What can my wife do with her Child Development Degree and Teaching Credential

July 3, 2008 1:03 PM

What can my wife do with her Child Development Degree and Teaching Credential besides Substitute Teach?

We're in Long Beach, southern California. There are no full-time teaching jobs opening up around here any time soon.

It seems like every thing that she looks into pays around $12/hour and has long hours. Substituting pays around $25 and she's home by 3pm. The only problem is that there's no school in the summer.

She's waitressing right now.

She's pretty stressed about August and September when there are 0 substituting jobs available.

In a couple years this will be moot because I'll be able to handle it myself.

You guys have any ideas?

posted by low affect to work & money (14 comments total)

Tutoring. Check with companies like Sylvan and other private companies in your area. Many private tutoring companies have summer camps and "catch up" camps for kids entering the next grade that need help.
posted by LoriFLA at 1:09 PM on July 3, 2008

don't just check with the companies, they really take a big cut out of the paychecks. You would do better even just canvassing a neighborhood with fliers. my friend's husband makes $100 an hour doing tutoring in AP courses like English, History and Civics. That's the way forward, go for it!
posted by parmanparman at 1:11 PM on July 3, 2008

D'oh, I should have mentioned: she does K through 6

sometimes middle school, but those kids are brats
posted by low affect at 1:15 PM on July 3, 2008

If she is under 40 and has a 4-year degree, a native English speaker etc. she is eligible to apply to the JET Programme for a 1 to 3 year placement in a Japanese school.

Teaching credentials aren't required (nor particularly desired since this is more cultural exchange) but for a 3 year gig it's still one of the best deals around I think. You'd get a spousal visa and you could go off together. Application period is later this year.
posted by yort at 1:16 PM on July 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

She could look into jobs with educational publishers (McGraw-Hill, Scholastic, etc) if she has any interest in writing or editing education materials.
posted by kcoshea at 1:20 PM on July 3, 2008

Does she want to stay in education? I have a number of college friends who graduated with similar degrees and now work at Cox Communication, State Farm, Chase etc. For a lot of them, it seems that the degree says more, "HEY, I can learn," than it does, "Hey, I know about this field." So, I would suggest she try some networking and/or apply for entry-level positions at jobs, stressing the fact she has a degree.

Granted, they usually start out in entry-level positions, but an advantage with working in a large company is there's room to move up the corporate ladder.
posted by jmd82 at 1:50 PM on July 3, 2008

At-home daycare? I have a friend who does this, after leaving her job as an elementary school teacher when she had kids.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:07 PM on July 3, 2008

Don't forget the internet. There are a number of companies that provide online tutoring. If money isn't tight immediately, then she can work on her own project. Write a textbook, start her own online tutoring service, make a "homework help" website that either takes paid subscriptions or is supported by ads. If you want some advice on web development, please feel free to pm me.

Then there are also jobs in day care, nannying. She may be able to secure some other job at the school, such as secretary, which may help her get her foot in the door. I'm not sure how it works in the US, but she may be qualified to be a counselor at the school.
posted by giggleknickers at 2:07 PM on July 3, 2008

Sorry, for the double post, but I wanted to add a couple things.

I was an au pair in New York ages ago, and back then, there was an enormous demand for tutors to kids who had reading and maths problems. I'm willing to be the demand is still there. Your wife would pretty much be getting paid to pick up the slack where the kid had a rotten teacher (or perhaps just missed some school due to illness, family crisis, a move, or whatever). I imagine summer is a hot time for this kind of tutoring, since there are most likely many kids in summer school who failed the year and their parents are desperate for them to catch up in a hurry.

In case it hadn't occurred to her, she doesn't have to teach an academic subject. Is there any skill she could teach? Could she give piano lessons? A ballet lesson in the basement? She could check out the local community centers and offer to give lessons in basket weaving, hair styling, acting, or whatever she's good at to kids.

Also, what about ESL? When I was an au pair, they were desperate for ESL teachers. I know it's not necessarily K-6, but they may still be impressed by her credentials, since they will often hire those who don't have any teaching credentials at all. I'm sure it would be better than waitressing.
posted by giggleknickers at 2:20 PM on July 3, 2008

Go into education consulting. I've done facilitators' guides, classroom guides, materials for use in classrooms, project planning, writing, editing, etc. It pays a lot more per hour than substitute teaching and I don't have a background in teaching, per se. It takes time to build up a business, but she could do this in addition to subbing and serving right now. She might also have the right skills to do something like technical writing on a permanent or freelance basis -- one of my friends moved out of teaching to do tech writing and she makes much more now.
posted by acoutu at 2:43 PM on July 3, 2008

See if she can get a job stringing for the community paper (or papers) regarding child development and education issues in your community. Of course, this is not going to pay a lot.

Here's some other ideas:

Staffer for an elected official, (municipal, state, or national) as an education specialist.
National PTA, Girl or Boy Scouts, Department of Education, or a local school board.
Local foundations or government arts councils as a Program Officer in the education area.
Paralegal at a law office that specializes in child development/education issues (she'd need additional training, probably)
posted by nax at 2:58 PM on July 3, 2008

She could work at one of the children's museums in the LA areas. Or, be a director at a daycare. Or, pick up a Montessori certificate and work for one of their schools, maybe. Or, be a manager of youth activities at a YMCA. Or perhaps, be a Child Advocate.
posted by Houstonian at 5:00 PM on July 3, 2008

Special needs assessment, testing and tutoring.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:20 AM on July 4, 2008

See if any of the local domestic violence shelters are hiring-- we'd snap up someone like that in a heartbeat if there was a position open! Failing that, I'd guess anything in the tutoring / assessment / human services field might be an option, especially if she's got some solid experience.
posted by ElaineMc at 6:42 AM on July 4, 2008