The family has two girls, one age 8 and going into grade 3, and one age 6 and going into grade 1. The girls are bright and energetic. They are gregarious and amiable, and relate well to adults. They are polite and willing, and are looking forward to being home educated.

The older girl has a clear sense of the kind of teachers she likes and is clear that her favourite subjects are linked in part to these teachers. She is clearly a capable student who has not settled into the routine of her challenging Toronto school, which required a level of competency in reading and writing that was not communicated clearly to her parents before she was accepted by the school. Understandably, this has altered her behaviour and affected the quality of the friendships she has formed with her peers. Her reports are generally positive and indicate that she should be able to master whatever she puts her mind to. She likes teachers who are firm but fair, and who have a sense of humour.

Her sister is too young at the moment to have a clear sense of favourite lessons or the teachers she likes. She has a lovely demeanour, is attentive and inquisitive. She will be a delight to teach. She will enjoy working with any able educator who keeps learning fun and relevant.

Until now, the children have been enrolled in private schools in Canada (Ontario) and Costa Rica, and have progressed from JK and SK to regular grade school. Unfortunately, between them, these schools have not provided the quality of education that the parents want for their children, and they feel that they can provide a much better option with a carefully selected private teacher. In addition to the general disappointment with the educational provision on offer from the schools, the family now wish to travel more, and to spend extended periods in China and Europe. The appointment of a well-qualified and experienced educator to travel with the family is therefore the best way to accommodate their lifestyle.

Although the Client wants a well-qualified and experienced teacher to the teach the girls, the focus of this assignment is not only the garnering of knowledge in order to reach a specific educational goal, but also to instill the love of learning in the girls so that they can carry this forward and apply it to all aspects of their lives.

The family would like the Tutor to follow the British curriculum, broadly speaking. However, the Tutor should not be guided by or confined to any one curriculum nor should he or she adhere to any prescribed grade level by age. Instead, the Tutor will be free to develop an integrated, project-based curriculum, which combines subjects and languages, and which includes expression in all forms of media, including art and music. As well as the general subjects of Mathematics, Science, English, Art, Music, Geography, and History, the Tutor should be keen to explore Law, Social Studies, and Anthropology with the girls. While the Tutor is not required to play a musical instrument (there is a piano in each of the Costa Rica and Toronto homes, and one of the girls shows an interest in it), it would certainly be an advantage. The Tutor should help the girls to develop an aesthetic appreciation of music, encompassing theory and also the pleasure it can bring.

The girls are also learning French, Spanish, and Mandarin (the latter taught by a separate Tutor). The Tutor will therefore need to have sufficient Spanish and French to be able to communicate the subjects in these languages in addition to English, at least to some extent. It is expected that the Tutor will take full advantage of local and domestic resources in designing the program of study and that proportionally little of the teaching time will be classroom based.

There are some more traditional skills that the Client considers essential. For example, the girls must know their multiplication tables, squares and roots, fractions, percentage and decimal equivalencies as facts, drilled by rote if necessary, so that mental arithmetic is strong and sure. They should also develop skills of hypothesising and conceptualising, and of solving problems by thought experiments.

It is likely that the parents will be involved in the delivery and design of parts of the curriculum. For example, their mother will look after the PE component and their father would like to be involved in the content of History. The Tutor will be responsible for planning a creative program of study that involves both parents in the school programme.

Given the amount of time that the girls will be receiving individual tutoring each day, there will rarely be the need to set homework. Homework should only be given if a particular skill needs to be practiced, or some background reading needed. On no occasion should it be necessary to give homework that includes unnecessary repetition or busy work. Equally, there should be no need to give the children tests unless preparation is being made for formal public exams. Testing of knowledge and understanding should be integrated into the teaching style, and records kept of mastery of a topic in the portfolios being developed for each student.

The Client will make arrangements for a suitable space to be designated as the schoolroom in each location. It could be that the apartment provided for Tutor accommodation would have a room to be used solely for this purpose. The Tutor will be responsible for selecting appropriate resources as required for the curriculum, agreeing a budget with the Client for the costs, and for ordering and maintaining such resources, as well as being responsible for moving these resources between locations as required.

There is also an important pastoral component to this role. The Tutor is responsible for helping the parents identify suitable social opportunities for the girls, perhaps through participation in sports or music, and to help the girls maintain friendships as the family move frequently from place to place.

The Tutor will work with the girls for an average of 35 hours per week and will be expected to do any preparation required outside of the contact time.

Initially the teaching will generally follow a 5-term year of 8 weeks per term, with 2-3 week breaks between the terms. This structure is ideal for project-based learning and the short bursts followed by a break allow a much higher intensity of learning to be achieved. This plan may be reviewed at a later stage.

The Tutor is entitled to a minimum of nine weeks paid vacation per annum at times convenient to the Client.

The current plans include travel to Canada, Costa Rica, Hungary, Spain, France, and China. The Tutor may not always be invited, and it is likely that once the Tutor is in place, additional destinations may be considered.

Although no specific details are known at this time, the Client may ask the Tutor to accompany them during the inter-term breaks. Should this be the case, whether this is counted as part of the contractual vacation or part of the work period will be agreed on a case-by-case basis. The Client will be responsible for the full expenses of the Tutor arising from any such travel.

The Client will provide furnished accommodation with Internet in all locations. The Tutor will be responsible for any meals that do not occur during tutoring time. The Client will also provide the Tutor with a car for her or his own personal use in each location.

The ideal applicant will be a single woman or man, or a teaching couple. They will need to have the professional qualifications and experience to be able to cover the entire curriculum at the appropriate grade levels, yet be young and healthy enough to lead a physically active lifestyle throughout the appointment. She or he will enjoy many interests, such as reading, popular culture, international current affairs, and many sports, art, and music. The Tutor should be well read, erudite, and technologically competent, while at the same time able to relate well to young people. She or he will need to have a sense of humour, and be easygoing, yet firm. The Tutor must be a non-smoker.

This position is initially for one year, and may be extended by several years.