To co-op or not to co-op, that is the question...

[Deece in MN]

We have an opportunity to join a co-op this fall. I am teetering between joining or not joining. Here are my pros/cons:

 

Pros:

 

1. social interaction for my dc
   
2. academic focus
   
3. experience with someone else teaching beside mom
   

 

 

 

Cons:

 

1. 20 minute drive (gas prices and the fact that I don't like to drive make this a con)
   
2. cost ($1,080 for both dc for 3 classes each for the year. This is very reasonable, but I have already spent our hs budget and would have to pull money from other places to pay for this and that is why I list it as a con)
   
3. takes a day away from our other studies (co-op runs from 10:30am-2:45pm plus drive time)
   
4. homework that we will have to add to the rest of our work that we have to fit into 4 days to have a day available for the co-op
   

 

 

Neutral points:

 

1. The co-op is one day a week.
   
2. They are offering a literature class, speech/debate & art/choir.
   
3. They will be using Teaching the Classics in the lit. class. I just bought this at our hs conference and was planning on starting it in July. I don't think it would be a big deal for the kids to go through it twice, but is it necessary?
   
4. The co-op is run by a Catholic group and while I have no issue with that, we are not Catholic (we have no religious affiliation to speak of). They know this and are welcoming to us (which I appreciate because we have not been welcome in some other groups), but they are also unabashedly Catholic in their classes. My concern with that is that we don't know much about the Catholic faith and there will be times when something is discussed that my dc will have no clue about and might feel lost or out of place or that we will have extra work to learn about an aspect of the faith that is well-known to everyone else so that they can understand or complete an assignment. I hesitate to add this extra work to my dc.
   

 

 

I don't have a clear sense of if this would be a good thing for us or not. It is a big commitment, both in time and money. My dc are interested though I haven't brought up some of my concerns with them as I am still trying to work them out for myself. My dd is not excited about the speech/debate because she doesn't like speaking in front of people, but my dh & I think it is a good skill and that she would benefit from it. The other iffy class is the choir. My dc are not overly excited about that either. They are planning on singing gregorian chants and latin hymns. I think it would be fun to learn them, but the kids aren't convinced yet. :)

 

I also want to have a good first year of highschool. I struggle with keeping records and staying motivated and I don't want to fail my ds in this. I am not sure if this co-op would help or hurt.

 

Anyway, how do you decide to participate in something like this or not?

[Jane in NC]

so I cannot really provide BTDT advice. I will say, however, that there are days when I have wished we had the outside accountability factor of outside teaching. But I also appreciate how outside activities detract from a full slate of regular schoolwork. My son has participated in Envirothon competitions for several years with team meetings occuring during the afternoon one day a week. This has been a great social outlet--but it was a drag to have to come home to finish whatever schoolwork was ignored earlier in the day. Perhaps this won't be the case if your gang is doing literature in the co-op.

 

The choir opportunity sounds wonderful! I participated in my high school's debate team in 9th, learning a great deal about extemporaneous speaking. This is indeed a great life skill.

 

Good luck with the decision making.

Jane

[Deece in MN]

The problem with the lit. class is that I don't think it will be enough on its own to count for a credit. The class is from 10:30-11:45 so I am figuring about 1 hour of actual work. For 36 weeks this will be 36 hours plus whatever time it takes at home. This class is also being offered to 7th-10th grade students so I am not sure if it will be rigorous enough by itself to count for hs credit. I am figuring we will be adding it as a supplement to lit. we do at home to make it count for a hs credit.

 

I am excited about the other two classes. Oh, the thought just came to me that we could just do the art/choir and the speech/debate classes. This way we could do some of our work in the morning and then do the co-op in the afternoon (12:15-2:45pm)!

 

This is why I need a place to bounce ideas around because I hadn't thought about this option before, duh! This would also save us $360 if we don't do the lit. class.

 

Thanks for helping me think through this!

[Jane in NC]

Sounds like you found a solution!

 

The other comment that I will make is on the drive itself. Can you combine this with other errands (library, the grocery)?

 

Jane

[Sharon in MD]

I know every state is different, but here in MD there are several homeschool academies. Our academy is not strictly speaking a co-op, here, co-op means that the mom's take turns teaching a particular subject or running a group class. Our academy sounds more like what you are talking about though. Our academy offers jr and sr high classes one day a week. At the high school level, those courses count as 1 credit or 0.5 credits depending on the level of work required for the course. Most of the art and music courses are 0.5 credit while the regular academic courses are usually 1 full credit. These courses may only meet one time a week, but there is enough additional work to be done on them at home that easily justifies that full credit.

 

That being said, I'd ask about the literature class and what kind of work will be required of the students outside of class. Our son took an American Lit class at our academy this year and it was open to 9th through 12th graders. As such, it was not as rigorous as a lit class that was only open to 11th and 12th graders would usually be. However, I don't think that every course ds takes has to be the toughest version available (I know, I'm a heretic);)

 

Our son absolutely loves being part of the academy. I can't imagine high school for us without it. Our organization is quite large, they have a high school semi-formal banquet every year (in lieu of prom) and other social activities that are fun for the students. He has made so many good, close friends through the group.

 

Our son took Sr. high Speech this year....I'm so glad we required him to take it. It has dramatically improved his public speaking abilities and I would jump at the chance for debate if it were available to me. I think it is a marvelous opportunity.

 

It has been really good for my son to have other teachers to whom he must be accountable. It has been a relief to me not to have to teach all the courses myself for high school. It is challenging to teach high school at home, the academy relieves a little tiny bit of the pressure for me.

 

As for your concerns about scheduling, they are quite valid, you will loose the greater portion of that day every week. But, this is also a valuable lesson in time management for your kids. My son has had to learn how to budget his time better because of our co-op day. It sometimes means that he has homework on the weekend, but that is real life.

 

I also think that the choir sounds delightful. It is good for our children to be exposed to different music forms than they might choose for themselves. Even if they don't like it at first, or even at the end, they are likely to learn quite a bit from the experience, especially about singing parts and listening to the whole.

 

Can you tell that I would say Go for it!!! ? I have no regrets at all about our experience. These classes have been a real high light for our son!

 

:D

[Brenda in MA]

The problem with the lit. class is that I don't think it will be enough on its own to count for a credit. The class is from 10:30-11:45 so I am figuring about 1 hour of actual work. For 36 weeks this will be 36 hours plus whatever time it takes at home. This class is also being offered to 7th-10th grade students so I am not sure if it will be rigorous enough by itself to count for hs credit. I am figuring we will be adding it as a supplement to lit. we do at home to make it count for a hs credit.

Deece,

 

Before you abandon the idea of the literature class, could you find out what they are planning to cover? If it's enough for a high school credit, then that would be nice because it's great to have a classroom forum in which to discuss literature. The reason I suggest this is that my son just finished a lit class with Potter's School (on-line), and there were only 1.5 hours of class time each week, but he spent about 8 - 10 hours outside of class reading the books and completing the written assignments that were due each week. With that workload, I thought the class was definitely worthy of a high school credit.

 

You might also inquire if there is a way that your dc could try the literature class for the first month without committing to the entire year, since you're new to the co-op and you're not sure how it would work for you.

 

I really wish we had a similar arrangement to the one you describe. My 11th grader really has suffered a bit these last few years because he only has a few social outlets. Most of the hsers around here seem to send their teens to school, and it's hard to find friends for older kids.

 

Just some thoughts,

Brenda

[Deece in MN]

Sounds like you found a solution!

 

The other comment that I will make is on the drive itself. Can you combine this with other errands (library, the grocery)?

 

Jane

 

I wish I could. The town that we have to drive to is smaller than the one we live in and most of the shops are antique shops. The co-op is the only reason we would be going so I am going to have to figure out what I can do during this time. :)

[Deece in MN]

I know every state is different, but here in MD there are several homeschool academies. Our academy is not strictly speaking a co-op, here, co-op means that the mom's take turns teaching a particular subject or running a group class. Our academy sounds more like what you are talking about though. Our academy offers jr and sr high classes one day a week. At the high school level, those courses count as 1 credit or 0.5 credits depending on the level of work required for the course. Most of the art and music courses are 0.5 credit while the regular academic courses are usually 1 full credit. These courses may only meet one time a week, but there is enough additional work to be done on them at home that easily justifies that full credit.

 

That being said, I'd ask about the literature class and what kind of work will be required of the students outside of class. Our son took an American Lit class at our academy this year and it was open to 9th through 12th graders. As such, it was not as rigorous as a lit class that was only open to 11th and 12th graders would usually be. However, I don't think that every course ds takes has to be the toughest version available (I know, I'm a heretic);)

 

Our son absolutely loves being part of the academy. I can't imagine high school for us without it. Our organization is quite large, they have a high school semi-formal banquet every year (in lieu of prom) and other social activities that are fun for the students. He has made so many good, close friends through the group.

 

Our son took Sr. high Speech this year....I'm so glad we required him to take it. It has dramatically improved his public speaking abilities and I would jump at the chance for debate if it were available to me. I think it is a marvelous opportunity.

 

It has been really good for my son to have other teachers to whom he must be accountable. It has been a relief to me not to have to teach all the courses myself for high school. It is challenging to teach high school at home, the academy relieves a little tiny bit of the pressure for me.

 

As for your concerns about scheduling, they are quite valid, you will loose the greater portion of that day every week. But, this is also a valuable lesson in time management for your kids. My son has had to learn how to budget his time better because of our co-op day. It sometimes means that he has homework on the weekend, but that is real life.

 

I also think that the choir sounds delightful. It is good for our children to be exposed to different music forms than they might choose for themselves. Even if they don't like it at first, or even at the end, they are likely to learn quite a bit from the experience, especially about singing parts and listening to the whole.

 

Can you tell that I would say Go for it!!! ? I have no regrets at all about our experience. These classes have been a real high light for our son!

 

:D

 

Thank you, you have made some great points for me to consider. I guess this isn't really a co-op because the parents don't have to teach. They are paying teachers which is why the cost is somewhat high.

 

This is actually the first year they are doing this so I am not sure how it will all work out. When they have more information available, I will see what the lit. class involves.

 

I think the art/choir and speech classes will be great for my dc. I have wanted to do speech for a while now, but it really helps to have more people to talk in front of and get feedback from.

 

I think I am leaning towards doing the classes. I think it is just something that is so different from our normal routine that I am a little scared.

 

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

[Deece in MN]

Deece,

 

Before you abandon the idea of the literature class, could you find out what they are planning to cover? If it's enough for a high school credit, then that would be nice because it's great to have a classroom forum in which to discuss literature. The reason I suggest this is that my son just finished a lit class with Potter's School (on-line), and there were only 1.5 hours of class time each week, but he spent about 8 - 10 hours outside of class reading the books and completing the written assignments that were due each week. With that workload, I thought the class was definitely worthy of a high school credit.

 

You might also inquire if there is a way that your dc could try the literature class for the first month without committing to the entire year, since you're new to the co-op and you're not sure how it would work for you.

 

I really wish we had a similar arrangement to the one you describe. My 11th grader really has suffered a bit these last few years because he only has a few social outlets. Most of the hsers around here seem to send their teens to school, and it's hard to find friends for older kids.

 

Just some thoughts,

Brenda

 

Thank you, you are right. I will hold off on any final decision until I get more specific information. It would be nice to give them the opportunity to discuss lit. with others.

 

I appreciate the suggestion. I have a hard time letting things sit as I like to have final decisions made otherwise I dwell on the subject. I do thank you for helping me remember that I don't have to have everything decided now especially since I don't have all the information.

 

Thanks!

[Mostlyamom]

We are in a once/week co-op on an afternoon, and it continually amazes me how one hour of work in class can spur so many hours of work afterward. Some of the effort is related to wanting to make good comments in class, and some to not fall behind the "peers."

 

I wouldn't want to homeschool without some outside interaction like this, as it is so much fun. I especially like having tea with the parents afterward while the kids "hang out."

 

Pat

[lori in tx]

Deece

 

My dh and I were talking about our co-op last night, to get to our co-op every week is quite a doing. Our co-op is very important to the whole family we only have one car and dh has to take us, it is 20 min in the wrong direction. he takes us every Friday and leaves work early to pick us up, so it is important to him too.

 

The reason is it so important to us is:

-outside accountability-if your kids are going to go to college it is great to get them use to others people expectations and their acountability

-friends at this age are so important my very social dd has blossomed at co-op (it even helped her with her grooming issues she now showers without being asked:001_smile:)

-Homework is great because it once again gets the kids use to budgeting their time and also getting use to the idea if they are going to go to college

 

 

Our co-op is a lot like Sharons we have a prom and a homecoming every year. WE also have a yearbook that you can order every year that is wonderful, it is much better than the ones we got at public school and about 1/3rd the cost. We also get all our lab science at co-op, we could even take our math their but we are not because math is hard for my oldest.

 

I feel the friends my dd has made at co-op are good friends that she will have for years to come. No head games for her friends and I actually enjoy being around most of them. I love going to co-op I teach 3 classes and love my time teaching other kids and have made some wonderful friends.

 

I would wait and find out more information. The literature class sounds great are you doing history readings from living books (Like Tog and sonlight utitlizes) if so you would easily have your literature credit or you can count it with writing and grammar as an English credit.

 

hope I helped and not hindered

blessings

lori

[Deece in MN]

We are in a once/week co-op on an afternoon, and it continually amazes me how one hour of work in class can spur so many hours of work afterward. Some of the effort is related to wanting to make good comments in class, and some to not fall behind the "peers."

 

I wouldn't want to homeschool without some outside interaction like this, as it is so much fun. I especially like having tea with the parents afterward while the kids "hang out."

 

Pat

 

Deece

 

The reason is it so important to us is:

-outside accountability-if your kids are going to go to college it is great to get them use to others people expectations and their acountability

-friends at this age are so important my very social dd has blossomed at co-op (it even helped her with her grooming issues she now showers without being asked:001_smile:)

-Homework is great because it once again gets the kids use to budgeting their time and also getting use to the idea if they are going to go to college

 

 

I feel the friends my dd has made at co-op are good friends that she will have for years to come. No head games for her friends and I actually enjoy being around most of them. I love going to co-op I teach 3 classes and love my time teaching other kids and have made some wonderful friends.

 

I would wait and find out more information. The literature class sounds great are you doing history readings from living books (Like Tog and sonlight utitlizes) if so you would easily have your literature credit or you can count it with writing and grammar as an English credit.

 

hope I helped and not hindered

blessings

lori

 

Thank you both for your comments/suggestions. The reasons you stated for enjoying your co-ops are the reasons I am leaning towards participating. It will be an adjustment for me with the driving and the scheduling, but I am not hs'ing for my convenience, am I?! :)

 

I am going to hold off on a final decision until I get more detailed information about the classes/schedule/etc.

 

I appreciate your responses. Thank you!