Teaching English online from home for parents.
Photo by Giovanni Gagliardi on Unsplash
Long gone are the days when parents had to choose between spending quality time with their children and a successful career.
In the last two years, the whole world has learned to adapt to new situations and face unexpected obstacles with creativity and ingenuity. Education is one of the industries that has had to be particularly quick and efficient with its changes, with the help of modern technology. It is because of this, perhaps, that many parents have decided to have the best of both worlds and to bring up their children while working from home (WFH) and taking full control of their lives by being their own bosses.
Teaching English online has become the go-to option for those seeking a rewarding WFH role that fits their busy parenting schedule. But what does it offer and is it a viable prospect?
Advantages
As you might have guessed, online teaching has numerous advantages. Here are only a few examples:
Flexibility must be high on a parent’s list. Deciding when and how much to work must come as a relief, for those who never seem to have enough hours in a day.
Availability is a controversial aspect of WFH. It has been deemed as the cause of blurred boundaries between work and home life, but this can be worked to your advantage – you could be teaching your students on the other side of the world while everyone in your house is asleep.
Comfort is perhaps the number one reason why most people, not only parents, choose to work from home. Avoiding spending time and money on a daily commute is a huge bonus!
Independent online teaching
Becoming your own boss might be your ultimate career goal. If you want to venture solo in your online teaching career, there are a few things you need to consider. The most challenging part of this career path would be to promote your services and find students. There are also other aspects that should not be forgotten, like admin, marketing, stipulating T&Cs, processing payments etc. – and let’s not forget lesson planning and the actual teaching!
If this list hasn’t scared you and you are itching to start congratulations! Your next step should be to build a website to introduce yourself as a teacher to the world.
Platform-based online teaching
If you prefer a more gentle approach to your independent career, there is another option.
While working on a freelance basis, you would be teaching for an online company via a platform. Their job is to take care of the admin and all that (boring) stuff that you might not enjoy or have time for, while you only focus on what you do best – teaching! The biggest advantage of this way of freelancing is that students/clients are found for you and some companies will even provide you with lesson plans.
There’s a significant difference between independent and platform-based teaching. As an independent freelance teacher, you are free to choose how much to charge per hour. In contrast, when you work for an online teaching company, the hourly fee has already been set for you, depending on your qualifications, experience, and success rate. Anyhow, online teachers can earn between $14 to $23 per hour, even higher for private 1-to-1 classes. Be sure to do your own research to ensure that the conditions the company offers are suitable for you and your family.
One more thing…
Deciding to work from home and to become your own boss can be a difficult decision to make. The aim of this article is to inspire you in achieving financial freedom and independence while undertaking the toughest job of all: being a parent.
Author BIO
Monica Ruda-Peachey is an ELT writer and teacher trainer who creates teaching/learning materials and exam items for UK-based and international clients. Monica has been teaching English for over a decade in the Czech Republic, Italy, the UK, and online. To find out more about Monica and her work, visit www.rudapeachey.com.