I had 2 or so student every year wo came for free for a week or so because they posted so many flyers. ![]() This became my primary method of promoting my camp. I strongly requested that every family post 1 or 2 and EARN $5 to $10 off their registration. Each flyer to promote my camp had a $5 coupon attached to it for the person who posted the flyer. My greatest promotional idea was to do flyer-coupons. You’ll see from my program that my descriptions were pretty general so I could really do whatever I wanted to using whatever supplies I had on hand. My most popular weeks were always cartooning, drawing, painting, sculpture, art excursions (where we would walk around town, parks, bakeries, and draw) and “CrAzY ArT” week where we use media in unconventional ways (Painting with squirt guns, hammer-printing flowers, burning sticks to draw with our own charcoal, etc.) Weeks that were too specific tended not to fill completely, the ones I mentioned always had a waiting list. ![]() All students were expected to bring a snack which we ate 90 minutes into class as a break in both sessions. Parent could pay an additional amount for 30-minute early drop off or 30-minute late pick up. We ran classes from 9am to noon, and 1 to 4 pm with a 1-hour supervised lunch for those staying all day. I have attached my 2018 summer camp schedule below. The base cost was $150 per week per ½ day student or $300 per week for a full day student. We had 2 classes of 10 running at the same time. I lived in an old firehouse and was sometimes able to hire 1 art teacher and an aide to help me. Summer camp was a significant source of income for me. I did not want it to feel like “work.” I played music while we worked, and for my adult class I’d have hot water for tea or coffee available. In that case I might have a class of 11 or 12 but no more. They would pay what they could, if anything. That said, I never refused entry for a student based on their inability to pay and would take on a few scholarship students who I felt would benefit from the experience. ![]() If you have a waiting list of students to join, you can raise the price for your population. I believe my pricing was a bit low, and if I was doing it now, I would charge $15 or $20 per class. I would earn about $600 to $1000 per month for essentially 1 evening of work per week. I ran my classes Wednesdays, right after school for elementary students, with a break for dinner, and my evening class for teens and adults after dinner from 7-9pm. I charged $12.50 per person per class to be paid on the first weekly class of the month ($50 each, no refunds for missed classes). Some may think of it as a TAB setting or maker’s space. I ran it like an open studio and I helped them individually with what they wanted to learn. My evening classes were 2 hours, and students brought the supplies they wanted to work with. I did have some supplies set aside but for the most part, they had a tote bag with their stuff in it. My after-school classes were 90 minutes and students were expected to have a pad of drawing paper, color pencils, and a simple watercolor set with brushes. I think it is imperative for teachers to get time “away from teaching” to recharge our mental batteries and avoid burn-out. In my summers, I set aside 1 month to teach an art camp, and 1 month for rest and relaxation. I have run after-school classes, and evening classes for teens and adults during the school year. If you cannot, I would strongly advise you find a space to rent or reconsider the notion altogether. Try as best you can to keep business and personal spaces separate. When I teach in my studio, I do not allow access to my personal home to others. ![]() I have done both, a passive camera and groups of students. You can remediate this issue if you teach in your own studio, by having a passive camera filming the whole time or only hold classes with groups of people. (Nor do I recommend private lessons to adults.) Even in my own classroom, if I am tutoring a single student, I make sure my door is wide open and we are in full view of the doorway. For example, I DO NOT RECOMMEND giving private lessons where you are the only adult with a child. The USA is a litigious country so you need to keep that in mind when you plan. Your first consideration should be of liability. I have seen requests in Facebook groups asking questions about teaching privately, so I will share my thoughts and advice here. While being a public-school teacher I have also taught privately for over 25 years.
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