The modern nanny must be able to homeschool

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

12 Aug 2009 10:45 AM

In searching for homeschool news on the internet, I keep noticing ads for nannies that ask for homeschooling qualifications. I am also noticing teachers offering their services as nanny/ homeschool teachers. More and more nannies are offering or are being asked to provide homeschool services to children they watch.

I am not surprised that parents are hiring nannies who are good teachers as well because I have seen it in action in real life. If a family has a nanny and decides as the kids get older that homeschooling a good idea, it is a natural progression to keep the nanny on to teach the children. When the income of both parents are high, it make sense that parents would continue working and hire someone to teach the children should they choose to homeschool.

I was surprised however by the increase of requests that nannies be able to teach and by all of the teachers offering themselves up as nannies. Although I knew it existed, I did not expect such a large number of upper class families to catch on to the homeschooling trend. It is clear that more and more wealthy and high income families are looking at the homeschool world (mostly middle and working class) and deciding that homeschooling could be valuable to their kids. It is also clear that young teachers are realizing that they can have a greater impact on one or two kids than they can have on a classroom of 30 kids and are steering their careers in a different direction. Finally, and fortunately the nanny industry is attracting recently graduated teachers who cannot find jobs in schools.

Actually, a nanny who also teaches the children isn't that big of a stretch. Governesses where incredibly common a little more than a century ago. These women were hired to educate and train students once they got past the baby nanny stage. If we are bringing back education at home, it seems natural to also bring back the governess when parents are pressed for time and resources to homeschool.

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Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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bryan valderrama (35) 13 Aug 2009 08:34 PM

Do you believe that if a mother has the choice to stay at home while her children are young that she should?　 Do you think that the children benefit from having at stay at home mom? 　 Do you believe that if a Mom decided to work instead of staying at home, that Mom is being selfish? If this sounds like your situation and you have a question for Dr. Phil - please email you're questions to at Bryan.valderrama@cbsparamount.com along with recent photos of yourself & your family . Thanks for writing Dr. Phil and thank you in advance for your response, we look forward to hearing from you!