Crew Wanted: Teacher to home school 8 year old

[AKA-None]

I don’t see the problem with asking assuming you aren’t also offering holding onto their passport also.

[goboatingnow]

Or course the child’s education that cost you nothing may be worth .....

[wingssail]

Timreyn, this post, and particularly the two following comments of yours raise red flags for me.

Originally Posted by Timreyn

Why do you care? If you aren't applying move on.

Originally Posted by Timreyn

For the critics that think I am cheap: Well we have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to spend six months of the year aboard our boat. I worked endless hours of my life for that privilege. So if someone qualified and in the position to trade a few hours a day in order to live the life I live then I have the position available. Sure teachers are valuable and worth paying, some of the most valuable humans on the planet. But I am offering to trade an experience very few people get to take care of something I am not good at. No one has to accept but I feel like someone will. We will see!

I sense an attitude which could make for an unpleasant experience for the small group of you planning to see and experience the Med on your 57 cat.

Your feelings of entitlement, and the expectations you have for the teacher's gratitude for being able to share a small space with you and work for six months sounds like a cookbook for trouble.

I don't image you are likely to change your plan, but when the first teacher does not work out, don't be surprised, and try to develop a more gracious approach for the second teacher, that is, if the son and granddaughter hang in there for the duration themselves.

[dreadpiratk]

Technically if your paying some to educate your grandchild, even if only in in kind services such as room and board they are a tutor not a homeschooler. Why not actually homeschool the child? There’s plenty of excellent curricula out there that easy to use and can be self directed by the student. You have two intelligent, experienced and successful adults on board to help them learn. What’s a wet behind the ears education major going to add to that? Not much. Plus you avoid the inevitability awkward social dynamics of having a stranger, possibly the only female on board.

It’s only for 6 months- a good student could make up that time away from public school in a matter of weeks at most. And they will benefit far more from simple immersion in the cultures and languages they will encounter, not to mention the science and math of navigation and sailing then from any classroom experience they may miss.

Plus I can’t help but think of all the horror movies that start with a innocent family welcoming a stranger onto their boat….

Wasn’t there a famous real life tragedy that started that way?

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by dreadpiratk

Technically if your paying some to educate your grandchild, even if only in in kind services such as room and board they are a tutor not a homeschooler.

Technically, they are a private teacher, not a tutor.

A teacher is a professional who follows a curriculum in a structured learning environment. A tutor is someone who helps a student understand the material he is learning. A tutor is informal and gives additional, special, or remedial instruction. Teacher is who teaches you in class.

You could certainly use a tutor rather than a teacher if you were following an established home school program (e.g. Khan Academy, Time4 Learning, etc).

[goboatingnow]

The real issue is that anyone that applies is likely to be “ desperate “ ie they have decided this lifestyle is worth the sacrifice

The issue with desperate people is they are inherently quirky , no doubt the minute the lifestyle disappoints they’ll be off , probably just as your kid develops bonds.

The second thing is you will have to pay them “ something “, At the very least Aupair rates or they simply can’t live. They need clothes , small things in life etc, and money to have a sense of independence etc. Increasing legislation is controlling au pair employment such that on Europe it’s actually disappearing

Secondly they will not have the benefit of mixing with their peers and will spend a long time in your direct presence, again not easy to handle

At the very least you will need to establish rigid rules. When the teaching is to begin and end. You’ll need to define what jobs constitute “ teaching “ , is child minding involved for example

Vetting will be an issue and a potential nightmare

I don’t envy you or the prospective applicant

[Tillikum]

Not a job I would want a female relation of mine to take: sailing around with two un-vetted males, with no other female company than an eight year old girl.

Nor would I ever leave my child or grandchild alone in the company of a male unless I had known that person for many years.

I wish the child all the best and hope that she will find someone able to give her the attention and commitment her parents apparently cannot; her future emotional health depends on it.

[Tellie]

There's what you will do and see value in and then there's what others will do and see value in. Much like one mans junk is another mans treasure. Speculating what someone else thinks is value by comparing what you think is a value is a waste of time. Much like anchor threads and that orifice everyone has, it's just your opinion. In my opinion it's an interesting offer I might enjoy taking on in a few years, whereas a struggling young teacher might not be able to afford to. I do agree with the above about just taking on the home schooling yourself. The child is 8. She's not going to be socially or educationally retarded because she doesn't sit in a class with 30 other 8 year olds. The homeschooling community has grown in the past 20 years to become quite the thing. The help you can get these days from the homeschooling community is enormous. Even the local public schools in many districts are more than willing to help. Show me a homeschooled boat kid and 9 times out of 10 I'll show you a far more rounded and curious child than many others sitting in a classroom for 12 years.

[ForeverDes]

Originally Posted by Tillikum

Not a job I would want a female relation of mine to take: sailing around with two un-vetted males, with no other female company than an eight year old girl.

Nor would I ever leave my child or grandchild alone in the company of a male unless I had known that person for many years.

I wish the child all the best and hope that she will find someone able to give her the attention and commitment her parents apparently cannot; her future emotional health depends on it.

I hate to assume, but that response implies you would leave a child or grandchild with a female you didn't know well, or at least not for "many years". So, with no disrespect intended, my question is, why? Do you feel a child is safer with a female than a male in general? Is it fear of abuse, neglect, nurture, or something else that you feel like men are/aren't capable of providing?
I'm a single dad, and as my daughters were growing up, a few of their friends' parents felt that way, and wouldn't allow their children to visit unless their was a woman present too. This sucked for my kids since their mom wouldn't allow any visitors, ever, and while my mom or sister could be present for some things, they couldn't for overnights or sleepovers. My daughters lost out because of that, although thankfully the majority of their friends' parents didn't feel that way.
You do whatever you feel is right in protecting your kids, everybody does, and I won't second guess your strategy, but I have to feel some sorrow for the unintended harm that comes from believing men are inherently untrustworthy around kids until proven otherwise.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I sense an attitude which could make for an unpleasant experience for the small group of you planning to see and experience the Med on your 57 cat.

That's a good point. The attitude doesn't seem to be very conductive to the spirit of neighbourly help and at the same trying to get things on the cheap isn't very respected by the luxury crowd.

With a 57' catamaran, in the Med he'd be definitely more in the luxury crowd, not the low-budget cruisers like I am.

[belizesailor]

"Slavery" is forced, this is a voluntary position, so it is not "slavery".

There are loads of people who seek volunteer crew positions just for the experience. Entire web sites dedicated to it in fact. Often owners/captains are looking for specialized skills related to sailing. Ive never heard anyone try to label seeking volunteer crew as slavery. Why is seeking a teacher/nanny any different?

When I was younger and building sailing experience, I often volunteered as crew and was very happy to get the opportunity.

Now that I am an old, sometimes professional, sailor with all the credentials and experience to get paid to sail other peoples boats, I still sometimes volunteer as crew/captain just for the experience. Ive had some great trips as a result and have been very happy with the exchange. Example: In 2019 I crewed on a passage from NYC-Bermuda-Azores. I was first mate/chief engineer/weather guy etc, there were times I was very busy for zero $s over a period of several months. In the end I condisered it a great exchange.

Not all transactions have to made in currency. Not all valuations are based on currency. In the end it is up to the parties involved to decide whether it is an acceptable exchange.

[valhalla360]

Also look into visa, tax issues and legal issues.

You are establishing a clear employee/employer relationship. The teacher wouldn't be invited except for the fact they are working for you.

Are there minimum wage laws in some of these countries that would undermine your "free for the experience" plan?

Say you get a US teacher, will you get them a work visa that covers EU countries? How will that work if you bounce around to different countries?

If you get an EU resident as teacher, is your boat VAT paid? EU residents aren't supposed to be cruising on non-VAT paid boats. On a high end 56ft catamaran, that could be a nasty bill.

Keep in mind, it may work fine flying under the radar...until you have an argument and the teacher gets back at you by turning you in. I'm guessing if you are trying to avoid paying a reasonable amount for a teacher, you probably cut corners in other areas and a good chance the teacher finds out and could bend you over the proverbial barrel.

[Timreyn]

Joh.Gurt and wingsail you would need to know me to determine if perhaps I have an attitude that reeks of trouble aboard a vessel. If you knew me you would know that I am a pretty good guy. I did take a little offense at the suggestion that I was trying to be cheap and take advantage of someone.
Then if you read Chotu's post where he insulted my integrity even saying I had to be evil to acquire my Catamaran and I was trying to obtain slave labor. Well that indeed did create a little anger inside that someone who knows absolutely nothing about another human could make that terrible a judgement.

I do own a nice older luxury Cat but that does not put me in another category than you. I am at retirement age but still working, I own a small business. To buy the boat I sold an equivalent amount of assets I obtained and saved over many years. I watch my dollars just like you do because I have a limited amount and I want to be sure that I can enjoy the years I have to sail. I love sailing and exploring places that I could have never reached when I was younger.

[Timreyn]

Maybe I should have used different descriptive language in my original post. Maybe it would have triggered the response I was after. Let me say it again as I pitched my idea to a friend:

Hey John you know I own that nice Catamaran. We are going sailing again this summer and are going to visit some incredible places. Stops at beach after beach and some of the most historically significant places in the world. Yes, only Brandon, myself and the kid are coming. If you would like to come with us we have plenty of room for someone like you. If you don't mind pitching in and sharing some of the work with us I can make it happen. Sure everyone does some of the work, most of the time only a few hours a day then it is off to party time. I know you home schooled your own kids and are patient and really good with them, maybe you could help with Fallyn? Don't worry if you want to do this I will pay for everything. airline, food, drink, entertainment, misc expenses and I will pay for all the excursions. It is not a job it is just sharing the work, sailing and having a fun. Yes, just like when we went to Disney World and I paid for everything. Yes it was fun!

[Joh.Ghurt]

Tim, the point is how the communication comes across, not what the intention was.

As to the original problem, discounting all the drivel about teaching being the most important profession in the world, some valid concerns were raised you should consider.

One is what kind of person would accept your offer and what level of dedication and professionalism can you expect. In my experience, the better someone is at his job, the less likely he'll do it for little reward. And if they offer it for such a little reward, better make sure what their real motivation is.

Another one is what are you offering in reality. Travelling the Mediterranean is fun, sure, but this can be done in very different ways . If I want to go from one Instagram-Party-Hotspot to the next, an offer to see all the culture along the coast isn't necessarily what's attractive. To match the expectation of the crew with your way of exploring will make it harder.

Next, in Europe, be careful you don't run afoul the employment laws concerning au-pairs and similar jobs. You could be in deep deep trouble, if someone - maybe by accident or maybe by malice - would bring your situation to official attention. And being in Europe, you have many legislation to choose from for maximum devastating effect.

Last is the makeup of the crew: You'd better be extra careful when choosing the crew-member. You will be fighting the image of 2 lonely men looking for side-entertainment. Ask any woman interested in sailing and this is a very common situation.

What would I do?

If the budget allows for it, I'd look into a properly employed au-pair / nanny with well defined duties, payment and liberties. One of the duties would be to assist in home-schooling, but I'd keep the final responsibility for this in the family. There are a few reasonable looking-for crew websites and once you offer reasonable pay, you'll also get reasonable candidates.

As an alternative look before you leave for a companion who matches your lifestyle and who you know beforehand. You might find someone up close to your age, who can afford to pack up for a few months for an adventure.