HELP, Please

[yogi3939]

I am a semi retired industrial engineer and am going to try my hand at private tutoring and supplemental classes for home schoolers. I will be concentrating on certain areas. The materila I will be teaching will include all grade school science and math subjects and all high school science with a limit to the high school math that will exclude advanced algebra and calculus until I have a chance to brush up on them myself.

So here is what I am asking for in the way of help.....

1 - Any websites that I could use for testing and course material.

2 - Any websites that I could list my services on.

3 - Any tips for advertising.

4 - Any resource material I can use to improve my own skill set.

I know that the list of things I am asking for help in make it look like I am jumping into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim, but that is not the case. I actually have done a little tutoring for high school students in a non professional capacity and I have run apprenticeship programs in an industrial environment. I have been told by people I have worked with one on one that I have a gift for explaining things in new and interesting ways that help the student learn in areas that they had previously felt lost in.

So any help you can give me to help me improve my odds of success would be deeply appreciated.

[Green Darner]

Apologia has excellent high school science courses:

http://www.apologia.com/


And I find that Teaching Textbooks is imho the best for high school math courses:

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/


I only mention this because why reinvent the wheel with curricula? That way you could focus your energy on the tutoring aspect.

Check around for a local homeschool co-op. They are always needing tutors. :)

[yogi3939]

Apologia has excellent high school science courses:

http://www.apologia.com/


And I find that Teaching Textbooks is imho the best for high school math courses:

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/


I only mention this because why reinvent the wheel with curricula? That way you could focus your energy on the tutoring aspect.

Check around for a local homeschool co-op. They are always needing tutors. :)

Thank you for the links. I bookmarked them. And I have no intention of "re-inventing the wheel". I intend to use assessment tests that are available online and course material that is either the student's material or material I get from websites that provide those resources. But I do intend to bring my own teaching style to the table since I have a good track record with it so far in the apprenticeship programs I have run and some informal tutoring as well.

[Green Darner]

But I do intend to bring my own teaching style to the table since I have a good track record with it so far in the apprenticeship programs I have run and some informal tutoring as well.

I figured that's what you had planned.

As far as marketing your tutoring services try getting in touch with local homeschool support groups in your surrounding areas and letting them know about your services. Many times you can ask the librarians in your area and they could help you contact these groups. (Our group always keeps an information packet at the library.)

Once a few local homeschoolers find out about your service you might end up with more requests than you can fill. Information like that spreads like wildfire in our group. :heh

[yogi3939]

Once a few local homeschoolers find out about your service you might end up with more requests than you can fill. Information like that spreads like wildfire in our group. :heh

We have a homeschooling group at my church and one of the women involved has contacts with several other groups in the area through her association as a professional teacher. That one resource alone could fill my calendar.

Also, the subjects I will be teaching are the ones most dreaded by many homeschooling moms; math and science.

One possibility I have looked into is if I get enough students at a single grade level I could use one of the classrooms at my church to teach a group and thus multiply my potential hourly earnings while still giving a group discount per pupil.

[Lucy]

Just out of curiosity, why limit yourself to homeschoolers? My neighbor teaches math for a local public high school and is about to pull his hair out....

[yogi3939]

Just out of curiosity, why limit yourself to homeschoolers? My neighbor teaches math for a local public high school and is about to pull his hair out....

I actually do intend to contact the Cobb and Cherokee county school districts since I live right at the border between the two. But only after I see if I pick up enough homeschool business.