The tutor is the most expensive and least verifiable variable in a homeschool programme. Filtering on credentials only removes people who are clearly unsuitable; the rest has to be filtered by hearing them teach and hearing their answer to the second question.
The interview filter
- Credentials: a teacher-training student, or a graduate in the exact subject, or TESOL if teaching English. This is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one.
- A 20-minute trial lesson with the parent present. Have them teach this week's actual topic, not a rehearsed demo — a rehearsed demo proves they memorised a lesson, not that they can teach your programme.
- Ask exactly one question: "If the child doesn't understand, what's your second approach?" Listen to the second approach, not the first. Everyone has a first approach; the second tells you whether they have a fallback when the first fails.
- A minimum commitment of 8 weeks, and state in writing who writes the lessons. The framework is written by the system, the tutor only teaches and gives feedback — this clause sounds redundant until week four, when each tutor starts teaching a different programme.
5 training modules — all 5 before a lesson plan can suggest you
In the system, each tutor has a profile and 5 training modules. Marking all 5 flips the trained flag, and only a tutor with that flag set appears in the lesson generator's suggestions. Which means: a good tutor who has not been trained will not appear — that is deliberate, not a bug.
- Introduction and safety rules — no screenshots, no private messages outside the parent's channel.
- Assessing the student's level — read the week's plan, identify the gaps.
- Writing lessons for the week — follow the system's framework, do not change the programme.
- Online classroom skills — screen sharing, checking comprehension with reverse questions.
- Reporting to parents — 3 lines: what worked, what is stuck, what next week does.
Module 5 matters most because it turns feedback into a fixed format. "The child is doing well" cannot be used to adjust next week's plan; "stuck on equivalent fractions, revisit with a pie model next week" can be used immediately in the Sunday adjustment step.
When the suggestion list is empty
If no tutor is suggested, it is almost always the 5 modules rather than a shortage of suitable tutors. Check in this order: how many modules are marked, then subject, then grade band — the generator filters on all three and takes the lowest rate among those already trained.
The rest of the series: the legal frame and the weekly rhythm, the 30-source international library, data, privacy and backup.