Anne, my teens do take core classes from people other than me. In fact, my son has taken most of his classes from others. Some college classes and some with a fantastic homeschool group we have here. It also helps that we’re pretty relaxed homeschoolers, especially for the younger kids.

Elizabeth, I’m still learning what is worth it to hire out and what isn’t. I’ve only had a cleaning person come to my house a few times. Our theory was that we might as well try it and see what happened.

(I’d be very interested in hearing about your experience if you decide to give it a go.)

Sarah, you’ve mentioned the French tutor on my blog before (and I think it sounds wonderful!) But I didn’t even remember before I read TG’s comment that I served as a German tutor/babysitter when I was in college. I responded to an ad that a local resident had left with my college’s “help wanted” department. I was a student, not a native speaker, but I’d still like to think it was a great experience for all parties.

An 8-hour homeschool day takes more out of me than (almost) any day at the office!

My oldest is only 10, so I have no personal experience teaching teens at home, like you do. One of my mentors told me that every college-bound kid should have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a tutor before they head off to school, and take a course entirely from someone who is NOT their parents, and I have those things in the back of my mind as I (very casually) think through what our homeschooling situation could look like in 5 years, if we keep at it.

Hey, I think stopping a fight before it starts is worth A LOT.

I suspect it has a lot to do with everyone’s individual needs and personalities. In my house, we could get through a day of homeschooling without outside help–but it would take most of the day.

If you’re near a university, post an ad. Our local Tier 1 research university (pre-internet) had a list of people who were willing to tutor in their native language for somewhat above minimum wage.

Sign.me.up.

@Rebecca- that sounds like a nice program. An extra set of hands is wonderful!