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Ladies

I was just wondering if any of you have homeschooled other children besides your own using HOD. I will be using CTC with my 6th grade daugher when school begins this fall and I have had other parents mention to me that they wished I would homeschool their children too. If I am correct, I believe Texas laws allow this.

I am so excited about using HOD for my first time this fall, although I am not new to homeschooling. I do not want to take anything away from my daughter, yet at the same time, I feel like she may enjoy having others with which to share her homeschooling experience. Her sisters are 9 and 12 years older than she is and it is basically like being an only child in some ways.

I understand that this would be a large undertaking but I am also looking at as extra income since I just resigned my part time job because of taking a stand for what is right (long story). I would love to hear if any of you have had the experience of homeschooling others with HOD. I am so excited about it and I can't help but think how great it would be for other children to experience HOD. I would only accept children within the ages that CTC covers and parents would have to look at the placement charts to make sure that their child would be ready for CTC. Of course, they could be on different levels of Math and English, though.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Patti

Hi Patti! I tutored many dc using DITHOR for several years, but my ds was a toddler at the time and not being taught DITHOR himself. I realize this is not quite the same situation as you are talking about, but I'll share a few thoughts to consider. It is hard to have to answer to many different parents, and they often want a say in exactly how things will go, which makes it difficult to please everyone, since all of their expectations are different. I think this is because God put that desire into parents' hearts, to be responsible for the care and decisions regarding their dc. That is a good thing! But, it is a reminder that perhaps if they are wanting their dc homeschooled, they need to take this task on themselves. Here are a few roadblocks I ran into...

1. attendance: dc coming late, staying late, wanting to change hours, not showing up, coming sick and making my ds sick
2. payment: forgetting to pay, wanting to pay different amounts, checks bouncing
3. parents having different wants: wanting special assignments, wanting no assignments, wanting progress meetings, wanting no meetings, wanting me to buy incentive materials for them, wanting me to come to their house instead, asking me to pick up their dc, drop off their dc, wanted me to test their dc, didn't want me to test their dc, etc.
4. my child: I felt guilty all of the time that my ds was not getting my attention, and that I was almost angry with him when he wanted my attention.
5. dc with different values coming into our home with me not really being able to be a disciplinarian with them

I am not trying to be negative here, but I underestimated the task I was taking on, and I don't want that to happen for you. I remember thinking that this would be a great way to make some extra money, and I would still get to be home with my dc. There were just a lot of stressors that make this a difficult situation. I understand needing extra money though - could you possibly just do after school care with the other dc, and do some fun learning things? Maybe a DITHOR style book club 3 of the days? A group Bible study? Art/ Music? I'm just thinking that this would be more constant and give some money but still give you your day with your dd alone. If it is possible financially for you to just homeschool your dd this year, and maybe consider something like this next year, I'd definitely do that - but, I am just one person, and my experience may totally be different than what yours would be. Maybe you would love this - maybe it would be great for you and your family! Just be in prayer over it and God will direct your paths.

In Christ,
Julie

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/RegPrivSchl/texas.html
http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Texas.pdf
I've read through both of these, but I think you need to look at the business aspect of this first. Would you be considered homeschooling if you accept money for your services or would you be considered a tuition private school? This is a big question b/c the answer would mean whether you have to be responsible for everything with the state instead of their parents as well as your personal taxes and filing your "school" as a private business. The parents could file the tuition as childcare payments on their taxes with your business id (ss # if a personal business).
I would look at the legal obligations that would be required and call the department of education and the state homeschooling offices to find out how many students would be considered a private school instead of homeschooling. I am thinking that once money changes hands for a full education for a year then you would be considered a tuition private school even if it was only one child. It is very different than tutoring. It becomes totally different when money changes hands.
I do think that you can homeschool other children than your own, but I think that the fact that money would be involved would change the dynamic in the eyes of the law and would make you instead of a homeschool with students other than your child but a private tuition school that also enrolls your child.
I would do the leg work and see if having a small class in my home accepting tuition would even still be considered homeschooling, then I would contemplate whether it is worth it.
Val

Thanks Julie and Val:

Both of you have definitely given me things to think about. I appreciate your input tremendously. I will be praying about the situation and see where the Lord leads.

Patti

Hi Patti! I have not homeschooled other children, so I have nothing from experience to say about that. But one thing you said caught my eye, that you are new to homeschooling. I know for me, I had a HUGE learning curve my first couple of years homeschooling. My children were much younger, but still, that may be something to consider. You may want to take the first year on your own and see how things go before you teach others. It took a while for me to learn how to best teach each of my children (still learning, even), and it would have been exponentially hard if I'd had children who were not my own in the mix. When you have found a groove that works for you, it will be easier to work others into it.

Just a thought!