Do you belong to a HS support or co-op group?

[AttachedMamma]

Please share what that is like for you and your dc. If you are part of a co-op, what does that entail? Have you made a lot of friends through your support or co-op group? Do you also have park days? Do you take turns helping in the co-op, etc.

Since we recently moved, I'm just discovering what's available in our area. I'd like to be part of a support group...not sure about the co-op yet. Mainly, we need to meet like-minded people so that our DD can have consistent friends. I feel that she meets plenty of other children, but then she never sees them again. (Like at the playground or through a class at our parks and rec dept, etc.) I'd rather make friends w/HS moms b/c then DD will have other children to play with; otherwise, their children are in school. It's a different world.

Your thoughts or experiences--

Cindi

[booboo]

I'm a part of a support group that meets once a month at my church. They're really great. My family is the "newbie" hs family and I just feel so loved by these people. Even when I shared about my 1st grader talking about the Reformation at a park got them all laughing. :giggle Great group and I wish a group like them for all of you! My kids either go in the church library or nursery where they'll watch VeggieTales, etc. Last meeting didn't go so well for them since there weren't any other kids there.

I'm trying to form a co-op with other moms at my church. The leader of a co-op is trying to help. (hers is currently closed) She's also going to help me get hooked up with another mom who homeschools a child with autism. Not exactly like my dd, but close enough. If anything, I'd like a playdate type or maybe a craft time for the kids. Something fun that they'd enjoy. I wouldn't even mind hosting it at my house if the group is small enough. I love doing crafts and so do mykids.

I don't know where you live, but it's worth looking into. Try the internet, ask people at your church or a local church, the library..

[hsgbdmama]

A new local, non-denominational group formed here this summer, and we are very loosely based -- no set meetings, during the summer we have park day once a week, and members are responsible for coordinating field trips that they find out about, and occasional potlucks. We communicate through a Yahoo group, which works fine for me, since I **hate** having meetings for the sake of doing so. So far, it is working out well (although many of us are fighting off various illnesses :( ).

[lenswyf]

Our church has a family schools program to provide an "umbrella" for homeschoolers (they keep the records, so if the state has questions, they go to the school for info. There are probably 500 or so students enrolled under that program, and it provides support, accountability, etc. I don't know if I'd have the guts to homeschool without this wonderful resource.

For smaller, more regular interactions, we have a small field trip co-op that does field trips together once a month.
On Fridays, we do a history co-op with one other family (was going to be two, but one of the families changed direction).
These aren't really co-ops since its dh teaching, but they do provide regular interaciton with other kids. Dh teaches PE to a small group of 6-7 yo boys once a week, and he does science experiments with 5 kids on another day.

We also have regular "play dates" because I care for a homeschooling single mom's son on Tuesdays while she teaches writing classes to other homeschoolers. Then, two afternoons a week, I babysit another homeschooler's kids so she can work her part-time job. This also gives me a little play money for field trips and extras for my homeschooling.

[ArmsOfLove]

I am a member of the West Valley Christian Homeschoolers and we :heart it! We have coop classes (my children are in a science class learning about the human body and I'm teaching the older kids in a drama class) every Friday morning during the Fall and Spring *semesters* and at the end of each semester we do a showcase for the parents and family/friends they want to invite. They get to perform and show off what they did in that class. We also have Park Day each Friday (swimming days during the summer) for the kids to play and there is PE class offered most park days. We also do different themes for the park days for the kids (like before Christmas we do a competition for gingerbread house building) and we do class things for moms (I taught how to do lap books one week). We do field trips several times a month including the symphony, theatre, ballet, businesses, museums, etc. and most of them are free or really reduced (the symphony for $3, etc) Once a month we have a Mom's Fellowship Night and we do different things at different mom's houses. We do fund raisers (tomorrow is a car wash), we have parties (beginning of year, Christmas, end of year pool party where we rent out a pool). And at the end of the "school year" we do a graduation night where each family gets up and shares what their children learned that year and "graduates" them to the next level and the kids can display projects they did. It's a really special night :heart

[AttachedMamma]

Wow, sounds like lots of great stuff going on. So most of you who co-op have the mommies teach, right? It appears that the co-op near me is using hired intructors, though the parents assist in the "classrooms". I think they do this once a week. I know a lot of stuff, but I think I'd have to rack my brain a little to come up with something to teach as a specialty. :scratch Like, I don't know how to play a musical instrument. :blush Always meant to learn and it's on my list of "things to accomplish".

cindi

[ArmsOfLove]

We have the mama's teach. We have people who know different things; or sometimes we use curriculum's. Like the science class right now is using a children's book on the Body.

[findingjoy]

I belong to a very casual homeschool playgroup. We get together every week. When the weather was warmer we met at a park. Now that it is cooler we will meet at a gym. We get together for the kids to play and the moms to chat. It is great! Some of the moms have organized a couple of field trips and I hosted some craft sessions at the beginning of summer. We also had one picnic on a weekend with the dads included There has been talk of doing some co-op type things, but no one has volunteered yet. There are about 12 families, but usually only 5-7 show up at any one playgroup date. The current group just formed this past Spring, but I have known some of the moms for three years. There were originally 7 ladies (and kids) who met on the internet and started getting together. It was wonderful for me because I really needed friends at the time. Besides all the ladies homeschooling, they were all also extended breastfeeders! :tu The group kind of morphed into this new one, but I am still good friends with the original ladies and we all get together for a Mom's Night Out once in awhile (nurslings included!).