Exploring how to educate a child can take parents into a deep dive of homeschooling co-op options alongside more traditional approaches such as private and public school. Each method has its own benefits and potential drawbacks, depending on what is most important to you and your family.
Some families have unique learners who need a more flexible schooling option, and if that’s you, we have great news!
You can choose from homeschooling 100%, hybrid schools in your area, online schools or a homeschooling co-op, whatever suits your needs and your budget/time constraints. Some of Learnwell’s homeschooling families have found it beneficial to form co-ops, and others have participated in the North Georgia hybrid school.
Top Tips from a Homeschooling Co-Op
One main benefit of a homeschooling co-op is the ability to share the educational load with other parents. Typically, a co-op is organized by parents to help their child learn from different people about subjects they’re less qualified to teach or prefer not to teach. They can also be a great way to form friendships — for your child and for you!
A homeschooling co-op may serve you well if you have time to commit to teaching other children regularly, you need a community but want to avoid the structure of a hybrid school, or you sense your ability to teach a specific subject is waning and you’d love for someone else to step into that area of your child’s education. You can also share knowledge and ideas with other parents when you hit a road bump, such as what to do when you want to call it quit but are wondering if you should.
When to Call It Quits
If your unique learner isn’t inspired, seems overly tired or gets overwhelmed with schoolwork, how do you know if it’s okay to stop? How do you know if your methods are working or if you’re in need of more support?
With some children, backing off “the list” of assignments is crucial. For others, they balk at challenges and will not learn grit if you change course every time the work gets hard. And then there are times when grace and gentleness are exactly what your child needs. Here are one mom’s tips for how to know if you should back off or keep going.
1 – When math, literature, or history assignments are so intriguing, they start to ask if they can look up related material. I want my kids to know that learning won’t always be fun, but when it is, enjoy the process. If my sixth grader is in the middle of a research project that causes him to learn more than the required elements of the assignment, I’m all for it. I let him “own” the rest of his day and decide what he can tack on to other days that week. (For example, can he add the remaining math to the beginning of tomorrow? Or would he rather take a test on what would typically be a day off?)
2 – When frustration gives birth to tears and meltdowns. It might be just for an hour while we regroup and read a book or watch a show. Or it could be that we are finished with that skill or subject for the entire day. A fellow homeschooling mom once told me to err on the side of relationship. So if it comes down to the assignment or a good relationship with my child, I (on my best days) choose the child –- not the assignment being 100% complete.
3 – When it’s been a 10-day streak of bitter winter, and you suddenly get an uncommon spring-like day. I am all for a schedule, a routine, and everyday tasks that need to get done. But we all get starved for the outdoors during the long stretches of winter. So if it’s been a wet-weather week and my kids have too much energy on a suddenly sunny day, I make them go outside and play. We can always shuffle lessons around, but we can’t control the weather.
4 – When I’m sick or have a terrible headache. We all know the adage, “When Mama isn’t happy, nobody’s happy,” and it’s true. Yes, you are your child’s teacher, and no, you can’t “call in sick” for the requisite seven days a year like a regular classroom teacher. But when you aren’t feeling well, or it hurts your head to teach grammar, give yourself – and your kids – a break. Your kids can use an online library, learning websites, books, and games to learn in different ways until you are feeling better.
5 – When they have worked hard all day, and it’s getting late. Some days, school just takes longer. Maybe you spend extra time learning multiplication tables or reading that final chapter. Occasionally, when one of my children has worked very hard and still has a subject or two to go by mid-afternoon, I will let them call it. We all know that after sitting in an all-day conference, our brains start to turn to mush. How much more, then, do our kids need a break from their schoolwork, even if it means letting a subject slide. (That’s the beauty of Learnwell’s social studies and science sequence – you can explore in-depth if you have time that week or expose your child to the concepts listed in the lesson plan and go deeper later. Because most of our K-7th grade science and social studies lesson plans rotate for a few weeks at a time, you aren’t trying to teach social studies and science every day either.)
Several homeschooling co-op families we know tackle everyday school work with a looping approach. They cycle through subjects that are most important on an everyday basis. This includes math, reading, grammar, and writing. Then, the subjects they feel can be explored more in-depth on just a few days of the week are left for the loop.
They may spend a concentrated hour or two on science one to two days a week to fit in labs alongside the terms they’re learning. Or they take history to a new level by acting out stories from the past, which requires learning about the cultural norms and famous figures from a specific time period. It helps to take this approach if you feel like you need to get to everything you want to cover or if your child is particularly creative and needs more time on deeper subjects.
You can also use the looping approach for extra subjects you want to try out but don’t have everyday room for in your schedule. It’s one way to introduce students to a foreign language in elementary school, give them opportunities to explore subjects of interest such as art or coding, and let them learn at their own pace even when it’s not “school time.” Learnwell has seen several students who excel at math, computers, engineering and STEM-related topics. One of these students often spends free time taking apart simple machinery or even an old computer to find out how it works and then put it back together again. Another student worked for months on developing his own environmentally friendly backup generator.
The beauty of homeschooling or a hybrid school is that your child has the margin to pursue areas of interest. Sometimes, it’s the parents who have to rethink how we “do school” to allow for these explorative learning opportunities. Particularly if you’ve only experienced public school, a traditional private school, or a homeschooling co-op, you may have to think outside the box of what quantifies as “school” throughout the week.
To learn more about how to homeschool with confidence, look into the programs we offer for 100% homeschooling parents and a hybrid school option in the North Georgia area.