do YOU organize group classes for your homeschool group?

[athomeontheprairie]

Whether they are just for fun or academic or somewhere in between?

If so, can you help me?

I'm putting together an end-of-the-year survey for ours. What questions should be on that? What questions are on yours that you find most helpful for planning for subsequent years?

 

Or if you attend a group homeschool class, what do you wish you could tell the planners? what do you wish they would ask?

Edited September 30, 2016 by athomeontheprairie

[mom2att]

Questions we have asked in the past have been along the lines of:

-What class are you interested in teaching for the upcoming year? (this is the most important one :-)

-What classes would you like to see taught in the upcoming year? (often get all sorts of responses for this one--some feasible, some not)

 

And that's pretty much it. Our structure/routine/schedule is set and works well, so unless there's a specific issue, we don't ask for input on that. The classes we offer are based entirely on what people are willing to teach (we don't require them to teach, they have to either teach OR assist), so if there's a certain class people are dying to have, someone has to step up to the plate to teach it. We do encourage them to work together as co-teachers, because that seems to be a lot less intimidating for those who don't feel qualified and certainly makes the job easier for those who are.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

[musicalmom1125]

I think a lot of it is what people want to teach and what people want to take.  But there are also issues like how academic the classes should be (Biology can be all fun and experimenty or it can be more meaty).  I'd also ask about the teachers.  Some are better at some subjects than others and some can take negative feedback and use it to improve but that can be tricky.  You don't want to tick off someone so they leave.  It depends a lot on the culture in your group.  You also might ask about logistics: timliness, organization, communication, etc.  Some of us (not mentioning any names here) are greatly affected by those areas.  Good luck!

[mschickie]

We did a teacher survey last year.  Some of the questions we asked were: Did the money you charge cover the cost of your class?  What supplies could we have available each week for the teachers?

 

Ours is a co-op where parents can bring in whatever class they want.  If you direct what classes you could ask about specific subjects/grades.

 

We have also asked in the past what is your favorite feature of the co-op and what is your least favorite.  Sometimes they are things that cannot be changed but sometimes they are areas you can work on.

[2_girls_mommy]

I like the idea of this in writing. The co-ops I have always been in just discuss what we want to teach the next year. It can be hard to get everyone together to discuss needs because someone is always with the kids. I will suggest that for ours this year.

[Artichoke]

Yep, i do this.   What works best for our co-op and tutorial is to have set topics for each grade.   Don't re-invent the wheel each year.  Our elementary operates this way.  Our secondary program offers core subjects on a set schedule each year according to the normal grade level where each is taken.  We do, however, always ask each year if there's anything parents would like to see taught, or if they have a desire to teach a subject.  We've had some awesome classes over the years by doing this.  We just add these classes during the afternoon so the core schedule isn't affected, 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2016 by Artichoke

[Artichoke]

I like the idea of this in writing. The co-ops I have always been in just discuss what we want to teach the next year. It can be hard to get everyone together to discuss needs because someone is always with the kids. I will suggest that for ours this year.

 

 

Survey Monkey is good too.

Edited October 3, 2016 by Artichoke

[daijobu]

Whether they are just for fun or academic or somewhere in between?

If so, can you help me?

I'm putting together an end-of-the-year survey for ours. What questions should be on that? What questions are on yours that you find most helpful for planning for subsequent years?

 

Or if you attend a group homeschool class, what do you wish you could tell the planners? what do you wish they would ask?

 

 

I don't survey my parents because I'm not interested in their opinions.  I coach a MathCounts team, and I put a lot of time into it, and I have my own way of running it.  There are things I wish I could do differently, but I don't have time right now to make that upgrade.  But overall, I'm happy with how I run things, and since I charge only a nominal fee, I don't feel the obligation to change.  I also manage to get just enough students each year to field a team.  

 

Once my kids are graduated, I may just be a MathCounts coach for hire.  In that case, I'll be more amenable to how everyone else wants things run.  

[athomeontheprairie]

I don't survey my parents because I'm not interested in their opinions. I coach a MathCounts team, and I put a lot of time into it, and I have my own way of running it. There are things I wish I could do differently, but I don't have time right now to make that upgrade. But overall, I'm happy with how I run things, and since I charge only a nominal fee, I don't feel the obligation to change. I also manage to get just enough students each year to field a team.

 

Once my kids are graduated, I may just be a MathCounts coach for hire. In that case, I'll be more amenable to how everyone else wants things run.

I wish you were here.

 

But I'm not asking about a single class that you (i) teach. My classes really aren't open to feedback-but I may be missing details (this year i forgot to arrange trash pickup-someone else needed to remind me) I'm asking about classES that many teachers teach and you organize.

I'm not looking to change the teachers (Though if someone has a serious problem-i certainly want to know), but maybe "preschoolers needed more adult help, or the ... class was fantastic, or longer breaks between classes, or this space is too small/prefect. Can we have classes about...? There was too much... Or not enough...