Raleigh, North Carolina School Year To Begin At Home! Working Parents Scramble to Find Childcare

Raleigh, North Carolina School Year To Begin At Home! Working Parents Scramble to Find Childcare

 

Image: https://avltoday.6amcity.com/public-schools-decision-north-carolina/

 

The Wake County School System, encompassing virtually all of Raleigh, North Carolina, announced it will begin the Fall 2020 teaching schedule with remote learning from their homes.

Sounds nice, right? But what if the child’s parent holds down a 9 to 5 job? Welcome to the wild scramble of working parents who now need to find nannies or daycare to so they can continue their employment to pay the mortgage to keep the roof over their newly minted ‘homeschooled’ children.

Each day other counties in North Carolina and across the nation will be announcing their Fall school plans.

One company not caught off guard by the wild and wooly Fall schedule is Home Rule, an in-home provider of child caregivers.

So, regardless if and when school districts put their entire student body in ‘time out,’ Home Rule picks up the slack by providing vetted, trained child caregivers.

But what about work-from-home parents? Can they hold down a full time job from home while supervising and educating their children at the same time? Probably not as effectively as their employers might deem par for the course–the work course for which they are paying those parents.

Home Rule founder and CEO Christy McGlothlin said, “Amidst all the scheduling chaos, we are rising to the occasion to help working families in need by providing a home-based childcare solution as an alternative to crowded childcare facilities. The average parent would prefer to keep their child home during the current pandemic, if given the option as 49 percent of Wake County parents have already demonstrated by registering for the Virtual Academy. We are now giving parents that option.”

Home Rule Childcare is a fast-growing home-based childcare company offering parents in all 50 states the option to have their children cared for in their own homes. Home Rule offers much more than a typical babysitter. They also work with nanny-shares, allowing friends or neighbors to reduce childcare costs by sharing a caregiver, allowing the added benefit of socialization.

 

 

  1. Parents across the country have been juggling their kids and work since schools shut down in March due to Covid-19. Now many school systems are adopting hybrid learning schedules for the 2020-21 school year, including Wake County, North Carolina where they are implementing “Plan B Transition.” What is that, and how will it affect parents?

Answer: Essentially it means the school year begins at home and gradually transitions back to some in-school classes, wreaking havoc for holding down a job with such a nebulous, unpredictable schedule. For parents who work away from home, they face two choices. They either need to find a childcare center that unfortunately carries with it the risk of their child catching germs from being in such close proximity to other children, or alternatively, they find someone to watch their children in their own home. And sometimes parents working from home need a child caregiver so that they can get their work done.

  1. Or they can quit their jobs, I supposed. But for those parents seeking to keep their jobs and find a solution to this new educational challenge, what are parents’ primary frustrations and hurdles to overcome in the search for childcare?

Answer: The wacky school schedules, and how they are subject to change at any time. Safety is a big factor of sending their children to crowded childcare centers and isn’t an option for school-aged kids. That’s why in-home childcare is such a necessary service. Unfortunately, often when families look for in-home childcare, they usually end up on one of the popular sites that are merely databases that they have to weed through—kind of like a dating service site– in attempt to find someone they can trust. Not an easy task.

  1. Will your sitters help kids navigate their schoolwork?

Answer: Yes! Our child caregivers are there to assist the children they care for in reaching their goals, including educational.

  1. Home Rule’s child caregivers are W-2 employees rather than the Uber-style 1099 contractor or nanny paid under-the-table. Why is that such a big deal?

Answer: The IRS has made clear that a child caregiver is considered a household employee, so legally, families who hire a babysitter need to become an employer and pay their employee’s taxes and workers comp. Having employees means having a greater measure of control and quality that cannot be achieved in the so-called ‘gig’ economy.

5. What precautions is Home Rule taking to protect the children and families they care for?

Answer: We offer Background checks and other screening, training to our child caregiver workers, professional liability and workers comp insurance, and a customized plan for daily schedules with goals so the children are productive and are not just glued to a screen. Parents also receive daily detailed notes of their child’s activities. We also provide masks for all of our employees.  

  1. How may people reach you if they are interested in childcare services in their home?

Answer: They may contact us on our website at HomeRule.net

 

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