If you do co-op

[MrsMe]

I went to our co-op meeting last night, and for the life of me, I'm trying to figure out how people incorporate co-op subjects into their schooling. I know that if I did a science co-op that I just really wouldn't do science at home, but really, once a week? That's it? Some are teaching Algebraic math to 4-7th grades, but why would you only do algebra once a week and only do math then weekly? I can't imagine getting doing this in addition to whatever other math you'd be working on.

 

Unless it's a more time consuming class that would allow the student to study more during the week for the following week, I don't understand how doing a subject once a week would be enough. Obviously we're not talking about drama or fun-type subjects, but how really do you make this work? It seems it either adds to a work load or isn't enough.

 

Please tell me how you do it.

[Rosy]

I went to our co-op meeting last night, and for the life of me, I'm trying to figure out how people incorporate co-op subjects into their schooling. I know that if I did a science co-op that I just really wouldn't do science at home, but really, once a week? That's it? Some are teaching Algebraic math to 4-7th grades, but why would you only do algebra once a week and only do math then weekly? I can't imagine getting doing this in addition to whatever other math you'd be working on.

 

Unless it's a more time consuming class that would allow the student to study more during the week for the following week, I don't understand how doing a subject once a week would be enough. Obviously we're not talking about drama or fun-type subjects, but how really do you make this work? It seems it either adds to a work load or isn't enough.

 

Please tell me how you do it.

 

I think it can depend on the age of your kids and your educational goals. My kids were 3rd and down last year, so between the science they got at co-op and the stuff they learned on their own, I found that they were growing in knowledge and didn't need much more.

 

For older kids or more demanding subjects, I know that there are some classes where the teacher will do labs, tests, activities, etc. in class and assign reading and homework to be done during the week. Possibly that's how it would work with the Algebraic Math class? I know some parents just want someone else to teach the subject and assign the work. I think depending on the class, the parents might still be involved in explaining in more depth what the teacher discussed in class. I think it would be hard to teach math this way unless you were doing something a little more narrow, like fractions or decimals or statistics.

 

If you're familiar with SOTW, I'm planning to teach it where I would read the chapter, do the map work, do a couple activities, and then assign the outside reading to be done at home. I think you could teach history that way through high school, but assigning more and harder work. Same with literature--the reading and some analysis-type homework could be done independently and classtime would be for lecture/discussion.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

In my co-op classes, I give enough work for the entire week. The class time is used for instruction and discussion. The students work on their assignments and email them to me the day before class, so I can have the papers graded and returned the next class period. We don't teach math in our co-op, but we effectively teach Comp & Lit, History, Science, Logic, Art, and Spanish meeting on a weekly basis.

[Homemama2]

:bigear: I've been curious about this as well.

 

We joined a co-op for the first time this fall. It offers all kinds of classes (history, science, writing, even high school sciences that include labs like chemistry.) I've decided that this will mainly be for fun and to spend time with other kids. We signed up for things like art, gym, spanish (I have studied this during high school and college so I can add in more at home if I want), cooking....things like that. I still teach all the stuff I did last year, but rearranged it into a four day week. I have no idea if this will work well, or if we're going to feel burned out.

[Night Elf]

I agree with Rosy. It will depend. I wouldn't count on a class that meets once a week to be a full curriculum if there was nothing expected outside the course. In that case, I would consider it an enrichment class. Science and math concepts can be done as enrichment in addition to a regular program. I mean think about it. A class that teaches Algebraic math to multi-leveled students and meets only once a week without any additional work isn't really going to satisfy every grade level. I think of it as being a supplement, the way some people here use 2 programs for one subject.

 

My dd12 takes classes that meet only once a week but she does have some homework assigned outside the class. Last year she took Intro to Chemistry, Literature, and a Writing course. While she had less than 30 mins. of homework each day, I still considered the courses to be full programs that I did not have to add to at home. She's taking the same 3 subjects this year, only it's Biology instead of Chemistry. Our main purpose for the classes is the classroom interaction. She is the type of person who really needs to be around other people. Having a teacher and classmates makes the subject just have an entirely different feel to it. The biggest surprise and reward was that she loves her LA teacher so much, it helped her appreciate those subjects even more. It's awesome and well worth the money for our family.

[texasmama]

My boys will be doing Apologia science once weekly at a co op class this coming year. Homework including reading and a notebook will be done during the week so I would imagine we will be working on it at least two other days besides the co op day.

[Caitilin]

Our academic co-op does American History, Latin, writing, Oral Interp. (last year it was Speech), Geography, and Literature. Students have homework to do over the course of the week, and the class time is more given to instruction, demonstration, or correction, plus whatever activity the teacher has planned for that day. It's meant to "count," though, not be an enrichment only thing, so the parents' attitudes toward their kids' doing the homework reflects that standard.

 

Our other co-op does Art, Choir, and whatever unit study the X-grade teacher likes the look of. ;) That one is meant for enrichment, both social and academic, and the way it's run reflects that standard. I love that my kids get to practice choral and small group music, make artistic messes that I wouldn't let them make at home, practice having other authority figures, and spend time with their friends.

[ma23peas]

I agree with the others, in our experience, the co-op is just a facilitator...you STILL homeschool every day of the week with assignments...my son takes Chemistry one day a week for 3.5 hours but he's doing at least 6 hours of study/questions/take home quizzes at home before the next class..

 

I'm teaching a writing co-op and each child will have daily assignments...the benefit of having a co-op (at least with our family) is the benefit of labs (our science teacher has a fully decked out lab at her house, enough for 8-10 pairs of students to have their own burners/dissection trays etc.) and discussion opportunities and sharing of their creations in writing...two things I feel really add to their education..

 

HTH!

Tara

[woolybear]

Yes, I found that one hour a week was much more like an enrichment class. I could've used those classes as foundations and built on it at home. But not really. They often had single focus classes that didn't connect to our subjects at home. Also, the classes themselves were more like overviews.

 

We are not in the coop this year.

[mereminerals]

This is our 2nd year to participate in a co-op. It is extremely structured. The classes for elementary age are parent led classes, meaning each parent usually teaches 2 classes a semester with another parent. We have an outline we have to fill out and submit to the head of TRU classes. We then have to email the outline to all the parents by 9am the Friday before class (which are on Thursdays) so that parents are able to cover whichever topics need to be covered prior to class. Our TRU classes are more for hands-on activities that might not be done at home and as a final wrap up for the lessons. We do have set curriculum that is used for the classes. This year my dd 9 is taking history and science through the co-op.

 

For jr. high and high school grades, the classes are taught by someone who has a passion for the subject and are very in-depth. Each instructor emails a syllabus to the parents and a schedule of what to cover when prior to class starting. My ds 13 is taking Latin and Science at co-op. They really enjoy the classes.

[....]

My kids are taking science and history classes through an enrichment center (so, it's not technically a co-op), but I'm just looking at it as a supplement. It's also an opportunity for them to experience a classroom environment and work with a group. My kids are actually really excited about it. They'll go to a couple of classes a week, but it's not so overwhelming that they're gone all day, every day (like if they went to school).

[MrsMe]

My computer crashed separately from our lighting hit that fried our internet service so I'm now reading the answers to my question.:001_huh:

 

I have a friend that does coop every year and raves about it. So I thought I'd try it. But I was really hoping it would take the place of subject, because we live in the boonies to warrant the drive and the day off. Luckily it backs up to karate (even though we had to change the karate day). I just didn't really get the hoopla over all this. I saw that the older classes contained some work during the week but there wasn't much for 4th grade. Most was for K-2 or 3 and 6th on up. Things like writing (IEW) and Cornerstone Curric (Starting Points) seemed good, but again they were for older levels.

 

Anyway, it just doesn't strike me I guess. So now with our schedule for 4 on 1 off weekly schedule, the day "off" will be taken up by one co-op class that dd wants to do, which is Janice VanCleave's Physical science. But I suppose I'm really doing it for the "classroom" exposure dd seems to want.

Sigh.........