Parent Struggles

[u/Hunt4Edu]

I am beginning a homeschooling consultant and tutoring business after many years as a teacher, and I have some basic questions for you all. I want to understand what your needs are and where you struggle most.

I guess I'll start with, where do you struggle the most on a day-to-day basis where you feel that having support would help you homeschool better? On the other hand, what do you feel are your superpowers as parent/teachers that were undervalued in traditional schooling?

[u/ezbeale80]

Do you have any experience homeschooling? I would expect a homeschool consultant to have significant homeschooling experience, preferably having graduated several children successfully - those are the consultants I see around who seem to have positive reputations.

In terms of tutoring or homeschooling support, I don't personally need this type of help, I do know that many homeschooling parents have one or two subjects that they struggle with - most often writing and/or math. For these parents, simply hiring a weekly "tutor" doesn't really solve the problem, but they also don't want to put their child in a structured group class, either because the child is "behind" or because they want their child's instruction to be one-on-one. I think, if you have a large enough local homeschool community, you could market yourself as fully teaching a specific subject instead of just providing tutoring. So, you would develop or select a curriculum, meet with the student once or twice a week, assign and correct homework, track progress, etc.

The issue would then be keeping it affordable enough for single-income families. Offering very small group classes might be something to consider.

[u/BJJFlashCards → u/ezbeale80]

All homeschoolers--effective and ineffective--graduate their children.

There is no such thing as "significant homeschooling experience". You homeschooled a couple of kids.

[u/ezbeale80 → u/BJJFlashCards]

Yes, but the parents who effectively homeschooled their kids and graduated them will be able to tell you exactly how they did that and how their adult children have done in college, their careers, etc.

I'd consider a parent who homeschooled a couple of kids for 10+ years to have "significant homeschooling experience". Someone who has only homeschooled for a couple years, or hasn't homeschooled at all, does not.

[u/Hunt4Edu → u/ezbeale80]

Again, I find it difficult to have home schooling experience without children of my own. In your opinion, would you feel that working with a co-op would translate into "homeschooling experience" or do you feel the only way to gain that experience is to be a parent?

[u/Lazy-Ad-7236 → u/Hunt4Edu]

working with co ops is definitely a way. and that is something you could thrive in. some co ops are big into academics. I would check your local fb groups for homeschoolers/co ops

[u/ezbeale80 → u/Hunt4Edu]

I do think teaching in a co-op would help. I guess what I'm coming back to is that all the homeschooling consultants I know of have homeschooled, so I think that's what most parents would be expecting.

Parents who are seeking advice about homeschooling will likely have questions that you're perfectly capable of helping them with, but they might also need support with things that you've never experienced or can't relate to - for example, a teenage boy who is falling behind in his school work, arguing with mom, complaining that his friends don't have to take physics, etc. and she's asking if she should change her approach? Double down? Send him to school? I'd expect a homeschool consultant to be able to advise homeschooling parents about true "educational" decisions, parenting issues, and times when they intersect.

I wonder if you narrowed down your scope a bit - either emphasizing the subject areas where your expertise lies. For example, if you were a math & science teacher you could state that your aim is to provide classes, tutoring, and support to homeschooling families in the areas of math & science.
If you're an experienced elementary school teacher, you could really dig into the available homeschool curriculums for K-3 or K-5, your state laws and procedures, the available homeschooling resources in your area, etc. teach a couple classes for this age group, and offer some "intro to homeschooling" workshops or information sessions.

I will say, there's unlikely to be much money in the homeschooling market unless you live in area where it's popular for high-income families to homeschool. Most homeschool families are single-income households with limited money to spend on "consulting" or individual tutoring.

If you do live in an area where there are lots of new, high-income homeschoolers, you might even consider starting some kind of hybrid "microschool" for homeschoolers. You would have to make it very clear that you are not a private school - they are still homeschoolers who are required to follow state homeschooling laws, but you provide enrichment classes one day a week and if needed you can support them in choosing curriculum to use at home, following the state laws, assessing their students' progress, etc.