Co-ops. Good and bad ones contrasted.

[HS Mom in NC]

In an attempt make these co-op discussions more constructive and helpful to those considering joining or starting them, let's talk about our experiences with co-ops.

 

1. What makes the good co-ops good?

 

2. What makes the bad co-ops bad?

 

3. What kinds of co-ops would you be interested in joining or starting if you had the opportunity?

[Bang!Zoom!]

I could join several in this area; but after reading here about them, no thanks.

[chepyl]

I don't have that much experience, but here are my thoughts.

 

What makes a good co-op:

 

1. Well organized. The co-op we are currently a part of is well organized. Enrollment was done online. Payments could be made online, or in person. We arrived the first day and received a map with class assignments marked. It was easy to find a committee member if we had a question. For the first two weeks everything has run very smoothly.

 

2. It has a purpose/mission and offers classes that meet those goals. The purpose is made clear to all those who wish to participate.

*An academic co-op offering classes for credit should list themselves as such and should provide qualified instructors. I would expect this co-op to be more expensive as I would be paying for someone more qualified than myself.

*An enrichment or social co-op should definitely be advertised as such. These classes would be more fun or practical - art, cooking, sewing, pe, etc. I would expect these classes to be less expensive. We are attending a co-op like this. There is bow making, candy making, pe, preschool - first grade students are in literature based fun classes (they read a story and do an art project around that story.) They also play and make friends. We pay a facility fee, insurance, and a supply fee. I teach a Shakespeare class, the cost of the class was $25 per student. This is the cost of acquiring scripts for each student for reading aloud in class.

 

3. Instructors are qualified to teach the subject they are offering. I don't think someone who struggles with math should lead a Calculus tutoring class. BUT as an enrichment class...someone with out extensive biology experience COULD lead a biology lab class where kids would do some basic biology and get to do some dissections as a group. Same for a basic chem lab. These classes would NOT replace a full chemistry or biology curriculum taught at home. They would be meant to enhance that experience. In a situation like this, it should be made clear to parents and students that the class is not intended to replace a full study of the topic.

 

4. Support for parents. This is one of the aspects I look forward to most, getting to know other homeschool parents and having a support network nearby. I love this forum for support, it has been a great help to me; but I need people to talk to in person sometimes. :D

 

**For me and my children, co-op does not replace what we do at home. It enhances it. I am HORRIBLE at coming up with fun craft ideas. My kids come home each week with fun little projects. They are also making friends. We go to a very large church, it is hard to make friends at their age, when attendance is not consistent. Co-op gives them a consistent group of friends outside of our dance studio.

[ccm]

In an attempt make these co-op discussions more constructive and helpful to those considering joining or starting them, let's talk about our experiences with co-ops.

 

1. What makes the good co-ops good? Organization

 

2. What makes the bad co-ops bad? Disorganization

 

3. What kinds of co-ops would you be interested in joining or starting if you had the opportunity? An organized one. ;)

 

I have been involved with three co-ops over the years and I'd have to say that a well-organized group is key. The one we are attending this year is fantastic and has been a blessing to us in our homeschooling journey.

[Mrs Mungo]

I don't think it is so much that there are good and bad co-ops. I think it's more of a matter of certain types of situations do or don't work for individual kids/families.

[Alice]

We are in one which I think is very good.

 

1) It is well-organized. It is officially a ministry of a church and the person who started and is the head of the co-op is one of the assistant pastors at the church. This means he is PAID and able to put a lot of time and energy into the co-op. It has been around a long time (20 years) and so they have worked out a lot of the kinks and it runs smoothly.

 

2) Something is offered for every age. We have nursery, preschool, kindergarten, elementary, jr. high and high school level classes. Because it is so large they are strict about age requirements for certain classes. This means that a high school level class truly only has high schoolers.

 

3) It is very inexpensive. I can't remember the breakdown but for my three children for the entire year its $170.

 

4) For the younger kids and elementary there are set classes offered. These are mostly non-academic, which I personally prefer. This means that it doesn't interfere or compete with what we are doing at home and there aren't assignments during the week. They also aren't pure fluff. For kids roughly in 1st-4th grades they do choir, PE, drama, art, handbells, science, Five in a Row and Geography/History. The science and history are nice supplements but are just stand-alone classes and don't overlap or interfere with our other studies.

 

5) For older kids there are a wide variety of electives offered. This means people can use the co-op as they want. We offer academic classes that can be taken for a grade and credit (IEW, Government, Anatomy, Chemistry, various languages) or there are classes like drama, art, PE, cooking, sewing that are not at all academic. Then there are in between kind of classes like American Girl book club or a Boys Only book club or Finances or Lego Robotics.

 

6) Because it's so big it offers a lot of other opportunities. There is a very active Speech and Debate club, an Odyssey of the Mind club, a 4H club. There are a lot of field trips during the year that are purely optional. There is a very active drama program (the pinnacle of which is a Shakespeare class). The higher level drama classes require auditions. The entire drama program culminates in a very high quality drama week with multiple performances. It was so fantastic last year that my very shy son says he wants to do drama when he gets to that age because he wants to be in a play there.

 

7) The teachers are all well-qualified (at least all the ones I know). Everyone is required to have a job but not everyone is required to be a head teacher. Each class has at least 2 teachers and some have 3. This means you can observe for a few years or assistant teach on a subject before attempting to teach. Many people do that and learn from each other. Head teachers are only assigned to a subject after they propose to teach it, this means that they feel they are qualified. I know there is a difference between knowing a subject and teaching it but all I can so is so far I've been impressed. There probably are some bad teachers, I just haven't interacted with them myself. At the very least, the teachers should be very knowledgeable on their subject even if they are not a natural teacher.

 

8) It provides a lot of social opportunities. There are the field trips. There is lunch together each week which is a highlight for my kids. The high school kids (and there about 100 high schoolers) also do several parties through the year.

 

9) Support for me. Each week I am part of a support group. This is an hour where we have refreshments, pray together and either have a speaker or just socialize or do things like curriculum swap. There is also the informal time to see people and just the enormous resources and networking of being part of a large group.

 

10) It's only half a day. We meet one morning each week and I like that it doesn't take away a whole day. We typically don't do school that afternoon but I use it for doing something social or a fun activity or an errand or appointment.

 

I don't think co-ops are necessary for socialization or for extra classes. It has been something we really enjoy and that enhances our homeschool.

[TravelingChris]

I have participated in three co-ops= all were different. All were good. The first one was the least organized but since we had only three groups, based approximately by age, it worked. The older kids did dram with a very qualified teacher. The middle group of kids did world geography and each parent chose two countries to highlight in the year.Each parent did do a good job, they had different focuses on what they featured from each country but the kids learned and had fun. Parents learned too. The youngest kids did art with a teacher who was qualified.

 

In the next co-op,, it was super organized. The woman running it was an organizational genius. All parents helped and classes were run by people who had interests and talents in the area. Very well run and my daughter learned a lot in most classes (one not so much but it was because I chose a too easy class for her by mistake).

 

The final co-op had been in operation for 18 years. Again, teachers were very well qualified. We had lawyers teaching public speaking and IT professionals teaching programming. We had native speakers teaching languages, parents who had great interests in given subjects sharing their knowledge. None of the six classes my two girls took in the two years was a waste.

 

Oh and I think one of the ways the coops worked so well is that there were no whiny parents and discipline was maintained. NOt crazy discipline, but a good learning environment.

 

Now my youngest is in a homeschool academy and again no problems at all. High expectations, good behavior by students.

 

IN the five years I was associated with these two groups, I saw two different problems. In the first group, there was a Mom with rambunctious boys and another mom with a Mama;s boy. We had to institute bathroom rules and playground rules (Boys were playing with soap dispensers).Mom with whiny boy found a new group. Then in the second group, there was a truly disruptive kid. He was in the group for two weeks and then was asked to leave after repeated attempts to get him to obey rules. (Rules such as not running out of the class during class, not climbing on bleachers (church rule), not using bad language, etc). Then no more problems. The third group didn't have any real problems and it was by far the largest group.

[Lily_Grace]

I think we have a good co-op. The rules and expectations are laid out upfront (including mandatory parent participation) and the classes are kept small and age appropriate. Everyone genuinely wants to be there and do what they can to help make things run smoothly - and they all parent their own kids and those around them. There's no trying to get away with stuff or being little twits because they WILL get called out on it.

[Alice]

 

The final co-op had been in operation for 18 years. Again, teachers were very well qualified. We had lawyers teaching public speaking and IT professionals teaching programming. We had native speakers teaching languages, parents who had great interests in given subjects sharing their knowledge. None of the six classes my two girls took in the two years was a waste.

 

Oh and I think one of the ways the coops worked so well is that there were no whiny parents and discipline was maintained. NOt crazy discipline, but a good learning environment.

 

 

Hey, Chris. We miss you. :)

[Soror]

I think any good one is going to have organization but there are different types. We do a co-op for socializing- field trips(active, educational and just for fun) and service projects. Right now I'm content with what education we do at home and there are no local offerings for academic co-ops. Also, at this age we have any time that we can get our work done in 4 days fairly easily. That might change at some point for now it works well.

[catz]

We have done MANY homeschool classes through co-ops and other places like museums. Some classes are wonderful. Some are duds. A couple observations

 

1. Good classes tend to be taught by a professional. Either a professional teacher or in their field (i.e. science). They tend to be open ended so kids can dive in as they are interested and able and work for a range of abilities.

 

2. Parent lead classes tend to be of mixed quality in my experience. I can only think of one parent led class my oldest took that was engaging and worthwhile. It was a Harry Potter class. The entire class read the first book and then went on to design a board game based on the book (or the series). It was designed for gifted kids. It tended to be a more discussion based class rather than someone saying "I'm teaching now - sit in your chair and be quiet". It was dynamic and open ended.

 

3. Co-ops that look or feel like regular school complete with boxed curriculum and busy work are not for us.

 

Honestly after experiencing both settings (co-ops and other homeschool classes). In general, I prefer classes in museum settings. I can drop off for one! The quality of the teaching and materials is generally better. My son took science last year at the science museum as a 4th grader. It was taught by an MBA in science. They dissected fish, squid, and flowers during their evolutionary biology class. And then went on to do punnet squares and make DNA models in their genetics class. It was marketed to 10-13 year olds.

 

We also attend a homeschool organized Spanish class taught by a native speaker that teaches professionally in many settings. She is amazing with multi level classes. My 4th grader and 1st grader were in the same class last year and that totally worked.

 

Our local co-op for gifted kids is good. BUT not so good consistently that it was worth a day out of our week the entire year. I kind of prefer short term commitments (4-6 weeks are good).

[Paisley Hedgehog]

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[Sevilla]

To have a good coop you need leadership who has a clear (and practical) vision for the group and also possesses these things:

 

1. Good communication

2. Strong organization

3. Follow-through on what they say will happen

 

The group should also have clearly laid out expectations for staff and students, and make clear upfront what the costs and committment are for the coop so that no one is blindsided.

[SonshineLearner]

This is so helpful for me :) I am co-running a co-op and we're trying SOOOO hard to have an academic, well organized, pleasant loving co-op. Small order, eh?? :) We are using SOTW I-IV for our history... and doing the projects and such.... We have God's Design for Science, Artistic Pursuits for Art. I have only done 2 wks of History but am liking to teach... it's so well laid out, that it's perfect for co-op. I think that it works well for just about anyone to teach :)

Anyway, organizing the co-op has been a bit difficult... getting all the teachers swapped out to the next spot they're suppose to be in.... I'm really excited to hear tips! ;)

[Sevilla]

This is so helpful for me :) I am co-running a co-op and we're trying SOOOO hard to have an academic, well organized, pleasant loving co-op. Small order, eh?? :) We are using SOTW I-IV for our history... and doing the projects and such.... We have God's Design for Science, Artistic Pursuits for Art. I have only done 2 wks of History but am liking to teach... it's so well laid out, that it's perfect for co-op. I think that it works well for just about anyone to teach :)

Anyway, organizing the co-op has been a bit difficult... getting all the teachers swapped out to the next spot they're suppose to be in.... I'm really excited to hear tips! ;)

What I have found works well is that one of the leadership needs training/experience in organizational management (i.e., someone with a business degree works well but that's not the only opportunity for that sort of experience). Administration is a totally different skill from teaching, and you need leaders with strong administration skills or the coop will fall apart within a year or two.

 

I would also recommend talking with experienced coop leaders in the area (or in other parts of the country) who can talk you through the start-up of the early years, training, etc...

[Lily_Grace]

This is so helpful for me :) I am co-running a co-op and we're trying SOOOO hard to have an academic, well organized, pleasant loving co-op. Small order, eh?? :) We are using SOTW I-IV for our history... and doing the projects and such.... We have God's Design for Science, Artistic Pursuits for Art. I have only done 2 wks of History but am liking to teach... it's so well laid out, that it's perfect for co-op. I think that it works well for just about anyone to teach :)

Anyway, organizing the co-op has been a bit difficult... getting all the teachers swapped out to the next spot they're suppose to be in.... I'm really excited to hear tips! ;)

 

Our co-op leader sent this article out for us the first week of classes: Co-op Classes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It was a good read. :)

[SonshineLearner]

What I have found works well is that one of the leadership needs training/experience in organizational management (i.e., someone with a business degree works well but that's not the only opportunity for that sort of experience). Administration is a totally different skill from teaching, and you need leaders with strong administration skills or the coop will fall apart within a year or two.

 

I would also recommend talking with experienced coop leaders in the area (or in other parts of the country) who can talk you through the start-up of the early years, training, etc...

 

Thanks for this thought :) My friend actually has a business degree, and I ran a Classical Conversations group for 3 years, so along with the bumps and bruises I learned :) I also worked retail for a long time.... Course... we're doing this all for free... so it's hopefully an easier "sell" :) You're right... the organizational and interpersonal skills are for sure needed!!;)

[Penelope]

I would want one that is organized, a mix of academic and electives with plenty of choice. There are some years I might like science or writing being taken care of by a co-op, and other years I'd rather just have them take art and P.E. and do all the academics myself. Age would factor into this, I think.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Penelope

[angela in ohio]

I can take this one. I've been in so many:

1.) A medium-sized co-op when my dc were very little (8 and under) that was very relaxed academically

2.) A classical co-op that wasn't really a co-op (just a few of us taught)

3.) A large poorly organized co-op

4.) Classical Conversations (first as Director of F/E and then as Challenge Director

5.) A very small group with a few other families that I ran last year

6.) A large, well-run academic co-op focused on high schoolers (currently in this one)

 

Along the way, we've done some other bits of co-op work here and there for specific subject areas: geography, literature, public speaking.

 

I'm going to answer without reading the other posts...

 

I think the two biggest issues are handling trouble makers (remember: any homeschool group is like an unstable third world country - always ready for a coup) and getting quality teachers. People are willing to put up with other minor problems as long as the teachers are good, and if you can keep trouble out, your group will last.

 

A good co-op is organized, but doesn't have leaders with a power trip (micromanagement,) because that creates passiveness in the other members. There is stable leadership, and there is someone in leadership who is willing to ask trouble makers to leave right away (and a clear process for doing so.) I have never been the type of person to do that (dh is the born leader, I just get thrust into it,) and I'm sorry as I look back on the homeschool groups and co-ops I have been in as a leader.

 

A good co-op has qualified teachers. Classes are organized based on who CAN teach what first. If someone can't teach an area, it is hired out.

 

A good co-op doesn't let everyone in. There is a process for applying and criteria for selection (the one I am currently in called two references.)

 

A good co-op has members of a similar intent. It can be a relaxed co-op or an academic co-op, but trying to be both is a disaster.

 

I had sworn off anything but a few families and no drama, but my dds wanted high school Spanish, ASL, and engineering classes that a local co-op offered, and I wanted a speech class/team for them, so we are at it again. :D So far, so good.

 

Thought of one more: A good co-op has at least a few people in leadership who aren't bandwagon or lets-try-every-cute-idea-we-see people, because this creates a lack of focus and continuity. There need to be a few level-headed people who think about the pros and cons (you know, use logic) before a decision is made. :D

Edited September 21, 2011 by angela in ohio
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