The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Minute to Minute
Readers Helping Readers

October 13th, 2007

As homeschoolers we strive to find ways for our children to interact. Often these interaction times take the form of homeschool groups or co-ops. But what happens when your co-op class turns into an ordinary classroom? What happens when homeschooling get togethers start to lose their glimmer of fun?

This week's writer wants your help to make her co-op more fun and less school-formal. She knows that the children in her co-op need interaction with one another and that one way to achieve this is through a classroom-type setting, but homeschooling fun times should not reflect classroom school time. What should she do? She doesn't know, but you do.

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Homeschool Co-op = School
Dear Minute to Minute Readers,
 
Here's my question: how do you keep a homeschool co-op from becoming "just like school?" After all, you have one teacher, 15 kids, and a task to complete (information to share or maybe a project).

It seems to me that when children are brought together, their agenda is a social one: to make friends or strengthen existing friendships. They're not necessarily interested in learning about physics, North & South America, or Shakespeare.

So how do we "teach" in such a way that we don't simply recreate a traditional classroom, with all the absurdities and repressions we've rejected by choosing to homeschool?

Involved With A Homeschool Co-op,
 
Nancy
Homeschooling Resources
 coop planner                             Planning a Homeschool Co-op?

Not sure where to start?

The Homeschool Co-op Planner E-Book by Julie Forsythe, a 5 year Co-op Coordinator, contains instructions on how to plan and manage a homeschool co-op. This resource includes printable forms, idea lists, and many recommendations and suggestions to help you along the way. Download and begin reading today!

If you have ideas on how Nancy's co-op can become more fun and less like school email us. When you email us, you give us permission to post your responses in the Minute to Minute e-newsletter, send them to Nancy, and use them in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's My Voice column if selected.
 
Sincerely,
Elisabeth Marlowe, The Minute to Minute Editor
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine