Homeschooling Co-ops: What You Need to Know

What is a homeschool co-op? A homeschool co-op is a group of homeschoolers who get together to share homeschool duties. These homeschooling families must live near each other so that there are no inconveniences. There is usually a co-op for each township. In a homeschool co-op parents are required to be just as involved as their children if not more.

The positive side of a homeschooling co-op:

1. Your children will get to socialize with other children. At home it is just you and your children.
2. Your children will get to learn in a group. At home they must learn alone or with their brothers and sisters.
3. Your children can compare their projects and experiments with other students. Some science experiments are better if you have a lab partner.
4. Your children will have an audience to give oral reports to. All grades are required to do both written and oral book reports. This will help your child develop less of a fear of speaking in front of other people.
5. You will have some other knowledgeable parents to bounce ideas off of. You can learn about some great unit studies or find out about some educational websites to use.
6. You will be able to get help with the areas of education that you are not strong in teaching. In other words, another Mom may be a history buff. Since you don't know anything about history you can't teach it with excitement. The other Mom can and so your child benefits from this experience.
7. You will have groups to go on field trips together. Many places offer discount rates if you travel in groups.

The negative side of a homeschool co-op:

1. You must participate in the co-op by teaching a class. This means you must create lesson plans and carry them out.
2. It takes up more of your time than homeschooling your children at home alone. If you have to teach a group you must spend extra time getting ready and more time grading papers. All this demand on your time can take away from what you need to do at home.
3. It costs money. This depends on how big or small the co-op is and whether they meet at someone's house or in a rented building. You must pay a membership fee to be a part of the co-op.
4. You have no control over what the other Mom's teach your child. You better be sure that the co-op you join has similiar beliefs as you or their may be some conflict.
5. You must be committed. If you sign up and start off and find out you don't like it, you can't just drop out. You will need to finish out the year since there will be children you were assigned to teach.

I have never joined a co-op because I have a disabled child that gets called home from school all the time. I could not commit to teaching other children every Friday (which is how the co-op in my town works). Some of my best friends are involved in the co-op and love it. It really depends on the individual family and what you willing to do. If you are interested most co-ops will let you come and try it out once or twice before you make a decision about joining. This is recommended so that you know exaclty what you are getting into.