[jenlovestoteach]

I've been tutoring a child (8th gr) for the past year and the family is VERY pleased with me and even though they are moving to the city, they want me to commute in in September so I can continue. That's a whole separate issue though!! LOL

My question is this... for the summer, student has had 4 lengthy books to read (~400 pages each). I have spent a good 30+ hours reading on my own so far (and I'm a fast reader, the books are sort of dry though! ) and I'm only on the 3rd one! I don't want to nickel and dime anyone or even charge for my reading time, but DH says I need to be compensated in some fashion and speak with the dad about it. I don't know what's reasonable and am wondering if you guys had any insight.

I could be doing other productive things instead of reading these books, and technically speaking, I could probably SparkNotes the books and get the summaries, but I want to be able to make sure I am well equipped to help him with his essays, etc. when school begins.

It's not face time I'm spending with the student, but it is hours of my time I am spending each week. When we see each other, we've been discussing the books, writing about them, and reading some more.


What would you do? Or, as a parent, what would you expect? We're not talking about spending 10 minutes looking up a math formula or doing some research, I'm talking spending hours each day reading instead of doing things with my family, for my classroom, etc..

Thanks in advance!!!

eta: I wouldn't charge my normal hourly rate for reading!

[scrollic]

As a teacher myself, I can relate to your situation. I would tell the parents that you will be charging your hourly rate for the extra planning time (ie. book reading) you need to do in order to properly tutor their child. I think this is more than reasonable to ask.

As far as the commute issue, I would ask for a supplement (within reason) to cover the gas expense.

Stacey

[Susuz]

I agree with th PP and like the phrasing "extra planning time"...

On the commuting, I would also ask for mileage, it is not just the gas but the wear and tear on your car! Congrats by the way, they MUST be pleased with you! Can I ask a range you get for tutoring, so would it be what rate for the "Extra Planning Time?" I have a friend that does this and wanted to be able to do some price comparisons for her.

I tutored while in High School, and I made $3/hour, a FORTUNE back in 1976.....LOL

[KeizerMom]

I'm going to disagree somewhat. While obviously you're doing a fantastic job and they greatly appreciate you....I don't know that compensation for all your reading time is appropriate. You're essentially educating yourself to provide the child with the best, which is commendable, but schools don't pay teachers for the years they went to college so they could teach....if you see the correlation {and if you're a tutor I'm sure you do }

If you continue to tutor other children and they also read these books....those parents would then benefit from NOT paying you for reading the books these parents paid you to read...not really fair.

Your time is valuable...and I guess I could understand thinking of it more in terms of how many jobs pay a person to be "on call", generally 1/4 of an hour for every hour they're on call they get paid, but not always at an over-time rate.....

If you were, for instance, to explain to parents that you charge such rates and spend 30 hours reading, therefore charge them for 7.5 hours

BUT, if you agreed on how much they'd be charged an hour and how many hours a week you'd spend with their child and then you suddenly present them with a bill for even 7.5 extra hours, much less 30 extra hours {and you're not done reading yet}.....well that just doesn't seem very fair.

If you don't intend to tutor other kids in the future and want to keep this family, you should give it a lot of thought. If you're going to continue tutoring and other children will continue benefiting from your time reading this summer, then you really, really shouldn't charge them 'real time' hours AND you should include 'extra planning time' in your future estimates/agreements/contracts.

If you hired a plumber to fix your kitchen sink and they later charged you for many hours of reading a manual on how to do so...you'd likely resent it and surely never hire them or recommend them to anyone again, right?

So, I'm a total negative Nelly here, and only you know the ins and outs of your particular situation, or what to do.....just giving you a different perspective.

Mileage should be paid if they're relocating, though, again, perhaps only factoring the further distance from where they lived when you started to where they're moving now, not total distance from your house, because, again, you had an initial agreement, presumably, that you'd drive to them at their previous location. Depending on distance your TIME while driving is also a factor.

[jenlovestoteach]

Thanks for everyone's replies! I probably won't wind up asking for anything anyway for the reading, but I wanted opinions... (and btw, they're books used in college entry level courses, for this private school's 9th grade, so it really wouldn't benefit a future 8th or 9th grader for me to have read them)

As for the commuting issue - it currently takes me 15 minutes to drive each way to their house. Now here's my new scenario: Leave work at 3:40 and dash out, rush home to my house to park my car in a pay parking lot at the train station and catch a 4:05 train. (I live 20 min from work, so this will be a stretch if it's even possible). The train ride will be 40 minutes, plus a subway fare and switch that will take 20 minutes. I anticipate getting to their new place by 5:30. For me to stay an hour or two, and then turn around and do the commute again, I imagine I'll get home at 9, depending on the train schedule for those off peak hours.

WWYD about that? It's going to be more traveling time than contact time with the kid.

[scrollic]

What about asking the parents to meet you at a Barnes and Nobles or something half way. I hate to be a party pooper, but teaching is much more involved than plumbing and I think you should charge a higher per hour rate for the additional commute and planning time. As a teacher, you are paid for planning time during the day and if the kids is doing well b/c of your tutoring, I don't think the parents will have an issue.

JMHO
Stacey

[NJMom]

I just want to say as a former teacher that we DO get paid for our planning time since it's worked into our schedule as 'prep periods'. That being said, I do not at all think it's unreasonable to ask for some compensation for the hours of prep you are putting in by reading those books.

[tootsie roll]

I agree with a pp about meeting half-way - is it possible for the student to meet you somewhere like a library or bookstore? That might make it less stressful for you.

I do agree that you should be compensated for your prep time, but I am not sure about how to go about doing so. I recently started tutoring part-time at a learning center and am grateful that I just have to show up to do my job - teaching is very time-consuming and there is a lot of prep that goes into the job, and you should be compensated

[KeizerMom]

I'm fundamentally opposed to children/teenagers using a webcam....but, would such a situation be possible maybe part time? Work online, talk via phone.....there are programs that would allow you to be "in" her computer as she's typing, researching info, etc, making so that you're seeing the exact stuff she's seeing and able to monitor/communicate verbally/visually/textually....I'm not saying this is the perfect solution full-time, but maybe reduce your in person.......or they meet you 1/2 way sometimes. Otherwise I'd say they should simply bring her to you. I'd never expect someone to do that much traveling for such a short work time.

[jenlovestoteach]

Originally Posted by KeizerMom

I'm fundamentally opposed to children/teenagers using a webcam....but, would such a situation be possible maybe part time? Work online, talk via phone.....there are programs that would allow you to be "in" her computer as she's typing, researching info, etc, making so that you're seeing the exact stuff she's seeing and able to monitor/communicate verbally/visually/textually....I'm not saying this is the perfect solution full-time, but maybe reduce your in person.......or they meet you 1/2 way sometimes. Otherwise I'd say they should simply bring her to you. I'd never expect someone to do that much traveling for such a short work time.

That is funny. That is what we are planning to do for part of the time, but I'm going to try to make the trek in for face time once a week. We are going to test out the webcam this week and see how it goes. I don't think I'll charge my regular rate for that, but I wonder what to charge for the travel. I'll make sure I get my parking, train ticket, subway fare reimbursed, but really, what's that 3 hours of travel time worth?

Unfortunately meeting halfway isn't really possible given the nature of the suburbs of Manhattan where I am and Manhattan proper.

[lhart24]

On those commutes you could continue to read

Honestly I have done a decent amount of tutoring.. most of the time I would not commute longer than I was meeting the child.. However being as it is only once a week it may not be bad. However I would see if you could negotiate and meet halfway...

[apsufan82]

I tutor college students in English and if I haven't read the book they are wanting the tutoring for I charge for my time to get caught up on what the book is about. However, I don't read the whole book, I use sparknotes and the like. But I do make sure I am knowledgable about the the topic. I charge the same rate for tutoring as I do reading/preparing--$20/hr.

[lesliec]

Not to sound stingy, but I am guessing these people have money if they have their child in a private school that is so advanced and then also pay a private tutor. I would nicely go to them with an amount (and it should be high) and say this is what I am going to need to make the commute, I understand that it is high, and if you aren't willing to do it, I would be willing to help you find someone else.