How to Start Learning Together at Home
Usually the choice is quite simple: children either go to school to study or are homeschooled. There is usually at least one of these two basic seizure options with your family’s lifestyle or your child’s needs. Until this year. This year we are afraid for the physical health of everyone if the children go to school, and for their mental (and our) health if they don’t. But there is another option, a pleasant little compromise, which many families are beginning to explore – the creation of their own small educational “cooperative”.
Now what to find out?
A cooperative usually refers to a business that is owned and operated by members and ultimately serves or benefits. We use the terminology here a little loosely, but the idea is the same – forming a group of maybe 3-6 children who can study together. Many schools will open for face-to-face instruction in the fall, but will also offer a virtual option. For parents who want their kids to stay at home but still want to have a little communication – and who also need to work, which prevents them from doing virtual activities – playing together can be the answer.
This topic was discussed in our Offspring Facebook group last week, and here’s how a parent builds their co-op:
A person with an expired teaching certificate will be hired; Fortunately, she is the aunt of one of the boys and her social bubble is well known. Many parents in the group work from home, and they just need stability and security. Every week the class will be in the house of one person, and there will be 5 children.
Connecting with other families
Chances are, if you are thinking of starting a small study group for your kids, you already have a couple of ideas about who you could invite to join you. Your child’s friend or classmate, a neighbor, a child on their softball team, a child in your church, some of the kids at the bus stop.
Not everyone will like this idea, so you might have to ask around before you find another family or two who want to take the jump with you. If you don’t get bitten, there are ways to broaden your focus beyond your immediate circle of friends and neighbors. Try searching for local parent groups on Facebook or check the Nextdoor app to see if any nearby families are interested.
You can also contact your school’s PTA to see if they know of any other families trying to coordinate this; maybe they could even send a note to your school’s mailing list to help families connect, especially if you continue to enroll your kids in an online school curriculum rather than transfer them to homeschooling, which will impact future school funding.
How to find a teacher or facilitator
This is probably the hardest part of setting up your own learning module – who will run it? Ideally, you would be in luck as a parent in our Facebook group, and one of the kids has an aunt with an expired teaching certificate and has time. One of the families may have a home parent who can keep the group on assignment. Or perhaps the adults in the group have flexible working hours so that parents can take turns working.
If not, you will need to hire someone to manage the group. Start in your circle and work on your way out. Do you know retired teachers? Does anyone have a nanny who is available during school hours? Are there high school graduates you know who are taking a one-year break before going to college and need a job? Are there any laid-off local kindergarten workers or preschool teachers? Discuss a few ideas with other parents in the group to find someone who works for them.
The actual amount you pay this person will depend on where you live, the number of hours you ask them to work, and the skill level it takes to do the job.
Establishing ground rules
A large part of creating your own co-op will be about developing ground rules. You should only team up with family members and a facilitator who are like minded about what methods to follow to keep everyone safe and healthy. Everyone should talk about who they meet during the pandemic and uncover any potential for contracting the virus. If you’re worried enough about exploring these options at all, you obviously don’t want to form a co-op with people who are anti-mask or totally crowd-oriented right now.
Even if everyone chooses to remain as isolated as possible outside the group, there is no way to do this and keep the risk at zero . We all already know this. So you also need to decide together what the training setup will look like. Children should still be six feet apart and everyone should wear masks, especially indoors, with breaks for snacks, meals and outdoor recess (whenever possible). The facilitator should ensure that all children wash their hands regularly and thoroughly, and that their work areas and areas that are frequently touched should be disinfected after each session.
One final note: I understand that this post oozes privilege and I always hesitate to write about something that is simply not for everyone financially or logistically. But one parent on our Facebook group pointed out the potential bonus these learning cooperatives can provide to the community as a whole – more cooperatives means fewer children per class, which means those who really need to go to school can spread. will come out a little more and will have daily contact with fewer people.