Expectations for your child in a co-op?

[Mommy22alyns]

I'm just confused here. The girls are in a one day a week co-op. Anything they learn there is gravy; I teach a full slate of subjects at home. They're mainly there to make friends & have fun . So Rebecca's third grade teacher sent home a note asking for our expectations of our child in her class. :confused: Ummm, don't burn the place down? How am I supposed to answer this?

[Melinda in VT]

It sounds like the teacher is trying to figure out if the parents are expecting the kids to learn anything, or if they are all just there for socializing. For her sake, I hope the parents all respond the same way. I think it would be challenging to teach a class if the parents were divided on the purpose.

 

In your case, it sounds like your expectation is that your daughter interact appropriately with her classmates and teacher.

[Sarah CB]

I think Melinda's right. Some parents are looking to co-op to ease some of their teaching load. We have co-op 1.5 days out of the week and in order to spend that kind of time out of the house I have to know that they're actually covering some material. The advantage to co-op is being able to do lots of group work and fun activities that make more sense in a crowd (plus things like literary and history discussions) so I would also expect that it isn't a typical lecture environment. I want the kids interacting with each other, learning together, and doing some outside-the-box project work. I also expect the teacher to communicate what has been covered in co-op so that I know what I need to do (if anything) for that subject at home.

 

In our co-op we cover science, writing instruction, French, and there is a group of us that will be doing TOG hands-on projects and dialectic discussions at co-op.

[shanvan]

It sounds like the teacher is trying to figure out if the parents are expecting the kids to learn anything, or if they are all just there for socializing. For her sake, I hope the parents all respond the same way. I think it would be challenging to teach a class if the parents were divided on the purpose.

 

:iagree:Speaking from experience, it is difficult to teach in a co-op class when some want real learning and others want socializing.

In your case, it sounds like your expectation is that your daughter interact appropriately with her classmates and teacher.

 

As someone who volunteered for teaching co-op classes for years, I really don't see how a 'class' purpose can be to socialize. To me that is what park days are for.

 

If you want socializing you can't come up with 10 different classes in subject areas and expect people to 'teach', plan lessons, and deal with behavior issues (sometimes arising from the kids who want to wander around the room and socialize). If it is for socialization purposes then make it plain in the class descriptions.

 

It would also be pointless to put a lot of time and effort into planning a class if the kids ignore the teacher so they can 'play' with the other kids--especially if the 'teacher' was under the impression that she was actually expected to 'teach'. Then you end up with adults who don't want to volunteer to teach. :glare:

 

It does sound like the teacher in this case is trying to figure out what the parents expect, so she can plan accordingly.

 

On the other hand, I would never expect a co-op class to provide enough instruction that it would relieve me from teaching the subject at home. The best co-op classes we ever had that were able to meet both the needs of the socializers and the parents who wanted learning were a book club and a phys ed class. The kids got to interact a lot, but within parameters of the class.

 

It's definitely best to make sure the parents and the volunteers doing the actual teaching are in agreement on the focus of the classes (learning vs socializing).

 

[regentrude]

Tell them that you want co-op to be an opportunity for friends and fun.

Some parents (myself included) expect co-op to be of academic value and are disappointed if that is not the case.

It is great that the teacher asks this question, so that she can structure co-op according to parent's expectations.

[Farrar]

Yeah, I wouldn't take it amiss. She's just trying to get a feel for her students and her parents too. Doing that will lead to a lot fewer misunderstandings, I would think. It may be that your answer is just the one she's hoping for too.

[momofkhm]

I also look at the co-op as fluff. If all they take is an art class, I'm ok with that. I teach a full load at home so I don't look for the classes to be academic. I actually like it when the co-op offers a PE class, art, nutrition, things that require discussion. One and one discussions just don't pull in a lot of views. I enjoy talking with my kids, don't get me wrong, but a one on one discussion ends up being a lecture more times than not.

 

That all being said (fluff) classes, I do expect my kids to learn what is being taught. This is their classroom experience before going off to college. Of course, mine are also older than yours.

 

Next year (fall 2012/spring 2013) I hope the co-op with offer science for the labs. Labs at home just don't tend to get done when there are only 2 of us.

[Farrar]

As someone who volunteered for teaching co-op classes for years, I really don't see how a 'class' purpose can be to socialize. To me that is what park days are for.

 

But I think learning to be in a group, work together with others, learn from peers, collaborate, listen, compromise, etc. are all reasonable social goals that one could expect one's child to get in a classroom environment. There's a huge amount of social learning that happens in the classroom - and on the playground - they're just different kinds. A parent might well send their child to a co-op class with the hope that they learn those sorts of skills and not care much about how well they do with the content piece of the course.

 

Kids and parents who expect that they can wander out of a class, be disrespectful or blow off a commitment because it's "just for socialization" is another issue to me.

[KungFuPanda]

I was scandalized our first year in co-op when the kids just did not do their homework. Scandalized! I couldn't believe people would put their kids in someone else's class and not make sure the homework was completed. If they didn't like the assignment, they just skipped it. My son is disabled and delayed and he turned in EVERY assignment.

 

For me, I would expect my child to adhere to classroom standards of academics and behavior to the best of his ability.

[shanvan]

But I think learning to be in a group, work together with others, learn from peers, collaborate, listen, compromise, etc. are all reasonable social goals that one could expect one's child to get in a classroom environment. There's a huge amount of social learning that happens in the classroom - and on the playground - they're just different kinds. A parent might well send their child to a co-op class with the hope that they learn those sorts of skills and not care much about how well they do with the content piece of the course.

 

:iagree:This type of social interaction I am all for.

 

Kids and parents who expect that they can wander out of a class, be disrespectful or blow off a commitment because it's "just for socialization" is another issue to me.

 

Yup! Whenever I encountered parents who thought co-op was for social purposes they meant just what you typed (and I bolded) directly above. They were not interested in "learning to be in a group, work together with others, learn from peers, collaborate, listen, compromise, etc." (all goals for my classes) and would offer me no support in achieving those goals with their children. What they wanted was the option for their children to show up late and basically just ignore any limits or work they didn't feel inclined towards. I was researching, writing lesson plans, and gathering materials for people who wanted a play date for themselves and their kids.

To make matters worse, there were a few parents who wanted valid learning to occur. When those parents taught the classes were worthwhile, but other volunteer teachers would show up with very little for the kids to do and sometimes completely unprepared. It was a mess. Too many different agendas going on. The leaders wouldn't make any clear statements of purpose b/c they didn't want to lose people. Ironically, that's why I stopped teaching at co-op and also why we no longer attend.

 

I find that the older my kids get (13 & 10) the more academic value there must be in a class in order for me to leave the house or volunteer my time.

[celticmom]

I would state that you regard the coop class as an enrichment class rather than a core class. That would avoid any miscommunication over the word socialization since it seems to have different meanings for different people.

[Bassoonaroo]

I run a co-op with about 30 families and we state that the older the kids get the more serious the classes are. No, we're not about simply social time; the young students DO learn, but it's usually fun and extra stuff. It's truly enrichment.

 

So, the youngest kids don't have homework.

 

By later elementary, often the kids have light homework, maybe write a paragraph or bring in a favorite book on an animal, or something like that.

 

By middle school and high school the classes don't have an enrichment flavor anymore. They are "real" for-credit classes where the students are expected to do considerable homework and they receive a grade.

 

It works for us.

 

It's good to put all the cards on the table at the beginning of the semester/year (or when joining a co-op) to know what is expected of the children. If a class is a not a good fit, it is a good hour to take a study hall...