Starting a co-op any books you suggest I should read first?

[AmyontheFarm]

I am hosting a science lab class in my home.  Honestly, this is my creative way to allow my son more access to his friends.  I sent the invite out to selected parents.   Anyway, we are going to be doing Apologia General Science.

 

The kids will do all their book work at home, I will be facilitating the actual labs and writing up of the lab reports.  I told parents that I would be capping the classes to make sure everyone fits in my kitchen.

 

We will meet basically every other week.  Parents already have the schedule.  So far, I have 3 students including my son.  One I'm nervous about because Mom has already made a statement about having to meet with me to review when I "think" I'll be doing the labs.  I shut her down politely and told her this was the schedule.  Period.  If our house has an illness, then I will reschedule with the families.  Basically, my house, my rules.  Was this bad of me?

 

As I was talking with other parents, I was approached to see if I would be doing this with my daughter when she gets to the grade.  Without thinking, I said yes, because I would like to do this with her too.  In 2 years from now.  Which means that in 2 years I will be hosting 2 sets of lab classes.  One mother smiled and commented that if I kept tutoring Essay writing and developed that into a class, I could be full blown into running an academic high school co-op.

 

This had me thinking that I better start reading up about starting a co-op before I come close to making a decision to even start running two lab classes.  It's a huge step to go from teaching a few science classes and an Essay writing class, to running a co-op.  However, I have one Mom interested in teaching Maths, another would be happy to come along side and do Literature study.  It wouldn't be hard for us to pull together and have an actual co-op.

 

So, can you suggest any books to read about starting a co-op?

[mom2att]

There aren't a terrible number of books on starting co-ops out there, but I found this one, by Carol Topp, very helpful.

 

 

[Veritaserum]

I read Carol Topp's this spring as I organized a homeschool group set to start in September. Last year I taught two weekly history/literature classes (two age groups). My kids benefitted from having peers for the discussions and it forced me to follow through with projects and such. However, it also burned me out.

 

The group I created this year is a cooperative effort. Every parent will help in some capacity each time we meet. Spreading the load is important, IMO, unless you're charging enough money to adequately compensate you for your time and energy.

[i.love.lucy]

I thought this was a good read:  http://www.expandingwisdom.com/p/starting-classical-co-op.html

 

A friend and I are teaching a small group of high schoolers this year. I'm teaching writing/lit using LToW, and she's using ToG to teach Ancients.  Our goal is to get this group (which includes our two eldest kids) through the 4 year history cycle through high school.  Then we eventually had 12 other kids join us!  We also had to have a plan for younger siblings, so this is now explanding to planning a full out co-op for next year.  I'm on the hunt for resources and discussion. 

 

Those that teach HS writing in a co-op setting, may I ask what you use for writing?  We are using LToW, which I love, but I am not sure all the parents or kids would want to do LToW 2 for sophomore year.  They may want to have a year with guided instruction for different types of essays/research papers, however I still hope to combine it with literature.  Unsure what direction to take.

[KungFuPanda]

I think you're doing fine. Just start slow and KEEP saying "no" to special requests :-) You will eventually outgrow your house, or find that you want to teach, but you don't want people in your home so often, so you may want to scout out some communal space.

 

P.S. I'd LOVE to know how your conversation eventually turns out with that lady. WHAT was she thinking? "You're doing all the work and hosting, but I really need you to switch to a schedule that meets MY needs."

[HS Mom in NC]

Not a book recommendation but a veteran's point of view. First of all, do you really mean co-op?  A co-op is where parents all contribute to the co-op beyond dropping off and picking up.  Do you mean class? I would strongly advise against an academic co-op for social purposes. The biggest problem with co-ops, in my experience, is having conflicting purposes among the parents and it seems to me you have conflicting goals yourself.  If you want a co-op so your son can have friends, then don't teach an academic subject.  If you want a co-op as an academic subject, don't decide friendships are your primary goal.  Decide what you really want and focus on that one thing. When people join, you need to make it very clear to them what your goal is.

 

There is nothing more irritating than having people show up to an academic co-op to make friends.  They don't do the homework, they don't pay as close attention, they don't attend regularly. I have personally attended a book club where people didn't read the book and when asked what they thought about it they said things like, "Oh, we're just here to socialize."  I've heard half a dozen stories about how poor the academic co-op is because the person leading it will sacrifice teaching time for the kids to chat and hang out.  The standards for assignments tend to be lower and the class itself more unstructured. Most homeschoolers have limited time for these things and most expect an academic co-op to be rigorous and structured.

 

I've also been to social co-ops (in this case parents are taking turns doing some sort of social activity) where some were more diligent with making plans and getting information out than others.  A lot of homeschoolers are fly by the seat of your pants last minute types. If you're doing a true co-op think about how you'll deal with these kinds of issues.

[AmyontheFarm]

A co-op is where parents all contribute to the co-op beyond dropping off and picking up.  Do you mean class? When people join, you need to make it very clear to them what your goal is.

 

There is nothing more irritating than having people show up to an academic co-op to make friends.  They don't do the homework, they don't pay as close attention, they don't attend regularly. I have personally attended a book club where people didn't read the book and when asked what they thought about it they said things like, "Oh, we're just here to socialize."  I've heard half a dozen stories about how poor the academic co-op is because the person leading it will sacrifice teaching time for the kids to chat and hang out.  The standards for assignments tend to be lower and the class itself more unstructured. Most homeschoolers have limited time for these things and most expect an academic co-op to be rigorous and structured.

 

I've also been to social co-ops (in this case parents are taking turns doing some sort of social activity) where some were more diligent with making plans and getting information out than others.  A lot of homeschoolers are fly by the seat of your pants last minute types. If you're doing a true co-op think about how you'll deal with these kinds of issues.

 

The Co-op my kids go to for now is really just "social time" disguised as classes.  I've been told repeatedly by one group of mothers that my classes are too tough and I needed to tune down the "school" portion of my classes because their special snowflakes just want to have fun!  I'm not catering to this crowd.  I did not invite these parents to take part in this science lab class.

 

The other crowd loves that I challenge their children, that I send homework home and follow up on it.  I expect them to come prepared and I don't tolerate bullying or horseplay.  We are there to work.  Two mothers demanded their children be put into my class last year because they knew their children would be safe to learn there.  They want someone who will lighten their load and expect their children to work hard while having a lot of fun.  I love my kids and we have a great time together but we also work hard.

 

When I said I wanted my son to be able to access his friends more, I meant to work with them in a lab setting without the special snowflakes and their drama.  All the children will be attending the Social co-op from 9-noon,  then eating their lunches either at the co-op gym, in town with their parents or at our farm.  Then at 1:30pm we will start our science lab class and get some actual work done for the day.

 

At this point I am hosting a class.  It might merge in the future to a co-op but I'm not going to stress about it.  I'll just start reading and working towards what my children need.  I felt bad for about 2 minutes that I stated that there would be a limited number of students and I would cap the class so we could work comfortably in my kitchen.  My girlfriend says this is code for "This is a snowflake free zone".  So, far I have a nice small group and if I don't get any more than this, than great!

[shanvan]

OP, I don't have a book to recommend, just some general ideas after spending this summer organizing co-ops and classes.  These are the issues I've had:

 

1. Be very clear on your decision making process.  We had one very strong personality acting like she was in charge of everything right down to telling some of the teachers what to teach so that her literature class would be easier for HER to teach.  Several of us finally sat down with her and, in the nicest way possible, asked who died and made her queen.  Just kidding.  We did tell her we need a decision making protocol.  She had also decided on how much of an offering we were going to give the church w/o even discussing.   I raised a fuss b/c it was a ridiculous amount for me and she wanted to collect it all at once.

 

2. Also be very clear on who is filling what role and just what they are and are not responsible for.  

 

3.  If you are holding it somewhere other than your home, start looking for locations well in advance.  The person responsible for this in our group waited far too long and we did not know until a week ago where we were holding classes.

 

4. If any of the classes are really going to be co-ops, be clear on just how it will function, and be sure to get feedback and input from all those involved.  I thought it was the strangest thing when the same strong personality decide literature would be a co-op and then proceeded to plan the entire year including how many essays would be assigned, without ANY input from the other parents.  

 

I was in the same position you are in years ago, attending a co-op where many of the kids just came to see other kids and parents didn't want to focus on academics.  Now, if I teach a class or co-op, I hand pick who is involved and make it very clear that ir is an academic venture, not a social one.  Still, classes I taught last year have turned out to lead to friendships, so they academic and social are not always mutually exclusive.

 

Those that teach HS writing in a co-op setting, may I ask what you use for writing?  We are using LToW, which I love, but I am not sure all the parents or kids would want to do LToW 2 for sophomore year.  They may want to have a year with guided instruction for different types of essays/research papers, however I still hope to combine it with literature.  Unsure what direction to take.

I taught a HS writing class last year using IEW's Continuation Course level C.  I don't know that I would recommend the entire course.  I was frustrated by it in many ways, and by the time I got done tweaking it, my class didn't look very much like the curriculum.  However, it does teach different types of essays and the research paper.  This year a friend is teaching a combination of the Elegant Essay and Windows to the World as a follow up to what I taught last year.  I think she may also use another book to cover a few different types of essays.  

[i.love.lucy]

Thank you Shanvan! I was doing a bunch of research last night and while I love the look of EiL I think starting with WttW and TtC is a better fit. More research to do and threads to read!