Full-time remote or hybrid learning is taking place in your child’s school and you work full-time.
3 questions for your at-home learning budget

As the school year kicks off, families face a unique challenge: Many are managing their child’s remote learning or hybrid schooling—along with the possibility that any in-person schooling could turn entirely remote on short notice—while balancing their own professional goals and workloads.
As a result, caregivers are facing several ongoing and difficult decisions each day, as they balance education options, the household budget and their own careers—all while keeping health and safety top of mind. Do they outsource the oversight of their children’s remote learning? Do they reduce their own work hours? What’s the impact on household expenses when everyone is working from home for the foreseeable future?
What are my virtual learning options?

Slide 1
The situation
Grading the costs
Consider hiring a teacher or tutor to oversee the schooling. It varies depending on your region, but expect to pay $1,500 to $3,000 a week at around $100 an hour, according to Care.com, for an experienced certified teacher working a six-hour day. A tutor could cost as much as $900 a week, noted Care.com. Other costs to factor into your planning include employment tax implications, if you will provide health insurance to a certified teacher, and if you’d use a payroll service for payments.
Slide 2
The situation
Hybrid learning is taking place in your child’s school and you work full-time but hiring your own full-time teacher is out of reach financially.
Grading the costs
Form a learning “pod” with a group of families, where similar-aged children are placed together and are overseen by a hired teacher or tutor. The pod meets at the same home or switches homes each week. If hiring a pod supervisor is out of the budget, you may also be able to share “teaching” duties with the other working parents on a rotating basis.
Splitting these costs with another family significantly reduces the burden, resulting in a $500 to $1,000 a week outlay, based on a three-family pod. In multi-family pods, each family may be considered a separate employer and be required to pay the relevant taxes and payroll service fees—so check the regulations in your state. For a budget-friendly option, pods can rely on parents who rotate shifts to help children, but that may require a reduction or shift in work hours for one or more of the parents.
Who will watch my children?

Slide 1
The situation
Your children need some supervision, but don’t require additional instruction to supplement remote lessons.
Grading the costs
Hire a traditional babysitter, who may not need to be present for a full school day. Babysitters generally cost $16 an hour, according to Care.com. So, you’re looking at $320 to $500 a week. Or consider negotiating a flat rate for a set amount of hours.
Slide 2
The situation
You can afford to hire a sitter or tutor for school hours, but that’s it, and you need more coverage to complete your work day.
Grading the costs
Take advantage of low-cost or free child care at community centers or places of worship for the before- or after-school hours. Another option: consider making arrangements with family or neighbors to help with supervision for free or at reduced hourly rates.
Slide 3
The situation
In order to facilitate remote learning, one parent may consider scaling back at work via reduced hours or quitting their job altogether, resulting in less income for the family and potentially having a negative impact on their longer-term career path.
Grading the costs
First ask if your employer is willing to accommodate a shift to more flexible hours, rather than leaving your job completely. Also, make sure you look into any assistance programs your employer may be offering to help offset the burden. If you resign or scale back, living expenses may suddenly feel like they’ve doubled as you adjust to living on a single income. Your long-term earning potential and retirement savings could also take a hit. If you shift hours, you run the risk of burnout between overseeing the children and your own work.
What supplies will my at-home school need?

Slide 1
The situation
No matter who oversees the children, they need a dedicated place to do schoolwork, especially if your school district shifts overnight to a full-time remote model.
Grading the costs
Reconfigure a room or certain area of your home into a school room complete with desks, computers and other school supplies. A child’s desk setup can cost $100 to $200 and, if your school district doesn’t provide technology, computers can run $600 to $1,000 and tablets between $300 and $500 each, according to online retail websites. Consider that you’ll likely need other supplies like a printer (around $100), paper, pencils, white boards and markers.
Slide 2
The situation
Everyone is video conferencing from home at the same time, and you need faster internet.
Grading the costs
Internet-only service ranges, but you can take advantage of first-time customer promotions from various providers or look into low cost or income-based internet assistance programs. Plans range from $25 to $80 a month, depending on the service providers in your area. A one-time investment in a more powerful router or range extender could improve WiFi connectivity for an additional cost. Electricity use is bound to increase, too—a cost you may have already absorbed if you’ve been working from home.
Slide 3
The situation
Everyone is home—and they’re eating multiple times a day.
Grading the costs
Find out beforehand whether you will be expected to feed snacks or meals to tutors and other pod children if remote learning or babysitting is at your house—and budget accordingly. Consider easing the food burden by buying groceries in bulk. Grocery bills have already expanded by $182 a month, according to Creditcards.com, and it takes $50 to $60 a year to join a warehouse club.
Finding the right answer to at-home education isn’t easy, and the scenario that is most comfortable for your family may look different from your neighbors or friends. That’s why it’s important to study up on your options as your needs—and the costs—in this new environment could change more than once.
The material provided on this website is for informational use only and is not intended for financial, tax or investment advice. Bank of America and/or its affiliates, and Khan Academy, assume no liability for any loss or damage resulting from one’s reliance on the material provided. Please also note that such material is not updated regularly and that some of the information may not therefore be current. Consult with your own financial professional and tax advisor when making decisions regarding your financial situation.
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