Use a Homeschool Co-op
For Your Family

The homeschool co-op is another teaching method used by families to teach their children and can be a benefit to those unsure of how to homeschool.

In this option, homeschool courses are taught to students in a group setting by the parents of the enrolled students. This "school" generally involves a small group of families and meets once or twice weekly.

Homeschool Co-op Requirements

Parents work together to cover the necessary courses and are usually required to contribute to the overall operation of their group in some way, such as helping to...

• teach a class
• organize a physical education period
• monitor the study sessions
• monitor the lunch periods
• assist with nursery or childcare
• administrative responsibilities and lesson plans

Terms of Enrollment

The guidelines can vary from group to group, but there are some similarities among them. The parents offer their services to keep the tuition low for everyone.

Basically, parents pool their talents and interests to offer a broader range of knowledge to all the children. The parents often use their strengths to teach other children and also benefit from the strengths of others.

These groups offer homeschool courses to students in grades preschool through high school covering a variety of subject areas. Some will emphasis literature and the humanities while others might be more focused on the sciences or math.

There is also the matter of religious perspective because some are definitely faith-based while some will be secular.

Once, a friend of mine offered her desktop publishing services in exchange for reduced course tuition since she couldn't get outside the home to help at the co-op.

When parents need homeschooling help, they work together at a church or other facility to teach the children or provide help in other areas such as recreation, meals or childcare. Essentially you have a "parent-run school" for the children although they continue to work at home, too.

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