Once your family has decided to start homeschooling, it is a natural next step to start thinking about joining a homeschool group. While it absolutely looks different for every family or depending on what state you live in, being in a group can be a vital part of the homeschool journey.
As you begin hunting for the right group for your family, you will want to take plenty of time to go over the following questions.
Checklist To Ponder
- What style of homeschool group is this?
- Co-op: This is a group that meets on a specific date of the week or month. Parents join together to create a course-list and schedule. Oftentimes, parents act as teachers for the variety of classes being offered during the scheduled meeting time. Occasionally, an outside teacher will be brought in to teach a specific subject if none of the group parents are qualified. (For example, a group may hire an ASL Teacher since none of the parents are able to teach, but several students are interested in learning this subject.) The group may also go on field trips that pertain to a specific subject or topic from one of the classes. This type of group may also be affiliated with a specific style of homeschooling. (For example, Classical Conversations offers a weekly co-op for families following the Classical Style of Education.)
- Social/ Support Group: The goal of this group is to simply create community for its members. While there may be a set meeting time weekly or monthly, most likely there is not a set schedule of learning activities, classes or events. Parents will often take turns leading an activity for the children, moms (or dads) and monthly/quarterly field trips.
- Specific Activity Group: This style of group would be a specific activity geared towards students who homeschool. Most of these classes would be considered an “extracurricular activity,” and would simply add to a student’s homeschool day. Some of the classes may be Scouting, Sports, Music, Drama, etc….
- Regional/ Virtual Group: Most states have state-wide homeschool groups that have an online page for its members. It may provide educational materials as well as a large list of field trips, homeschool groups, or specific activities/classes. Occasionally, they will host a field trip or convention in a central location.
- What is taught?
- This ties in slightly to the question above and depending on the group type, you will often be able to quickly determine what is taught in the group. It would be beneficial to consider the groups’ religious standings, educational beliefs and possibly even parenting styles amongst the parents. Do these core beliefs align with what your family believes and teaches at home?
- A few other vital questions about teaching are: Who can teach classes? Are teachers randomly being selected, or do they know the topic they are teaching? Is a background check required for teachers? (Especially important if teachers are being outsourced.)
- Who is in leadership?
- When joining a group, there is most likely a formal structure of who is in charge. It is important to know who this is, what this person believes in and what their character/ background is. Of course, this may not be a deal breaker, but it is beneficial to know about the person(s) in leadership.
- Some other leader-based questions to ask when joining a group are: How are leader(s) appointed to their position? Is there an accountability system? Is there a structure for challenging or questioning those in leadership, should the occasion arise? How is conflict handled within the group?
- Who can join the group?
- This is important to find out early on in the decision process, as your family may/may not meet the requirements for joining a particular group. For example, if you are wanting to join a group that is based on the Charlotte Mason method, chances are you have to be homeschooling your children in that method also.
- Some other group member questions include: What is the screening process for new families? Are background checks required for both parents? Must members follow a specific set of rules/standards? If so, what are they? How are students with special needs received in the group? (This may be unnecessary for your family to ask, or it may be the most vital question!)
- Is this RIGHT for my family?
- The final question you must answer is, if this is in fact the right fit for your family? It’s possible that this group is perfect for the season you are currently in and may not be at another time. (Take it one year at a time!!)
- If the above questions have been answered according to your beliefs and values, then it may be the right group to join. If you are a Christian, praying about the group prior to joining is vital.
Our Current Group Status
While our family has been actively involved in three homeschool groups over the years, and I’ve even led a group, our family is currently not in any homeschool group. We are happy for this season to not be a part of any specific co-op or social homeschool group. My kids are participating in evening/ extracurricular activities that are somewhat comprised of homeschool and/or Christian families but are not specifically designed for any set group of people. And we like it this way!
Remember that you should take one year at a time when it comes to deciding what group works best for your family! It may change from year-to-year or be the exact same for your children’s entire education. You get to make that decision! ❤️
For the FULL Video of this blog post, check it out: https://youtu.be/Dy7CyHKXMvA?feature=shared
