Very asynchronous kids and co-ops

[Runningmom80]

Has anyone had this work?

 

Just curious as the year starts and we have yet to find a tribe. Or even a small group. Or even the other half of a couple. Lol

[chocolate-chip chooky]

We are tribeless, groupless and coupleless.

We don't do co-ops or group classes or anything like that, for a range of reasons, asynchrony being one.

[Arcadia]

Not a co-op but my kids found boys they could click with from their German class. The class go by proficiency rather than by age so kids are mixed age from 9 to 14 in their current class. However they started with this Saturday class in 2012 and clicked after three years there.

[Grover]

We found it ok when very little - 5 in a 5 - 10 year old group, for example, then between 6 and 9 we just kind of stopped trying and stuck to interest based things where level didn't matter.  Now (at 10.5) we're finding 11 - 14 groups working again.  Except for the most asynchronous areas - there we are still on our own, lol!

[Frances]

Yes, but ours was very large, several hundred students for pre-k through teens.

[8filltheheart]

Never for things based on academics. My kids found friends through things like Scouts, sports, and youth groups. They learned to talk about things that the other kids were interested in. It was not a bad thing at all. They learned to enjoy things outside their particular frame of reference bc their friends were into things that they weren't (music is a huge area where their friends excelled and they didn't. Several of their friends were incredibly talented vocalists or musicians. Dd learned all about the Piano Guys and Pentatonix from one of her friends, and they had a good time following her friend's interests.)

[Mike in SA]

We keep looking, but none have come close enough to even venture a try.  Asynchronicity one of the big factors, sheer lack of educational quality being the other.

[Wheres Toto]

We don't do any homeschool academic activities at all and never have.  We haven't even had great luck with homeschool sports or recreation activities.  Most of our stuff that's gone well has been regular afterschool classes - Tai Kwan Do, 4-H, choir, swim lessons and other Y classes.

 

[HomeAgain]

We don't do academics with other people.  We have found doing a specialized class does work well: p.e., dance, theatre, robotics, engineering, game theory..things where the kids are more on equal footing and a mixture of strengths/weaknesses doesn't hold them back.

[displace]

Yes, with non-academic extracurriculars (Minecraft, park time, etc).  We're trying a STEAM group this fall and we'll see what happens.  DS loves the interaction with the other kids but usually doesn't "learn" much.  

[regentrude]

Never managed to find peers for anything academic for my kids - until they started college classes. Coop was a complete waste of time.

 

[MinivanMom]

No. 

 

My kids have found friends through sports, ballet, music ensembles, Scouts, and church youth group. They have found quite a few academic peers through their activities, but those kids all attend either public school (often one of the gifted magnets downtown) or private school. There are lots of bright kids in these parts (upper-class, techy area), but homeschooling is dominated by crunchy unschoolers and the super-religious.

[Dmmetler]

For non-academics, fine. For academics, not so much, even with a very wide age range and DD on the lower end.

[Runningmom80]

Ok this is what I'm experiencing as well. We have an opportunity for a science based co-op, which I love the idea of. And Ds could go into the 11-13 group, which I think would work, at least for a year. Lol.

[IsabelC]

We have got a small group that is focussed on teens and tweens, but younger siblings can come along. My Ms. 8 happily hangs out with the 11-12yo kids.

[SoCal_Bear]

Yes, but it is a large one of 120 families. There are other gifted families at my co-op though it's not a widely known fact. I have been able to get him in a few classes that are out of his age range but within his ability, but it's either because I am in there with him or that parent teaching knows my kiddo well. I teach a science class he takes at my co-op and aim it at a higher grade level. It's known to be on the rigorous side and challenging, so families know that up front before signing up for my class. I mostly go for non academic classes though where it is least about grade levels. For example, he is going to take California history, art appreciation, social etiquette and geography games class. 

[strawberryjam]

So far the only group activity that has been somewhat of a success is a homeschool gymnnastics group, and only cause my kids lack some coordination and gross motor skills so it's one of the few area's they are not really ahead in! I've pretty much given up on academic co-ops. My kids are already looking forward to college. It sounds like a dream world to them lol. They are 8 and 10 yrs.