Cooperative Home Education

?

Those who home educate don’t need to be told this, but those from outside the home education community might need to understand that, outside of extreme situations, home educators do not live or educate in a vacuum. If I may be permitted to generalized, based on my personal experience as a home educator, my role as an education researcher, and my interaction with countless home educating families; home educators are not socially isolated (or socially akward), we make use of a myriad of resources, and very often collaborate with other home educators, community organizations, and faith communities to accomplish the unique purpose of each home learning environment.

?

One of the most common ways in which home educators work together is a home education cooperative. These are formal or informal organizations of home educating families for the purpose of augmenting the home education environment. Just as there are truly no two home education environments that are identical, so there are no two cooperatives that are the same, nor should there be. Each will vary according to the compliment of those who join the organization, depending on their needs and talents, and tailored to the collective vision of the participating families.

?

This article I do not intend to describe the ideal cooperative, nor do I presume it to be an exhaustive description of all possible configurations. It is solely a compilation of my experience and research. However, I pray that it will be a useful point of departure for those who intend to start a home education support organization, or perhaps for those who already have one, to glean ideas for optimizing their existing organization. It also may inform those outside the home educating environment about how versatile home education can be.

?

Definitions

?

For purposes of clarification, is it prudent to define the term home education that will be used in this article. Home education is defined as parent-directed, privately-funded education that occurs in the context of family life, generally in the home. This does not include online or correspondence schooling at home, public or private virtual schooling, hybrid school/home programs, micro-schools, and pod schooling. These are not considered home education for the purpose of this article.

?

Also, except when quoting others, I try not to use the term “homeschooling” because I believe that “home education” is more accurate to the goals and intentions of most home educators. I believe institutional schooling is the antithesis of true education in many ways, therefore, I avoid conflating education with schooling as much as possible.

?

Why Cooperate in Home Education

?

The first question to ask and answer is the fundamental question we should ask in any venture. Why? Home educators should define the “why” of home education, and collectively, families must do the same when they decide to collaborate with others in the education of their children. Simon Sinek (2009) wrote a book called Start With Why, in which he explains how we tend to easily describe “what” we do, and even “how” we do it, but only with great intentional effort do we come to the foundational “why,” which is critical if we are to achieve the optimum outcome. Your “why” should be something that supersedes home education and becomes applicable to every area of your life including faith, family, occupation, and even leisure.

?

My personal “why” is to see that my children grow in their knowledge and understanding of God in order to become dedicated followers of Christ and submissive to the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. While there is no guarantee of success in this effort because God has given us all a free will and we are all born with a sin nature; ideally, this should help my children become effective ambassadors for the Heavenly Kingdom in accordance with the Word of God. Within the context of this “why,” all elements of life can be tailored to help facilitate moving towards that goal while acknowledging the sovereignty of Almighty God in allowing things we cannot control, which may be beyond our understanding, but not our ability to submit to His will. This includes any cooperative or support organization used to assist in home education.

?

In encourage each family, and each organization to delineate their own “why.” With a “why” established there are many more reasons to collaborate with other home educating families, but for sake of brevity, I will only expound a few here.

?

Leveraging the Skills of all Individuals

?

One of the greatest reasons to cooperate between home educating families is to leverage the skills and expertise existing in each family for the benefit of the group. Gaither (2008) conveys this idea when he described the “homeschool” cooperative as “a very popular form of education wherein a group of mothers (and sometimes fathers) pool their expertise, each teaching a subject he or she knows well to all the children in the group…” (p. 211).

?

Chances are, in any random group of families there are likely those that are better at math and science and others who are keen on grammar and literature. One person may be musically inclined, while another knows a foreign language. One may be artistic, and another may have kinesthetic trade skills (carpentry, culinary, mechanical, etc.). One might have a passion for history while another is skilled in speech and debate. This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Do you have another skill or special knowledge that you would love to pass on to others?

?

As you read that previous paragraph, perhaps one or more things jumped out at you as something you could do, or at least an area where you could contribute. That is exactly how a cooperative should take form. Find what is available in the skill sets and interests of the parents and figure out a way to share that with the group. Also, don’t overlook the skills of older children. By the time your children are half-way or more through their home education, they have likely developed interests and perhaps even skills that can be shared with younger students, peers, and even adults. When needs are identified within a student body that the participating parents do not feel competent to provide, tutors or specialists can be sought out to supply the need. When all else fails, one person can teach themself what is needed, and teach others as they learn. Many a home education course has been completed in such a way.

?

Strength in Numbers

?

You have likely heard the adage that there is “strength in numbers.” I believe this is true in many contexts, but it is certainly true in home education circles. Families in a home education community will inevitably end up encouraging one another in many ways. No home education effort is smooth or perfectly executed on every day of the journey. On days when things just aren’t going well, it is immensely helpful to have others come along side and encourage us to keep going, or perhaps to simply take a break and regroup for the next day. Sometimes simple mentorship and advice is enough to strengthen one another.

?

One of the battles that home educators face regularly is changes in state legislation that threaten the freedom to home educate or encroachment by governmental entities which is unwarranted. These battles are best fought in a group with a united front. The freedom to home educate in the United States exists because pioneers followed the calling of God and fought government overreach and restriction. We owe it to those who came before us to fight just as hard to maintain and/or extend those freedoms when possible. Israel Wayne (2018) said “Homeschooling freedoms will be maintained through eternal vigilance on the part of parents and organizations who are committed to the principles of liberty and parent-directed and -controlled education” (p. 17).

?

?

Shared Resources

?

One of the great challenges for many home education families is the cost of materials. In addition to sharing ideas about resources that are low-cost or free, often times, veteran home educators have extra or pre-used materials that they are willing to gift or loan. Many home education cooperatives host an annual used curriculum sale or swap event.

?

Types of Cooperatives

?

The following paragraphs will describe several variations on home education cooperatives in which I have participated, have personally seen in action, or where I have held a leadership position. Again, these are not presented as ideal, nor do I mean to insinuate that this is the extent of possible configurations. There are literally as many possible configurations as there are combinations of home educators, which are virtually unlimited. As you read through these you may find that some of them combine nicely, and without a doubt, what you end up with may very well include elements from more than one. With each of these, I will also list some limitations or lessons learned that may benefit your venture.

?

Faith-based Cooperatives

?

This is probably the most common type of home education cooperative and certainly is a major consideration for any such venture in which I would participate. Having faith as the center of our home education efforts necessarily requires that any cooperative with which we would associate must proceed from a biblical worldview. Many such cooperatives meet in church buildings with, ?the permission of their host ministry. This is a great opportunity as many church buildings are not in active use during weekdays unless there is a church-based Christian school on the premises. ?

?

I recommend that ministries make sure that they are contributing to a family-centered discipleship and not just hosting the cooperative. The best way to do this is by having faith instruction as a core element of the cooperative (i.e., a chapel time) and providing materials for parents to continue training their children in matters of faith at home. Of course, this will be something that families must be willing to do, but the least the church could do is offer encouragement and resources.

?

Parent-Taught Cooperatives

?

A large majority of the home education cooperatives that I have seen, and some in which I have participated, make use of parents to instruct courses. This takes advantage of individual strengths, as mentioned above, and spreads the instructional preparation around to all parents in the group. Many have sufficient participation to assign co-instructors or an instructor plus one or more helpers in each class.

?

Occasionally there is a need identified that no parent feels capable of filling, so sometimes a person with the needed expertise is brought in to provide that instruction specifically. I have seen this most with music, foreign language, and advanced math or science courses. Such specialists might volunteer or be paid a fee agreed by the participating families.

?

The biggest burden in cooperatives like this seems to be the management (coordination, planning, and communication). A dedicated director can often facilitate smooth operations, but if that director is also a teacher-parent in the cooperative, that one person can easily get overwhelmed unless the managerial duties are distributed among the participating parents, However, distributed management can also have its downsides as it can make an organization unwieldy depending on the managerial skills of the individual leaders. Whatever the structure of the organization, policies and procedures should be codified so that a rotation or replacement of the director or other leaders does not cause an undue disruption. ?

?

Teacher-Taught, Parent-Assisted Cooperatives

?

In order to help parents, some cooperatives try to find qualified teachers for each subject, which takes the instructional planning burden off the parent, with the explicit expectation that parents will participate in the classes with their children. I have directed such a cooperative. The challenge with this configuration is that many families have students in multiple age/grade ranges, so a parent cannot physically present with all children simultaneously. A second challenge is the tendency for parental participation to decrease over the course of a year. In the end, it is very easy for these organizations to become “Drop Off Courses” (see description below).

?

School-based Cooperatives

?

Some private schools welcome home educators into their facilities for extra-curricular course participation or for “enrichment” programs focused more on core curriculum or tutoring. I would consider these home education cooperatives so long as parents remain integrally involved in the program. If parents are leaving their children at a facility to attend these programs, then these would fall under the description below of a “Drop Off Class,” which I do not believe conforms to the definition of home education as it lacks the essential element of parental participation. I have never seen or heard of such an arrangement with a government school that would qualify to be called a cooperative.

?

Drop-Off / Online Classes

?

I hesitate to mention this, except to provide a warning. Some organizations or private businesses have found a market for providing classes for home educated students, generally for a fee. This may be a single class or a whole series of classes within a category of classes (the sciences, for example). These are not inherently bad, but very few require parental participation, and some would even discourage it. When the parents cease to be involved in the education of their children it no longer falls under the description of home education. Certainly, parents are free to choose these options, as much as these entrepreneurs are to offer them, but in doing so they should consider if it is advisable to relinquish responsibility for that element of their children’s education. I do not begrudge these service providers for charging for their services, but personally, I would not recommend partaking unless a parent is allowed to observe and/or participate. My advice would be for parents to learn with their children, thereby benefiting both and maintaining parental direction over their children’s education.

?

Individual online classes could be viewed in the same perspective, and I would give the same caveat. Parents can choose to have their children participate in online courses without their involvement, or they can choose to observe and/or participated for the same reasons as mentioned above. As always, I would recommend maximum parental involvement.

?

The Future of Cooperative Home Education

?

It is an exciting time in which we live, in that the education paradigm has been shaken up by a global health situation that has caused many to reconsider the effectiveness of what has become seen as the standard for the training of our children. Of course, I would argue that home education was a standard for many years before the advent of the government-controlled schooling monopoly, but that discussion is likely better save for another discourse. Nevertheless, there are emerging possibilities.

?

Full-Spectrum Collaborative Education

?

Most cooperatives that I have observed meet one day per week during the school year. Many times, holidays and field trips consume a generous number of those days during a given school year, so the total number of academic days may be 30 or less. Some families have been looking for more of a full-spectrum home education collaboration. In theory, families could meet for several hours per day on several days of the week to collaborate in a greater portion of the students’ educational needs. As with parent-taught cooperatives, parents could share duties of instruction so that the strengths of each parent could be leveraged for the good of the whole group. I would think that a common curriculum would make such an effort work more smoothly, but this would take away some of the inherent flexibility of home education where the changeability of curriculum is a key element. To be completely honest, I have never seen a cooperative like this get off the ground, but if there was enough commitment by participating families, I believe it could succeed, especially if a church ministry sponsored such and effort with the goal of maintaining parental authority over the education of their children. Such an effort would need to make sure not to cross the line between home education and schooling according to state laws.

?

Christian Schools that Emulate Home Education

?

Because of my passion for home education, some see an antagonism towards Christian schools which is not accurate. I have made statements that schooling of any kind, even in an idyllic Christian school, is less than ideal according to the standard laid out in Scripture, that parents are to educate and disciple their children. I stand by that position, but I also acknowledge that the church has a duty to pure religion in taking care of those, like the fatherless (James 1:27), who are in a position where no parent is available to provide the necessary education. I believe this could also extend to families where parents are unwilling to fulfill these duties, for instance, children from single-parent homes or from families with unbelieving parents. A church-based education ministry could follow the scriptural mandate to reach the lost and disciple them by providing a Christian education.

?

What I would encourage churches to do is to make any educational ministry emulate home education, to the greatest extent possible, rather than following the pattern of government schooling. In the 1980s, many families realized that government schools were not an appropriate place for their children, so Christian schools sprang up simultaneously with the modern home education movement. Unfortunately, many Christians schools took the only pattern they knew, that of the government school, and tried to Christianize it. The same age-segregated, peer-group cohorts divided into the same grades, sometimes working similar curriculum towards the same graduation goals and perhaps even completing the same standardized tests. This had the unfortunate side effect of carrying over educationally ineffective schooling paradigms which have been continued indefinitely. Christian schools of the future could move towards a more tailored educational program for participating students that takes advantage of home education’s flexibility. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it.

?

Legal Considerations

?

Of all the things I have mentioned, it is prudent to consider legal requirements. In some states, what I have suggested may fall under existing ordinance. It may be that those laws need to change or be abolished, but I encourage home educators to be knowledgeable about their state’s laws to make sure they do not unknowingly run afoul of them. Churches that are hosting a cooperative should also consider the need for liability insurance.

?

Conclusion

?

The bottom line admonishment is that home education cooperatives can be a tremendous blessing to the participating families. Certainly, they are made up of people who are sinners, so they will not be perfect by any stretch of the imagination. However, like faith communities, the assembling of ourselves together can provide an edifying effect that will benefit individual families as well as the group.

?

I imagine that few veteran home educators aren’t already doing something along these lines. So, my encouragement to you is to continue to grow these efforts to reach a new generation of home educators. Some may be coming out of government schooling for various reasons, but they should find open and welcoming arms in groups of likeminded individuals. If there isn’t something in your area, consider starting something if that is what God lays on your heart. ??

?

References:

• Gaither, M. (2008). Homeschool: An American History. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
• Wayne, I. (2018). Answers for homeschooling: Top 25 questions critics ask. Green Forest, AR: Master Books.

?

About the author: Dr. Pietersma is a retired military intelligence officer and currently an education researcher holding a Doctor of Education degree from Regent University with a research emphasis on homeschooling and Christian education. He homeschools his two children and directs a homeschool auxiliary based out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. He is also a freelance writer and is available for speaking engagements. Questions can be directed to Douglas via e-mail ([email protected] ) or phone (307-214-6164).

?

? 2023 Douglas J. Pietersma