Would you pay a teenager for homework supervision and after-school help?

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DD is 16, studying GCSEs, at grammar. She’s keen to get some paid work so she can furnish her life with the clothes and gadgets I won’t pay for.

She is good with kids, and thinking of offering babysitting services, but I’m wondering if there is a gap in the market for after-school homework supervision, help with reading, maths practice etc for KS1 and KS2 children, and supervision and support with SATs and 11+ prep. At her age she can charge around £8 an hour is my guess. But we’re not sure if anyone would want this.

is this reasonable or should she stick to babysitting and waitressing?

Yes absolutely there is a market for after school nannying.

However - tbh I am not sure how much I would rely on a 16 year old to get reluctant kids to do homework or to cook tea. That’s a bit more challenging than evening babysitting. Also won’t she have her own homework to do?

I guess if the kids are say 9-12 and only
need minimal supervision it could work.

Ah sorry just saw you didn’t mention tea so that makes it a bit less challenging.

Teachers are qualified in how children learn for a reason.

Babysitting is one thing but charging for teaching is very different. Being good at learning doesn't automatically make you a good teacher.

Many parents help with homework and aren’t qualified teachers. There’s also plenty of tutors who aren’t qualified teachers, although OP sounded like she meant more help with homework than tutoring.

round where I live loads of kids do this - so much so the market is saturated! My dd does it, she charged £15 per hour when she started at 16 (grammar school, on for all 9s etc) and now she’s doing alevels she charges £20 ph. People love it, because if nothing else ‘your tutor is coming’ gets their kids sat down working for an hour! I’m not sure how she started advertising, but now she has more on her waiting list than she has time for.

Oh I forgot to say - the kids my dd tutors are older - all doing GCSE’s, some just a year or two below her

I can't see there being much of a market for it.

My 11 and 13yo are home alone after school and the last thing I would want is a 16yo in the mix.

Yes, I would pay for that.

Would love this for school pickup but the local college kids don’t finish class early enough!

Yes definitely a market for it.

I paid a 16 yo who did well at her GCSEs the previous year to do some online work with my son who was doing his GCSEs. It wasn’t really teaching so much as going through the stuff with him and supporting him to revise because he was rubbish at doing it by himself and wouldn’t tolerate me doing it. She was a local teenager and it was word of mouth. I think there’d be a market for in person and younger kids as well.

A lot of parents here use after school nannies, but I've never seen a 16yo do it, most are in their 20s, perhaps some might be 18/19. I'd be rather skeptical of a 16yo being able to provide all the needs for 11+ prep (for competitive London selective indies), homework and music practice, and for 2 dcs. We're in an affluent area though so most people can afford experienced and trained nannies and won't opt for the cheapest option.

After my 4th DC was born I had a sixth former come in most afternoons for a couple of hours to help me out. She was wonderful and it meant I could nip out to drop off or pick up the older ones from play dates and clubs, play with the DC when I was making tea, help out with folding the mountains of laundry and generally lend a hand. My older DC adored her, and she adored us. She went on to qualify as a children’s social worker and told me spending time watching my lot grow was the best job she ever had.
So, a long winded way of saying, yes, I’m sure your daughter would find work, especially if happy to get stuck in with the family, not just help with homework.

Thank you. We’re not in London - hence the rates not being so ridiculous, but there are a few super-selective grammars so a lot of kids doing extra work in Y4 and Y5. I hadn’t thought about supervising music practice - DD is also well equipped to do that. TBH that is the one job I’d have paid someone else to
do when the dc were younger!

When dd was in the early years of primary school we had an excellent 19 year old student who was doing a foundation course. We found that GCSE/A level students though didn't finish early enough to collect dd.

Also think it would take a level of maturity to deal with a grumpy 8 yr old who is refusing to do h/w or eat or demands a screen etc. It depends on the nature of the child being looked after.

Yeah babysitting/homework help could work.
Though I think at 16 my 'homework help' could descend into just doing the work as a teen isn't a teacher and may lose patience.

Maybe try and start with family friends or neighbours, then you'll get word of mouth recommended by them and have references.