If you are new to homeschooling, you might not be familiar with the term "co-op" in relation to it. Sure, you’ve heard of a farm co-op, maybe even a nursery school co-op or babysitting co-op. But what is a homeschool co-op?

I won’t lie to you; the first time I heard of such a thing I was a little intimidated. Okay, maybe that is an untruth… I was REALLY intimidated. I might be good with public speaking, but standing in front of a varied age group of students trying to teach the theory of relativity doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time.

Little did I know, I wasn’t alone! A lot of homeschool parents get the cold sweats when they first hear about a co-op and are thinking about getting involved. If you are one of them, I have good news. It doesn’t have to be that hard!

First, the idea of a co-op is exactly what you think. It’s the opportunity to share with your homeschool community and in return receive the benefits of having them share with you.

The homeschool co-op is designed to help you and your child experience more outside your realm of teachable material. The topics are varied and don’t have to strictly stick with the 4 basic subjects (math, language arts, history, and science). In fact, most of the co-ops in our current homeschool group barely touch on these subjects. Instead, they are things like Make Paper Mache Masks, Beginning Drawing, Book Clubs, Knitting, Art Show, Cave Paintings, and such. There are the traditional co-op classes for science (botany, tour of wildlife centers) and history, but most of the time it’s things that you sometimes CANNOT learn without the hand of another parent.

This is why co-op classes are so beneficial to our homeschool year. My children will have the opportunity to learn to knit (‘cause I don’t really know the first thing about it), to do paper mache (better their house than mine -- I can just see the mess now), and have an opportunity to show off their art in a public forum during the art show -- things my children would be without if I hadn’t joined this session of co-op classes.

Don’t know what you could possibly offer in return for your children to participate? Think of subjects you love outside the realm of your normal school day. Drawing? Poetry? Singing? Dancing? Take an idea, any idea, and go with it! Design a class/function around your household’s passions. Are you passionate about feeding the hungry? Organize a co-op where you make sandwiches and pass them out downtown. Finish the trip by talking about other ways you can help those in need. Passionate about art? Take the kids to a museum downtown and have a questionnaire at the end or a scavenger hunt they can fill out during their tour.

Or you can go the completely opposite direction and take something you  know nothing about but want to and organize something in that. For instance, you want to get your kids excited about astronomy, organize a trip to the local planetarium. Buy a book on constellations and chart a few stars the night before your co-op, then take the kids out to see if they can find them. Have a fire in your fire pit and roast marshmallows while you discuss the universe/galaxy.

Your options are truly limitless when thinking up a co-op class!

I have only one warning. Once you start co-opping, you are not going to want to stop! Be sure to have a calendar nearby when you schedule your classes and sign up for others. The first year we did co-ops we almost had two straight weeks of classes scheduled, which was very tiring, but fun!

Don’t let the word co-op scare you away from the fabulous opportunities you can participate in and the ones you can offer. You don’t have to be an Einstein to give back to your homeschool community in a co-op.

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