Home School Co-Op: Is It For You?

I visited a wonderful little co-op this past week. I was first introduced to the concept of home school co-ops by my friend Lorrie, who has been home schooling for about 10 years, I think. She had her kids attending the one at our church years before I had kids so it didn't register on my radar AT ALL. But now, roughly 7 years later, I am all ears and she is still attending a co op, just not at our church. Anyway, what are co ops?

Well, in my very own words, a co-op is a neat little hybrid of home schooling and private school. It is an opportunity for for families who treasure the idea of their children having regular interaction with other kids in an actual school setting. You generally pay a small fee for each class that you wish for your child or children to take and the classes can either be core subjects or electives and in some cases, with some co-ops both class types are offered and you can attend all or some of each or still choose between the two types of classes.

Within a co-op, usually the parents are the teachers and administrators. With the one that I am interested in, each position with the organization has points assigned to it and each parent of the co op has to sign up for at least a 5 point job and if you exceed 9 points you get a discount on your monthly cost for classes. Sounds complicated or ridiculous? It's not, it is just to make sure that the organization runs smoothly and so that every important function of the co-op is covered for the children's sakes.

Upon my visit to this home school co-op, I saw parents just like me. Moms and Dads who have a vested interest in their child(ren)'s education. It was wonderful.How do you know if a co op is right for you or if you are right for it? Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself before you decide:

1. Are you social enough? There will be several families all working together toward a common goal and in pretty close quarters.
2. Are you willing to teach a class subject, help clean the facility, organize social outings or field trips? Sounds like a lot of work...something to think about!
3. Are or can you be organized enough? I am not the most organized person but I have no problem organizing 1 or 2 areas of my life! As a co-op participant, you may be called upon to teach or assist a teacher in a class. With that responsibility comes, assigning, grading and recording homework grades. This may only be for accredited co ops but still something to consider.
4. How important to you is it that your child have the classic "classroom" experience? Our organization's classrooms are anything but traditional. This kids sit in these really nice comfortable chairs around a really large table; large enough for projects, experiments and enough room to comfortably do schoolwork. It's a great environment for free thinking and learning.
5. Are you willing or looking to share the responsibility of your child's education with other parents just like you.
6. Can you afford it? You are still responsible for purchasing your yearly curriculums and now you will also have a monthly bill for the classes that your child(ren) are taking. Our monthly charge per class is 5.00-just to give you an idea.

These are just a few questions to get you started. I love doing all of the above so a home school co op fits us perfectly. We attend one day per week, all day, just as if it were a regular school day and then the rest of the week I school at home. My kids will have friends that when we go out on field trips, she'll already be familiar with. The cost to my family is nominal, the payoff academically speaking is enormous. We have some dedicated parents who love what they do, teaching each and every class of our co-op. It is exciting!

*Feel free to share your thoughts on Home School Co-Ops!

Free Admissions...We're There!

O.k. I know we are all always looking for or at least get excited when we learn of free outings for our home schooled children. Well I had a play date scheduled for this past Tuesday because it was winter break in our county so my daughter's school-age friends were out of school and available to come over. I decided not to take winter break along with the school system but we did take a couple of half days and a really awesome field trip! This is what today's post is all about. Our really, really awesome, super fun, free, educational field trip!

There's a place in south GA called Callaway Gardens. It is really beautiful in the spring and summer months, well, because it is a garden:

"Open since 1952, Callaway Gardens is the centerpiece of 13,000 acres nestled in the southernmost foothills of the Appalachians.  Founder Cason Jewell Callaway longed for a place where man and nature could abide together for the good of both, and now more than half a century later, his retreat continues to offer solace, inspiration and discovery for all who come here."

We, however found out from my friend, that Callaway was offering free admissions! This is of course due to it being winter which is definitely off-peak season for a nature retreat in the South. Well, the dear old people of Callaway Gardens were probably not expecting it to hit 75 degrees during their off-peak season, but opportunistic moms like myself and my friends waited patiently until just such a day come upon us and pounced on the golden opportunity!

Birds of Prey Show at Callaway Gardens

I called a field trip, packed a lunch, called another homeschooling mom of 5 and we hit the road. Literally. We are not in the closest proximity to Callaway so it was more like a road trip for us but was still well worth it. We watched an awesome Birds of Prey show that included interesting facts about Raptors or wild birds of prey. We learned about the Red Hawk which is one beautiful animal. We also learned about the Horned Owl and a couple of more beautiful birds. We also ducked as these lovely creatures flew ans swooped over the crowed. It was a great experience for the kids! Especially since my friend's kids were coverning birds in their curriculum this past week. We however had just finished covering insects. NO worries though, Callaway had us covered. There's a beautiful butterfly atrium where they breed butterflies and have a number of cocoons and chrysallis on display so that we could observe the different stages of a catepillar turning into a butterfly. Very educational for my two girls. Inside of the atrium though was several species of butterflies fluttering all around. It was magical.

Chelsea in the long sleeve pink tee inside the butterfly atrium and Madison attempting to catch a butterfly!

We also enjoyed feeding large fish off of a bridge at Discovery Center and seeing all of the different types of flowers beginning to bloom as we walked from station to station.

In closing...I'd like to say that if you are new to home schooling like me, take this tip for things to do. Think about all types of attractions business whose peak times have passed, pull up their websites and search for free admissions! You're sure to stumble upon something good.

We need a better camera!

Chelsea and Madison playing in the fountain inside of the butterfly atrium

I will add pictures of our outing soon...

*What did you do on Winter break or over the weekend? Please feel free to share below!!!

Ahhh...today...Today was a good day. We got through all of our assignments and then went outside to ride bikes. I had to play bike shop first though since all of our bikes had gotten flat tires from sitting in the garage all winter. My husband had to stop by the store yesterday to get a new inner tube for Madison's bike and a bike pump because the pump we already had was apparently only for his basketball. Just kidding, it was for balls only, not bikes. So today, I wore about three extra hats along with the four that I (WE) already wear daily.

So not only was I a bike repairwoman but also a trainer as I held the bike up that Chelsea was on for a 1/4 of a mile around our neighborhood. All of the houses in our neighborhood go around a circle so it is ideal for walking, running and bike riding. It's is very small as one lap around the neighborhood is only a 1/4 mile. Ergo, 4 laps is a mile. In fact, this is how I lost the "baby weight" three years after giving birth to my spicey/sweet Chelsea. I lost 25 pounds just by walking and cutting back on the foods that I always eat. Not too shabby.

I talked with a friend and former co-worker today. She's a part of a co-op in our area that I have researched and am really interested in. I didn't know she was a part of it but was really glad to find out that she is and now I am excited to take a look at the co-op and to see if it will actually fit for our family. It's great to have friends!!!