How does your hs group enforce participation?

[happyWImom]

We belong to one that meets once per month, and the participation is voluntary, and it works well. There is a different activity/speaker/whatever each month, either put on or suggested by a member, and if no one comes up with something, we have a coordinator that "fills in the blanks". She has the schedule done about 6 months ahead. And pleas are put out via email for snack bringers.

 

That's fine, and it works, but it's not a coop. I believe that if you are going to do a coop with classes, field trips and multiple other activites and have a nursery, you need to have requirements, whether we are "homeschoolers" or not. Because otherwise things don't get done, a select few end up doing most of the work, and then they get burnt out, then-bye,bye coop.

 

So, I guess it all depends on what type of group you want to belong to. It's great if there are coops out there that have no requirements, and they work, but I can't imagine that they are in the majority.

[happyWImom]

Oops!

I forgot to add that the coop that we previously belonged to had you fill out forms for your dc's classes, and at the same time you marked down a few pics for what you would volunteer for. You were required to teach or co-teach a class, as well as do another volunteer task. (End of year party, field trips, holiday party, etc... BIG COOP-lots of jobs)

[Laura W.]

I helped coordinate field trips for my group for a couple of years. Signup was voluntary, but once you signed up for a field trip you were expected to attend (unless you had a child get sick at the last minute or something like that). People were also required to pay any fees when they signed up. Then, if they didn't show up, they were the ones who lost the $, not anyone else.

 

For everything we emphasized "Do not sign up unless you are committed, and think carefully about the commitments you make." We didn't want people stressed money or time-wise, and we also wanted to have the places we went view us in a positive way (ie - prompt payments, the # we said would be there actually show up) so that the doors would remain open for us and other homeschoolers.

 

Blessings,

 

Laura

[snickelfritz]

a $5 signup fee for every field trip. If there isn't an actual cost, you get it back.

 

I find it embarassing that so many homeschoolers were not showing up to committments that they had to do this. It makes everyone look bad.

 

Then, if they didn't show up, they were the ones who lost the $, not anyone else.

[woolybear]

I just read everyone's post after I posted, so now I am rethinking things a bit. It sounds like some of the hs groups that you all belong to are a cross between the two ideas I was talking about--a hs group vs. a coop. Strangely enough, this whole post is making me revisit the idea of starting my own hs group in the area and now I am considering the idea of how various things might be handled.:confused:

[Murphy101]

This particular group not only mandated participation but they had the nerve to picked your job for you. The mothers that ran the group were like junior high school girls. If you weren't in their little group you were basically ostricized.

 

oh ick. that would be terrible. I'd run in the other direction too!:auto:

 

If you sign up to participate [and fulfill that] then you get a discounted rate. If you just wanna receive a newsletter and be part of something, you paid an extra 10 bucks or whatever. Their supplying of money w/o taking advantage of anyone's work [w/ Maybe the exception of the newsletter] WAS their participation.

 

so you have 60 families that paid $30 each, and only 10 of you regularly participate? use the money for an end of year party, raise your rates $5 next year, and give yourselves a discount next year.

That's when Tim Lambert says - "I like the way you think."

 

ug. I have no problem with that actually EXCEPT I think it depends on what the group's goal is. If you are more interested in a group of IRL people to interact and share with, it's really not about the money. It's about being interested in having members that are genuinely interested in being more than names on a roster.

 

a $5 signup fee for every field trip. If there isn't an actual cost, you get it back.

 

I find it embarassing that so many homeschoolers were not showing up to committments that they had to do this. It makes everyone look bad.

 

:iagree:

 

What exactly do you all mean when you say PLAN or HOST a park day?

 

I've done this for the past 8 years or so. I plan the park, the time, cancel on bad weather or when no one is going to attend for some reason. Right now, it's in my home because several of us have itty babies that we don't want out in the elements or out during flu season. It's a very easy thing for me to do, but it does take a minimal amount of effort.:)

[Ellie]

I would dislike it intensely. I'm uncomfortable meeting new people, so going to activities and not knowing who would be there would give me hives and make me hyperventilate. It's not "bad", but it's not for me. :D

Ok, well, I'm puzzled.:confused: I don't know what you mean by "not knowing who would be there." The same people were mostly there, at park day and field trips and whatnot. It's just that the organization of activities was such that no one was ever required to participate, and no one was overburdened with organizing anything.

[Guest Katia]

I joined a homeschool co-op last year in hopes that DS would have some much needed social interaction. This particular group not only mandated participation but they had the nerve to picked your job for you. The mothers that ran the group were like junior high school girls. If you weren't in their little group you were basically ostricized. I HATED every minute there.

 

Sorry for my rant but it still makes me want to cry when I think of how miserable these women made me feel. It is a hard balance meeting your child's needs as well as your own.

 

I SO understand where you are coming from. This is exactly how the group we belonged to operated, and they saw nothing at all wrong with it!

 

And yes, they ARE still junior high girls and yes, I also could cry over how miserable they made me feel. Aren't 'Christian Homeschoolers' wonderful to each other?

 

I've involved my dd in secular activities with much more success/acceptance. Glad you found a group that works for you.

[snickelfritz]

Ok, well, I'm puzzled. I don't know what you mean by "not knowing who would be there." The same people were mostly there, at park day and field trips and whatnot. It's just that the organization of activities was such that no one was ever required to participate, and no one was overburdened with organizing anything.

 

Ours is huge. I'm just wondering if the size of the organization has anything to do with it.

 

Nevertheless, I like this organization and it fits my personality and my needs. I'm so glad that our city has multiple organizations to choose from so that all types of homeschoolers may find the support they need.

[LadyAberlin]

Ours doesn't make you participate in anything. There are so many families and groups within the groups that they would never know whether you were participating or not.

[Peek a Boo]

 

ug. I have no problem with that actually EXCEPT I think it depends on what the group's goal is. If you are more interested in a group of IRL people to interact and share with, it's really not about the money. It's about being interested in having members that are genuinely interested in being more than names on a roster.

 

and here's where it gets even more complicated, lol!

 

there are several hs groups that offer a support component, a co-op, and field trips. The goals may very well be broad, especially since so many homeschoolers are so darn... individualistic :D

 

Some people join hs groups just to get an ID card [my pet peeve], but it's not really my place to say how our group specifically serves each person: we put the offers out there, and see who's availing themselves of what. Sometimes those people who are content to be a name on a roster help finance those who want to do more. My biggest point is -- if people are willing to pay for that, then really --it's ok. Take their dough and turn it into cinnamon rolls for everyone that shows up. ;)

[KidsHappen]

I'm just confused...thanks.

 

Sorry I didn't answer this sooner. I didn't see it before now. I was referring to your post title. I don't think that enforced participation is a requirement for a successful HS group. I was providing an example of a group that was successful without enforced participation. Hope that clears things up. :)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

The situation was much as others here have described. Many of the activities were planned by the same group of people. In fact I'd say that 90% of the large group activites were done by this group. However, they were the main families who wanted these activities to occur in the first place.

 

A mandatory participation policy was voted on. It was passed at a meeting with very low attendance, then the results weren't actually passed along to the group at large for several months. The group never put out a list of positions that it wanted to see filled (ie, opportunities to serve). In the end, a perceived lack of help was replaced with a flawed system that was poorly enforced. After a year (and after most of the previous board had moved) the policy was quietly reversed. However, in the membership of the group had dropped by about half.

 

If I were a group leader, before I put a mandatory policy in place, I'd be really up front about what needed to be done. I am also pretty heartless. If no one steps up to run the spelling bee, it indicates to me that there really isn't much interest in having it. If I really want to make sure my kids get to go see the opera on student night, then I will be asking to run the program months ahead of time so that I know that it will happen (and so I get a sure spot as the organizer).

 

If there is a problem with families dropping of kids at a weeks worth of group classes and going away, that is a different topic. Mandatory participation requirements may end up justifying their actions rather than eliminating them. (And if no one on the board is willing to confront a family that is taking advantage of the group, is anyone going to be willing to say, sorry you can't do testing or the graduation or the end of the year trip because you didn't earn enough points??)

 

There may be individual activities that have mandatory participation. For example, testing often requires each family to either be proctors, assistants or looking after the young children of the other testing volunteers. An actual coop might have similar requirements.

 

If you do go with some version of mandatory participation, think through the whole process. Are some duties worth more than others? How much more? What is the stick? How much grace will be given? How will points be calculated? Will this end up changing the nature of the group more than is desired? (In other words, is the cost of this process not worth losing a lot of occasional members.) Is it possible that the some members of the group are interested in stuff that just doesn't appeal to the group at large?