Primary Teachers - homeschooling opportunity

[MidnightBlush]

Good morning,

We are considering homeschooling for our son, who is in year 1. We both work full time, and so are looking for someone to take him to daytime activities / clubs and perhaps lead one or two hours of learning a day.

I wondered if any primary teachers on here are perhaps looking for a new opportunity in the new school year?

Also, interested to hear if any other parents have taken a similar approach to homeschooling whilst working full time, and if there are any other tips to share.

You need to tell people where you are.

I knew a family who did this with their children. They had a young, newly qualified teacher who was very enthusiastic and it was just the most amazing way of doing things! We have a fairly vibrant home ed community anyway and they just slotted in!

I don't think mumsnet is the way to recruit though!

Such a fair point on recruiting on Mumsnet!

based in SE London.

really reassuring to hear that this worked out well for someone you know - thanks for the replies.

The education side of it is very straightforward, especially for such a young child. You can educate your child yourself during the hours you aren't working.

So you don't particularly need a teacher for your son. Anyway, many home educators maintain that the skills required for classroom teaching are quite different from those used in home education. Former teachers who now home educate their own children often say that their teaching experience is more of a hindrance than a help.

You need someone who can keep him safe and happy while you are at work. A childminder or a nanny would be good. Some home educating parents work as childminders, because that is a job which fits well with their need to look after their own children. That could be ideal because they will already be part of the home ed community.

When one of my kids was 4/5/6 I worked part time and sent them to home educating CMs while I worked. It was a great arrangement for all of us.

Sorry have just seen this - such a great insight, thank you.

You're welcome! By the way, Mumsnet does have a home ed board if you are looking for more information.

Facebook is even better; most national and local home ed groups are on Facebook these days. To find a group in your area, type into the Facebook search bar "home education" followed by the name of your town or county. You could ask on your local group whether any home educators in the area are childminding, or whether anyone might be interested in a nanny share, or whether anyone knows of any home ed - friendly CMs.

For various reasons, not all CMs or nannies want to take on older children. For some, it's just a preference. Others have the mistaken belief that if they are looking after a school-aged child during the daytime then they would have to provide an education. This isn't true; in fact the educational requirements are LESS for older children, as CMs have to provide the EYFS to younger mindees. If you find someone who looks promising but they are nervous about this, you can get help from experienced home educators to point them toward the regulations so they can see there's no legal requirement for them to provide anything other than childcare. Obviously good childcare will actually BE educational: they'll answer your child's questions, do crafts with him, read to him, take him out etc... but there's no legal requirement for them to provide an education, so they won't have to document anything.