# Teachers in the Gainesville Area



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

So we are starting and restarting for my eldest son, our homeschooling venture. What I would like to do is find a retired or maybe a substitute teacher or the like to assist me with curriculum and instruction of my three children. We're new at this idea, teacher assisted homeschooling but I think it is our best option for maintaining a well rounded education for my kids. There are areas I am not as confident in and I need help and I am neither afraid to ask for help or pay for it!

Please PM with any details and we can discuss rates and see if we are compatible. 

Thanks so much! :cowboy:


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

Have you considered a co-op school where they go a few days a week and you keep them home the other days? Its called a university schedule and its kind of the best of both worlds. My son did that for years. They choose the curriculum, do the "main" teaching, and provide the books, although each school will vary of course. You do reinforcement at home with a schedule they give you. Classes are usually small. The one we were part of had field trips and class projects like history and science fairs.

In high school he did live on-line classes. We used Veritas Scholars because we did classical but there are others.


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## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

I appreciate the recommendation. Perhaps at another time something like that might work. One of the main things that makes the effort of homeschooling worthwhile is the flexibility, however, in scheduling and in curriculum. I don't want someone else deciding on the curriculum, exactly, I just need assistance in Math mostly and in foreign languages. And to bring up areas I might be neglecting and for an outsider to help in evaluation.


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

I would suggest that you make up a flyer detailing exactly what you are looking for and your contact information. Take that into your local school and ask the secretary to post it next to the teachers' mailboxes. That's going to be your best bet in getting someone.


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## DEKE01 (Jul 17, 2013)

There is a lot of prejudice in public schools against home schoolers so you might not find the help you need there. Contact your local churches and ask them who supports home schools. In my area, there is an org that puts together weekly swim training and practices (my wife is their coach), field trips, and offers assistance with curriculum development. even though many churches participate in the program, it is not a religious org, they figure that part of the education can be handled at home or the students church. You use as much support from them as you want and they advocate for you if your local PS gives you trouble.


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## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions. It gives me a couple more angles to come from which is great.

I wonder, how much should I be offering? Maybe I should look at professional tutoring services and see what the going rates are to try and come up with ideas for compensation. 

I prefer to try and take subject matter for example Dinosaurs and try and find a way to tie all subjects into that from Math to Science to History to Literature and Art--- I remember so many times in class thinking, 'what on earth does this have to do with anything?' I hope to short circuit such thoughts in my troublesome 12 year old with this tact.


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

CraterCove said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. It gives me a couple more angles to come from which is great.
> 
> I wonder, how much should I be offering? Maybe I should look at professional tutoring services and see what the going rates are to try and come up with ideas for compensation.
> 
> I prefer to try and take subject matter for example Dinosaurs and try and find a way to tie all subjects into that from Math to Science to History to Literature and Art--- I remember so many times in class thinking, 'what on earth does this have to do with anything?' I hope to short circuit such thoughts in my troublesome 12 year old with this tact.


I wouldn't throw a number out there until I see what the teacher is requesting. For me, I wouldn't touch tutoring as well as developing curriculum (which is what is sounds like you're looking for) for anything less than $40-50 per hour. However, I am certified in general and special education with a master's degree as well as with 20 years of experience so I am expensive. A teacher more toward the beginning of his/her career would be less expensive. I wouldn't worry about the supposed "prejudice" of public school teachers toward homeschoolers as mentioned by a poster above. In my experience, the prejudice is actually the other way. In all my years of teaching, I've only had a problem with one supposed homeschooler but that is a story for another day. 

Your dinosaur idea used to be done all the time, especially in the elementary schools. If you Google "thematic teaching" or "thematic units" you may find some good ideas. If you visit a teacher supply store, you may find some ready-made units although thematic units are usually done for the younger grades so there may be nothing for your son's age group.

Regarding curriculum, I believe your state is one of the ones that is on board with the common core standards. There is a wonderful site done by, I believe North Carolina that outlines in easily understandable language what the curriculum standards are. If you Google "North Carolina common core standards" you should be able to find exactly what your son would need to know for his grade level in language arts and math. I don't think they have done the science and social studies standards but I could be wrong.


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## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

Yeah I am using my eldest son's interest in pirate movies to teach him about real piracy and explorers (because quite often those lines crossed) and I figure there's plenty of room to bring in math and science, literature and history, even economics onto play, nutrition as well. 

The more I think about it and see responses I am better able to pull into focus just what it is I am looking for... which is why forums are awesome. I have such vivid ideas about so much of it-- even the Math but the Math is what I won't be able to pull of by myself. My husband can do it, he's a programmer and is fully capable. However, I'd rather keep his brain in his work since that's where our family's security lies still. 

I think I need someone to help me incorporate mathematics into my master plan and review their progress. Technically only the eldest qualifies for homeschool at the moment but I see no reason not to start the 3 and 4 year old on some more structured learning. They already know their shapes and colors and can each count into the 20's and know all their letters upper and lowercase... time to start learning to write and phonics! And honestly? I can't take any credit for what the little ones know, it's all Dora and Sesame Street. They are sponges.

I had someone contact me off CL already offering 20$ an hour and they even have a specialization in Agri-science might definitely be worth looking into.


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## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

I am really excited, I have gotten a great response from CL. Visiting professors part time teachers and people returning to school for their PhDs... lots of interest.

Now I have to sift through them all!


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## tentance (Aug 16, 2012)

i was just thinking... i'm not sure how old your kiddo is... but if he is high-school level there are public school online systems here in florida and also dual-enrollment. it's a shame i live in hernando, i am a bang-up awesome unprofessional math teacher/tutor. math builds on itself, and algebra does have real-world application (though i can't say the same for calculus). dual-enrollment would be a great way for any student to learn/re-learn/fill in the gaps for some missing math education. the CLAST (college-level-assessment-of-skills test) will show which math is most needed and is offered for free at pretty much every college, especially the community colleges. most high school graduates have to take either a remedial math, english, or both.
hope that helps. dual-enrollment is available for 9-12 graders. and its free! and the books are free!

oh, i just realized you are in georgia, not gainesville florida. they may still have dual enrollment though.


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## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

I live outside of Gainesville FL right now. Our main holdings are in GA and The Cove will always be home, no matter where I am. 

Of course Calculus has real world applications! Isn't it all about finding the area in irregular shapes? Like if you have a right angle and instead of a straight line to connect it to make triangle there's say, a wiggly line. Isn't that one of the things calculus does?

The online schools I have thus far looked into, public or private for kids is so inflexible as to be utterly useless. However, I hope to be able to get him into some community college classes through dual enrollment at some point. In California I just got the CHSPE and went to CC full time once I turned 15. It was fun and I have always felt like, when I hear others talk about their highschool glory days, that boy am I sure glad I missed all that drama. 

Yeah, right now I am looking specifically how to incorporate Math into our study of ancient explorers and pirates. I suppose trajectory like one might use to calculate cannon ball course and... how does one navigate with trigonometry? See I just don't know enough.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

CraterCove said:


> Yeah, right now I am looking specifically how to incorporate Math into our study of ancient explorers and pirates. I suppose trajectory like one might use to calculate cannon ball course and... how does one navigate with trigonometry? See I just don't know enough.


I think you're trying too hard. For one, you could ask your son if he can figure out some ways that math was important to ancient explorers and pirates. That can be HIS project, not yours. You don't have to teach him to use trigonometry in navigation now, for example, but let him read about navigation, navigation tools, etc. like this:

http://www.cccoe.net/lifeatsea/student/navtools.htm

When you get into Trigonometry and other upper math classes, you can revisit this particular issue (navigation) if you want and actually apply the math to the concept.

You might also like Joy Hakim's series "The Story of Science" that looks at scientific discoveries in history:

http://www.joyhakim.com/

I think you could probably find a lot more internet sources to round out this interest if you wanted. But you don't have to be an expert in it for it to be great.


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