How to decide when to leave a co-op?

[Sonshine]

I am looking for input on how to know when it's time to leave a co-op. We enjoy our co-op and have no problems with anyone there. My two older kids who were there for 3 years left before this semester because they didn't have the time anymore because they need to spend a lot of time studying and what they were getting out of co-op could not be justified anymore. They were not sad to leave, although they enjoyed it for those 3 years.

 

I am seriously thinking of not going back next semester with my 2 elementary aged kids as I need to get some serious academics done with them, and co-op takes up one day a week. I can not justify that time when they are behind academically. They are on grade level in math, both are behind in grammar and writing, she is also behind in reading and spelling. They are in fourth grade. Also, they need piano lessons and that takes time. Our summers are too busy for much serious studying.

 

My reasons for staying are for what they specifically get out of it. One enjoys the choir. However, it is not a serious choir and as much as she would like at her young age, she does not sound like she will major in voice. Our church does not have much music for kids either. Then again, a just for fun choir is just what she needs given her lack of strong talent. My son loves the public speaking class and he is at an age where it can just be fun and yet it is a passion of his. The other stuff, PE, animals and geography, maybe a math games class next semester (my daughter does need this, but we can do that at home with siblings) is fun, but they have done it for 3 years now, and we need to get more work done at home. My daughter is doing homeschool sports and 4H but my son is not. He wouldn't really miss the social life too much right now, but l would like to find something else for him eventually.

 

I guess I am torn because I like for them to have fun with the kind of learning we do at co-op while they are elementary age, but yet they are starting to have more specialized interests and we will have more time to follow them up and develop them if we drop co-op. That's actually more true for my daughter than my son, as I can facilitate him learning what he wants at co-op - acting in my history class, and speaking in a public speaking class, and he is too young to do these things elsewhere without getting too serious too young about his interests for my tastes. When I think about staying, I think maybe I just need to try harder to get more done at home academically with the time I do have. Also, in the past, when I quit an activity I didn't necessarily get more academics done at home. The co-op runs from the second week in January until the end of April.

 

Neither kid would be particularly upset if we left the co-op. It is a huge part of our social life, but I'm not sure if the void would be a big problem. We are regular attenders at our church, but my elementary kids do not socialize outside of church with the church kids.

 

I appreciate any feedback or advice.

[Evergreen State Sue]

The co-ops we go to run longer - Sept into May and we can pick and choose the classes we go to so we are not there all day. We are able to "do school" at home for a couple of hours in the morning before going to a co-op class or two mid morning or early afternoon. Can you just pick the classes you really feel are beneficial or that you can't offer at home? What's nice about co-ops if when they offer classes you wouldn't normally have. I think public speaking at that age would be terrific if he enjoys it. What a great life skill to have. If your church doesn't offer choir, this is a great opportunity too. Sometimes these electives help off-set the academics. Just pick the ones that are most worthwhile.

[Denisemomof4]

if you were to crack down on schooling, having one day away isn't a big deal. We're gone 1.5 days per week and I make certain we cover all the basics well and we're getting on a good pattern for everything else.

 

For me, I saw my boys have fewer and fewer friends as they got older. It's because of that I put more emphasis on friends for my girls. We belong to two co-ops and while the classes are AWESOME at both, the main reason I do it is for social reasons. I'm hoping my girls will grow through the years with the same group of friends. It's important to me and especially my oldest dd that they have good friends.

 

If you are behind, you need to focus on school - yes. BUT, I don't think one extra day is what will get you back to where you need to be, KWIM?

 

That's just my opinion, but you'll figure out what's right for you and your kids.

:001_smile:

[Sonshine]

Thanks for the feedback. The co-op is an all or nothing deal. We have to stay from 9:30 until 3:30. Thank you for reminding me how important a social life is. I tend to only occasionally get around to scheduling social get togethers. One thing I like about the co-op is that they get to see their friends once a week whether I have planned anything or not. There are also a fair number of birthday parties, etc. Another advantage is that it is very close to my house.

 

We are gone more than this one day a week as I have to drive the other kids to their outside classes, etc. and I work one afternoon/evening a week. We also go to the dentist a lot, plus sports.

[Erica in PA]

if you were to crack down on schooling, having one day away isn't a big deal.

 

If you are behind, you need to focus on school - yes. BUT, I don't think one extra day is what will get you back to where you need to be, KWIM?

 

:iagree: We have a weekly co-op that meets 30 weeks of the school year, and we are able to make good progress on other schoolwork with four days per week. It sounds to me as though this co-op is giving your kids a lot of the things that they enjoy, and are beneficial to them. If you were to try to replace these things in other ways, it might end up taking more time, and being less convenient for you than one day of co-op per week, kwim?

 

One thing that does help us is that some academic subjects are covered at our co-op, like history, science, and writing. So that does help take some of the burden off of us for the rest of the week. Does your co-op offer any classes like that, that can take the place of something you would normally do at home?

[Ellie]

See, that amount of time would be a deal breaker for me. I say let it go.

[Sonshine]

The co-o is intended to be for enrichment, so the academic and extracurricular classes may be semi-academic, not serious academic. It had the benefits and faults of that. For example, the art is fun art, not classic art. The benefit of that is that kids who would not like serous art can dabble in it a bit and learn a little art at least.

[LaxMom]

We've had a couple of families take a session break from our co-op, for the reasons you mentioned. We also do field trips, park days, and whatnot outside of co-op, though, so we all do get to hook up with our friends on break periodically...

 

Our "rule" is all or nothing, but we've had a family or two over the past couple of years who have come for the last period only (we only go 9:30 - 12:00) to take some of the pressure off and still allow then to attend. Our attitude is that the co-op has to work for ALL of our members. Nothing is written in stone, and we're happy to hear new ideas that help to make the whole thing a positive experience for everyone. This has resulted in some great "innovations" for us, like teaching rotations for classes, a later start time, and other things that have really made it a much more comfortable, tight-knit group... I guess my point here is, have you spoken to anyone about sort of splitting the difference, or making other changes that would help your situation?

[Dobela]

Have you talked to the kids? What do they want to do? My 9yo son was wanting to stay in some activities that I really didn't want to continue because I wanted to focus on academics more - like you. My son so strongly wanted to stay involved however that he now has one day a week where he does 2 days work instead of just 1 so he can participate in those activities. It was his idea. Yes, it is a long tough day sometimes, but we make it thru. Sometimes we just do 1.5 days and then finish another day with 1.5 days. Because it was my son's idea it works and we are both happy. We are still on target to finish before summer.

[Tammyla]

9:30 - 3:30 = Deal breaker for me. Academics slipping are where I'd put my focus as a teaching parent. Socializing is fun and important, but easier to schedule or catch up on than the three Rs. jm2cents and ymmv

Edited October 18, 2009 by Tammyla

[Quad Shot Academy]

If it were me: I would take the next semester off, or pull them now and then set specific goals with each child in each subject and let them know that when they both are up to grade level in every area, they may both go back.

[Pretty in Pink]

It can't hurt to explain your situation and ask if you guys can scale back to just choir and public speaking for a semester. That would give you time to figure out if scaling back on the co-op is really making much of a difference in terms of academics while not giving up co-op altogether. It sounds like your children really enjoy co-op.

 

We can cover our academic subjects in four days a week though five is preferrable to me. Is there any way you can make a four day schedule work? I didn't check your siggy; maybe if we saw your curricula list we could help you tweak it to four days? Alternatively, could you school on Saturday?

[Erica in PA]

The co-o is intended to be for enrichment, so the academic and extracurricular classes may be semi-academic, not serious academic. It had the benefits and faults of that. For example, the art is fun art, not classic art. The benefit of that is that kids who would not like serous art can dabble in it a bit and learn a little art at least.

 

We used to go to a co-op like that, and it did reach the point for my middle school-aged son that it wasn't worth the time away from daily studies. I think a weekly enrichment co-op could still work for elementary aged kids, but once you get into the older grades, you need more time for academics. I personally think four days per week of pure academics is enough for elementary kids, especially if all the "extras" are done on the fifth day at co-op, leaving the other four to really focus on academics, but you know whether that will work for your kids or not.

 

At our current co-op we have the best of both worlds, because you can choose from a variety of academic or nonacademic classes for each age group. So my 8th graders almost all academic classes, and my third and second graders take a mix, but mostly enrichment. If you do decide to leave your co-op, maybe you could look into whether there is one like this nearby?

[Sonshine]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. My little boy said he loves co-op and wants to go back. He is the one who wouldn't have any other regular activities if not for co-op. I think it is worth the time to continue. I like the idea about asking them to do more homework per day (or over 1 or 2 days) in order to have time to take that one day off from schoolwork. All of you'all provided helpful input and I appreciate it.

[TravelingChris]

We go to co-ops and have been doing that for as many years as possible. For the record, once my kids are high school, the co-op needs to be serious. RIght now, my oldest is having one class iin intensive writing, one in debate where she is learning great research skills, and a third in my US Govt/Econ class. All of these are for credit with two being for full credit and one being for half. My younger has a robotics class where she is learning programming, a cooking class where she is having more hands on experience than I had in my jr. high home ec class, and a class about Ancient Greece. These are all worthy subjects but even more importantly, my kids need some interaction with others. My older one because of her extreme shyness and my younger one because of her introversion. We work later on co-op days and still do some other subjects and we usually manage at least one subject before. We also do some extra work on weekends. IT is worth it to us.