Is it legal to teach another family’s children while I homeschool my own and charge for that service? Say my neighbor wants me to teach their homeschool child while she works during the day. Am I allowed to charge money for my time spent instructing this child that isn’t mine?
FAQ
As homeschooling becomes more mainstream, it is becoming more acceptable to compensate a parent to homeschool another family’s child(ren).
Since you are the principal of your homeschool, the state considers you ultimately responsible for your student’s education. That responsibility continues even if you sub-contract that out to another teacher or community college, etc.
See other steps you should take when starting your homeschool in Kansas or Missouri.
In Kansas, you can legally homeschool other people’s children (but the answer varies from state to state).
In Missouri, a homeschool is not allowed to receive compensation for homeschooling other people’s children. It also cannot have more than four unrelated students.
Homeschool families in Missouri can, however, provide instruction for specific subject classes (e.g. science, English, etc.) and receive compensation for that.
(You can check out the Families for Home Education (FHE)’s website for current info on Missouri homeschool laws.)
Things to consider before you homeschool other children
We caution you to weigh all the pros and cons before committing to this large task. The pros can be pretty obvious:
- You’ll receive compensation for your work.
- Your children may welcome the company of other students in the home.
- You’ll learn more and gain more experience through teaching other children.
Some of the cons could be:
- You may feel more pressure and stress from the additional teaching responsibilities.
- Your children may not always get along with the other students!
- You could end up misunderstanding the commitment involved. Alternatively, the parent of the child you’re teaching might take issue with some of your teaching methods.
You should also make sure all parties are in agreement with an official arrangement or contract. It might be a good idea to have it all in writing to prevent any possible misunderstandings.
Several families in the MPE community go to co-ops where a certified teacher is teaching, or the teacher used to work in the field they are teaching.
Those involved in co-ops are receiving an income for teaching, and we also believe you can be compensated for your time teaching in your home.
Check our list of area homeschool enrichment and athletics programs available for your family.
This would be very similar to receiving compensation for tutoring, although that usually isn’t a long-term commitment like homeschooling.
Be sure to weigh all the pros and cons before committing, but teaching other kids at home can be an excellent way to continue homeschooling your children while bringing in extra income at the same time.
We have updated this blog post, originally published before 2019, for timeliness and detail.
