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Starting a Co-operative Learning Group
by Claire Pollok
Are you experiencing the January & February hibernation blues of home learning? If you are, then I have just the remedy for you – start a cooperative home learning group, commonly known as a “co-op”. They are fun and rewarding for all and relatively easy to start. With a little motivation, a bit of planning, and God’s grace your efforts will be rewarded.
The benefits abound! Co-ops are a place where parents pool their expertise and passions. Lesson preparation is shared, easing the time for all. Children learn how to work together cooperatively in small and large group settings. They learn how to learn from other adults and even from their peers. It’s a place where children feel comfortable presenting their accomplishments and projects. Plus, once your group is established finding a group for a field trip is easy - it’s your group! However, the most rewarding benefit for parents and children is the fellowship. It is a place for establishing new But how does one get started? First, one must find a group.friends or reinforcing old friends. Coming together in Christ to reaffirm each other’s vision for home educating helps one through the uncertain rocky times.
But how does one get started? First, one must find a group. This can be done by approaching known homeschool families or by sending an email to your local homeschooling group requesting a play day. You might ask why I suggest you request a play day first. Finding relatively likeminded members for your group is helpful. I say relatively because God is still busy working on all of us. Pray that God would guide you to the families that would work best with you and your children.
While it is not essential for the group to hold similar homeschool philosophies, understanding and respecting a homeschool philosophy contrary to yours is peace bearing. The old saying, “It takes a whole village to raise a child” certainly holds true with respect to co-op learning. Be prepared for other parents to discipline your children while under the teaching of another parent. It just happens. To be honest I feel this can be beneficial. Community builds character and character hope. God uses others to draw us closer to Him. And this is a good thing!
Deciding how large you would like your group is important too. Co-ops can range anywhere from two families to ten families. Usually the venue may dictate the group size. For years I was in a co-op group with four families with a total of 10 children. This worked well for us as
we could usually squish 10 children around a large table.
Don’t worry too much about the age span of the children. While yes it is helpful if the children are around the same age group as your children, I found there is usually a wide age span within a family. So in the end there is usually a mishmash of ages. One gets creative in adjusting the learning activities to fit all ages. Homeschool children have a reputation of socializing with either gender and a wide spectrum of age levels. Capitalize on this!
In your search for members decide amongst yourselves the duration of the group. Are you hoping for a long term commitment of one or more years or just a short one month commitment? Some co-ops are established for a set learning topic and then are dispersed once the topic is covered. Perhaps your group just wants to take it slow and maybe chooses four learning topics to share with the commitment to revisit future goals at the end. In doing so you get to know one another and at the end you will have a better sense of whether the group works well together.
Your group will need to decide how often they would like to meet: one day a month; one day a week; a full day; or a half a day. Would you like to establish a time for just free play amongst the children before or after the structured learning time? Take my advice – make sure playtime is part of the children’s time together. This is usually the children’s favourite part of co-op!
If you decide to plan a whole day co-op, lunch will be a factor. Should the children bring a bag lunch or will it be potluck style? Lunch was one of the highlights of our co-op as each week one of the moms cooked a warm lunch for the other moms and another mom brought lunch from the children. Breaking bread builds bonds.
Would you like all the parents to stay for the duration of the co-op time or would you like to design a schedule where you alternate parental teaching/supervision. For example one week two parents stay; one to teach the lesson and one to help. This way one or two parents get some time off. Imagine a homeschool mother getting a day off. Ah! Now co-ops are sounding good!
Incidentally, I suggest your group planning sessions take place together at one of your homes or a church venue while the children play. This way the children begin building relationships as you plan and get to know the other parents.
This brings me to scheduling. Once you have established what you want from the co-op and how long you want to meet, the next step is to plan your learning topics. This is the fun part Think outside the lines of academics. Are you gifted in cooking, sewing, fly fishing, computers, or even puppet making.because you get to share your gifting and strengths. Now if any of you at this moment aresaying in your head, “I don`t have a field of expertise”, I would like to stop that train of thought. You are homeschooling your children. Pat yourself on the back. Think outside the lines of academics. Are you gifted in cooking, sewing, fly fishing, computers, or even puppet making. And remember HCOS has a fantastic collection of learning kits which are perfect for co-op learning. And oh yes, it is always a good idea to pick a common topic that the children are interested in learning. Motivation is helpful. This usually isn’t a problem as most homeschoolers like to learn everything.
Unit ideas are usually a hit. Choosing a unit that bridges multi-ages and academic abilities is a helpful. Art lends itself well to this as does bible, P.E., and drama. Drama is always fun for both the kids and the parents. Plan to put on a play at the end where you invite the grammas and grandpas, the uncles and aunts or even the lady next door. Science and Social Study topics also lend themselves well to multi-age learning as long as you do not include a lot of writing responses in these. Language Arts and Math group learning is tricky in multi-age co-ops. We tended to stay away from these. Below are some topics that worked well for our co-op:
Science Ideas
- Simple Machines
- Human Body
- Chemistry
- Solar System
- Habitats and Communities
- All units work well
- Games!
Social Studies
- Ancient Civilizations
- Cultural day; one day for each civilization (Greek, Roman, etc…
- Dress up, banquet with foods and celebrations; games
- Ruling class structure
- Canadian Government
- Hold an election
- Tackle an issue
- Debate the issue
- Hold a mock court case
P.E.
- Arrange for mentor to coach a P.E. unit
- Book a venue for small games/ badminton/basketball etc…
- Track and field
- Meet once a week in the Spring
- Approach high school students to coach for their work experience
Bible
- Choose a Bible book to study
- Create and present short skits
- Apply what they learn in their community
- Learn to pray together
I hope you are inspired to try a co-op. God created us relational beings. Open the door in February for a new experience in learning – co-op home learning!