Tips for Choosing a Co-Op You Wont Regret!

It's co-op recruitment season. Many co-ops are opening up registration for the fall now.

With that in mind I wanted to give a rough rundown of what a co-op is and how to navigate choosing one you might not regret!

A homeschool co-op is traditionally a group that provides experiences or classes and is a cooperative or joint effort of the parents who come together. There are no regulations for a homeschool co-op in the state of Alabama. Anyone can form one at any time for any reason with any amount of people. This means that some co-ops have been around since we had to have a cover school to homeschool, like Creekside in my part of Alabama. Other Co-Ops pop up every year in one form or another from farm schools to Academic co-ops, to purely social groups, it is a little bit of everything lumped under that co-op umbrella. That can be really confusing if you aren’t familiar with all the terminology. 

Let’s pause and define two terms that often get confused:

Homeschool Co-Op - Traditionally this is a group of parents who come together and collaborate to offer experiences for their kids from simple play groups to classes and field trips. Every single co-op I’ve ever experienced is a different flavor of this same idea.

Cover School - A cover school or a church cover school was required by the state of Alabama for homeschoolers until 2014 when the laws changed. At that time it provided attendance and a record that you were homeschooling to the state of Alabama. That is no longer required and therefore a cover school tends to be an expensive waste of your time in our state. In other states entities like this are necessary, but Alabama allows for unregulated homeschooling.

Full disclosure, I have a unique perspective on co-ops. As a child we were a part of one in Corinth, MS that still exists today. It was the best memory I have for a co-op and I did make two life long friends and I have a teacher I remember fondly from that experience. When we moved to Alabama we joined a co-op that wasn’t as great for us. My mother was one of the only people homeschooling as a single, working mom in the early 2000’s and that put us in a box that other families found hard to accept. When I had my own kids I was pretty set to not co-op, but rather do small group experiences like Science Club, but as with all good intentions that went the way of the dodo bird. I did help found a co-op here in my area, I even went so far as to be the third signature on the nonprofit paperwork….before I was kicked out. Now, I’ve tried to form a community, rather than a co-op, but I do have a lot of experience inside that world and it definitely works for some people. I have friends that love it! As a person who was homeschooled and now homeschools my own children I'm going to offer a few pieces of advice when searching out a group such as a co-op:

1. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you see something that makes you wonder, ask the leadership. It's better to know on the front end. If they are offended by questions then that might not be the space for you. And that is ok!

2. Know who is in charge. It is always someone, and usually two or three women. Know them and make sure that what they are trying to build or manage fits your family's values and vision. When a co-op is also a non-profit, which is often the case these days, they have to have a board and a set of rules they made up to follow so ask to see them if you are curious about the structure.

3. If you get a bad vibe, don't feel obligated to join anything just to socialize your kids. Chances are if you don't get a good feeling there is a reason. There are a lot of other options for making sure our kids have a full social life, especially in areas like mine. These days there are fewer co-ops than other social groups.

4. You don't need a co-op to homeschool or socialize your child. Yes, I enjoyed one of the ones we were a part of as a homeschooled kid, but I enjoyed playing at a friend's house while my mom tutored math just as much. I have also had a pretty terrible experience with a co-op as a kid and then an arguably worse experience as a parent many years later.

5. Ask about the safety precautions. That's actually a bigger concern to me now than anything else. I've witnessed a lot of unsavory things as a child and as an adult in co-ops that make me cautious. Bad stuff can happen anywhere and being a homeschooler does not protect us from that. It is not all bad, of course, but it is always a good idea to be cautious until you are sure! I know we don’t like to think that anything bad can happen, but it definitely can.

6. Find something that fits your values as a homeschooler, don't try to squeeze yourself into a box you don't fit in just for the sake of 'community' or 'socialization'. If the other parents don't share the same educational values that you do then it might not be the group for you. You won't know until you ask!

7. If you can't find what you want, don't be afraid to ban together with other homeschoolers and create your own group or co-op. Where two or three are gathered together, children can have friendships, moms can have a core support group and everyone can get what they need.

8. This will be controversial, but remember that a co-op is an “extra”! Don’t feel like you need to sign up for one until you have established a good routine for doing school at home. The families I know that enjoy co-ops the most have a well established routine at home. 

9. There are different flavors of co-ops. Some co-ops even combine these ideas. I’ll review the three main ones below:

1. Academic Co-ops like Classical Conversations are all about academics and schooling your children in a classical way. Some academic co-ops will require you to follow a specific curriculum but you do not have to do that in the state of Alabama. You can choose your own curriculum. 

2. Social Co-ops are those that don’t try to do any academics, but might offer enrichment classes. This is the only type of co-op I’ve ever been a part of and I can say it definitely fits a wider variety of people.  

3. Religious Co-Ops are exactly what they sound like. Often requiring a statement of faith and for members to maintain a dress code, a moral code of some sort and sometimes other requirements as well.

10. One final note is that co-ops often (almost exclusively) charge a fee. I’ve seen a lot of complaining about this recently and I just want to say, as a person who was in leadership at a co-op for two years, they charge a fee to cover costs. No one is making any money in almost all scenarios that I have ever seen. Many well established co-ops have to pay for their space, supplies, insurance, bringing in specialty teachers and everything down to the paper cups for snack time or the paper towels to clean up the messes costs money. These days it costs even more than ever before like everything else. Please don’t begrudge a co-op that charges a fee. When I was in leadership I spent hundreds of dollars of my own money to make experiences happen for my kids and the kids in our group on top of paying my co-op fees. I wasn’t the only mom to do that. My friends did the same and we did it happily because we wanted the best for our kids. 

11. My last point is just one that I have learned the hard way. If you make friends at co-op but they don’t share the same homeschool and parenting values that you do, it can be really hard to maintain those relationships outside of co-op. Definitely make friends, but just remember that at the end of the day you have to have more in common than homeschooling to make a relationship work. 

A co-op can be another great and useful tool in your homeschool toolbox but don't let it run your life or become the thing that weighs you down. Check out all your options, weigh where it might fit into your life and keep homeschooling! I met some of my best friends in a co-op that none of us are in anymore, but without it we might never have run into each other!