Some of you already belong to a homeschool co-op, some of you don't, but would like to, and some of you probably don't know what a co-op is. For those in the third group, here's my definition:
A group of homeschool families who get together on a regular basis to pool their collective resources in order to build community, teach specific subjects, and provide support for each other.
Okay, that's not an exhaustive definition, but it's mine. And it pretty well defines the co-op I belong to. And I should mention that our co-op is definitively Christian.
Anyone can start a co-op. You don't need special qualifications or abilities. Our co-op was started years ago by one mom who wanted to teach science to her 2 kids and figured that since she was going to put some effort into her lessons, she might as well invite other moms to take advantage and send their kids too. And so it began, eventually evolving into a full-day co-op with several subjects offerred. We still focus on science, but we have moms who also teach or coordinate missions/geography, phys. ed., art, art history, music, theatre, student council, service projects, preschool, etc.
Our group is intentionally small and young, serving about 8 families with elementary and preschool aged kids.We meet in a church on Mondays throughout the traditional school year from 10am to 2pm.
Our primary goal is not academics, but to glorify the Lord, then to build one another up in faith, then-academics.
Every year we grow a little as a group, incorporating more structure, honing our policies and classes. We don't advertise, though many other co-ops do, because we want to keep our group to a workable size and stay within common goals and interests.
This is my 5th year involved in our group and in my time we have done a ton of cool stuff. Here's a sampling:
One year in science we did biology and the human body. The kids traced themselves onto paper and each week we studied a different topic like lungs, and then added it to the bodies.
These are photos of our annual science fair the same year we did studied the body. You can see samples of the kids projects as well as food we brought to correspond with the projects.
Photos of a musical did one year.
Last year we asked a students' grandmother to teach a Creative Writing class for the elementary girls. As a final project, each girl got to publish her own book and then the teacher hosted an Author's Tea at a local bookshop where each author got to read her book to the group.
We've had moms teach volleyball, dad's teach wrestling (to the boys), passport days where we brought in missionaries to teach centers on different countries, and special days where everyone came dressed as an historical or ethnic character and did projects, games, crafts and foods from the historical period or country.
This year one mom started a Kids Koucil for the older elementary students. The kids hold office, plan service projects and group activities.
I hope this post was informative and helpful for those of you who have yet to experience everything a co-op has to offer; or for those of you who want ideas for improving your current co-op. If you are interested in joining a local co-op, the best way to find one is by asking fellow homeschool moms for info. If you want to start one, you can do more research online or read books like, The Complete Guide to Successful Co-oping, by Linda Koeser and Lori Marse.
If you have questions about co-ops be sure to leave them or any comments you have in the comments section below.