Comments on: 5 Reasons Why I’m Not a Fan of Homeschool Co-ops

By: Leslie

Leslie — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:11:41 +0000

In reply to Kimberly Griffith. Thank you for this article. I have been in a co-op since August and it doesn’t seem to be working for us. I thought it would be a great fit for our kids since we were formerly in public and private schools. I wanted them to have fun and make new friends. So far, they haven’t made any real friends and I don’t think they have learned anything that I could not have taught them at home. I may step away from the co-op after this semester. I am glad that I am not alone in not fitting into the co-op mold.

By: Yeppers

Yeppers — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 19:50:16 +0000

Yep, no COOP for us. My oldest is in 5th grade (we’ve been homeschooling since he started in kindergarten). The longer I’ve been doing this, the more “big players” I’ve seen from our local COOPs who end up divorced or dumping their kids into public school without any kind of transition, because of the ridiculous pressure they put themselves and their families under.

The last COOP we were at had been started by well-intentioned friends. They had intended just to hire teachers who had actual experience and skill, but the “education center” they began quickly became just another COOP. They solely depended on “friends” to teach (most of whom were not equipped to handle groups of kids—especially as a number of them had special needs), because they were worried about charging “too much” tuition to the community.

It quickly digressed into an expensive waste of time and stress with the added insult of it containing nasty little cliques of ladies who always tried to outdo one another with the latest activities or over-priced curricula or “cleanest” house.

Most of them relied on (and bragged about) owning 3 or more planners—which they toted around like designer scrapbooks. I can’t imagine how any of them actually got anything they needed to done when it came to teaching at home. Some were in 3 or more COOPs at a time. Their kids were so stressed, and not great kids for my children to learn “socialization” around.

My kids are very happy we left. I am, too. We only do classes that take place later in the day (sometimes with—gasp—public schoolers) so we have time to do school at home. The classes we pay for we make are taught by people who actually know how to teach their subject. It ends up costing the same or less as what we spent when it comes to tuition, time (volunteering), and expenses for the supplies for the “education center.”

We are still busy (in a positive way), but this has been the most low-key year we’ve ever had. We have time for a structured school routine, and also downtime and play, too (which children really need in order to develop).

This also benefits all of the adults in our home—including the non-homeschooling spouse. The homeschooling one has time to return to being able to study and work in her field and go out once in a while with friends to do more things than talk about the latest curricula. It is refreshing, and we are happier.

By: Daring Do

Daring Do — Sun, 13 May 2018 02:31:46 +0000

We don’t do COOPs anymore. They are often run like poorly organized private schools. My child is very much age-appropriate on a maturity level, but several years ahead in Math and English. It’s very difficult for us to find classes in English/Math that engage her (homeschoolers can be just as biased about having a child “skip ahead” as public school teachers—with the added issue of feeling insecure or jealous because of it).

Add in the hyper-competitive homeschool parents who often ruin the atmosphere (you only need one or two), the peer pressure of seeing who can stack on the most activities and spend the most on curricula, and we’ve decided to steer clear of those groups.

What we find that work for us are homeschool classes through organizations that specialize in their subjects (ex – museums, zoos, nature centers, etc…), and/or after-school programs. This is a wonderful way for kids to meet many different types of children and make new friends. I keep our outside class schedule low-key (no more than 3 weekly classes out of the house), and beef up organized playtime (extended one-on-one playtime about 3 times a week at least). This seems to work well for us so far. The kiddo seems plenty well-off socially—outgoing and polite with people of all ages. Of course, social needs could change when we hit the teens so we may be revisiting schools at that point.

We *do* explore social homeschool groups, though—usually mostly in the fall and winter. Those are more low-key, and are much more likely to be good places to find people who are actually supportive of each other.

By: Jew4Jesus

Jew4Jesus — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 00:04:26 +0000

Misty:
I taught my children in what they called the dark ages. No plethora of homeschool curriculum to choose from, (all that was available was ACE and another from California which was way out of our budget), No homeschool groups, (I don’t think they would have worked for my children because I have 2 sons who have learning disabilities), and as you said we couldn’t afford the travel costs), No computer and the top of the list according to my children there was no internet. I am sure they would have pestered my husband to buy a computer if there had been internet until he broke down.
The good side I was able to let my children learn how they learned best. My daughter is a book worm, give her a book and she is happy, My boys learned by doing.
My children had been emotionally and physically abused in PS and I don’t think they would have been interested in co-op classes. My youngest son would run and hide and we had enough land that he could hide until he heard desperation in my voice and by that time it was too late to work with him. I learned how to break that habit and he was able to do the best he could. Of course going to another town to do school because I had enrolled them in our Mission boards homeschool program and they got to help our board president clean and pack up the mission as they were moving in the next year. They had a ball and they learned a lot.
I also had teacher friends who provided me with textbooks, workbooks, copybook and more. By the time we went on the mission field we had enough curriculum up to 6th grade.
They loved homeschooling, I’m glad we started before they got involved with all the extras. They learned their way and enjoyed their classes.

By: Dawn @ The Momma Knows

Dawn @ The Momma Knows — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 15:31:05 +0000

We have been in several co-ops over the years- good ones and a couple bad ones. Even with the better ones I came to realize that I really don’t enjoy them at ALL. Not only that but my kids don’t either! With what it cost per semester to enroll them in classes, at least some of which they didn’t want to take, it just became more of a dreaded chore than a helpful resource to us.

By: Tara

Tara — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 01:48:16 +0000

I can understand how you came to that decision for your family. Our co-op meets once a week for 2 hours and holds classes for all age groups at the same time. Since it is a ministry of the church, it is only a voluntary $30 donation per family. They teach only art, music and P.E., which are not the 3 R’s we spend the most time on at home (with specialty classes occasionally for the older kids (like year book or put licensed speaking). The support between moms/families has been a huge benefit as well. Since it’s a ministry is try of the church, I know the standards that are set are compatible with mine. I feel blessed to have this group.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 17:46:01 +0000

Our co-op doesn’t sound like the one you tried out either. You can take just one class if you like and leave. The options are endless. We take drawing and painting classes the whole school year, and it wasn’t something I could teach. My social girl gets an outlet to be with kids and make friends. There are so many classes for high school that I couldn’t or don’t really want to teach including speech, debate, psychology, sociology, graphic design, computer coding classes, government/econ, Spanish, and more. These classes are taught by people where it is their passion. Thankfully, our classes are all 25 dollars or less, with about 8 dollars being the average. Oh, and lab sciences for high school are invaluable and a less expensive than purchasing all the materials myself, which could be upwards of several hundred dollars. When you split the cost between families, the cost becomes doable. I often teach a class that always gets put to the back burner at home. This way, it forces me to do it, and it was something I wanted my kids to experience anyway.

On the other hand, I didn’t do co-ops when my kids were little, though. I didn’t see any reason for it. I could do it at home easily. Now that they are middle schoolers, though, I see great value in it, but maybe it’s just that our co-op is awesome? Haha!

By: Homeschooler for 20yrs

Homeschooler for 20yrs — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 05:11:14 +0000

I have participated in co-ops for 20 yrs. The benefits have been worth the effort for my children. They meet good friends who share our values, learned about many subjects, and learned how to act in a classroom. I have observed over the years that children who have only a home experience have to adjust quite a bit when they get into an academic classroom environment. They make the adjustment, but it takes time. I get that co-ops can be stressful, but you just have to keep trying different ones to find a good fit (or start your own to fit your needs). All my best friends were people I met at co-op.

By: B Bates

B Bates — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 16:22:02 +0000

I believe there are valid points on both sides, however, the reason we started a coop was for the interaction our children would be receiving in an educational setting. 4 moms in my community created a coop with specific classes like presentations, science experiment & projects, learning to sing together with a children’s choir, as well as a writing class and a phonics games/math games for the younger ones. Already the peer interaction has been invaluable. And we are having fun doing it,
it is not a drudgery it is a joy!

By: Sheri

Sheri — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 14:00:05 +0000

We participated in a co-op for a year when my older ones were younger. I thought it would be great to meet other homeschoolers. All the parents took turns reaching which really stressed me out. It’s one thing teaching and interacting with my own kids, but to have to teach others was not what I enjoyed.

When a couple of my girls were older they did a biology lab class with friends that was taught by a friend who had graduated. That was a great fit and it was every other week. All they had to do was read the chapter and be prepared. She provided all the supplies for a small fee.

I still have many, many years of homeschooling ahead of me, and staying home is what works best for us. Maybe that will change as my youngest gets older, but we have grandchildren her age, so I figure any co-op we do participate in will be Mom/grandma teaching the multiple generations! That is a “co-op” I will love