To ask if anybody's got any insights as to what I can do ... ?

[Stardustnight]

I suspect the answer is NO - and I have a baby due in July. So in a way it's redundant but am thinking 'five year plan.'

I am 33.
I have a 10 month old and an 8 year old.
I have a degree in English.

I wonder if anyone knows anything I could do, in the future maybe?

What work experience do you have (including anything volunteer)?
What do you enjoy?

Just teaching.

What I enjoy - I'm not honestly sure. I have thought in an offhand way that I might quite like to do social work - BUT I don't know if it ties in very well with being a lone parent to three children.

Focus on your interests. What makes you tick?

Teaching is a very good start. If you have any particular hobbies or interests that you've learned, you could perhaps make money by teaching those to others.

Social work can fit in with being a lone parent, but it depends on what type. It might be an area to start learning about so that you'll be able to find some work when the kids are older.

I don't think I have any :)

Sorry - what I meant was, the only work experience I have is in teaching english.

I studied social work & really enjoyed it. If you decide to go down that route make sure that when you're on placements you build bridges, connections for employment. Most of the successful graduates did just this (I didn't - my mind was focused on my little one/family life).

Oddly enough I've now realised teaching is my passion so laying the groundwork for that in a few years after next baby :)

Good luck with whatever you decide to pursue.

Stardust I'll be watching with interest. I'm having number 2 as a lone parent & want out of teaching as well .... Good luck! If I had any good ideas I'd share but am lacking tbh.

Adult literacy/tefl?

The only thing I'm thinking of doing is supply, 3 days a week or so. But then not getting paid for holidays would be a huge pain

I wouldn't be much good at teaching adults and definitely not tefl I don't understand linguistics well at all!

I don't think I could do supply as I've no childcare: it would mean having the two youngest DCs at a childminder/nursery. If I got work, it would gobble up childcare costs and if I didn't I'd be significantly out of pocket.

Private tutoring?
A friend (native english speaker in an european city) is tutoring professionals who want to emigrate to the uk, just honing their english skills for a professional environment. Perhaps turn that around and teach recent immigrants (solicitors etc).

I have a friend who teaches English to foreign students in a day to day setting so that they're not learning grammar at first but how to get by in everyday life if you see what I mean. She has them round to her house for an hour or goes to town for an hour or the pub - anything really - and they just spend the hour talking and learning. She's very popular and always gets good feedback from her 'students' - might that be worth considering?

I'm a lone parent studying social work (first year) and loving it so far.

I was recently having a bit of panic because there are long placements in year 2 and 3. I didn't know how I was going to manage childcare, and thought about changing courses. However I've just come up with the slightly genius idea of getting a part time nanny, 80% of which is paid for by student finance. So it's all good again and something maybe you could bear in mind if childcare is an issue for you whilst studying.

Go for it, social work is a competitive course to get onto but you'd probably be ok having had teaching experience.

Kind of what Gandalf said but not on such a professional level.

Private tutoring might work, e.g. 11+, independent school entrance exams, GCSE English.

How about qualifying in dyslexia diagnosis and support? PATOSS

You are self-sabotaging ("I suspect the answer is NO")...

O.k. If I read it right, you have an 8-year-old, a 10-month-old and a baby due in July.

And an English Degree.

In a few years time you will be right back in there! :-)

Even as a single parent. Lots of opportunities now to work from home or go out and do jobs in between...etc.

I cleaned neighbours houses and did all kinds of stuff. Only have one child though and never a hand, money or otherwise from his father
.
(my sister does it too as a single parent of 3, took a few years to juggle it all).

Are you getting all the help from the father(s)?. CSI can help I hear (don't live in UK).

Go to China on one of those schemes where you teach for a year. You can take your children with you, and can teach classes of any age from nursery through to adult EFL. (Or I think VSO don't object to children but they also don't accommodate them as such, you have to arrange for them yourself).
I can't remember the exact details, but a quick google will find it for you - it's volunteering, and you do have to pay a certain amount, but iirc, you get most of it back in instalments, the longer you stay. I think you go for a year or possibly two, but it's all in segments iyswim so you can come home anytime if it's not working. If you take a position in a school, your children can attend that school, and you can pick a general area, like very rural, rural, small town, small city, major city etc.
Do something you would never normally have considered :D or take off round the world in a camper van :D
I just wish I had. My friend upped sticks and moved to Costa Rica 6 months ago - they "just went for it" and everyone keeps telling her how jealous they are, but none of us had the bottle to actually do it.
You could

I don't want to teach, certainly not in a private or one to one capacity. I may go back to full time teaching when dd is in nursery but that's not for another 2 years.

Ifly - it's early days but should be okay, I do have a small amount of money myself. I can always sell my home if needs be, hopefully I won't need to, but I do need some sort of income ideally that I earn myself.

Teaching Adult Literacy & Numeracy or English to Speakers of Other Languages can fit in very well with bringing up children because you get school holidays off. I appreciate your point about not being paid in the summer but if you were working through the summer you'd have to finance childcare so that's the pay off. Colleges often run their own teacher training courses so you can work and train at the same time. I suggest investigating opportunities at your local Further Education colleges.

That wasn't my point but I definitely don't want to teach.

If i do have to, I would just teach English at a secondary school - I honestly have zero interest in teaching adults or teaching tefl.

Try volunteering for an advice agency such as CAB. Great experience and jobs do come up periodically.

Any other interests? Could you devise educational apps/computer games/educational websites? Set up a childcare nursery? Train to become a counselor? Write your first novel?

Oh OK, cross posted and missed that you don't want to teach. The Dyslexia suggestion above might be a goer. if you do the PATOSS qualification you can do diagnostic assessments of dyslexia either privately or through schools, colleges and universities. Can be quite a money spinner though not a secure and regular income. Or you could do assessments for Disabled Students Allowances. You don't need any particular qualifications, just some knowledge of disabilities and learning difficulties. Some people work full time for DSA Access Centres and some work as consultants so again you could fit it around the children.