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What do you like/dislike most about your homeschool co-op?


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I'm planning to start a homeschool enrichment co-op and would like to hear opinions on what you like most and/or dislike most about your co-op. The co-op I am planning will be an enrichment co-op with elective classes such as art, PE, STEM classes, foreign languages, geography, nature study, etc. This will be a true co-operative in which there is a shared division of labor. So, each mom (or dad) will be required to teach one class and assist in others. More than likely, it will be a weekly, half day co-op. Although, we've participated in a few different co-ops, I'd love to hear your feedback on what goes well at your co-op and what doesn't.

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Two major things made me drop out of ours. First, the quality was really lacking. I felt like we had a bunch of moms who were already stretched too thin, trying to throw something together to fill their hour of time. It was discouraging and made it difficult to maintain my own standard in my own classes. There seemed to be a minimums mentality rather than a stretching for excellence.

 

Second, the day was just too dang long. We went from 9:30-2:30, with 4 classes and a break for lunch. By the time we left, I was DONE. I felt that 3 classes rather than 4 would have made it much more reasonable.

 

 

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<This part is an edit to my original: I re-read the OP and I think my post here doesn't fit exactly what you are asking, but I decided to leave it anyway.  Co-ops have been a matter of prayer for me lately, and I've tried to hammer some things out with what works/doesn't work.  On the bottom, I said what I think about basically enrichment co-ops.  I think those can be much more fun and easy to implement than the ones that are serious and directly apply to college preparedness, rigor, etc.>

 

I'm going to try to be as thorough as I can.  Some of this is going to be from my own experience with my own co-op.  Some of this is going to be from my experience with a co-op I was involved in for a short stint  Here it is:

 

Likes:  

-I like that co-op gives my children the drive to learn their material and to have the ability to discuss it and know the answers that will be asked.

-I like that activities relating to our learning:  cooking, art work, maps, sculpting, things of this sort, are often done outside of my home so that I'm not having to plan, purchase, take the time, make the mess, and clean the mess.  :hurray:

-I like having some time to chat with other moms.

-In a perfect world, when I find moms that have some of the same visions that I have for my children, it is really nice to have someone to meet with and talk to about those ideas.  This type topic will also come up in my dislikes column.  :glare:

-I like that we have something to look forward to and work a schedule around.  It gives a complete-by date.  This also falls into my dislikes category.   :lol:

-I like that my kids get together with other kids to play as well as learn.

-I like the variety it brings to our lives, for me not to just be teaching my kids but also learning more by preparing.

 

Dislikes:

- To address one of the likes above that is also a dislike, I dislike when I have a fairly strong learning plan for my children and they get together with kids whose moms don't take it seriously.  This is extremely discouraging!!  I have one child who works very hard and gets together in a setting where the other kids just blow it off, laugh it off, make jokes while there are serious and important topics to discuss, or they just sit and doodle.  

-I dislike that some of the teen drama, rudeness, unkindness, and cliquishness are brought into our lives by attending.

-I have, in the past, disliked having to have a meeting of the minds with mothers who behaved like all the mean girls I knew in junior high.  Thank goodness, it has been a few years ago.

-I dislike when people you have bonded with start leaving to just go it alone, after you've formed bonds with them.

-Back to the likes category...I dislike having to be on someone else's schedule.

-I dislike the difficulties co-ops can pose for moms of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  My experience in those areas have not always been too great.

 

I think co-ops, if they are run by the right person or team of persons, can be a huge blessing and benefit to all.  I'd like to pray, observe, and learn more about how to be one of those people and feel I do have a lot to learn if I want to be part of a well-run, positive, beneficial co-op.  Otherwise, I'm finding, that homeschool moms are very independent, and that independence can make it hard to have shared visions of what a co-op should be.  Even group learning, in a paid-for class, has fallen short in some areas for us.  One of my children is taking a class that I felt would be best taught by someone else.  This child is acing the class, doing amazingly well, but it turns out my child is one of the few who takes it seriously.  

 

If I was doing a co-op for just extra things like art, p.e., I don't think I'd worry so much about the benefits or lack thereof...I'd probably view it as a time to get together with other families, and if learning took place, great!!

 

I hope that all makes sense.  I tried to put some thought into it.   :001_smile:

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What I like most: the community. Mine is a group that has been around since 2002, and we have been in it since the beginning. My kids have friends from our homeschool group that they've known literally their entire lives, and not only are the kids friends, our families are friends as well. It is a supportive community in so many ways, and I can't imagine having homeschooled without it. We have a support group side to our group as well, but there's something about being there weekly with the same people for co-op that makes it more community-minded.

 

The way the co-op is structured is that we offer whatever people want to teach, so it's generally very elective in nature. We do not, however, require people to teach--you can either teach or assist for your hour of serving. When we've tried teaching as a requirement it hasn't gone well--not everyone is cut out to be a teacher in a group situation, IMO.

 

The downside of this is that the people who are good teachers and who love to teach are always teaching, while the people who are not . . . don't. This makes for a slightly unequal distribution of the work, since planning/preparing/teaching a class involves more work than just showing up as an assistant.  I don't like this, but it is similar to how it works in many all-volunteer organizations--someone always ends up doing more, and there are folks who will take full advantage of that.  We have many who only assist but help out in other ways. Others do the minimum because they can. I guess that's what I like the least--people who LET others do more of the work.

 

We have had mixed results in offering more academic classes. If the kids are into it, if the parents are on board and supportive, and if the teachers are all-in, there can be some really great academic offerings at a co-op. But there are always the kids who don't do the work, the parents who don't make them do the work, or the teacher who was gung-ho at the beginning but whose enthusiasm fades mid-semester. I think the best way to overcome this is to have specific objectives and expectations from the outset, and real consequences for those who fail to meet them. If a teacher is working hard to present a class of excellent quality with an academic focus, a student who continues to fail to do the work or participate should not be allowed to continue to attend. This doesn't often happen in co-ops, because no one is paying much for the class, so the student/parent commitment just isn't there. Same with the teacher--she's not getting paid, so without a firm commitment from the outset, things can quickly fall apart.

 

I've always felt that it helps to encourage parents to teach a class that they want their kids to have, but never seem to get to at home. For me anyway, if my child is in the class and I know my family is getting a personal benefit from my teaching, I am more likely to put more into it. I've taught all sorts of classes that my kids have enjoyed all the more because they are with their friends instead of just with mom, and I've put more into it than I ever would have done if it was just us at home. I might not be getting paid, but the value is built in for my family.

 

For the record, I direct the co-op we are in. We have about 60 families in our co-op, and about 100 additional families on the support group side. The kids in our group range in age from babies - high school, and we've always tried to be a group that has something to offer every age group, since homeschool families come in all shapes, sizes, and age ranges. Ours meets weekly for two class periods plus a group Assembly time. Some people would like it to go longer, but those people are not in charge and this person gets tired and cranky after 2.5 hours (we've done three class hours before--it was exhausting).  Leading is a lot of work, but very rewarding. We are just moving into a period of more academically focused high school classes, as I have a rising high schooler for whom I need this to work, but the people I have on board for this and the planning we've done already makes me hopeful that it will be more successful than our past academic class attempts.  I will make it a success for my son, anyway, and that's the best I can do.

 

 

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I think the most important thing to remember is that a co-op cannot be all things to all homeschoolers. 

 

These threads cover a lot of co-op issues.  There really are lot of things to consider.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/493011-homeschoolers-who-choose-not-to-do-co-op-or-many-extras/?hl=co#8208ops=&page=3

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/544506-joining-a-co-op-where-you-dont-exactly-fit-it/?hl=co#8208ops=

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/544195-if-you-are-in-a-co-op-is-anyone-allowed-in-or-how-do-they-pick-choose/?hl=co#8208ops=

 

DonĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t skip this last one.  ItĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s very important to have in your mind the very different needs of younger homeschooling families vs. older homeschooling families. It should be required reading for all newbies and a reminder for all vets.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/488946-to-all-the-seasoned-homeschoolers-who-question-those-young-overly-eager-homeschooling-moms/?hl=veteran%20homeschoolers

 

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Two major things made me drop out of ours. First, the quality was really lacking. I felt like we had a bunch of moms who were already stretched too thin, trying to throw something together to fill their hour of time. It was discouraging and made it difficult to maintain my own standard in my own classes. There seemed to be a minimums mentality rather than a stretching for excellence.

 

Second, the day was just too dang long. We went from 9:30-2:30, with 4 classes and a break for lunch. By the time we left, I was DONE. I felt that 3 classes rather than 4 would have made it much more reasonable.

 

 

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Great feedback!  You have my wheels turning to figure out how to encourage excellence.  Also, I'm definitely planning it to end right after lunch.  I dislike co-ops that have their last class after lunch.

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<This part is an edit to my original: I re-read the OP and I think my post here doesn't fit exactly what you are asking, but I decided to leave it anyway.  Co-ops have been a matter of prayer for me lately, and I've tried to hammer some things out with what works/doesn't work.  On the bottom, I said what I think about basically enrichment co-ops.  I think those can be much more fun and easy to implement than the ones that are serious and directly apply to college preparedness, rigor, etc.>

 

I'm going to try to be as thorough as I can.  Some of this is going to be from my own experience with my own co-op.  Some of this is going to be from my experience with a co-op I was involved in for a short stint  Here it is:

 

Likes:  

-I like that co-op gives my children the drive to learn their material and to have the ability to discuss it and know the answers that will be asked.

-I like that activities relating to our learning:  cooking, art work, maps, sculpting, things of this sort, are often done outside of my home so that I'm not having to plan, purchase, take the time, make the mess, and clean the mess.  :hurray:

-I like having some time to chat with other moms.

-In a perfect world, when I find moms that have some of the same visions that I have for my children, it is really nice to have someone to meet with and talk to about those ideas.  This type topic will also come up in my dislikes column.  :glare:

-I like that we have something to look forward to and work a schedule around.  It gives a complete-by date.  This also falls into my dislikes category.   :lol:

-I like that my kids get together with other kids to play as well as learn.

-I like the variety it brings to our lives, for me not to just be teaching my kids but also learning more by preparing.

 

Dislikes:

- To address one of the likes above that is also a dislike, I dislike when I have a fairly strong learning plan for my children and they get together with kids whose moms don't take it seriously.  This is extremely discouraging!!  I have one child who works very hard and gets together in a setting where the other kids just blow it off, laugh it off, make jokes while there are serious and important topics to discuss, or they just sit and doodle.  

-I dislike that some of the teen drama, rudeness, unkindness, and cliquishness are brought into our lives by attending.

-I have, in the past, disliked having to have a meeting of the minds with mothers who behaved like all the mean girls I knew in junior high.  Thank goodness, it has been a few years ago.

-I dislike when people you have bonded with start leaving to just go it alone, after you've formed bonds with them.

-Back to the likes category...I dislike having to be on someone else's schedule.

-I dislike the difficulties co-ops can pose for moms of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  My experience in those areas have not always been too great.

 

I think co-ops, if they are run by the right person or team of persons, can be a huge blessing and benefit to all.  I'd like to pray, observe, and learn more about how to be one of those people and feel I do have a lot to learn if I want to be part of a well-run, positive, beneficial co-op.  Otherwise, I'm finding, that homeschool moms are very independent, and that independence can make it hard to have shared visions of what a co-op should be.  Even group learning, in a paid-for class, has fallen short in some areas for us.  One of my children is taking a class that I felt would be best taught by someone else.  This child is acing the class, doing amazingly well, but it turns out my child is one of the few who takes it seriously.  

 

If I was doing a co-op for just extra things like art, p.e., I don't think I'd worry so much about the benefits or lack thereof...I'd probably view it as a time to get together with other families, and if learning took place, great!!

 

I hope that all makes sense.  I tried to put some thought into it.   :001_smile:

 

I appreciate your well thought out feedback.  It is very helpful!

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Things I have liked:

 

1.  One teacher per class with one back up parent who works collaboratively with the teacher.  The organizing body of the co-op helps them start communicating BEFORE the classes begin, so they are comfortable with each other and the assistant parent knows what the plan is.  This also helps if the teacher gets sick or has an emergency so the assistant can take over.  (We were in one co-op where all the parents were supposed to be in the class with their kids.  NOTHING got done.  This other arrangement worked much better.)

 

2.  The teacher turns in a plan for the class and gets it approved ahead of time.  This leads to a bit more quality control and preparedness on the part of the teacher (or at least it did in most instances, IMHO).  Pair teaching is encouraged, also, so maybe more people will volunteer and not feel so overwhelmed.

 

3.  No more than 3 class periods offered for the day (2 might work better).

 

4.  Parent's lounge.  Each parent volunteers for one hour to assist a teacher (or two, if there are 3 class periods).  The other hour they go to a lounge area to talk with other homeschoolers and share information.  Have volunteers sign up to bring snacks.

 

5.  Teachers are discouraged from doing lecture style instruction, especially with younger kids.  (Standing in front of a chalkboard droning on for half an hour about how great a book is will NOT encourage reading in young children.)

 

6.  Having a meeting with potential teachers ahead of time to offer support/encouragement/ideas/discussion and to have some bonding time.

 

7.  Babysitters for the itty bitty mobile ones (volunteer parent with older teens or something similar) so that parents are not having to chase down little ones.

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What I like most: the community. Mine is a group that has been around since 2002, and we have been in it since the beginning. My kids have friends from our homeschool group that they've known literally their entire lives, and not only are the kids friends, our families are friends as well. It is a supportive community in so many ways, and I can't imagine having homeschooled without it. We have a support group side to our group as well, but there's something about being there weekly with the same people for co-op that makes it more community-minded.

 

The way the co-op is structured is that we offer whatever people want to teach, so it's generally very elective in nature. We do not, however, require people to teach--you can either teach or assist for your hour of serving. When we've tried teaching as a requirement it hasn't gone well--not everyone is cut out to be a teacher in a group situation, IMO.

 

The downside of this is that the people who are good teachers and who love to teach are always teaching, while the people who are not . . . don't. This makes for a slightly unequal distribution of the work, since planning/preparing/teaching a class involves more work than just showing up as an assistant.  I don't like this, but it is similar to how it works in many all-volunteer organizations--someone always ends up doing more, and there are folks who will take full advantage of that.  We have many who only assist but help out in other ways. Others do the minimum because they can. I guess that's what I like the least--people who LET others do more of the work.

 

We have had mixed results in offering more academic classes. If the kids are into it, if the parents are on board and supportive, and if the teachers are all-in, there can be some really great academic offerings at a co-op. But there are always the kids who don't do the work, the parents who don't make them do the work, or the teacher who was gung-ho at the beginning but whose enthusiasm fades mid-semester. I think the best way to overcome this is to have specific objectives and expectations from the outset, and real consequences for those who fail to meet them. If a teacher is working hard to present a class of excellent quality with an academic focus, a student who continues to fail to do the work or participate should not be allowed to continue to attend. This doesn't often happen in co-ops, because no one is paying much for the class, so the student/parent commitment just isn't there. Same with the teacher--she's not getting paid, so without a firm commitment from the outset, things can quickly fall apart.

 

I've always felt that it helps to encourage parents to teach a class that they want their kids to have, but never seem to get to at home. For me anyway, if my child is in the class and I know my family is getting a personal benefit from my teaching, I am more likely to put more into it. I've taught all sorts of classes that my kids have enjoyed all the more because they are with their friends instead of just with mom, and I've put more into it than I ever would have done if it was just us at home. I might not be getting paid, but the value is built in for my family.

 

For the record, I direct the co-op we are in. We have about 60 families in our co-op, and about 100 additional families on the support group side. The kids in our group range in age from babies - high school, and we've always tried to be a group that has something to offer every age group, since homeschool families come in all shapes, sizes, and age ranges. Ours meets weekly for two class periods plus a group Assembly time. Some people would like it to go longer, but those people are not in charge and this person gets tired and cranky after 2.5 hours (we've done three class hours before--it was exhausting).  Leading is a lot of work, but very rewarding. We are just moving into a period of more academically focused high school classes, as I have a rising high schooler for whom I need this to work, but the people I have on board for this and the planning we've done already makes me hopeful that it will be more successful than our past academic class attempts.  I will make it a success for my son, anyway, and that's the best I can do.

 

The last co-op I was in, at least half of the moms didn't teach.  It was a start up co-op and had about 15 families.  It added a LOT of stress to those that did teach.  And, honestly, it just seemed very unfair.  I understand what you are saying about everyone isn't meant to be a teacher, but how is the workload distributed more evenly if some moms don't have to prepare to teach a class?  

 

Also, how are classes decided?  Do the moms who want to teach just give the leadership team a class proposal?  Are all classes chosen?  

 

Thanks so much for such a detailed response!

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I think the most important thing to remember is that a co-op cannot be all things to all homeschoolers. 

 

These threads cover a lot of co-op issues.  There really are lot of things to consider.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/493011-homeschoolers-who-choose-not-to-do-co-op-or-many-extras/?hl=co#8208ops=&page=3

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/544506-joining-a-co-op-where-you-dont-exactly-fit-it/?hl=co#8208ops=

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/544195-if-you-are-in-a-co-op-is-anyone-allowed-in-or-how-do-they-pick-choose/?hl=co#8208ops=

 

DonĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t skip this last one.  ItĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s very important to have in your mind the very different needs of younger homeschooling families vs. older homeschooling families. It should be required reading for all newbies and a reminder for all vets.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/488946-to-all-the-seasoned-homeschoolers-who-question-those-young-overly-eager-homeschooling-moms/?hl=veteran%20homeschoolers

Your first sentence is great!  Thanks so much for sharing these threads!

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The last co-op I was in, at least half of the moms didn't teach.  It was a start up co-op and had about 15 families.  It added a LOT of stress to those that did teach.  And, honestly, it just seemed very unfair.  I understand what you are saying about everyone isn't meant to be a teacher, but how is the workload distributed more evenly if some moms don't have to prepare to teach a class?  

 

Also, how are classes decided?  Do the moms who want to teach just give the leadership team a class proposal?  Are all classes chosen?  

 

Thanks so much for such a detailed response!

 

For the most part, those who don't feel comfortable teaching are very able and helpful assistants, and go above and beyond by being the first to volunteer to sub or picking up the slack in other ways, just seeing a need and meeting it. There are others who are happy to do the minimum. Know that it can never be entirely "fair." One mom brings 6 kids to co-op, another brings 1, yet both volunteer the same hour of teaching or assisting and both pay the same membership fee. By the same token, there are those who are gifted teachers who seem to always teach, and this means they are greater contributors. Generally those who are teaching are doing so because they love it, and we try to be very appreciative of our teachers. But we are also very appreciative of our assistants, because they do fill a vital role in helping the teacher and being a second adult in the room. It's not as much work, but it's still important.

 

Those interested in teaching let the leadership know in the spring what they would like to teach. We make a sample schedule and fill in the blanks as needed. There are always plenty of options to choose from. Sometimes classes get cancelled before they start because there's not enough interest--there always seems to be a class or two that everyone wants, and these fill up quickly. Teachers do have the added benefit of registering first, so they do have a small advantage there.

 

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We've been a member of a fairly large co op for six years now, and it has been a mostly positive experience.  I am on the Advisory Board, which means I am available for the leaders to call and vent to for support. I am also involved in making decisions to boot people out or sit in on disciplinary meetings when something goes wrong. 

 

Play to people's strengths!  As someone upthread stated, not every parent needs to teach.  Those who don't need to teach can be assigned a supporting role or another role such as clean up at the end or organizing field trips or parties.  One class one of my kids took was taught by someone who never learned to spell her name correctly.  The teacher was also very ill-prepared.  Even though it was an elementary class, it still needed a better teacher.  (My child's name is common and spelled in a common way.)

 

We had pizza/party days several times during the year, which is fun for the kids.

 

The co op asks for suggestions of classes wanted by parents so it can plan the next year's classes.  Our co op spans ages K-12 and it has a high school director and a younger ages director.  No one person can do it all and not burn out.  Cleaning is paid for by a fee ($15 a year), and a couple of people consistently clean up.  That worked better than assigning every parent a cleaning day.  (We meet at a church and were expected to clean up afterwards.)

 

Since your  goal is mostly enrichment classes, it will be easier to manage.  It is not easy to find people willing and competent to teach high school lab sciences to a class, but it is easier to find people to manage the classes for younger kids.  Make sure you assign a helper to a class when needed for crowd control.

 

Start later in the year and end earlier in the year.  For instance, September to end of April.

 

Offer a payment plan per month, if needed, with a 10% discount for paying for the year up front.  Our co op charges everyone a flat rate per year ($20 is our fee, I think) and a per semester "supplies" fee ($10-30, depending on the class - lab sciences are on the higher end), plus a monthly fee.  The enrichment classes are $5 per month.

 

Have a list of "rules" that everyone agrees to - things like having kids supervised, when to stay home due to illness, etc.  Spell out everything you can think of in detail so you don't have to inform someone that it is inappropriate to bring their toddler with the flu to the co op while the other kids go to their classes.  We had someone bring a dog into the church and let it roam around.  So then we had to make a "no pets" rule.  Really.

 

 

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We found coop not worth it because it had no academic value for my kids. It was glorified playgroup and not worth the time.

I found teaching coop frustrating because the kids were not willing to engage in academic work and the parents had no such expectations. It was like pulling teeth.

 

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We found coop not worth it because it had no academic value for my kids. It was glorified playgroup and not worth the time.

I found teaching coop frustrating because the kids were not willing to engage in academic work and the parents had no such expectations. It was like pulling teeth.

 

You pretty much took a couple of sentences to say what took me several paragraphs. :laugh:

 

I'm still trying to decide if it is even worth it.  What I desire from a co-op looks a lot meatier and a lot more like group learning than anything that actually occurs.  And I really just don't have time for something less. 

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Things I have liked:

 

1.  One teacher per class with one back up parent who works collaboratively with the teacher.  The organizing body of the co-op helps them start communicating BEFORE the classes begin, so they are comfortable with each other and the assistant parent knows what the plan is.  This also helps if the teacher gets sick or has an emergency so the assistant can take over.  (We were in one co-op where all the parents were supposed to be in the class with their kids.  NOTHING got done.  This other arrangement worked much better.)

 

2.  The teacher turns in a plan for the class and gets it approved ahead of time.  This leads to a bit more quality control and preparedness on the part of the teacher (or at least it did in most instances, IMHO).  Pair teaching is encouraged, also, so maybe more people will volunteer and not feel so overwhelmed.

 

3.  No more than 3 class periods offered for the day (2 might work better).

 

4.  Parent's lounge.  Each parent volunteers for one hour to assist a teacher (or two, if there are 3 class periods).  The other hour they go to a lounge area to talk with other homeschoolers and share information.  Have volunteers sign up to bring snacks.

 

5.  Teachers are discouraged from doing lecture style instruction, especially with younger kids.  (Standing in front of a chalkboard droning on for half an hour about how great a book is will NOT encourage reading in young children.)

 

6.  Having a meeting with potential teachers ahead of time to offer support/encouragement/ideas/discussion and to have some bonding time.

 

7.  Babysitters for the itty bitty mobile ones (volunteer parent with older teens or something similar) so that parents are not having to chase down little ones.

 

A lot of the things our co-op did are included here - we had teachers submit a course outline weeks before co-op was to begin.  Every teacher and worker (we also had roles for non-teachers - assistants, cleaners, and supervisors) needed to have a back-up partner and we kept a list of everyone's back-ups and contact info in the co-op binder.  We strongly encouraged teachers to teach creatively - project based learning, teaching to all the learning styles, guest experts, field trips, hands-on learning, etc. were all encouraged and those kinds of things were expected to show up in the course outline.  We also had a parent lounge which was great for support :)

 

Our co-op was academic and served K - 9.  We kept it simple - writing, science, history, second language.  The younger kids also did music, PE, and literature (their classes were shorter).  Our science and history blocks were 1.5 hours long to allow for more hands-on time and project work.  We had subject coordinators - I coordinated writing so I met with all the writing teachers, we talked about continuity throughout the grade levels, we had a K - 9 writing plan that was skills based rather than grades based.  The writing teachers submitted their course outlines to me and I gave them feedback on them.  The same thing happened for science and social studies.  This meant that instead of teachers just randomly teaching what they wanted, our students progressed logically from skill to skill and made some serious progress during their years at co-op.  I'm particularly proud of how well the writing students did.  It was amazing to see their skills develop and improve over the years.  

 

We expected all parents to contribute so everyone signed up for a job.  Not everyone is comfortable teaching, and some people know they are not great in front of a classroom.  We wanted excellence in teaching so those who weren't comfortable teaching could supervise lunch and recess, assist other teachers, or do cleaning duties.  We also had a mentorship program for those who weren't totally confident teaching a group but were willing to learn.  We'd pair that person with a strong teacher for a couple of terms where they would learn how to plan lessons and carry them out in a classroom.  Then we'd provide help when it came time for them to plan their own class.  It worked really well.

 

We also kept classes small.  12 was our cap, but we tried to get classes closer to 8 - 10.  Having 6 in a class was my favourite size as I taught history and writing and I found it a lot easier to have meaningful class discussions in a smaller group.  

 

I miss my co-op :(

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I would not like a co-op that required me to teach.  I'd be fine with helping out in some other way, but I'm not interested in teaching and would not even know what to teach.  I don't think everyone is teacher material so it might be a mistake to require everyone to teach.  I think it's ok to require help in some other way.

 

And with some stuff, frankly I would not waste my time and money on an academic subject taught by someone without some sort of background.  I know some people mention that they feel homeschoolers count because they may have taught their kids subjects for years.  Yes, I do believe there are some people in that category that could teach a subject well, but I honestly think this is rare and not a given.  I have not met many homeschoolers who have homeschooled for years.  Heck, I'm hard pressed to meet homeschoolers that appear to do any academic school work at all.

 

I recommend very clearly worded goals and expectations.  My experiences have been chaotic and disorganized and we ended up feeling frustrated and like we wasted our time.  At this point the only co-op stuff I'd consider would be in the realm of extra curricular or hobby courses. 

 

 

 

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The last co-op I was in, at least half of the moms didn't teach.  It was a start up co-op and had about 15 families.  It added a LOT of stress to those that did teach.  And, honestly, it just seemed very unfair.  I understand what you are saying about everyone isn't meant to be a teacher, but how is the workload distributed more evenly if some moms don't have to prepare to teach a class?  

 

Also, how are classes decided?  Do the moms who want to teach just give the leadership team a class proposal?  Are all classes chosen?  

 

Thanks so much for such a detailed response!

 

At our co-op, classes were decided based on what the initial group of us wanted covered.  It was very clear that we wanted strong academics.  Writing was something that consistently came up as something that people struggled with teaching at home.  We also wanted social studies and science taught in a group and a lot of us wanted a second language (we had French and German at co-op).  We realized that in order to meet those goals we had to focus in on just those things and not get distracted by great ideas for basket-weaving classes or small motor repair.  We did the basics and we did them very well.  

 

We did find that it was difficult to spread the workload around.  Even if you only teach for an hour, the prep time is huge.  I taught for 2.5 hours a week (my choice...) and I probably spent about 10 hours per week planning and marking plus I spent countless hours doing long-term planning over the summer.  I know our science teacher spent more time than I did planning.  We made sure that teachers did not have any additional co-op day duties so at co-op someone might teach for one hour and then sit in the parent lounge for the rest of the day, but the non-teachers would spend most of their co-op day cleaning, supervising, or being assistants.  

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The co-op we have been apart of for the past 7 years is a great fit for us.  The co-op is an a la cart co-op which I really love.  There are several in our area that have specific classes for each grade(1 history, 1 writing...per grade level).  Ours is dependent on what the teachers want to offer.  This year in dd's age range there have been 2-3 choices for history classes which is nice but the down side is that sometimes subjects are not offered or there is only one choice available.  

 

This is the way our group runs:

 

1) 5, 55 minute class periods with 1/2hr scheduled for lunch.

 

2) we have 2, 10 week sessions

 

3)You are not required to teach but teachers get first chance at registration.

If you do not teach you are required to aide in a certain number of classes (1/2 the number of periods you are in the building).  So if you are in the building all day you help in 3 classes but if you are only in the building for 2 periods you only need to help in 1.

 

 4)all families are required to do set up and clean up (2 sets and 2 cleans)

 

5) we offer classes for pre-school through high school but we try to focus the majority of classes on 1st-12th

 

6) there are offerings for the Mom's too.  We have a homeschool support time, prayer, book club, sometimes exercise...

 

7) we offer at least 1 gym class per age group.

 

8) there is always a good balance of academic classes versus electives.  Some families just come for things like gym and art while others want most of their core classes covered.

 

9) we have a co-op board that spreads the administrative work around.

 

 

Our co-op has grown to have over 70 families involved.  It runs fairly smooth but there are always some issues that come up.  We have people who do not like the way the schedule is laid out because classes they wanted for their children are now at the same time, or the occasional family that resists helping out or does not understand what they are responsible to do.  Usually the ones that do not want to help end up leaving after a session or two.  

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Strengths:

-Small (4-5 families, 2-3 of the families have known each other for a decade)

-Academic

-Several of the kids are gifted or considerably accelerated.  This works well for us as even though we are small, we can group in such a way that the kids are challenged, there is good synergy, exposure to kids of similar age/ability stretches them and exposes them to interesting ideas

-Several of the moms have teaching experience and/or advanced degrees; overall they are organized and do a solid job

-we get to things I personally have a tendency to sometimes put on the back burner.  One year we had a music teacher mom who taught a recorder class (won't ever happen at my house LOL).  We cover art history and a corresponding project, memory work, etc.

 

Weaknesses

-While I see benefits to remaining small, sometimes wish it was larger to widen my tween's circle there.  The larger co-ops in my area are non academic, not sufficiently academic for me to justify a day there, or are something like Classical Conversations, which doesn't interest me.  We do park days and other social events, we have kids in the neighborhood that he is close with, but I do wish there were more boys his age.

-The primary organizer builds her entire curriculum on what we do in co-op.  We all do additional work during the week to carry through what we are covering in co-op, but I do a lot more of my own stuff that I'm not willing to give up.  The primary organizer structures co-op in a way that it tends to meet her needs more than the other families.  So we all do work during the week related to co-op, but she adds additional related work for her kids so it functions as their main focus.  THe primary organizer and host is excellent at the organizational and planning aspects, but I do have some frustration with how she tends to address her own needs first.  I have sensed the other families have some frustration with this as well.  Primary organizer tends to ask what we are looking for, we spend a lot of time talking, and in the end things end up being most customized to her family's needs.  She's a long, long time friend, this won't change, but every year when we plan I feel a little tense.  I speak up, but our end result is usually weighted favorably toward her preferences.  I've tried and am no wallflower, but it will always be like this, so I just decide year by year if we'll continue, knowing what I'm getting into.

-Sometimes more outside work than I'd prefer.  Again, this comes back to primary organizer using co-op as her primary focus and then building her entire curriculum off of it.  I don't mind having related work to carry through during the week, but it also isn't necessarily my primary focus, kwim? 

 

 

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One thing that has made my co-op a great success (and folks have left others in the area to come to ours because of it), is our LACK of teaching requirement.  You're going to get poor classes and stressed out moms (especially those who have babies and toddlers) if you make them teach.  

 

Our solution?  Parents whoteach one class get their first child's co-op fees waived.  Those who teach two classes (in a single 6-week session) get ALL their kids' fees waived.  This makes people happy and willing to teach for you.  Those who can't or don't want to are more than happy to pay full-price fees to make up the difference.  It works brilliantly, and we have NEVER had a lack of teachers!

 

 

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I am in an enrichment co-op. This is our fourth year of co-op.

 

We meet for only half a day every other week. Because the co-op is strictly

enrichment, I like the ever other day schedule. It is long enough for kids to

build friendships and to have enrichment type classes, but also doesn't take

away too much time from other schooling.

 

Over the years I've found it best when these enrichment classes have no

or very limited homework. Too often kids don't do the homework, and it is

easier to have a lesson plan that doesn't have homework versus having

to scramble to figure out what to do when kids don't do their homework.

Again, this is only possible with strictly enrichment classes. I can't imagine

an academic class without homeework.

 

We have four half hour classes. This only works because they are enrichment

classes. It wouldn't be enough time for serious academics. Parents must teach at

least two periods, or assist in three to four periods. Because we have many

families with several kids, all parents must stay on premisis and help out.

We have ranged fromm 12-17 families, with 30-40 kids.

 

Our classes are officially for K-8th grades, although some years we have had

only K-6th students, and some years we have had preK studets.

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We belong to 2 co-ops; one requires me to stay the entire time and the other lets me drop-off. I have nearly left the required-stay co-op because 5 hours out of one day is just too much; I am exhausted and rushed that day. I only stay in this co-op because my kids love it and love the social interaction. The variety of classes is also really good there. They could reduce the classes by one and reduce lunch to 1/2 hour from an hour and that might help. But honestly, being forced to stay has caused me to rethink this co-op.

 

The other co-op lets me drop off and that is a great day for all of us. But, the variety of classes is less and the some of the students are not serious scholars (which negatively impacts my kids' learning as surely as it did in public school).

 

I also dislike the prevailing mentality at both co-OP's that all learning must be hands-on and entertaining because I do think that sometimes it involves just heavy lifting with an actual book. The lack of scholarly commitment in general drives me bat shit nuts. Being required to teach would be an absolute no-go here. I teach my kids all day, teach part-time as a college instructor night, and having someone tell me I must teach would completely cause me to not join at all; when we were looking for co-OP's, the requirement to teach meant that co-op was permanently out of consideration (although I do voluntarily teach one course at one co-op this semester).

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My first two years of co-op were with a small-ish (but not tiny) very informal co-op when my DD was in PreK/K.  Kids ranged in age from baby - mid elementary.  A couple of the moms who organized the group picked a couple general topics for the year (like geography, science) and all the moms signed up for a couple times to teach/lead part of the co-op time through the year.  There was no nursery, and it was basically free since we had a free place to meet.  The pro was low cost.  It was an easy introduction to a group activity since we already knew the majority of the families from church.  The second year the group was smaller, starting the year at about 8 families, but even a few of those families dropped out as the year went on.  Quality was hit or miss (I was guilty too), since I would often forget it was my week to teach until the day before.  With no nursery it was hard to keep littles under control (I had a baby and a toddler at the time).  It was also easy for a one or two moms with strong opinions to influence the direction of the group rather than majority opinion (which should have been possible with a small group). 

 

I wanted something bigger and more established, so for the past five years we've been in a well-established co-op (it was pretty large to start -- maybe 30 families but has gotten smaller the past couple years after a location change).  It is awesome in one sense to be in a co-op that has been established for a long time.  I felt like I could relax after my initial co-op experience and know that the decisions are made by the board of the co-op.  The kids know what to expect, because the format and the schedule of classes is the same every year, and even the assembly activities (parties, book reports, expert day, etc) are pretty much the same from year to year.  We have nursery and preschool and I like having a chance to relax while my littles are taken care of.  I offered to teach the last three years, but I like the fact that I don't have to teach if I decide not to in a future year (teachers are paid a very small stipend, everyone else has to volunteer to assist in a class, in the nursery, or with another role). 

 

On the other hand, because it has been around upwards of about 25 years, it is pretty "set in its ways" -- "Can I do X?"  "No, we tried that 15 years ago and it was a problem, so please don't"  "Can I teach a class on  ___?"  "No, we have a set format of classes that has been in place for a long time, we aren't going to change it".  "Can we do Z?"  "No, that's just not our tradition, we always do XYZ instead."      That all didn't bother me at first, but as I am they type of person that tires of the status quo after a while, it is starting to drive me crazy.    I am not sure it is driving me crazy enough to leave, but at some point (maybe when my DD would be transitioning from the elementary class after 6th grade) I might check out other options.

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I like our co-op because it offers both true co-op (parent-led) classes AND fee based classes with a dedicated, qualified teacher.   Our co-op was started 20 years ago to help parents homeschool high school by offering classes in all the math and sciences needed for high school.  All of those classes were and still are fee based.  Elementary classes and middle school classes are a mix of fee based and co-op.  My only complaint is parents griping about how much classes cost, then refusing to enroll their kids in the co-op because they'd have to teach.    I personally would not be part of a co-op with only parent led classes.

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What I like:

  • we have a built in hour for socializing. You teach one hour, assist one hour (or assist two hours) and have one free period which is for socializing. We have a social area where there is coffee and fruit and baked goods (provided via sign ups by co-op members). This is a great time for me to connect. Each person might have a different free period, so you don't see everyone, but it is still nice.
  • we have a lunch period. yes, I hate packing a lunch, but it allows me to connect and my kids to connect.
  • we have a variety of classes from gym to science to music to art
  • many of the moms are very committed and really give a lot to their classes
  • there is a built in fee of $5/semester in our payment so some classes are "free" 
  • teachers get a discount per semester
  • teachers get first dibs on the classes they want
  • we have three floaters every hour that cover for people when teachers are sick, absent, etc. Only after they are all tied up will you miss your free period to sub as an assistant in a class.
  • the assistant is expected to teach if the main teacher is absent
  • pizza day once a month is fun and a fund raiser for the co-op
  • variety of classes brought forth by those with excitement and ideas is really great
  • a firm policy regarding parent and student responsibilities, illness, etc.
  • three 55 minute periods plus optional post-co-op for older kids (bio lab, choir, drawing, etc.)
  • nursery and pre-K gives mommies of littles a break

What I don't like:

  • sometimes, there is a politics issue
  • sometimes I struggle because you get people who join and then never teach.  I keep asking myself why this bothers me. I guess it is because I feel like you should teach at some point if you are in a co-op, and also because I have a friend who is burned out from teaching and I think someone should step up. Honestly though she should just say she can't teach, and the people that aren't teaching need to be self-motivated, or you might end up with a poor class.  So, for me this is just a personal struggle with my own ideas. 
  • our paid teacher classes are pretty expensive IMO.  $195 for a year of art even for primary grades. However, people rave about the teachers.
  • sometimes we have lots of great ideas for classes but no one wants to teach them. For example, eight people want a certain science class, but no one wants to teach it.
  • scheduling can be difficult. Trying to line up 35 families worth of kids so that they get most of their 1st through 3rd choices can be challenging
  • K is combined with pre-K so they don't get much instruction

 

Some comments based on above posts:

 

Our co-op like Shellydon's is a mix of parent-taught and classes taught by a paid teacher.  The regular classes can charge fees (for example, my nature study class had a fee of $15/semester). The paid teacher classes obviously have much higher fees.

 

There are other groups in our area that offer drop-off and fee based classes if you don't want to teach. My personal opinion is that some people who choose co-ops don't realize this is a better option for them.  

 

I also have discovered the variability in the homework completion that a pp mentioned.  This is my first year teaching a class with grades. There is a LOT of variability in the output of the kids. Some of them are really doing the work, and others are barely skating by. I actually had one student flunk one of their three major assignments (disclosed in the class summary they read when they signed up).  I had to talk to the mom, who agreed to have the child rework and resubmit the assignment.  I think you are definitely going to deal with various parenting/schooling styles.  It can be hard to convey in a class summary that you do mean to make the class an actual academic endeavor. I certainly tried to let people know this is a legit class and they would have homework and that they could count it toward their science for the year. Anyway, another friend mentioned she had to talk with some parents one year about the fact their kids were not completing assignments and that she actually did expect them to do so.  I don't think there is any easy way around this. I communicate weekly with the parents and I still have had variability in completion of things.

 

ITA with mom2att's post

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The last co-op I was in, at least half of the moms didn't teach.  It was a start up co-op and had about 15 families.  It added a LOT of stress to those that did teach.  And, honestly, it just seemed very unfair.  I understand what you are saying about everyone isn't meant to be a teacher, but how is the workload distributed more evenly if some moms don't have to prepare to teach a class?  

 

Also, how are classes decided?  Do the moms who want to teach just give the leadership team a class proposal?  Are all classes chosen?  

 

Thanks so much for such a detailed response!

 

At our co-op people submit ideas for classes (just names really( and whether they would be willing to teach it. We present a list of classes suggested and people vote on their 1st-6th choices. Then we try to fit them in a schedule to accommodate as many of the 1st-3rd choices as are practical. Sometimes you just can't fit a class in, or only one kid wants it, etc.  That is why we went through 6th choices this year.

 

Finding teachers is part of the scheduling process. Once the schedule is drafted, we notify teachers who have told us they want to teach certain classes that we need a class description. Anything without a teacher is put out to the co-op indicating we need people to sign up for those classes. Some might be taken by people coming into the co-op the next year as new teachers.  

 

In our case we do have a science class that is part of an Apologia rotation that a bunch of people suggested because they want it for their children, but no one wants to teach it (yet). That is where it can be frustrating to be on the scheduling committee. There are some classes we always offer for the primary grades and middle school grades. There is always gym and some form of science (though the science can vary) and usually always a math games class for 1st-3rd. This is in addition to the paid teacher classes such as art and musical theater.

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What I like most: the community. Mine is a group that has been around since 2002, and we have been in it since the beginning. My kids have friends from our homeschool group that they've known literally their entire lives, and not only are the kids friends, our families are friends as well. It is a supportive community in so many ways, and I can't imagine having homeschooled without it. We have a support group side to our group as well, but there's something about being there weekly with the same people for co-op that makes it more community-minded.

 

The way the co-op is structured is that we offer whatever people want to teach, so it's generally very elective in nature. We do not, however, require people to teach--you can either teach or assist for your hour of serving. When we've tried teaching as a requirement it hasn't gone well--not everyone is cut out to be a teacher in a group situation, IMO.

 

The downside of this is that the people who are good teachers and who love to teach are always teaching, while the people who are not . . . don't. This makes for a slightly unequal distribution of the work, since planning/preparing/teaching a class involves more work than just showing up as an assistant.  I don't like this, but it is similar to how it works in many all-volunteer organizations--someone always ends up doing more, and there are folks who will take full advantage of that.  We have many who only assist but help out in other ways. Others do the minimum because they can. I guess that's what I like the least--people who LET others do more of the work.

 

We have had mixed results in offering more academic classes. If the kids are into it, if the parents are on board and supportive, and if the teachers are all-in, there can be some really great academic offerings at a co-op. But there are always the kids who don't do the work, the parents who don't make them do the work, or the teacher who was gung-ho at the beginning but whose enthusiasm fades mid-semester. I think the best way to overcome this is to have specific objectives and expectations from the outset, and real consequences for those who fail to meet them. If a teacher is working hard to present a class of excellent quality with an academic focus, a student who continues to fail to do the work or participate should not be allowed to continue to attend. This doesn't often happen in co-ops, because no one is paying much for the class, so the student/parent commitment just isn't there. Same with the teacher--she's not getting paid, so without a firm commitment from the outset, things can quickly fall apart.

 

I've always felt that it helps to encourage parents to teach a class that they want their kids to have, but never seem to get to at home. For me anyway, if my child is in the class and I know my family is getting a personal benefit from my teaching, I am more likely to put more into it. I've taught all sorts of classes that my kids have enjoyed all the more because they are with their friends instead of just with mom, and I've put more into it than I ever would have done if it was just us at home. I might not be getting paid, but the value is built in for my family.

 

For the record, I direct the co-op we are in. We have about 60 families in our co-op, and about 100 additional families on the support group side. The kids in our group range in age from babies - high school, and we've always tried to be a group that has something to offer every age group, since homeschool families come in all shapes, sizes, and age ranges. Ours meets weekly for two class periods plus a group Assembly time. Some people would like it to go longer, but those people are not in charge and this person gets tired and cranky after 2.5 hours (we've done three class hours before--it was exhausting).  Leading is a lot of work, but very rewarding. We are just moving into a period of more academically focused high school classes, as I have a rising high schooler for whom I need this to work, but the people I have on board for this and the planning we've done already makes me hopeful that it will be more successful than our past academic class attempts.  I will make it a success for my son, anyway, and that's the best I can do.

I am the original poster, and I would love to PM you.  Would you mind?

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The one all of our children will spend at least a few years with is completely drop-off and very easy/pleasant to deal with bureaucratically.

 

We dropped another co-op (national) because there were so many rules (some corporate and some local) to follow, some of which just made no sense and weren't even healthy for the co-op. There were also representations made about how certain classes would be skill/quality-wise and these sorely failed to materialize as initially sold.

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What I loved about our co-op, though my sons might disagree, was that they taught speech.

 

All the kids of all ages were gathered into one big room and a 15 minute lesson was given on an aspect of giving a speech: eye contact, introduction, closing, not fidgeting, using notecards, etc.

 

Then the kids were broken down into groups of 5 or 6 and sent off into separate rooms. (We had access to a church that used to have a school in it, so there are multiple classrooms touse.) There were 2 adults per group. Each child got up in front of their group of 6 and gave their speech. The adults had sheets of paper to fill in to provide feedback to each child.

 

The first week no one knew much but as the weeks progressed they learned more and more. Eye contact improved, introductions got better, etc. It was valuable. It's hard for homeschoolers to practice giving speeches. As much as my sons dreaded it, it was important. The speeches had to be written at home ahead of co-op.

 

I loved it that our co-op was doing that.

 

We also had a group gym class which is also hard to create for homeschoolers.

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I haven't read all the posts, but this is my thoughts on our two co-ops.

 

What I like-

1. A large group of kids of all ages (between 50-80) that are truly amazing kids.

2. Time with other like-minded moms.

3. Teaching classes that I enjoy teaching. Doing all of the messy crafty projects with a large group.

4. Not paying a fortune but just what it costs to actually run the program.

5. Added structure to our weeks.

 

What I dislike-

1. Some petty clique behavior with some of the preteen girls. It's not horrible, but my shy daughter doesn't always feel included.

2. A lack of choice for classes. At one co-op, there is rarely more than one option per hour per age group. The other co-op usually has 3 or 4 classes per hour to pick from.

3. The Bible time at both co-ops are aimed solely toward the young children. It then makes my kids dislike Bible time. That is not what I want for them. Maybe I should offer to lead Bible for the older kids.

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The #1 reason I've left co-ops is a lack of flexibility.  Most of the co-ops in our area are completed DOB-driven and were unwilling to even attempt to help me meet my son's needs in areas where he was ahead or behind.  Homeschooler often give lipservice to children being individuals, spread the words of Sir Ken Robinson on education, etc, but often homeschooling groups do not live out the words they claim to believe.  The public school system was far more flexible with us than the homeschooling community has been.  I personally think the DOB grouping leads to more comparison and exclusion rather than respect for individuality and a welcoming spirit.  We have finally (after 5 years!) found a more flexible group.  The kids are very different in age, religious background, and most other demographics, but it's the most welcoming, inclusive group--not to mention the most amazing educational experience--we've found.

Good leadership is essential, IMHO.  It makes or breaks a co-op.

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The #1 reason I've left co-ops is a lack of flexibility.  Most of the co-ops in our area are completed DOB-driven and were unwilling to even attempt to help me meet my son's needs in areas where he was ahead or behind.  Homeschooler often give lipservice to children being individuals, spread the words of Sir Ken Robinson on education, etc, but often homeschooling groups do not live out the words they claim to believe.  The public school system was far more flexible with us than the homeschooling community has been.  I personally think the DOB grouping leads to more comparison and exclusion rather than respect for individuality and a welcoming spirit.  We have finally (after 5 years!) found a more flexible group.  The kids are very different in age, religious background, and most other demographics, but it's the most welcoming, inclusive group--not to mention the most amazing educational experience--we've found.

Good leadership is essential, IMHO.  It makes or breaks a co-op.

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The #1 reason I've left co-ops is a lack of flexibility.  Most of the co-ops in our area are completed DOB-driven and were unwilling to even attempt to help me meet my son's needs in areas where he was ahead or behind.  Homeschooler often give lipservice to children being individuals, spread the words of Sir Ken Robinson on education, etc, but often homeschooling groups do not live out the words they claim to believe.  The public school system was far more flexible with us than the homeschooling community has been.  I personally think the DOB grouping leads to more comparison and exclusion rather than respect for individuality and a welcoming spirit.  We have finally (after 5 years!) found a more flexible group.  The kids are very different in age, religious background, and most other demographics, but it's the most welcoming, inclusive group--not to mention the most amazing educational experience--we've found.

 

Good leadership is essential, IMHO.  It makes or breaks a co-op.

What a shame.  Our co op is not that way at all.  How odd.

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I attend a large co-op and the best part about it is the variety of classes. The quality is sometimes uneven but some of the moms are really great and push the kids to work hard and offer some quality classes. They offer a wonderful mix of core and noncore classes and I know people that go only for things like art or cooking and people whose kids are taking science, history, math and writing. So you can get what you want out of it.

 

The worst part is how cliquish it is. I'm not sure this is something the leadership can fix, but I'm not sure they're even aware. The co-op has been around 20 years and it kind of stings when the daughter of the woman who started the co-op and is now a member of the leadership team with children of her own gets up in front of us and tells us what a wonderful family the co-op is with examples of how people in the co-op have been there for her. Of course it's a family to her! She doesn't seem to even be aware that some people don't have that experience at all. But hey, I'm bad at making friends.

 

The other thing I dislike is that the YEC perspective is emphasized very much and no other perspective is allowed. I haven't tested this theory but I think I would be in trouble if I came out as OE or *gasp* believing in evolution. I'm kind of in the closet so to speak. ;)

 

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Oh, a couple other things, modest clothes are emphasized in a way that makes me personally uncomfortable, and the cell phone policy is crazy strict and I'm tired of hearing about it (people just will not follow it). My advice for anyone starting a co-op (or any other group) is don't make a rule you aren't willing to kick out lots of people for disobeying it. Every rule needs to be that important to you, because people are just that way. Personally, you couldn't pay me to run a co-op that size so even with it's flaws, I'm grateful it's there. My daughter loves it and gets a lot out of it.

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If you are starting to think that co-ops aren't for you, consider this alternative.  You can offer a group class that's perfect for your own students.  Spread the word on your local email lists.  I've hired this great teacher, we'll be covering this subject, here are the prerequisites, this is the tuition etc.  People who want to join you pay the fee and sign up.  

 

I wanted my kids to read more classic literature so I hired a woman to lead a monthly book club.  Occasionally I post on local email lists to recruit new members.  People sign up or drop out as it suits them.  The leader handles all the tuition payments and I am in charge of recruiting students as needed.  

 

I wanted to have my kids on a mathcounts team, so I organized and coached my own team.  I sent out recruiting emails on local lists, I ask for a nominal fee to cover registration (and get some commitment), and got some kids and we had a grand time.  

 

My neighbor hired a teacher to run a public speaking workshop.  My daughter did it in the fall, then re-upped this winter, but dropped the class due to other commitments.  She attended for as long as it suited her needs then stopped.

 

It may be more expensive this way, but you save yourself the headaches of coordinating with other families.  I prefer the selfish approach.  This is what I want to do for my kids.  You can join me if you want the same or organize your own class, no hard feelings.  

 

ETA:  For the book club, because I was hosting it in my home and was in charge of recuiting, the book club leader gave me a discount.  

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I'm planning to start a homeschool enrichment co-op and would like to hear opinions on what you like most and/or dislike most about your co-op. The co-op I am planning will be an enrichment co-op with elective classes such as art, PE, STEM classes, foreign languages, geography, nature study, etc. This will be a true co-operative in which there is a shared division of labor. So, each mom (or dad) will be required to teach one class and assist in others. More than likely, it will be a weekly, half day co-op. Although, we've participated in a few different co-ops, I'd love to hear your feedback on what goes well at your co-op and what doesn't.

 

A friend and I just started a co-op this fall after several months of planning. It's overall gone very well, been a very positive experience for me and the kids. 

 

Likes:

- reasonable schedule (10am-3pm with a 1 hour break for lunch, some people choose to come for a half day and that's great too)

- camaraderie with other homeschool parents

- new friends for the kids

- variety of classes to choose from and in topics I am not myself talented in (Crochet, Art, Science, etc.)

- my extroverted kids are in heaven! Absolute heaven. I like it because by putting my need for alone time aside for 1 day my extroverted kids get their fill of social time and are happy. 

- ALL kids are included, so babies go to the nursery or stay with mom and preschoolers go to a little preschool class where the moms take turns reading stories, supervising free play, and doing little games with them. It is a long day for the littles who stay all day but many moms of littles just stay 10-12pm and eat lunch and go home for naps. But no parent is excluded from participating and teaching because they have a little kid. As a mom of 5 this was something I really insisted on and as a result we have several families with 4+ kids who happily attend. 

 

Dislikes:

 

- the alarmingly low level of achievement in many of our members. I have to deal with 10 year olds who cannot read or write sentences independently. I know my learning disabled 13 yo cannot read and write well so I don't put her in many academic classes at co-op, other parents don't have that guideline for themselves. 

 

- it is exhausting to be running a co-op! We have 4 moms running it and wow, it is a ton of work! I often go at 9am and don't leave until 4pm at the earliest. We are working to delegate more but some of it is just the nature of the beast, kwim? I also have thyroid problems and am pregnant so my energy is lower than some. The 2 moms who have 1 and 2 kids each do not find it exhausting the way I do, they're also extroverts :) If you are running a co-op I highly recommend delegating everything possible during the actual co-op day and partner with someone to help you run it. Also, don't offer to teach 4 classes yourself, you need someone walking around keeping an eye on things and answering questions especially the first year. 

 

If you would like any specific ideas of what forms to have, organization ideas, etc. feel free to message me. We've learned a lot this year through trial and error and have lots of basic forms we use to keep things organized, including parent volunteers because each parent must teach/assist in some classes each semester, so very similar to what you are describing as your plan.

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A friend and I just started a co-op this fall after several months of planning. It's overall gone very well, been a very positive experience for me and the kids. 

 

Likes:

- reasonable schedule (10am-3pm with a 1 hour break for lunch, some people choose to come for a half day and that's great too)

- camaraderie with other homeschool parents

- new friends for the kids

- variety of classes to choose from and in topics I am not myself talented in (Crochet, Art, Science, etc.)

- my extroverted kids are in heaven! Absolute heaven. I like it because by putting my need for alone time aside for 1 day my extroverted kids get their fill of social time and are happy. 

- ALL kids are included, so babies go to the nursery or stay with mom and preschoolers go to a little preschool class where the moms take turns reading stories, supervising free play, and doing little games with them. It is a long day for the littles who stay all day but many moms of littles just stay 10-12pm and eat lunch and go home for naps. But no parent is excluded from participating and teaching because they have a little kid. As a mom of 5 this was something I really insisted on and as a result we have several families with 4+ kids who happily attend. 

 

Dislikes:

 

- the alarmingly low level of achievement in many of our members. I have to deal with 10 year olds who cannot read or write sentences independently. I know my learning disabled 13 yo cannot read and write well so I don't put her in many academic classes at co-op, other parents don't have that guideline for themselves. 

 

- it is exhausting to be running a co-op! We have 4 moms running it and wow, it is a ton of work! I often go at 9am and don't leave until 4pm at the earliest. We are working to delegate more but some of it is just the nature of the beast, kwim? I also have thyroid problems and am pregnant so my energy is lower than some. The 2 moms who have 1 and 2 kids each do not find it exhausting the way I do, they're also extroverts :) If you are running a co-op I highly recommend delegating everything possible during the actual co-op day and partner with someone to help you run it. Also, don't offer to teach 4 classes yourself, you need someone walking around keeping an eye on things and answering questions especially the first year. 

 

If you would like any specific ideas of what forms to have, organization ideas, etc. feel free to message me. We've learned a lot this year through trial and error and have lots of basic forms we use to keep things organized, including parent volunteers because each parent must teach/assist in some classes each semester, so very similar to what you are describing as your plan.

 

Thank you so much for your detailed response!  I sent you a PM last week.  I just want to make sure you received it.  Let me know, and I'll resend.  Again, thank you!

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I like that our co-op is serious and formal, with well-structured leadership and dedicated teachers.

I like that we have a well-suited meeting place that minimizes class distractions and accommodates courses like Baking, Theater, and PE. And we have a nice "cafeteria" set-up to give the lunchroom kind of feel, as well as a place for parents and littles to hang out.
I like that it offers genuine high school courses (not that we're there yet.)

 

I'm not a fan of the cost, but it provides for that awesome meeting place, adequate insurance, and limits the membership to the truly enthused.  

 

I'm told a lot of unschoolers recently left the co-op.  I love unschoolers, but it's not easy to appease both unschoolers and rigorous schoolers in one setting, and the leadership chose to stick with their original vision.

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That it's only a few families. That the kids are in charge. That it's been a stable group for my kids for almost five years with very little changeover. That I'm in sync with the other parents.

 

When I've seen a couple of larger co-ops try to start up, I feel like they've been putting the cart before the horse by going to get non-profit status, rent a huge space, hire teachers, etc. before there's really any community to serve. I get it - maybe the "if you built it they will come" thing really works sometimes. But for us, I feel like the community should be the piece that comes first. It's the thing that really matters.

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That it's only a few families. That the kids are in charge. That it's been a stable group for my kids for almost five years with very little changeover. That I'm in sync with the other parents.

 

When I've seen a couple of larger co-ops try to start up, I feel like they've been putting the cart before the horse by going to get non-profit status, rent a huge space, hire teachers, etc. before there's really any community to serve. I get it - maybe the "if you built it they will come" thing really works sometimes. But for us, I feel like the community should be the piece that comes first. It's the thing that really matters.

I'd love to hear more about the kids being in charge. Thanks for your second comment as well. I have a few primary reasons for even trying to spearhead a start-up co-op, and building community is definitely the main reason! This whole thread has completely revamped the way I plan to go about this. I am truly grateful for everyone that responded!

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  Homeschooler often give lipservice to children being individuals, spread the words of Sir Ken Robinson on education, etc, but often homeschooling groups do not live out the words they claim to believe.

I think there are real problems with creating a group environment that caters to an individual. That's not because someoneĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s being mean, cliquish, or philosophically inconsistent, that's just the nature of the beast.  Sure, at home with your 2-12 kids, you can do some serious catering to individual children's needs because:

 

1. The parent teaching his/her own kids at home is intimately aware of and experienced with their own child's needs.

2. A parent teaching at home is far more motivated and able to invest time and research into meeting his/her own childĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s individual needs on a daily basis for a homeschooling career than a teaching parent at a co-op is teaching children they don't know well on a weekly/monthly basis for a semester or year.

3. A parent has far more autonomy and control over what goes on in their home with their own kids compared to what goes on with a group of other peopleĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s kids at some other location.

 

Public schools now have trained professional teachers and other staff to deal with individual special needs in group settings.   ThatĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s not typical of homeschool parents who volunteer or are paid to teach other homeschoolers. To the contrary, a huge chunk of homeschoolers left institutional situations because institutions weren't successful in meeting individual needs in a group setting.  So they're looking for smaller groups (than most ps classes) that are a better fit for the group as a whole and expect there to be a much smaller range of ability levels among students in their local academic co-ops. They're fine with other homeschoolers offering to teach other small groups of children who are better matched with each other at higher or lower ability levels. Consider becoming one of those volunteers.

 

That being said, I think there's no reason to insist on DOB grouping unless the teacher and most of the parents are into age/graded school at home kind of things in their own homeschool. When planning one they need to be very realistic about which restrictions are actually necessary and much of the time, DOB divisions arenĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t necessary. In a group situation, it makes more sense to do what works for

 

1st-the teaching parent

2nd-the group

3rd an individual in the group

One co-op cannot be everything to all homeschoolers.

 

There's plenty of complaining about skills based grouping because people with kids ahead or behind the averages of the particular group often want their children to focus on social interactions with children much closer to their own ages and that isnĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t always compatible with the nature of some academic co-ops. Some children with advanced academic skills are average or even behind in their behavioral development which can be very disruptive to some groups.

 

Some parents see their child as "gifted" or "accelerated" and when placed in a group with kids who really are more advanced, and are in for a rude awakening. Then it puts the teaching parent in an awkward situation when one child simply isn't able to keep up.   So once again, the primary focus of the group, socialization vs. academics and then for academic co-ops, skills mastery vs. exposure, have to be prioritized, clarified and enforced for the sake of the group.  Insisting on both is usually a source of conflict.

 

I think it's very helpful for co-ops in an area to stay networked so ones that are a bad fit for some kids can still steer parents to another one that's a good fit.

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