Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Homeschool Teacher

Hello, everyone! I hope you are all doing well!

A bit of a background on myself: I’ve worked at public schools for over ten years hopping different titles such as a substitute, art teacher, computer lab instructor, tutor, and classroom aide. After I had my daughter, I became a stay at home mom. It has been difficult to get back into the workforce due to personal circumstances. My brother in law, who works as a homeschool teacher, told me that there are positions open in his line of work and that I should check it out. The job allows me to pick and choose the days I want to work, which was ideal. I managed to get the job!

For the past four months, I drive nearly an hour away to teach homeschooled kis. I am an elementary STEM and an art teacher, and I love my job despite work being so far away. I even drive over a very scary dam just to get into town! But it’s worth it.

Because the job is a little unusual, I thought I’d post it up as a AMA. Feel free to ask away, but please understand that I will not talk about the students for their privacy and safety.

Thank you for reading! I am excited to share information to anybody interested in homeschooling!

Hi! I've always wondered what homeschooling was like, really! Thank you for opening up an AMA!
How are your hours like? Are they dependent on the students, or do you have a set timetable and work your students around them?

Oh my gosh, thank you for your interest and your question!

I got really lucky that my boss is extremely flexible when it comes to time. I was told that I was allowed to pick whichever days I was willing to teach the classes, which she would work in and advertise it to parents on a website. But the hours on those days had to work around with the other classes going on that weren't mine. Certain classes can fall on the same hours as mine, but in separate classrooms.

My hours on Mondays are 9:00-2:45 with a two hour break to plan my curriculum and eat lunch. On Tuesdays, I only work a whole hour and a half with my art students. I have to show up half an hour prior to prepare my classes!

hello!! former homeschooled kid here!

when you teach art, what sorts of things do you teach? do the kids do projects that they then turn into you? is there an online element?

Hello! Thank you for your questions! It's fantastic meeting others that were homeschooled! Doing what I do has inspired me to want to homeschool my daughter.

There are certain websites that sell a certain curriculum that we need. They usually come with specific tools, such as books or instructive CDs that we can emulate, and I hear they're very popular for homeschooling, so it's perfect for what we do. I teach elementary level art. We do step-by-step basics, from mixing colors, and a bit of history (like who made this style popular or who made this famous painting, etc). I always allow my students creative freedom despite what the instructions encourage us to do. Some times we work on projects that take a few weeks! I hope these answers your questions! Thank you for asking!