athomemom Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I'm just curious. I am a member of a large homeschool group in our area that has a co-op and the prices seem steep to me. I know prices can vary from place to place, but in our former city, prices are much more economical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I'm just curious. I am a member of a large homeschool group in our area that has a co-op and the prices seem steep to me. I know prices can vary from place to place, but in our former city, prices are much more economical. Our homeschool support group charges $35 a year. Our co-op charges $150 per year (the church charges us 5 dollars per family/per week to cover heat and electricity) plus activity fees for classes (0-12 dollars per class (3 classes.) So, I usually pay $150 plus and extra $100 in activity fees. We have no paid teachers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomemom Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Our homeschool support group charges $35 a year. Our co-op charges $150 per year (the church charges us 5 dollars per family/per week to cover heat and electricity) plus activity fees for classes (0-12 dollars per class (3 classes.) So, I usually pay $150 plus and extra $100 in activity fees. We have no paid teachers. Is this fee per student or family? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 $10/child per semester (donated to the church), plus each parent teaches at least once a semester for each child, and you're responsible for providing materials for the class you teach, and we do two parties where parents bring in crafts/games/food for the kids. I probably spend about $100/semester on consumables for co-op. Parents also do a cleaning day for the church once a semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 We did one semester at a church-sponsored co-op. It wasn't a fit for us but the prices were about $20/semester/child and you got 2 classes/hours. The parent was expected to teach one of those hours & attend a bible study during the other. Supplies were provided in the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Is this fee per student or family? It is 150 dollars per family. We, as a family of 4 children, also pay about 100 dollars a year in activity fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomemom Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Wow! Your costs so far are much less than ours. I am hoping to move back to our hometown and have a better co-op situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschickie Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 The varies by the class for our group. Gym classes are generally $2 while the other classes range from $5-$100 (labs, art classes or professional teacher's classes). We normally spend a around $120-130 each session for dd's 5 classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 We belong to an excellent, well-organized, academically-oriented co op which we have attended for four years. My boys take Apologia science courses and Latina Christiana classes for two semesters. Little dd takes an Apologia science course for two semesters. I paid $265 or so for all three kids to take these classes. I purchase books/workbooks, but that includes all of the fees. I consider it an excellent and affordable investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbeth Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Our co-op has a couple of different fees. First we pay a utilization fee to the church of $15/child each semester. Then we pay a co-op participation fee. This fee varies based on whether you teach a class or are just a helper. Teachers pay $10/child each semester and helpers pay $50/child each semester. This is to encourage families to teach. These fees are re-distributed to parents that teach more than 1 class in a year or take on an additional leadership responsibilities. Finally, each class has a supply fee. These are set by teachers and approved by leadership. Art and Science fees tend to be the highest, at about $30 per class. Our business leader oversees these funds and teachers must show receipts to be reimbursed by check. Unused monies are given back to families at the end of the year. We pay a yearly enrollment fee of $20 that covers handbook copies, paper goods for parties, etc. Books are additional. For 3 kids (K, 5th, 9th) my bill runs about $200 a semester. Because I teach two classes, I end up with a share in the participation fees in the spring which amounts to about $150 usually. I put this aside towards next year's bill generally. This makes my net cost more like $250/yr plus books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windmillmarie Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Our last location had a very pricy co-op and joining fee. I was just investigating my options because my husband is still doubtful about homeschooling, and it didn't help my case. I have no idea what options are available to me here. We moved about 30 miles south recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I belong to two - one is larger, one is smaller, both are Catholic. The larger co-op charges $30 per family up front, then between $5-$15 per class that your child decides to take (cost depends on supplies needed). The larger co-op charges $20 per family up front, nothing for the classes because there is only one class per age group (early elementary, late elementary, middle school, and high school). For the high school group, you may be required to buy a text depending on the class offered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I'm just curious. I am a member of a large homeschool group in our area that has a co-op and the prices seem steep to me. I know prices can vary from place to place, but in our former city, prices are much more economical. Ours is a large, academic group that hires teachers. You can decide how few or how many classes to take. I will pay approximately $2500 for this year's three classes, all high school level, for my 13 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 If we participated in our closest co-op the cost would be $60 enrollment fee per semester and $60 per class for middle/high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Free. Sometimes we pay for supplies. We also have one fee class that my dc don't take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdownie Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Ours is a large (200 kids), parent-run co-op (so no paid teachers). $50 registration fee per family per year $100-$110 per child for the year. So, for me, It is $360 for the year, plus about $25 for books for the 1st grader. If I buy supplies for a class, it is reimbursed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulainTx Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 We pay $30 per family for an 8 week session. Some classes have additional materials fees, but most don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mereminerals Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 We have about 125 kids in our co-op. We pay $20/child building fee for each semester. The cost of the classes vary depending on the teacher. We typically have classes for Elem (Art, Science, History); Middle School (Art, Comp, History, Science, Sign Language, Spanish, Latin, etc.); and High School (Comp, History, Science Labs, Sign, Spanish, Latin, Worldviews, etc.) Our prices range from $50 for Elementary to $100 for High School and are per class/per semester. I think this year with two kids (one MS, one HS) I spent close to $900 between classes and building fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 We belong to a parent-taught co-op that uses Keepers of the Faith for award pins. We also pay to use a church facility ($2 per child per meeting). Our fees run approximately $100-110 per year per child, which covers pins, facility fees, supplies, Bible curriculum, web site, and state homeschool association membership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triadofchaos Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 We haven't belonged to one since we moved overseas, but our previous co-op worked on a trimester system year round. We registered every trimester for the activities our children would attend, so how pricey the trimester was depended on what the co-op had planned and how many kids you had. Our family usually paid $90-120 per trimester for 3 kids- so about $30-40 per child for each trimester. And that covered everything up front- supplies, lab materials, field trip costs, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I am not a member, but it is 350-600 per year per family on a sliding scale. There is also a teaching requirement. There is a waiting list of families waiting to join. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrin Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 $30 per family per session (3 sessions per year) to cover rental, insurance, electricity, etc. Plus class fees which vary for each class (up to 4 per session). Professionally taught or for-credit classes cost more (around $100 each), but the classes for little ones generally run $5-$15 depending on materials needed. Our most expensive classes so far have been Kindermusik ($35/session) and Beginning Watercolors ($25/session). Our co-op also offers a yearbook each year for $20 which covers all three sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Right now we charge $20 per family plus $10 per elementary aged child per semester. The $20 goes towards facility and incidentals, the $10 goes towards supplies for art and science class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I think it was $11 per kid---maybe. Cheap enough that I don't remember it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2att Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 $80 per family. $70 goes to the church, $7 for website fees, $3 for miscellaneous (cleaning supplies and the like). Classes may or may not come with a class fee as well. A class like PE would have little to no class fee, but something more involved with a lot of hands-on activities might be $25 per semester. We also have a few outside teachers that set their own class fees, but most classes are taught by parents and are materials-only. Our materials fee for the year for all three kids was around $100 this year, and that was because a good portion of that was for Latin books for my two boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmomjacquie Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Ours likes to keep things as cheap as possible. twice a year sessions of 5 weeks with 3 classes each. So max would be $30 a kid for each session but usually it's less than that for all three of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmomjacquie Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Ours likes to keep things as cheap as possible. twice a year sessions of 5 weeks with 3 classes each. So max would be $30 a kid for each session but usually it's less than that for all three of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Classes are $70 per child for a 12 week term -- $60 to cover tuition, $10 for materials. There are 4 class periods, so a full day is $280 per child. Parents are also required to do a parent job each term (helping with room set-up, monitoring at lunchtime, that sort of thing). Teachers get credit toward their children's tuition or for field trips, and are exempt from the parent jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomemom Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Thanks for all the replies. Apparently the co-op in our group isn't a true co-op, but a teacher/mom paid deal. The prices are quite expensive compared to what the majority of you pay. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Free. It is a small three family Tapestry of Grace co-op focused on D and R level children, you have to have the Tapestry materials and books, but no co-op cost. This kind of co-op is always a possibility. Last year we did crafts with younger UG children and the year's cost was probably $30 for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 $200/class/semester...beyond what we can afford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdinaryTime Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 We have been involved in two different one, but they aren't true "co-ops" but paid teacher/mentor type arrangements. One is $450 per family a year plus $40 materials fee per child. It runs from 9 to noon, meets 20 times, and includes 6 paid field trips. I have to volunteer 3 times a year. The other is $700 a child, meets 28 times, and runs from 8:30 to 2:45. It is pretty much designed to be a full-day of private school. I have to volunteer for 12 4-hour shifts a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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