a quality place for study, (desks, wifi, etc), tutoring, and general study help. There would be no fixed program, but I would help a child stay on task with their preferred program and provide general guidance, tutoring and resources. This would not be a day-care as each student would be mostly responsible for their own progress. I would serve an education and guidance resource. In addition I would provide classes in Biology, Math and other areas. I would have a drop in rate ($5/hour) and monthly rate ($500 - M-F 6AM-6PM). I would have a limit of 15-20 students I was a credentialed teacher at one time (But never formally taught in the classroom, pursued engineering instead) and have degrees in Biology with minors in Math and Chemistry. I would like to know if this would be attractive to homeschoolers, and any ideas on additional features to provide. Thanks in advance for the input.
It's an intriguing idea, but I can't say it's one I'd be interested in. I wouldn't be willing to pay for my kids to have a quiet place to do their homework. I'd expect that to happen at home, or at a library. But that doesn't mean others wouldn't be interested. Good luck with it!
This is would not be a place primarily doing homework. Instructional aid (tutoring, classes, etc.) would be the main benefit. I am wondering if this would be beneficial for those parents that work (part or full time) or are having trouble dealing with certain subjects.
It's still not something I'd be interested in (or ever would have...what I need now and what I needed ten years ago have changed, as my children aged). But again, that's not to say it's a bad idea.
I wouldn't be interested in it either. In all honesty the curriculum I choose covers the subjects very well. I have enough of an education to teach all but upper level Math and Science (and I could do Science if pushed) When my kids are "done" for the day, they are done. We don't have hours upon hours of "extra work".
Home schoolers are very spread out...would be hard to pick a central location where you'd have enough business. If you were offering services for little kids, you might get some business when emergencies arise, but older kids can be trusted to self regulate in a pinch. The only reason I could see someone using a service like this for older kids...would be to get help with tutoring, and how are you going to work one on one with twenty kids at once? Just seems very impractical to me. People typically home school because they LIKE working one on one with their kids, and have prioritized their time commitments around their kids. Older home school kids tend to be pretty reliable on their own when necessary. You might consider offering an after school homework service for public schoolers, where kids take the bus to your house after school and parents pick them up on the way home from work when work runs late. I bet you'd get a lot of business. Home schoolers have more flexibility. One parent is usually at home. When unusual circumstances come up, home schoolers just adapt. Time isn't as much of a crunch in the home school world. Deadlines are flexible. Kids are more used to coping with independence. If your hourly rate is $5, and you're offering monthly service for $500....a parent would have to leave their kid with you for over 100 hours per month to make the break worth it. If a kid is with you 100 hours per month...is the kid being legally "home schooled"? You might want to check your state laws about the services you want to offer, what's involved with doing it legally (since you are not the parent), and how many children you can legally host at one time without licensing/insurance/background checks.
I don't think this would be an issue, since she wouldn't be actually "teaching", just possibly tutoring. Though 100 hours a month would be pretty much 5 hours a day, five days a week. That's a LOT of "study time"!!! My kids don't put near that much in, and that's WITH my actually "teaching" them!
That was my point. Who would need 100 hours of this? Also, this service is technically either teaching or childcare. Both have rules and regulation in most states. Even if you're calling it just childcare....there are state imposed limits to how many students you can host at one time, adult to child ratio, licensing. Non-profit parent-run groups, like scouting, can host lots of non-related kids.....but when it's a paid service, it's a whole different ball game.
I wouldn't be interested in this either. If I did happen to need some tutoring for my dd, I wouldn't want her in a room with 19 other kids. I would want a one-on-one session.
You might want to stick with specific classes like high school science and math. We have a homeschool mom who teaches high school math classes from her home and she is always full! Lots of parents are not comfortable teaching high school math and science. Many parents would pay for classes like that. My ds is in one of the math classes! The study hall idea just sounds to general and is not anything I would be interested in. You just need to check around in your area and see what families are wanting. Good luck to you!
I might be interested for a couple of hours a week of advanced math or chemistry tutoring. But I would expect that to be not more than 5:1 time, specifically for that subject.
I think your setup sounds perfect as After School care, or a full time pre-school. In fact, many parents are not comfortable sending their kids to public school kindergarten, but work full time, so they use a private kindergarten. Perhaps you could setup a private pre-school through 1st grade program, but stay in line with what the public school is teaching so the kids are prepared to enter back into public school. I know there will be regulations around this, so you'd have to check that out. Then, at 3:00 you could switch gears from private pre-school into After-school care and offer tutoring. As for marketing to homeschools, I think you should settle on specific subjects and teach a class that would meet a set number of hours and at set times each week. The only thing I would find myself interested in is upper level math and science. In those cases I'd want my kids to get most or all their subject learning from you, and at home we'd only work on homework assigned by you. In fact, at some point I will probably start looking for such a service for my kids, whether co-op or private tutoring. Otherwise, you'd have to check with your state, but perhaps you could actually bring in some families to homeschool full time with you and your family. I have been approached by a couple of parents who want to pay me to homeschool their kids. However, I don't think it's allowed in North Carolina, and I don't want to do it because I work almost full time from home. If I didn't have to work, it's something I'd consider too. Good luck!
