Work At Home Educator

Work At Home Educator

I am a teacher and I work at home. I started out in teaching in the regular way. After graduating from college I got a job teaching in the local high school in my town. I taught there several years until I had a child. Then I stayed at home for a couple of years while our daughter was young.

When she was a toddler, I swapped tuition for teaching at the local Montessori preschool. While my daughter was in her preschool class, I taught Spanish to the kindergarteners. When our daughter was six, our family lived on a sailboat, cruising the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America. I home-schooled her during that year.

Both of these teaching scenarios were very enjoyable, but neither brought in any income. So, when our daughter began full-time school in second grade, I went back to full-time teaching. Although I was not working at home, I had the benefit, as most teachers do, of having a work schedule that closely paralleled my daughter's school schedule. We came and went at the same time each day, unless I had a faculty meeting or other school commitment. And we had the same vacations. However, in order to spend time with her and help her with her homework in the afternoons and evenings, I put off my own "homework" until after she went to bed. This made for many late nights grading papers and preparing lessons. And some nights I was required to be at school to chaperone a dance or present at a parent event. Additionally, my weekends were often spent doing schoolwork, housework, and yard work.

A couple of years ago I made a switch. I left full-time classroom teaching and began to work from home. I started a home business as a tutor. Most of my students I met with after school. By then my daughter was old enough that she had plenty of homework to do herself. She studied at the kitchen counter while I worked with my students. If she had a quick question, I was nearby to help. I also had several home-schooled students whom I tutored in one or two subject areas; I met with them during the mornings or early afternoons. In addition, I did some substitute teaching in the local school district. Honestly, I don't like subbing much, but it supplemented my income and helped out the teachers who needed subs.

Over the years I have expanded my tutoring business to include SAT prep classes and college essay editing services. Now I am starting to get into independent college counseling as well. I still sub a bit, and I even do a little freelance writing on the side.

There are numerous benefits to working at home. I can take my own breaks (not wait for the bell) and I can walk our dog, ride my bike, garden, or mow the lawn. This way I get some exercise during the day. When I was teaching at a school, I'd have to exercise before school at 5:30am (that never happened!) or after school at 4:30pm, when I was pretty tired from the work day. I also try to fit in 20-30 minutes of housework a day. I don't particularly like those chores, so doing them in little bits is easier for me. And my chores all get done during the week so my weekends are free for family time rather than housework and yard work.

I love teaching and am so happy to have found ways to work from home as an educator. My schedule during the day and during the year is more flexible; I pretty much set my own hours. I can also do some of my work via email and phone. For the rest, my students come to me. If you are an educator and you want to work from home, out from under the bureaucracy of school administration, you can do it. Tutoring prices vary from place to place, but I have made the financial part work out fine for me. I enjoy having a smaller student load with still all the intangible rewards of working with kids and helping them learn.