Homeschooling: To Co-op or Not to Co-op?

This year, for the first time, we joined a homeschool co-op. What is a homeschool co-op? It’s a group of parents who come together one or more days a week for the purpose of educating their children. There are many homeschool co-ops throughout the Eastside including Homeschool Connections, which meets in Bothell; Legacy, which meets in Redmond; and Labyrinth, which meets in Sammamish (for a more comprehensive list, check out Washington Homeschool Organization). Many of the co-ops in our area meet at a church (although they aren’t necessarily affiliated with the church or even religious, although they may be). Parents are required to stay on site while their children are in classes and everyone pitches in to help out and keep costs low. Responsibilities might include setting up for the day, teaching or assisting in classes, and cleaning up.

Despite the fact that we’re in our ninth year of homeschooling, I resisted joining a co-op for a long time. My oldest and I had very positive experiences in preschool co-op when she was little, however with two more children I just felt overwhelmed at the thought of a long day away from home. There was no way I was going to keep my baby son and preschool-aged daughter happy, as well as do a volunteer job, while their older sister participated in classes. So we looked for other activities Davis could participate in and found plenty. This worked for us for many years, until last summer when I realized that Davis truly needed more friend time. Hearing from others in the homeschool community about their positive experiences with co-ops, we decided to check them out.

We chose the co-op we attend based on the fact that it is secular and we already knew a lot of families attending. It is a little bit further to drive than some of the other options, but the positives have outweighed the benefits. My children have strengthened existing relationships and developed new friendships. They’ve also had the opportunity to learn some things they probably wouldn’t have otherwise, since we chose to keep academics mostly at home and use the co-op for extracurricular classes, such as guitar and Hapkido (a Korean martial art).

One of the positives about co-ops is that multiple kids can takes classes at the same time, making it a bit like one-stop shopping for homeschoolers. The classes offered range from math, language arts and science, to drama, music and physical education. Co-ops also offer families a community of similarly minded people. This is important, not just for the kids, but parents as well. If you are struggling with helping your child learn a certain subject or just with a parenting issue, you have a ready group of parents who can offer suggestions.

The teachers in a co-op can be parents whose children are in the co-op or a teacher or expert in the field (for example, one of the classes my son is registered for next year is chess, and it’s taught by a professional chess player). If a teacher isn’t a particularly good fit for your child, then it’s usually not a big deal to drop the class. If a teacher isn’t doing a good job for the majority of the kids, word soon spreads and most likely there won’t be many signing up for that teacher’s classes the following year. In that way, teachers who are effective are rewarded with students and teachers who are ineffective no longer offer classes. As a result, I have found the quality of classes and teachers to be fairly high.

To be honest, even though we enjoyed our experience at the co-op this year, I wasn’t sure we were going to return. For one thing, the drive is a bit long. Secondly, even though we are only there for a half-day, it felt like we were giving up a whole day and other opportunities. Finally, while Davis enjoyed the social aspect of the co-op, the classes she chose ended up not being the right fit for her. However, my kids were unanimous in wanting to return (even my introvert!). It’s not often all three of them agree on something, so after finding out what classes were being offered next year, I decided we would return.

Next year I am signing my kids up for a couple of classes, that honestly, I wouldn’t sign them up for we weren’t there. Each of my kids’ top class pick is during a different time (naturally). So we’ll be there for three periods, and they are participating in a couple of classes I wouldn’t ordinarily make an extra trip for. This is a potential negative of co-ops – you end up spending time and money on something just to fill up the time. However, I anticipate my kids will enjoy all of their classes and learn some new things.

Most co-ops are accepting registrations now, and if you think you might be interested in joining one, you can contact them and ask to stop by and see some classes in action. This can help you and your children decide if a co-op is right for you.