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Homeschool Co-ops, Support Groups and Regional Groups. How Does It All Fit?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

There is nothing more confusing when you are new to the homeschooling world than to hear veteran homeschoolers use strange and never before heard terms like homeschool co-ops, support groups and regional groups.

The focus can be so much on curriculum gathering that help for you can get lost.

Knowing which groups are which will help you to decide if one is right for you.

A Look Inside

If a focus of a support group could be narrowed down to a few words it would be socialization (yes we do believe in it as homeschoolers) for the kids and support for mom.

Groups serve a very defined purpose even if they don’t intentionally advertise their purpose.

If homeschool co-ops are more academic than fun, the emphasis is still on camaraderie.

That too is a concern for a lot of new and experienced homeschoolers alike. Will my child know how to socialize in a group? Will he receive cultural experiences that I believe will enhance his love of learning?

These are valid concerns and can be successfully met if you are actively involved in support groups.

Take a look at these definitions so you can understand how each one is used in the homeschooling world.

Regional Group – This is perhaps the biggest and largest of support groups. Just like it says, it is regional.

It could be county wide, most of the state or just a portion of the state or even country.

In some larger states, regional groups may host annual homeschool conventions. In some states where local groups are limited, a regional group may host Bible Bees, Spelling Bees as well as Graduation Ceremonies. There is normally a fee to be a member.

The emphasis for most regional groups is to focus on support for the whole family. Though they most host activities, unlike a local support group, their emphasis normally is on preserving homeschooling rights and giving you support through your whole journey.

Tip: Ask the Regional Group what is their mission. There usually is a Board of Directors and some method to their communication whether it’s email, private e-loop, online newsletter and yes even some groups still prefer snail mail of newsletters. Find out and get that communication.

If a group can define their mission and the way it seeks to accomplish that mission, then prospective new members can see if it is a fit for their family.

Homeschool Co-ops, Support Groups and Regional Groups How Does It All Fit @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Support Group – This term is perhaps the most general.

A support group can be anything from a private e-loop on yahoo or google plus groups that plans field trips to a meeting at the park each week by a few families.

It can have fees or no fees. Some groups may want you to sign a statement of faith or may indicate that religion is not a factor in their membership.

Some support groups act more like a group that hosts field trips and part like a larger regional group. Again, support group is a very general term, but it too has a defined purpose.

So find out what it is.

Look at some of these general questions to ask any support group:

  • What is the age group preferred?

Some groups plan activities for young and old alike and the whole family is involved.

Some groups are formed specifically for tweens, others for highschoolers or preschoolers.

  • What is the group preference?

For example, is it for gifted children, a specific religion or just Christians or secular?

  • What are the activities hosted?

Some host field trips. Are the field trips set at regular schedules or just when the members plan them?

Examples: Are there activities to focus on a special skill like Lego building or character development or are the activities varied?

  • Do they have a board of directors?

This question you basically are asking here is how organized are you without being so blunt.

Let me explain here too before I go on.

Leaders or Board of Directors are not door mats and don’t get paid normally for their service.

They render these services to the homeschooling community for a love of people.

Most Leaders I know spend countless hours planning and hosting activities (all to the exclusion of spending time with their family on weekends or weeknights).

Some Board of Directors may have been lulled into inactivity. So be sure you see a schedule of events coming up or speak to them to see what is planned.

For example some Board of Directors may be slanted by only meeting the needs of one particular group of their members.

For example, are they meeting the needs of the new homeschoolers and not just the veterans?

Are they meeting the needs of the mom with preschoolers and not just highschoolers or vice versa? It is no easy task .

A group may not possibly be meeting all of these criteria as it takes man power or like most groups woman power to do that. That is fine. As long as they meet your needs, it may be a good fit for you.

One group may not be a fit now in your journey while it may in another couple of years.

Homeschool Co-ops, Support Groups and Regional Groups

Co-op.  A co-op is a class on ANY subject.

It is a group of families that get together for a purpose. Co-ops are as varied as support groups.

They can be informal and just for fun or serious and supervised more like private schools.

They can be on any topic and can form and dissolve each year based on the needs of the area and those that are willing to lead them.

They can be held once a week, once a month, or every day.

Look at some of these specific questions to ask a homeschool co-op group:

  • What is your focus?

The emphasis is on fun and socialization on the co-op I was lead.

We have so many members we feel they each prefer their own method of schooling or academics. So when we meet, we spend more time doing games, listening to speakers about certain topics, learning to square dance or even learning to draw.

Some groups are more academic focus and this can be a huge advantage to a mom that is overwhelmed or feeling unprepared on a subject.

For example, the co-op can meet for preparing for the SAT. It can meet to help homeschoolers with math. Too, for science you may dissect an animal.

  • What is the cost?
  • How long do they meet?
  • Do you want parents involved?

The co-op we lead is not a drop off service. We require parents to be involved. Some co-ops are more like private schools and parents are not required to be present.

You can navigate these groups better by defining what you want too from each group.

Remember there is not a limit on how many groups you can join.

Which groups will you belong to this year?

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Check out some more tips!
5 Days of a Homeschooling Co-op Convert

When the Homeschooling Honeymoon is Over

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

My wedding ring was frozen in an ice cube and the ice cube was floating in a glass of champagne when the Mr. proposed to me.  And then there were the soft petals of my favorite rose strewn all over the walk way and into our room.

I have so many fond memories of my honeymoon, but quickly realized after marriage that a successful marriage requires a lot of hard work.

A Fresh Start in Homeschool?

It could not be one prolonged honeymoon.

Doing laundry, making a living, cooking meals, setting up a budget, questions like how to raise children that would come along and where we would live were decisions that as partners we had to make.

The scope of the work that was now involved was not easy, no matter how much I prepared my mind and heart.

Truly, the honeymoon was over.

When the Homeschooling Honeymoon Is Over @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Homeschooling is similar in a lot of ways.

We may have had some romantic notions that everything would work out and nothing would go wrong.

Too, we may not have realized the amount of work that is involved in homeschooling.

Perhaps we thought we would pick up where public school left off, but realize now we have to go over information that should have been previously mastered.

When a new bee begins to homeschool, I often think about the period of a couple’s honeymoon.

Before marriage, we can so conveniently overlook the faults of our mates. Whatever bad traits our mates have though can’t be hidden during the honeymoon period.

Though I do feel homeschooling is a perfect solution for the majority of families and there are no hidden faults, there are ones we create or foster because of our lack of experience.

For example, about three months or so into homeschooling, a new homeschooler may now start to question the choice to homeschool or the curriculum that she is using.

How to Go From Thinking to Doing

We may not be as in love with the idea of homeschooling because the day to day grind of reality sets in.

What can be done?

Like a marriage, homeschooling should not be based on idealistic infatuations but on genuine love, caring, devotion and facts.

Loyalty too is a virtue that is missing in so many marriages.

It mean sticking to something even in the face of tough times. Instead of looking at the negative attitudes your children may have developed while away from you, focus on what you want from your children.

Are you loyal to your children and the decision to homeschool?

Do not allow whatever disappointments you may have now in your family or children to keep you from going forward in what you desire your family to be. Work at it. Who is afraid of hard work anyway?

If you need to go back over some material not previously understood by your child, then that is where you are. Begin there and go forward.

Realize too that not every decision you made in the beginning when you started was a bad one also helps to maintain balance.

For example, if you feel like it’s your curricula that is not working out, give it another month instead of pitching that curricula and starting another. Check out Stop Switching Your Curriculum, Switch Your Course of Study.

Don’t start your journey off curriculum hopping. It’s hard to get off that path once you start down it.

It takes at least 3 months to know whether or not a curriculum is working. Remember, it could be something else that is not working right like a schedule or lack of teacher experience.

Give it time and reflect on what brought you to homeschooling.

The same blessings you want to receive are still there. They have to be accomplished with hard work now and not a drawn out honeymoon period.

Time is a precious commodity no matter the age of our child.

It requires time to have a friendship with our children if they are teenagers.

If they are younger, our time is needed to teach them to read, how to hold a pencil and how to pick up after themselves. How your child best learns and processes information may now be more clear to you.

Comparing and contrasting homeschooling approaches like Classical, Unit Studies, Charlotte Mason and Unschooling is enough to make the head spin of any new homeschooling parent. Check out my articles on understanding the different homeschool approaches.

It all requires tedious work and time but successfully homeschooling IS a reachable goal.

Homeschooling, like a well established and loving marriage is built upon every tiny act of love and kindness.

I am glad that my honeymoon has been over for many, many years. Then, I could see the precious beauty of my husband’s inner person and the one very vital element to both a good marriage and successfully homeschooling – commitment!

You can do it!

Hugs and you know I love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Check Out My Top Reads for New Homeschoolers

3 Sanity Saving Tips for Your First Week of Homeschooling

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

3 Sanity Saving Tips for Your First Week of Homeschooling @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusIf this is your first year of homeschooling, you are in for a wild adventure.

Homeschooling is the only call to duty where you can feel utterly triumphant and drastically defeated in the same day.

Homeschooling can have just as many downs as ups and in the same moment.  So, it is important to arm yourself with three sanity-saving tips in your first week of homeschooling.

Participation over Progress.

Minimizing lesson planning and maximing interaction with your children by discussing with them what they want to learn for the new homeschool year sets your homeschool up for success.

When children have control of their education, they become owners of it.

Conversations about what your children’s goals are, even if your children are young, sets the pace for independent learning from the very beginning.

Avoiding a spoon-fed mentality, which can be the norm in public school will minimize your workload over the long haul.

From the beginning, meaningful conversations become a way to tap into what interests your children and more importantly it gives them ownership of their education.

I am the Boss of You.

One year I remember helping a new bee who was having trouble with her first grader.

Getting my mind prepared for some kind of academic problem she was having, I was surprised when the new bee mentioned that her first grader was telling her constantly, “You’re-not-the-boss-of-me.”

Just one year in public school in Kindergarten and the first grader did not view his mom as the authority when teaching him.

When authority is not respected, homeschooling gets tough to say the least because kids grow up quickly.

Character building is inextricably linked with academics.

Building respect for your authority as the parent helps your child to see that though you allow as much free choice as possible, you ultimately are the one in charge.

Progress can’t made when a child is constantly whining, complaining or questioning every decision you make.

List Your Non-negotiables

In your first or second year it is normal to have a mile long list of homeschooling goals.

Write them all out, but also have a separate list of one to three goals, which are achievable and reachable.

Reaching one to three goals becomes your foundation of your homeschool, but it also becomes your list of non-negotiables for the year.

Progress year to year is not made with mile high goals, but with tiny measured steps that turn into huge leaps each year.

Gear up for the new homeschool year by slowing down to engage your child in meaningful conversation about his choices for the day, balance your child’s growing need for independence while maintaining the authority in your day and building your homeschool foundation with a few well-chosen non-negotiables.

Have you implemented a plan for the new homeschool year?

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Also check out:
Beginning Homeschool in Middle School – 3 Questions Worth Asking
Top 10 Tips to Get a New Homeschool Year Rolling

Homeschool Confession – My Homeschool Mistakes

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschool confession my homeschool mistakes. Besides mistakes are part of learning how to homeschool. Do you want to hear about some of my blunders?

Homeschool mistakes are part of learning not what to do when homeschooling. However, in the beginning it’s hard to view it that way.

Too, nobody wants to do the trial and error method with their kids.

We have a few short years to homeschool our kids and we want to maximize our efforts.

Homeschool Confession - My Homeschool Mistakes

If I share just three of my mistakes maybe they can save you some grief.

Not leaving the public school mentality.

Isn’t that hard to do? Especially because I was the product of public school.

For example, I never questioned why I needed to test, I just blindly followed the masses.

I realized that leaving the public school mentality didn’t mean not using some of the practical tips that did work in public school at home. 

It just meant to leave behind what I didn’t need because I was not teaching my kids, not a classroom.

New Homeschooler

Because we live in this world, it’s hard to not be affected by the pressure of test, perform and out do.

My sons are just normal boys who have been privately tutored by me. That’s all.

I left public school because I didn’t want to model it at home, not just change geography.

Comparison to other homeschool moms, dad and oh yes their children.

I am guilty. It seemed like some other mom had this whole homeschool thing figured out.

Then I find out later her beginnings were as humble as mine.

I thought other dads did more of the teaching until I realized that statistics show that about 85% or more of the teaching is shouldered by the mother.

I guess it just sounded good when dad did a science experiment with their sons. My science experiments were not that exciting in the beginning. Can you say boring teacher?

Boring and now a show off. Yes, I thought I had to “show off” my progress to my mother-in-law who was not supportive of our decision to homeschool in the beginning.

I had to prove her wrong and was humbled in a lesson I won’t forget.

Trying to show off my teaching skills to her, I asked Mr. Senior 2013 who I was then teaching to read to show us the long i sound. Yes he did.

He promptly went and got the longest piece of white butcher paper he could tear off the roll.

Laying the paper down on the floor, which was twice as long as grandma, my poor baby proceeded to draw the longest i I had ever seen.  I shuffled off in shame.

What to Expect from the Homeschool Kickstarter

From my struggle, I created a curriculum for new homeschool educators. And taught this course in person to new homeschoolers. I’ve now put my course online for all new homeschoolers

More shamed at the fact that I was trying to show off instead of what really was funny at the time though I didn’t feel that way.

Humble me for I needed it for the road ahead.

With the 6 modules and 29 workshops, I walk you step-by-step through beginning homeschooling, understanding the homeschool lifestyle, choosing curriculum, and understanding how to fit it all in a day.

Look at what you’ll learn.

  • Learn how to identify what is and what is not homeschooling. It can mean the difference in succeeding or succumbing to the mindset you want to leave behind.
  • Choose curriculum wisely instead of using the oh it looks good method.
  • Organize the areas of life that collide when you begin to homeschool.
  • Identify and create the right schedule for your family’s rhythm.
  • Understand what is important to teach from K to High School. (Oh, did I tell you I have kids well past 10 years old?)
Not investing more time in my education as a teacher.

Like many new homeschoolers, I too focused solely on my children and their need for a support group, curriculum, socialization and field trip.

It took me a few years before I realized that the best way to help my children was to become the best teacher I could be.

A public school teacher is required to take continuing education classes. Why shouldn’t I?

If I didn’t take time to read blogs, join support groups, buy teacher helps and attend homeschool conventions I couldn’t say I was schooling for my children.

Feelings of guilt that I had associated with longing to interact with other homeschool moms had to be left behind.

Association has to be a vital part of my everyday teaching. Online forum groups were not a waste of time but needed for refreshment and encouragement.

New to Homeschool

Like all things, the time I took for educating myself and camaraderie had to have a place in my life to be balanced.

Your turn: Do you have a story we can learn from? I hope you can learn from my mistakes.

Homeschool Confession - My Homeschool Mistakes

I thought about this quote today because after many repeated failures, pursuit can turn to passion for homeschooling.

“Life is filled with so many exciting twists and turns. Hop off the straight and narrow whenever you can and take the winding paths.

Experience the exhilaration of the view from the edge. Because the moments spent there, that take your breath away, are what make you feel truly alive.”

~ Stacey Charter ~

You’ll also love these reads for New Homeschoolers:

Homeschool Confession - My Homeschool Mistakes @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Deschool – Get off the Public School Treadmill!

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Deschool get off the public school treadmill is about freedom. Also, you’ll love more tips on my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

When teaching my new homeschooler workshops in person, I tried to use the term deschool right away so that new homeschoolers or those that are thinking about homeschooling have time to wrap their mind around the concept.

Though there are many facets about deschooling that you will want to embrace over the course of your journey, I want to put it down in layman’s terms for the new homeschoolers.

Deschool - Get Off the Public School Treadmill @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Running and burning energy but not really traveling anywhere is what it is like to be on a treadmill.

Are Deschooling and Unschooling Two Very Different Terms

Deschooling is about getting off that public school treadmill and transitioning to a new life.

For some homeschoolers it may include some rest time.

For others it may be defining what their family educational goals are.

Each family will have different goals during their deschooling period.

Have you ever done a toxin cleanse?  I love the feeling afterwards because I have a new pep in my step.

Deschooling is a period of time to shove back from rigid thinking and adjust the pep in your step to a new way of life.

That is how some homeschoolers define this time period.

More Resources for Why My Kids Are Homeschooled

This time period allows you to re-train your mind and body and to make drastic life changes.

You want to make changes that will be permanent and to start fresh and motivated.

Letting go of preconceived ideas and notions of what education is suppose to look like and defining what you want your children to learn is what deschooling is about too.

It is a time to adopt your definition of education, to discover that you may want to be more self-educated than to be handed curricula, to join home school support groups, to meet and incorporate new homeschooling friends into your lives and the ability and power to say no to labels.

Say NO to Uniform Standards Set for the Masses

Furthermore, it could include saying no to standards by the state.

Why spend so much time trying to figure out where your child is SUPPOSE to be and what other children his age are doing? 

Forget what everybody else is doing.

Spend your time and energy focusing on where your child is NOW and move forward!

Deschooling is knowing that we have homeschool freedom but it’s also utilizing that freedom to suit our family.

Some think deschooling means doing nothing. It might for some. 

And we don’t want to be critical of those families who may need physical rest now.

The rigors of getting up early to catch a bus, having long school days complicated with an enormous amount of homework is physically draining. 

The truth of it is that we really don’t know what another homeschool family has been through.

For all of us it does mean transitioning to a new lifestyle.

Think about huge transitions in your life up until this point. 

When we transition to a different lifestyle whether that significant change was having a baby or switching careers, our schedules changed.

We allowed ourselves time to adjust to a new schedule and we let go of ideas and goals that at the time seem realistic.

We now see that some of our ideas may have been idealistic.

It is quite common for even seasoned veterans to not have taken a period of deschooling and they may be headed down burnout road.

The Power of REST

Deschooling can be a period of few week to a few months depending on the level of stress your family experienced.

Take time to deschool and get off the public school treadmill.

One of the very best books to bring reality back to our lives, renew your passion for homeschooling or just to propel you forward on the road to homeschooling is Deschooling Gently.

Not only is it a great read, but the encouragement you receive from it will last years.

Have you let go? How is your deschooling coming? What activities and goals are you including to deschool?