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Starting a co op
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Recently there have been 8 moms meeting once a month (ok, this will be our third month). We are all interested in getting together for field trips, classes, clubs or other activities, but so far things are not panning out well in that the first two activities fell through before getting anywhere. I’m afraid that things will fizzle out really fast if we don’t pull off something really soon.
I know that part of the problem is that we all have our own schedules in place and fitting things in at the beginning of a year or term is much easier. Another problem has been that our kids are different ages – toddlers to highschool. Also many of our families haven’t met yet.
We are planning a curriculum swap which we hope to invite other homeschool families to (there are several around, though many are in town).
I’ve not been part of an organized group before and I’m not sure what it should look like or how it should be structured. I’m wondering if anyone has some suggestions to jump start things and get things moving before people start to lose interest.
I lead a CM co-op in Jacksonville, FL. We meet 3 weeks per month from Sept. – Apr. for classes. We have weekly Masterly Inactivity at the park after co-op. We have monthly field trips and events and mom’s nights. We had 29 families participating this year and ~60 kids (infant – 9th grade). You can learn more about my group at our website – http://www.rchajax.com.
I love leading RCHA and I’m happy to answer any specific questions about co-ops. Here are some previous posts re. co-ops, note that the structure of ours has changed a good bit and our website has the most current info.
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/co-op-pros-cons#post-21365
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/help-with-starting-a-co-op#post-6762
Hope that helps.
Christie
My link to my website didn’t go through. It is http://www.rchajax.com.
Thanks, I noticed the second “.” had been highlighted, so I just typed in the rest of the link. It’s quite the group you’ve got going. We have nowhere near the population here in NS to support that elaborate a set up.
There is a group in MN, led by Nancy Kelly of the Sage Parnassus blog, called Truth, Beauty, Goodness. It has 5-7 families I think. Perhaps her site might give you some thoughts on managing a smaller group. Blessings in your endeavor.
The group I am in just started this past fall. We had been meeting at the park in the summer and at my church’s school gym during the winter but we actually started a co-op this year. We meet once or twice a month (usually one is a field trip) the other we have organized activities. Our kids range in age from babies to 6th grade. The ladies in charge have gathered ideas from all of us moms (we have around 8-10 families that come on a regular basis) we had to give $10 not so much as a fee but rather as a small fund so we can buy supplies needed for activities because some families (mine included) can’t always afford to buy supplies for all the things we do. Each mom has to volunteer to do an activity. Usually we do the class twice. Once with the older kids, ages 7 and up, and again with the 5 and 6 year olds. It depends on the number of kids we have that day how we split it up. Then one or two moms stay with the babies and toddlers and they play. Some of the things we have done this year is have a science and history exhibit/presentation, we had a class on dissecting owl pellets that I did and a nature walk at the beginning of the year. At our last meeting they had a seed planting class about how and what seeds are and a drama class where each child had to stand up in front of the group and talk about something for two minutes. This was good as we don’t get many oportunities to be in front of others besides our own family.
HTH!
Just and idea… Start with the most interested families/age group/topic of interest and let it build from there. Last year, we had four families in a CC Community. It wasn’t as good a fit as we’d hoped. So, three of the four families plus two new families began a writing co-op for ages 10+. Four of those families completed the year at the beginning of April. These families have influenced others in the area to participate. This is leading to a wider age range and added activities for younger children.
All if this actually started after a couple of years of weekly park days, monthly mom’s meetings, and occasional field trips. Be encouraged. It takes time to find just the right mix. It also takes someone willing to take the lead, create a plan, invite others, and be content even in the small accomplishments. That person may be you. 🙂
I’d share our Homeschool group’s blog, but it recently fell of the radar with the recent Homeschoolblogger switch to Schoolhouse Families. 🙁
Blessings,
Becca<><
I’ve organized a co-op for 4 families. Are you in charge? What I did was decide how often I could meet w/o feeling overwhelmed. One family and us are close friends, so I’d run ideas by her first and then we’d o.k. w/the rest of the group (generally compliant since we were doing much of the work:) Here’s what we did last year:
Beginning of the year met for donuts and playdate/mom’s plan and talk about the year.
Met monthly at my home to do: English from the Roots Up, Handicraft, Presentations. All kids who wanted to did presentations. I taught EFTRU to older kids, one mom was in charge of youngers during this time. My friend taught the Handicraft (Keepers of the Faith), usually it encompassed the whole group (ages 4 and up…if toddlers and younger somebody would have watched them). This was generally about 2 hours. We limited presenatations to 3-5 min.
At our Dec. mtg. we add in some Christmas poetry, cocoa, snacks.
At our Feb. mtg., we add in Valentines and snacks.
We’ve done an end of the year mtg. before in the evening w/dads w/presentations, displaying some things learned during the year, dessert.
We do occasional fieldtrips, as moms want to plan and invite (optional to group)….generally one every month or two.
Kids were 4yo-8th grade. We’re not continuing next year since it’s mostly girls and we’re starting a Jr. High girls group for them next year. The one boy in the group and my son just don’t seem to click. But my good friend and us are planning a monthly CM day. We’ll meet for several hours, w/one of us teaching and the other one taking off for a break, then switch. We’ll probably do some things like composers, poets, artists, handicrafts, nature study, art, Shakespeare….not planned yet so not sure!!!!
In the past I’ve also led a fieldtrip group w/more families. I basically asked for each family to plan one event for the year.
Hope you find a good fit:) Blessings, Gina
One thing I have learned is that there are a lot of different models for hs groups. We are in a fairly large metropolitan area so we have some choices. Not all the groups work the same way and each one seems to have its own personality. I know from friends in other areas that some places everything is a co-op, meaing parents or others teach set classes once a week. But there are other models. The group we are in has as its main thing park day once a week. Basically there is just a schedule of local parks and every Thrusday afternoon we are at a different one playing. There is a yahoo-based group list and people can post other things they are doing. Often people take the initiative and plan things like one woman has been planning twice amonth nature walks this year. Other groups mainly have organized field trips. I would think if you have a fairly small group and a lot of ages a co-op wth classes may be hard to maintain. Is this a CM group specifically or do people come with a lot of different perspectives?
Nebby
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