To co-op/classes or not....What do you do and why or why not?

[Holly IN]

My homeschool group offers classes for high schoolers. They changed their policy drastically not allowing any 8th graders to take any classes such as Biology or a foriegn language class or anything that you want your child to take.

 

Their excuse for this rule is that 8th graders are not emotionally mature to handle the things in the high school classes. :glare: Several people dropped out from the board due to this rule. There is alot of contention over this issue which is causing alot of people to leave the group and go elsewhere for high school. On the flip side of this, others have told me that rule just do not make any sense because they have seen some 10th graders who are very immature or less mature than some 8th graders.

 

All I wanted was for my son to take Biology as an 8th grader. They told me no. Also he has to be tested into Biology 2 in order to take Biology 2 if he takes Biology 1 at home. :glare: :001_huh:

 

All the other classes or co-ops do not have an age limit.

 

 

So I am asking you as a high school parent, would you use a co-op/classes to help through high school and why would you use it? If not then why not?

 

I am trying to get a feel of what I need to be doing. I can teach high school at home but would love for my high schoolers to take a few classes (not all), especially Biology or any other science classes to reduce costs of getting lab materials. Is there another option that I am not realizing?

 

Thanks!

 

Holly

[Beth in SW WA]

 

 

So I am asking you as a high school parent, would you use a co-op/classes to help through high school and why would you use it?

 

I'm not a high school parent yet -- but I know I will not do our local co-op. I simply don't want want to have to teach a class myself. Just not my cuppa. I'd rather hire a tutor and/or online class when I outsource -- rather than deal w/ others' kids in a co-op. Sounds terrible, I know. I am keenly aware of my shortcomings :)

[Brenda in MA]

I can teach high school at home but would love for my high schoolers to take a few classes (not all), especially Biology or any other science classes to reduce costs of getting lab materials. Is there another option that I am not realizing?

 

Thanks!

 

Holly

 

Holly,

 

I started out teaching my high schooler at home, and we did that for all subjects for 9th & 10th grades. We have a tutorial center nearby for high schoolers, but none of their offerings fit in with what we wanted to study, and it is very expensive, so I decided to keep him at home.

 

We had a good 9th grade year, but 10th grade was tough. The issue wasn't so much the course materials, but my son's need to "get out of the house" and get more interaction with other teens. I also found him less and less willing to work hard to satisfy my expectations.

 

This year for 11th, I tried the tutorial center again, but they canceled the one class I wanted him to take due to lack of enrollment. I did sign him up for some on-line classes, and that has helped somewhat with his motivation. He is willing to work a lot harder for an outside teacher, and it's done him a lot of good to have to meet another teacher's standards. If we lived closer to the local cc, I would have considered that for this year, too.

 

Next year, he'll be old enough to drive himself and will go to the cc for at least a couple of courses each semester. I see this as a necessary step for this particular child before heading off to college. I'm not sending him there because I can't teach the high school subjects, but because he needs the outside classroom experience for motivation and as a stepping stone to full time college.

 

I guess what I'm getting at is that the need for outside courses is very dependent on a particular child's and family's situation. Some children are more socially needy than others, and some need the outside motivation/competition. Others are great workers/learners when they work independently with just mom as a guide.

 

I disagree with your school's policy of excluding all 8th graders because some might not be ready. If you feel you need outside courses, perhaps you could teach Biology at home in 8th and then send him to this school for Chemistry in 9th? I really enjoy having my teen at home for high school, but it has really been a challenge meeting his social needs and the need for outside teachers. I will definitely put more thought into how we do high school when my current 6th grader gets there.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[FloridaLisa]

So I am asking you as a high school parent, would you use a co-op/classes to help through high school and why would you use it? If not then why not?

 

Yes, I would use (and am using) a co-op *if* it fit our needs. A few years ago, when we were not part of a co-op, I put together outside classes taught be a parent or a hired teacher. It worked great! The outside classes provided the accountability, group lab work and socialization that I wanted. They really helped round out what we were doing at home. Outside classes also really help me stay on track and move through the material. :001_smile:

 

Sorry your co-op is instituting such a rotten over-generalized rule. Hope you find something that will work --

Lisa

[Sharon in MD]

We are part of one such group....but it is recognized by our state as a private school. So for us there are definite advantages to being part of their program. We are not required to participate in their group courses; we could just use them for oversight, but I do like the courses.

 

Our academy offers kids the opportunity to be in sort of a hybird homeschool and private school. We go to classes there once a week from jr high up. They offer courses in lit, composition, art, science, music, yearbook, drama and so forth....it is a large group. I love it. We do some courses at home and outsource others to them. Our son has made really good friends at the academy and has had lots of opportunities to be part of the more desirable high school types of activities. He loves taking classes there. And, in our case, they work on a somewhat accelerated schedule, where they complete the courses in 3/4 of a school year...so the pace is harder....which I think is a good prep for college where it is going to be even faster.

 

Our school does have grade limits on courses. But, they are really more for space concerns than anything else. For the art, music, and drama they are more open, but for things like science, they do limit them to 9-12 grade. They just don't have enough teachers to open it up.

 

I wouldn't let one rule that I didn't like spoil the whole thing. But, if there are other options around that you like better, I don't think it would hurt to shop around a bit. We have several co-op types of options in our area, so we are really blessed here to have choices. There are even several classical homeschool academies. It is pretty neat.

 

HTH

[Nan in Mass]

There are some nearby that we could use if we wanted to, but I know that my particular children wouldn't do well with the one-class-a-week format for the classes I would want to coop for. I would still have to teach a lot. We also haven't had good luck with classes meant for homeschoolers; they have tended to contain children who weren't used to learning in a class format. My children were upset by how rude this inattention seemed to the teacher. It is hard to find classes of the right level, too, because the children came from a huge variety of starting places. Instead, we're doing CC classes for things like chemistry, composition, and pre-calc. If we are going to be out of the house mid-day, it has to be well worth it, since it interrupts our school day. With CC classes, my son is being introduced to some of college life (like buying one's books), helped to get back into learning in a classroom situation, and gets to be independent. I need something to validate my homeschool transcript and show that my son is ready for college work, and CC classes will do that better than coop classes. We're lucky to have one within commuting distance. Some of my son's profs teaches at Harvard and other prestigious Boston colleges, also.

-Nan

[Holly IN]

About CC... are you talking about Community College? If so then how would one go about inquiring about high school taking CC course in nearby university? Do I call admissions?

 

My main concern for high school is Chemistry and Physics.

 

Thanks

 

Holly

[Nan in Mass]

Our nearby state college has a statement on their website about what a high school student needs to do to apply. You can look there. Or I would suggest you telephone the admissions office and ask directly. This is fairly common, so they can probably tell you easily. Even when I was in high school, several student took a class at the private college in our town every year. At that time, the college made it very easy for a high school student to audit a class, but if you wanted to take the class for college credit, the paperwork was a bit more complicated.

 

Different states seem to have different rules about high school students entering CC (the thing most discussed on this board). Some have a lower age limit. Some limit the number of classes the student can take. For us, it was pretty simple. At the end of spring (to start classes in the fall), I called the college and they told me to bring my son in to take the placement test. He had to bring id with him. We used his passport, which they were very happy about because it had his picture. He didn't need a transcript or anything like that. The test came in 3 parts: math, reading, and writing, all untimed. Then he filled out an application, checking off the box that said he was just taking a few classes for his own interest, not seeking a major. He was assigned an advisor, and they would have helped him pick out classes except that a friend had already helped us to do this. We signed up for the classes on-line. They gave him a student number and sent him down the hall to get a student id. Boy was he proud of that id. He also signed up for orientation, which taught him how to navigate the college computer system, email his prof's, get his grades, buy his books, etc. At orientation, he received an assignment notebook which had the answers to questions like what about snow days. Then, a few days before classes actually started in the fall, we took his schedule, cash, and id and bought his books. My son, who is fairly bright but has always struggled with school, especially tests, did really well on the placement test. I'm adding that in case you are as worried about it as I was. Our CC is set up to walk people with no parents and no college experience through the sign-up process, so the whole thing was MUCH easier than I expected. Basically, you walk in and they send you here and there and you pay them and you walk out a college student. I suspect that signing up for university classes won't work that way for you. They probably expect you to know more about how to sign up for things. On the other hand, they probably have a stream-lined version for people who sign up for continuing ed students or students who are just signing up for one class, so it might not be too bad.

 

Lab sciences are a really good reason to do college classes, in my opinion GRIN.

 

Good luck!

-Nan

[LunaLee]

Well, my dd will only be in 9th gr. next year so I can only tell you what I've decided to outsource and why.

 

Algebra (co-op 3hrs per week)--Because some kids just need an actual teacher.

 

Earth Science (co-op 3hrs per week)--Because I have not been successful in putting much emphasis/focus on getting this done coherently.

 

English (co-op 3hrs per week)-Because at this point I believe that this particular child needs more discussion/interaction than I can giver her at home.

 

Latin (onlline 2 hrs per week) -Because I don't feel comfortable teaching this when I struggle with it myself.

 

Things we will be doing at home:

 

-Continuing with Rod and Staff English and dedicated word study.

-History using History Odyssey Ancients Level 3 substituting w/Western Civ.

-Nature Study

 

I'm sure it doesn't seem like we are homeschooling at this point, and I can understand that. However, I still have had the say in what is being taught and how and the co-op classes are smaller, and not too intense that she'll be overwhelmed, and she will be accountable to someone else-which for this child is very important, and the 2x a week schedule is more like what she will be dealing with in college.

 

Now, next year is next year and as long as all works out, I can forsee continuing on this path. Homeschooling for us has always been about creating personlized learning for each childs individual needs and abilities and I feel so fortunate that I have sooo many options to choose from to customize her learning.

[Mandy in TN]

We use a one day/ week tutorial that we started attending last January.

 

They have a homeschool newspaper, yearbook, student government, a volleyball team, an art show, a science fair, a robotics team, a talent show, drama productions, a speech tournament, a Fun/ Food/ and Fellowship Friday night once a month, a lock-in once a year, they are part of accelerated reader, and tons of other stuff including offering dual enrollment composition (they worked out an arrangement with the CC and a teacher comes to them). It has many of the benefits of a very small private school, but we only have to go once a week and my family gets to make the decisions about what classes the boys take.

 

It has worked for us. Their tutorials are listed as being for 8-12, but they will make exceptions. My 7th grader took Alg1 last year.

 

Sorry the tutorial close to you isn’t a good fit for your family-

Mandy

[DollyM]

Actually I help organize the local co-op here. Sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth (or seems so) but I will do it again next year. In the end I cannot do some of these courses myself and cannot afford to outsource all of them. This year my 9th grader took Spanish 1, and Java Programming at the co-op with other teachers and he took my Brit Lit and Research Paper courses. I like to try to get at least two of math, science or foreign language at the co-op.

 

When they get to high school, for me, I don't feel like I'm compromising our "home" schooling one iota just because we "farm out" certain subjects. I still direct the education program, still choose the curriculum, still give the grade (the grades of the "tutors" or coop instructors are in no way binding on me - sometimes we do extra stuff at home and I average that in, sometimes the teachers are ridiculously hard or easy graders, so I decide the final course grade,) and I still sign the transcript. ;o)

 

 

For me cautions about a co-op are who picks the curriculum. Who are the other kids participating. What is the plan if a teacher bails mid-year (happens). If those answers seem okay to me I'd do it.

[Jill- OK]

Next year begins our high school journey, and I was seriously toying with the idea of trying to get my oldest two into a fairly competitive co-op, but then I finally realized that it would not be the best thing for us, all around.

 

Carting Littles to and fro...gritting my teeth and teaching, myself...I just can't see it. I know they're awesome for many families, but I think it depends on Mom's personality, and the family's dynamic and goals. Would not work well for us. Right now, at least. Later? Maybe, I'll never say never, but...I'll say highly unlikely. :-)

 

Instead, I've made arrangements for the Bigs to take a Physical Science class that will act as a lab for our studies at home, made tentative plans for other outside classes...and begun to stretch my check-writing fingers. :-)

 

I'd soooo rather pay a dedicated professional and *walk away*, lol. Most co-ops cost in money, and time/energy...and I'm doing good to keep those last two going, as it is.