It's Been a While

 So, it has been a few years.

Life threw me a curve ball.  

As long as there was no job, I had time.  Time to try to be popular (never really was) and make money with a blog.

Instead, I found VIPkid.  I signed on late October 2018.  Threw my heart into it, and after a very slow beginning, I took off after the New Year.  Soon, I had a dozen regular students, two of whom are still with me almost 6 years later.  The girls were 5 and 6 ... and they both just had birthdays of 11 and 12.

When China closed its borders to outside teaching influence, and VIPkid closed down October of 2021, I was devastated and not sure what would happen next.   Of my 40 regular students, only 2 were able to continue classes with me.

But then, one of the dad's contacted me to continue teaching his daughter.  I had no curriculum.  So, it was an experiment.  She was my very first student to "stick with me" and I got to keep her.   The following week, a second mom contacted me about teaching her child.

So, I threw out an inquiry ... and soon I had a dozen students who wanted to keep learning with me.  Way cool.  Some hours of research later, and we were sort of up and running.  I still had no concrete curriculum, but joined some FB groups of teachers venturing out on the same path.  Through them, I got my hands on curriculum.  Yeah!

I also interviewed and joined Varsity Tutors, Outschool, and two other groups that I've since left and can't remember their names.  So, that first year, I was able to find enough jobs with Varsity Tutors to keep our heads above water.  And slowly, the kids I loved shared me with friends.  Some stayed, some were short-term.

Some parents expect miracles rather than steady growth.   As if a struggling child can miraculously catch up with a 25-minute class once a week.

This year was amazing.  I was down to 1 VIP class, Claire doesn't make it every week now, but I'm her only teacher.   And I had 1 Varsity Tutors class.  It was my lowest-paying gig.   And I ended up with 6 students from China living in California.  So, I taught mornings and nights.

We managed to marry off our oldest daughter this summer as well.

And we bought a house 2 years ago.

It's been a journey.