Home edders?

[nodramallamaloo]

I'm thinking of setting up a home Ed group at my house where parents pay for the session and stay with their children. Trying to search all of this online and struggling!

Wondering what kind of insurance I'd need, would I need someone to come and check my house? Health and safety? Would I need to notify the council? If I was offering snacks and drinks would I need to get them to sign anything for allergies? Is there anything I haven't thought of?

Also how much would you pay for a home Ed group - a 30 min session, an hour session?

I have a degree in primary education so it would be an education based group.

why would it be any different being in my home than being in a hall?

A hall is a lot more convenient. Multiple toilets, a larger space, parking and often a kitchen area. It's also tricky in a home environment as boundaries are easily blurred. For example what toys are for those visiting and what rooms are they allowed in.

I'm offering a service, no not a tutoring service, but an informal education based activity service

It sounds like you're reading a story and doing some arts and crafts.

@ikeakia that's interesting to know, thank you. Would you go to a group in someone's house though?

@WaterSheep a minute ago you asked why parents would pay me to teach their child, so I explained it would be a little less formal than that, now it's just me reading them a story and arts and crafts..

@Thesearmsofmine did you mind going to her house? Did she still charge £5 a session when it was at her house?

Why is this in AIBU? It would be better off in the home ed section. As for uptake, completely depends on which part of the country in and your approach.

@Aveisenim is there any way I can get this moved to the home Ed section?

Report your first post to MN and put in the comments you would like it moved to Home Ed

My daughter’s art class is in someone’s house but the studio is specifically set up for a group.

How it’s all laid out is the key but the fact it is in your house wouldn’t be an issue for me.

@ikeakia thank you very much :-)

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude ahh brilliant, thank you!!

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude now to try and report it 😬 it's not working!!

We've moved it now, OP.

In the right spot now ;) I prefer groups in public locations, to be honest, I find going to someone's house who I don't know beforehand quite intimidating, that said I wish someone would set something like this up where I live! x

When dd was home educated we used to attend a group once a week it was £5.00 for 2 hours.

Of the aim is a business it is a non-starter in my opinion.
I have run very similar, and it was very popular (often full to the max of 16 children. I charged £1.50 a head which covered costs. I gave my time as a volunteer.
This is the sort of activity that home ed parents (quite a few have an education background) tend to run themselves as it mixes education and social.
Cost of this sort of group is always an issue as most home edders are on budgets and have multiple children.
How will you deal with mixed age larger families?
Families also tend to dip in and out of this sort of activity so consistency, marketing and fluctuations of numbers.
You are more likely to have more success if you offer more traditional tuition or something parents seem to doubt themselves on (science). I
You ideally need a friend in the HE community who will arrange a few sessions with them doing the liasing with the group and you doing activity.
HE groups tend not to approve people joining for business purposes.

now it's just me reading them a story and arts and crafts..

I'm only going off what you have said.

it will probably be story sessions, with activities such as role play, making things based on the story

If it's only 45 minutes there won't be a lot time for anything other than a story and an art activity. It would be more relaxing if the session were 90 minutes or 2 hours, especially if there's a snack as that can easily take 10 - 15 minutes on it's own.

I wish you every success if you go ahead with it. However, I would still look for an alternative venue such as a community centre or hall, to avoid the issues that a home environment presents.

@nodramallamaloo I'm going to go against the grain here and say that it is much better to start in your home. If it goes well and people are consistent about coming, then possibly moving to a hall would work, although even then I'd not. I've started a group in a hall and even with a very low hall charge, it still meant dipping into my own money to keep it going as people tend to not be as consistent. Sunny days were a real killer as no one would turn up.

Also I know of someone who runs a home group and she has liability insurance and written policies about allergies and so on. She does specialised crafts (things people can't do easily without equipment in their own homes) and science events.

I also know of 3 people who have given up trying to teach HE groups due to problems with younger siblings being brought even when it is worded clearly that there is a minimum age; children coming to dance lessons in a beautiful studio wearing muddy wellies and leaving an absolute mess; and someone who got fed up with all of the cleaning up after families that littered quite badly and took no notice of group clearing away time. If you have good policies in place, that is a good start. Make it clear if some areas are off limits or if children need to clear up or remove shoes in your home.

Thank you all so much for your advice and tips!! I certainly have a lot to think about 😊 I will ask back here if I think of any more questions and I welcome any more suggestions!

As you are new to home ed, I think you are best off waiting a bit and visiting groups being run by other people. You will then see what is already on offer in the area, how much parents are willing to pay, whether there is a gap in the market for a specific skill, which venues work best, what the potential challenges are etc.

Also, parents are more likely to be eager to go along to an activity being run by a fellow home educator - especially somebody they know - as they will expect you will "get" home education.

In my area, unless tutors have a sought-after specialist skill (for example IGCSE study groups), they don't make much money running sessions. You would be competing with groups being run by volunteers offering similar things cheaper because they only need to cover the cost of hall hire and materials. There is a strong tradition of community skill-sharing. One new home educator in my town put her foot in it by proposing to run sessions which involved charging for her time. Some parents got quite worked up about the idea, pointing out that they offered their own time and knowledge to her children for free and she should be prepared to do likewise.

As PPs have mentioned, home ed sessions offer unique challenges, which you'll come to appreciate after visiting some groups yourselves. A few examples:

There are usually siblings in tow who may need something to do.
People will want flexibility on ages, and this can get out of hand. For example, you might advertise a session as suitable for ages 5-7, somebody asks if they can bring their "very mature" four year old, a few others think their four year olds would enjoy it too, and then there's a child who is "nearly four" but cannot bear to be left out when his big sister is doing it... and before you know it, you have a load of small children and the big kids don't enjoy it because you're aiming it at the younger ones!
It's likely that the home ed population includes a higher proportion of children with special needs, so it's useful to have an understanding of how to welcome and include them.

@Saracen that is all really helpful food for thought, thank you so much for your very detailed replies!!

You need to know what is running in your area - we have an excess of tutor type groups and many are closing due to lack of numbers.

You might want to consider linking your classes to one of the nationally recognised certificates like Pawprint badges as you seem to be talking about the very young children - and these are proving very popular at the moment.

We go to a group based on AQA Certification - but these are based in a hall with a massive area for the older children to play in and as it is a children's centre plenty of toys and a play area for the younger ones, plus a café so everyone can be entertained whilst the other is doing their session. These cost £5 a family per 5 hr session and this includes validation of all AQA certificate even those we do at home and not in the group sessions.

But please do not ignore the fact that most families have children of multiple ages, many have SN and many people like to drop in and out of sessions - and not attend consistently. There are a significant number of HE that will not pay for something they can offer themselves for free and it does sound like you are offering something easily replicated at home. A hall does make a difference because it gives space and a greater ability to socialise.

If I was attending something in someone's house I would want proper tutoring - I would not feel comfortable with something more relaxed - we did Spanish at someone's house and that worked well but it was a small class and the children had to sit and do the work - it was not play. I would be too nervous about damage/over excitement etc at anything more informal!!!

@Basecamp65 this is all very helpful info for me to think about. Thank you so much!! I've not heard of pawprint badges, I'll have a look into this!

I was going to say similar to itsstillgood round here no one would pay for what you describe because people run similar for free/cost of hall.