Become a Tutor And Earn Money from Home
In the current economic climate, many of us are starting to try and think creatively about different ways in which we could supplement our monthly income a little bit. Some methods of earning money might be relatively easy but perhaps not enormously lucrative, whereas others might require a little bit more time and effort, but with such hard work comes the incentive of a greater financial reward.
One role that falls into the latter category is that of becoming a tutor. It can be beneficial in so many ways to have a job for which you can potentially work flexible hours and where you can base yourself from your own home. All of us have many demands on our time and that’s often before you factor in family commitments and other forms of employment. Tutoring other people - and it could be either children or adults - is a great way to work a job around your circumstances and to put your skills and knowledge in your areas of expertise to good use.
What sort of person is suited to becoming a tutor?
In order to tutor other people you will need to feel very confident in your own knowledge. Depending on the subjects you are teaching, you will will also be required to have up to date details of any specific curriculum requirements and methods. For example, the way in which the written methods for long multiplication and division are taught in mathematics have changed over the past few decades. Whilst the basic principles are still the same, the calculations are now recorded differently on the page and if you were tutoring a primary school aged child in maths and weren’t aware of this, you could end up confusing the matter even further.
You will need to be very patient to work as a tutor. The reasons that people may use your services will be many and varied, but the chances are it will all boil down to a lack of confidence in their own ability or a pressure that they are placing on themselves for some reason. Just as important as understanding the content of what you are teaching will be your ability to empathise with your tutee and to ascertain whether their difficulties are real or imagined.
It can be a great form of employment for someone who has stopped work to raise a family but would like to keep one foot in the door of the working world as well, as you will be able to control how many tutees you take on so that your workload remains manageable and it will also add another string to your bow should you decide to go back to paid work at some point.
You will need to be someone who loves learning and is keen to help others reach their potential, however long or arduous a journey that may be for both of you.
What skills or formal qualifications are required to work as a tutor?
Again, this will entirely depend on the person you are tutoring and the subject they are studying, for example, if you are working towards helping someone from another country to learn English then you may well need to speak their home language as well.
If you are working with young children then you may need to get a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check to help give parents confidence that you are trustworthy.
For most types of tutoring you will need to be able to speak and write in clear English and you are likely to need to have reached a certain level in your own education as well. Ideally, you would have taken A-Levels or perhaps even a degree. If you already have a teaching qualification, such as a PGCE, then of course that will only work in your favour, but holding such a qualification is not necessarily essential.
What are the practical implications of tutoring other people in my home?
There are, of course, a few practical implications that will come into play if you decide to tutor people in your own home. You are unlikely to be tutoring anyone who is younger than school age, so to a certain extent your hours will be dictated by that fact. You will need to bear in mind that younger children will not be staying up late, so may want slots after school when your own young children might still be awake.
Not only will you have to consider childcare for your own children if you have them, but any potential tutor will also have to find a good spot for sitting and working with their tutees. You will both need to be able to concentrate, so a table and chairs away from television noise or any other hustle and bustle will be necessary.
You will also need to think about the health and safety of people entering your home, so ensure that you have appropriate furniture and lighting, for example.
As a tutor, you are likely to be self-employed, so take the time to work out what this means for you in terms of taxation and National Insurance contributions. You can find out more at HMRC.
Where can I go for more information?
If you are interested in becoming a tutor, the following links are a good starting point: