Hi there.
We're a group of families that have been living on the West Side of Puerto Rico in Isabela & Aguadilla for a number of years. As our kids begin to age out of the available schools here, we're looking to begin homeschooling (or whatever you call it when a group of families hire a teacher for their kids). The kids range in age from 7-11 and 4 are boys — energetic but kind boys.
We don't really know what we're doing so we'd like to do a trial from mid-January to mid-May with 6 kids. We'll provide housing, travel, and all of the ground support you'll need to settle into the beach-y / surf-y community here. Compensation will be a minimum of $2,000/mo plus housing, but will really depend on your experience and other factors, so it's very much of a discussion.
All of the families are pretty laid back, and we're mostly here because the pace of life and the pressure on childhood in the US is not what we wanted for our kids. However, we all highly value education and, unfortunately, it's hard to solve for that here. Some of us have been homeschooling, a few have been unschooling, and others have attended the local Waldorf or Montessori schools (both of which are limited to 2nd or 3rd grade).
In terms of teaching, our expectations are the basics of: reading, writing, math, science and foreign language (Spanish mainly). We're looking for 3-4 hours per day of teaching in a mixed age classroom with enough individual attention for each of the 6 children. If I had to guess, it would be about 6-7 hours of work per workday for you — about half teaching, the other half preparing or providing individual help for particular kids.
The kids are all bright, but have varying levels of skills due to their education background. Some are strong readers, some are not. Others are good in math, others not. So it won't necessarily be an obvious or simple task, but they're all curious learners. They are respectful, will follow directions, and have a lot of family and home support. The boys are reasonably well-behaved though they're 8-10 year-old boys, so there's that.
In terms of teaching pedagogies, we lean mostly toward Montessori for its flexibility and focus on individual learning. But you don't necessarily have to be certified in Montessori. Despite some of the families having attended a Waldorf school, that pedagogy is a definite 'no' for all of us going forward.
In terms of technology, we're looking for a technology-light approach. We don't want the kids plugged into devices (otherwise we'd just do that instead), but we also want the kids to know how to use a tablet and computer and not feel like they're pure evil. That said, we also don't plan to give our kids phones until they're 15 or 16 (if we can hold out that long). Technology is a part of our world, for good and bad, and the kids need to learn how to use and manage it intelligently. Overall, we don't have the exact answer on any part of the teaching or curriculum, so it'd be very much of a discussion with you, the teacher.
Also, just as a way to gauge us as people and families. Most of us work remotely either as entrepreneurs or for US companies. Some are in the crypto community. Most of us attend church, though not all. Our levels of faith range from casual to devout. All of us place enormous value on spending time with our families — both our nuclear families here in PR as well as our extended families back in the US. We have a great deal of respect for the Puerto Rican community here that has welcomed us and we all do volunteer and other community work. In terms of politics, most of us are happy to be free of the US political scene on both sides, but we lean towards democrat positions of the 90s (anti-war, pro-environment, pro-family, pro-child, pro-worker, pro-farmer & farming, pro-real food, pro-recycling, and pro-freedom of thought, expression, & action). I don't know what you call that these days (maybe libertarian without the crazy?).
In that vein, if you have very strong feelings about Trump, either positive or negative, you probably won't be a good match for us. But if you can debate his policies based on the merits of the actual policy and its impact, then you'll fit right in. Similarly, if you're unwilling to engage in a respectful and thoughtful debate about teaching pedagogies, Lennon or McCartney, vaccines, the banking system, putting pineapple on pizza, religious texts, or whether a large piece of floating ice actually sunk the strongest steel ship of the time, you might not enjoy being in our company. We're open-minded in the classical sense of being open-minded in that we enjoy questioning just about everything. And our campfire chats range from bioluminescent spiders to aliens to low-rider trucks.
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If you're interested and have experience or are looking for experience, drop us a line. Also, feel free to reach out with any questions or if you're just curious to find out more. And if you're a family trying to escape the matrix, we're always looking for more to join us. :-)
Also, just so it's clear and upfront, since you'll be teaching our young children, we will do reference checks and will ask for a criminal background report.
