Homeschooling Co-ops: Why They Can Be an Ideal Alternative Education for More Families?

Jess is a single mom with a 9-year-old son named Tom. Six months ago, they moved to a new city. Back in their hometown, Jess and Tom had their own social circles. Tom had a group of friends with whom he could play and do homework assignments, but since they moved in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jess decided to homeschool Tom.

However, Jess is worried about both Tom’s decrease in social interactions and activities as well as her own lack of connection to the people in her new community.

Can you imagine the pressure of moving to a new place, being a single parent or immigrant, and homeschooling a child all on your own? These are the struggles Jess is facing, and she is carrying the entire weight on her shoulders.

The pandemic has changed the perceptions of many families, teachers, and community members about the effectiveness of the current education model and importance of social interactions.

As a result, the traditional education system based on the same predetermined curriculum for all students has been reviewed, and concerns about students’ social interactions have increased as online education has expanded.

Most importantly, many families did not prepare themselves for the uncertainty and shortcomings of the government and education system.

Co-operative Education

However, one appealing education system existed prior to the pandemic, and it’s now starting to seem like a viable option for many families. This is families cooperating to educate their children, also known as “homeschooling co-ops.”

Before the pandemic, many families with homeschooled students used the co-op method to better educate their children. Families with children of the same age usually met, with each family assigned specific teaching responsibilities. This method of education was highly effective in that it allowed those families to teach their children more in-depth subjects and delve into more personalized topics. Moreover, their children were able to interact socially with their peers.

After the pandemic, more families became interested in the co-op model due to the closure of schools and uncertainty about when they would re-open.

A kind of co-op model was formed in such a way that families, usually in groups of 3–7 people alongside the help of a hired teacher, took turns with the responsibility of hosting their children’s classes in their homes.

This type of training, known as the “Learning Pod,” has many benefits for families. These include cost reduction due to teacher recruitment and the safer, controlled environment in which the children are interacting in.

But Is the Co-op Model Here to Stay?

More families than ever are now familiar with the homeschooling model and co-op approach since many got a small taste of what it is really like to homeschool their children during the pandemic (not just lifelong homeschoolers).

The challenge of this model is setting up a co-op group, and finding other parents is not as easy as it seems. Current solutions include finding parents through meet-up events. Using Facebook groups is not that effective, and visiting libraries and community centers one by one to find the right group is time consuming.

Is it possible to facilitate access to this type of co-op collaboration, regardless of the education system used by families, to help them educate and socialize their children?

Over the past two years, after an in-depth evaluation of families’ educational developments and needs with K-12 children, we have concluded that the co-op system is an ideal complementary tool for many families, regardless of the type of education system.

Because co-op models have a different focus (from GED to enrichment and social focuses), families can meet their children’s educational and social needs at any time by forming their own co-ops. Co-ops can even help families looking to join other families with common concerns and values, such as immigrants, single moms, and families with children with special needs. These people can use co-op groups not just for their children but also for themselves to help them find the right community.

The launch of Pods Match at the beginning of the pandemic allowed us to help many families look for an alternative solution to join their own Learning Pod groups. Through Pods Match, we have learned the importance of accessing a community and how the co-op approach works. That led us to Adcho School.

At Adhoc School, our goal is to make alternative education more accessible to families using the co-op model. It is a place where families, regardless of their educational model, can form collaborations with other families to create their own “Adhoc” schools.

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