Is there a market for supporting home ed pupils?

[VSh]

I'm having to give up my very much loved career as a middle school teacher due to long covid. In order to make ends meet I was thinking about offering online tutoring in science for pupils up to the end of KS3. This would have to be during the day as I'm too exhausted in the evenings, therefore can't do the usual tutoring. I thought that I could support home educated pupils with an online session for £25 an hour or to include two further lessons for the week which would be led by parents and would include submitted work and feedback the following week for £30. I have so many resources and power points I've made over my 22 years that I'd be able to do this.
What do people think? Is there a market for this? TIA
Vicki

An online session? No there is a lot of competition more competitively priced tbh.
You can try, but there isn't really a market. Those who want 1 to 1 tutoring tend to do it in person. Those who do it online tend to prefer groups, there are a few that are £2 or £2.50 a session. There are a handful that want one to one online but tbh it's saturated.

Best way to find out is to get in touch with local home ed groups. But I think possibly for 1:1 online only you may be a bit expensive at £25. I do like your idea of offering further parent led lessons which you can feed back on though. That would be helpful to some.

You'd have more luck running a hands on engaging workshop in person one day a week.
Pre-GCSE level barely anyone wants their child sat listening to PowerPoint then given 2 pieces of what is essentially homework. There are lots of resources available to do this. CGP workbooks etc, curriculums that are often hands on, twinkl and random stuff found online, science kits.
And since you won't go to GCSE Level, you'll really struggle as anyone considering it would pick one of the many tutors or online classes available that can take their child go GCSE Level.

If you mean you covering £25 per hour for say 8 students = £3.50 per student per lesson, then yes there would be a market for this.
You would need to charge and enrol in blocks of at least half a term. You should look over other dlp (distance learning provider) websites for ideas.
Your sessions would need to be engaging and sometimes include practicals or experiments, either demo or work alongside at home.
You would need a good plan to manage interaction, in small group classes interaction is expected, but allowing unlimited open mics usually degenerates into a lot of wasted time.
Many who home ed at ks3 dont need Science support but there are many more now who are home ed not as a lifestyle choice but due to necessity.
I’m not aware of any nationally available equivalent btw so it’s certainly worth a try. Although there is one similar large group (40 kids) less structured weekly session costing £2.50.

If you mean £25 per hour for ks3 1:1 then very doubtful.

@ChocolatRaisinz which online classes (not webinars) have you come across please for ks3 science?

So actually the whole session for the week including your feedback would be £55? Or have I misunderstood? I cam see that would be a nice earner for you, but of the people I know who home school there's no way that would be affordable.

Yes!! Look into the £2 tution hub, it's brilliant

I pay £25ph/w for in person tuition for maths. Most of the families I know who use tutors do so for math.

firstly science is one of the subjects most people are less intimidated to teach so less willing to pay to outsource.
Secondly online classes abound and are quite cheap some even offer postal services with kits.

i think you would find that your skills are less transferable than you think as the home Ed community are a funny, feral bunch

if you want to know what would work I would reach out to your local home Ed groups.

i feel it only fair to warn you though that where I am about half the community are anti vax types who think science= big pharma = government conspiracy.
anti-mask types are heavily represented so I wouldn’t consider in person sessions but fuck knows they’re could do with some real science that didn’t come from q anon.

I think the answer is sadly, not very likely. It does depend where you live though.

The issues you have is

1. Most home edders have given up 1 career/job to home ed and are on a lower income because of this.
2. KS3 is possibly the lowest area of demand. Primary science is quite well developed through hands on workshops/online programs/ activities that most parents can do. People often then jump is at GCSE curriculum level and might look for tutors here, working backwards to fill in gaps from KS3.
3. You would be very expensive compared to many other online tutoring services - Seneca, Tassomei. There is also loads of free stuff Maths & Physics tutor (does all subjects), Youtube has fantastic stuff, BBC bitesize.

If you could do small group in person tutoring you might have a market.

Maybe teach Creationism to increase your customer base?

Learn laugh play and the £2 tuition hub are the most popular but if you ask in the home ed groups there's a few others, just can't remember them off the top of my head!

Have you considered working for an online school? Your problem may be that the online market is saturated, but it could also simplify matters. You only have to be ‘present’ for actual classes and presumably a team meeting here and there. You may be able to get a timetable with many breaks that is not too demanding. Discipline is a button!

Another route to consider is tuition for those with EOTAS, there’s a growing number of DC with EOTAS and some have more traditional tuition that some who EHE.

DS1 has EOTAS and has 1:1 science tuition, albeit in person as online doesn’t work for him. Although we wouldn’t use you as have subject specialists who can teach up to A level to limit the number of changes for DS.

Thanks for all your messages, you have certainly given me plenty to think about. For now, I'm not up to it, but it was something to consider for the future.

There can be a market, it is a growth area, there were very few providers (that we could find anyway) when we began home educating 12 years ago but now there is quite a lot of choice. Also My understanding is that there are now many more people home educating than ever before.

Another thing is, and this is just from observation of those I know or who are in our local area. But I think the two groups who are most likely to be intrested in online tutoring are.
A) People new to home education, who may initially lack confidence in supporting their children's learning
B) young people preparing for exams.

Possible reasons for this are. Cost, many home educating families rely on one inco e and many have two or even many children. Many parents are quite able to teach at least up to ks4. Also many people start with a 'school st home' approch and migrate over to "delight directed learning", unschooling or an alternative curriculum or approach that better fits with their family's rythem if life or value system.

For example we ended up using mostly the american sonlight curriculum, as it is very dyslexia freindly, and keeps the parents orgnised, almost matches our value system while still being outward looking. We do however return to a more conventional approach for the exams stage.

Some but probably very few mirror the school system exactly in the longer term.

You seem to be offering a lot of support but possibly the cost may be set a little high for some.

We have mixed experience with online providers some very positive.

We had a good arts award advisor, who chatted with the child on whats app call or message, and provided very good feed back as well as 3x in person.

We have used three diffrent online providers, one was about £8 per week. We used this for ks3 history. It was for materials plus marking and feedback, no face to face/ video contact but was pretty good for the price. However the materials are something my other children were able to work through themselves, with a little parent support.

Another covers maths and English at functional skills leval. This provides online group class for each subject, a contactable tutor including individual sessions if needed, marking, feed back, curriculim materials for up to 24 months and exam fees. That costs about £245 all inclusive. This is what this child needs but the others will more likely self study for igcses.

We also currently use a very good biology tutor for igcse. She charges £ 70 per half term for live group classes, marking and some materials. So about £10 per week. Honestly I wouldn't be able to pay a lot more. This is the best provider we have used by far, and probably the only one I'd be willing to pay for again for my other children.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Go for it. Try Home Education family groups on Facebook and overseas in the USA etc. What about Education Otherwise?
They may be willing to help you? They ignore my correspondence LOL. But as you are an ex teacher they may be willing to listen and support, especially as we have this dreadful Home Education School Bill we have to fight off:

22. We know that children in the UK are amongst the unhappiest in Europe and that mental health in schools is a real issue for many. The Bill takes away your right to remove your child from a school without oversight of your local authority, regardless of how that authority has already failed your child.

www.educationotherwise.org/schools-bill-for-school-families/

As a family we have put all our money into our daughters Education. You get what you pay for! Paying more has helped my daughter progress in certain subjects. We have a hole in the lounge ceiling, the sink is sinking and I to go outside and empty the basin to wash up, it needs replacing. But I am still laughing and enjoying watching our daughter bloom and enjoy learning.

I believe in team work and supporting one another. Sharing real stories helps others. Keep me updated. I would love to hear that you have students and they are enjoying education at home.

Here is our success story:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/home_ed/4675713-home-education-success-story-bookworm-artist

Should read "the sink is sinking and I have to go outside and empty the basin."
LOL. Sometimes I type to quickly and miss letters out. Or I think I have typed the word, but it is missing. Or I type a completely different word. That is Dyslexia for you. But thankfully there are a lot of positives.

Dyslexic Thinking is now a SKILL that is promoted in the Dictionary and in Linkedin Business:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/dyslexic-thinking-now-officially-recognised-valuable-skill-griggs/

Perfection is over-rated. Kindness is a far better thing to promote. :)

If you happen across a child that is struggling with writing etc, they may just be Dyslexic. Remind them of Thomas Edison the amazing Scientist that was able to think differently because he was Dyslexic. The man that invented LIGHT. His mother Home Educated him when State School bullied and failed him:

Childhood of Thomas Edison, the power of the mind! Emotional and Motivational. Must Watch!

Hello Gracelynn,

I agree Home Educating can be expensive, and sometimes you need to go for what is affordable. With some subjects you get what you pay for.

However saying that, I think this teacher could do a group teaching online and private teaching for those that can afford it. She needs to pay her bills. So I hope she gets support.

You mentioned Dyslexic Friendly Education in the USA. That sounds interesting.

I would enjoy hearing all about your Home Education success. Especially as there is so much bullying about Home Education.

Here is our Home Education Success Story so far:

butterflylullaby.blogspot.com/2022/10/dyslexic-bookworm-rachel-renee-russell.html

Yes absolutely for people who want it and can afford it one to one tuition can be a good thing! And yes tutors do need to be able to pay the bills, been able to tutor online will widen the pool of potential customers too!

Thanks Mumzeewarrier for sharing that wonderful dyslexia and home education success story!

Our dyslexic and nurodiverse children have never been to school, home education I think has worked quite well for them. Been able to follow their own intrests more, to learn to read at a fun and comfortable pace, without pressure from peers or teachers, to use "living books" rather than twaddle as Charlotte Mason would call certain type of school books. The american curriculum we mostly use and consider to be dyslexia freindly is sonlight, as the children just love the books. We don't nessary always do everything as the instructor guide suggests, but using books as read alould can be inclusive of pre readers it's very adaptable, and you can swap things out or substitute.

We also use a dyslexia freindly tutor for one of our daughters, she does group lessons.

The oldest 17 is doing well, working part time in an area that greatly intrests her, as well as volunteering twice a week, having time for art and sport.

The others too, have time to follow intrests, one has become good at cooking and is learning some wood he has buisness plans and another is soon to start volunteering/work experince in an area which reflects his intrests and career aspirations. The littlest, probably the most dyslexic is just starting to read "big books" on her own at 10, but she has got there without losing her love of books and stories. Intrestinly she has a great memory and could memorise long scripture passages, story's and poems long before she could read, just by using song, and a audio Bible, she chose to listen too at bed time.

Thank god I've never met you 😱

It's rubbish tbh I tried a few lessons with my child.. all the resources the tutors use are already on twinkl..