Community Blog

Registration for reserved families is open from now until August 20th. Unreserved and new family registration will be taken from August 21st through September 3rd.

Families currently on the waiting list will be contacted after September 3rd.

Forms and full information are available on the registration page.

We are looking forward to another great co-op year with everyone!

Our Fall session will run for 14 weeks, starting on September 16 and ending on January 20, 2011. The required orientation session will be held on September 11 from 1 to 5 pm.

Fees have been reduced for the new session and are now as follows:

Price per child 2 and up: First child $175 per semester, second child $145 per semester, additional children $130 per semester

Price per sibling under 2: $30 per semester (children under 2 years can only attend if they have an older sibling that is attending)

Spots are limited. Contact us to inquire about availability. To reserve a spot now for the Fall 2010 Session, complete the reservation form and mail it with your non-refundable deposit of $50. Make check payable to the Community Co-op. Mail both to The Community Co-op, PO Box 1843, Oak Park, IL 60304.

Please note that groupings and classes are subject to change and will be updated before registration opens in August.

We will contact you regarding your volunteer role and to confirm your reservation or let you know if spots in your children’s groups are not available.

In early March 2010 the co-op was visited by a reporter and photographer from the Chicago Tribune and on March 10 we found ourselves front page news in the local West Chicagoland Extra section of the Tribune.  You can find the text of the article in the Tribune’s archives.

The article is written for the general public and tackles some of the stereotypes that Tribune readers might have about homeschooling.  Some of our diverse group of co-op parents and kids talked to the reporter about what this co-op, and homeschooling, means to them.

Classes are closed for this year, but we still want to hear from you! Check out our website and contact us through our “Contact Us” link to ask questions, schedule a tour, and to get on our mailing list or waiting list.

We will be developing a teen program for fall of 2010!

Join us for our second session!  Details below.

Steps to Participating in the Co-op

• Read this website.
  • FAQ, schedule (in reg. packet), and class descriptions
• Read the handbook.
• Contact us at info@homeschoolcommunitycoop.org:
  • if you have questions.
  • if your child has special circumstances we need to discuss
  • to check on availability of openings.
• Please contact us by mail or phone if you are unable to reach us by email for any reason. See registration packet for co-op address and registrar’s phone number.
• If you would like a tour, please contact us to schedule a time.
  • Tours are available by appointment only. Because we are a co-op, we are engaged in classes and not available to give on the spot tours.
• Consider what your role as a parent might be in the co-op.
  • While not everyone has to lead classes, please consider becoming a small group leader or a co-leader.
• Print and complete the registration packet.
  • Please print at your local library or contact us to request a copy of the forms if you are unable to print at home.
• Mail your registration packet and full payment check by the registration deadline.
  • As a courtesy to our volunteer registrar and schedule coordinator, please honor this deadline.
• Participate in the orientation.

Registration: Jan. 23-Feb. 2 (11 days)
New Family Orientation: Sat., Feb. 6, 2:30-4:30, location TBD (Oak Park)
Session Dates:  Feb. 11- May 20 (See calendar in reg. packet for details.)

Price:  Full members $195, Junior members (mostly babies) $35 

See registration packet for fee chart and payment options.

Note: Many questions can be answered on various pages of our website. The registration packet will be available on our “Current Program” page Jan. 23.  Please contact us if you have any questions.

We’d love to have you join us!

We loved the program KidPix, the old version that no longer works for our computer. So I was intrigued to see this software, Art Rage, starting at only $20.00. Apparently it’s easy to use, though best with a tablet and pen.

Read the review at Wired: http://www.wired.com/geekdad

For a simple web based fun to play art site, check out the games and activities at the National Gallery of Art website: http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/paintbox.htm

When the founders of co-op got together and got serious about starting this not for profit organization, we asked ourselves, “How can parents lead quality, consistent classes?”

After all, it’s one thing to homeschool your own children, quite another to plan an entire semester, and lead a class of 12 or more children!

Some of us had prior teaching experience in some form or another, one teaching in a school, another teaching adults in continuing education — but most parents coming in as volunteers wouldn’t have that.

Lori had the idea of Team Teaching. The idea is that two parents are the Leads of the class and lead as, well, a team. The two leads plan the class together and teach together. If one person is having a hard time with a project, or an explanation, the other team member is there to step in and help out.

Another part of the team work is ongoing debriefing, checking in, how’s it going? How did I do today? Was that clear? Did the class flow well today? Do we have the right number of stations set up?

Initially, I was hesitant about this team teaching thing. Bit of a Lone Ranger type. In our first year of co-op, I didn’t have a co-lead, it just worked out that way, there didn’t happen to be someone available.

This year, I do, and it’s great! No more Lone Ranger for me. My co-leader and I got together to plan our class, Studio Art. She had a wonderful idea that I never would have had — why not have as our organizing theme, the history of art? You know, the entire history of art, starting with the cave paintings?

One semester in to the plan, it’s going great. The class this year is larger than last year, but since we have this teaching team in place, class actually feels easier.

After the Winter Break, we’ll start in on the Middle Ages!

The Learning Treasures website has this handy list of tips:

10 tips to home schooling with toddlers

In this series of reviews, you’re learning about all the books we’re using this year!

Here’s how we’re using this marvelous, engrossing series: everyday, I read aloud about 3 chapters in The History of US. We want to finish the series this school year, so we figured out that’s about what we need to read per day.

Sometimes, I check in at the end of a chapter, should I keep going? And my audience of one usually says, “keep going, this is interesting!”

I’m finding once again, that one of the hidden benefits of homeschooling is the life-long learning that it awakens in the parent.

Again and again as we read, I say, “I didn’t know that!” And I swear I graduated from college, and took history all through school.

Oh! If only it had been this interesting!

I’m lucky enough to own the entire series plus the index and teachers manuals, though I haven’t used the teacher’s manuals yet.

We’re using the History Pockets books (previously reviewed, see below) along with The History of US, plus maps and a geography book.

In addition, we’ll be getting DVDs from Netflix as we go along through the books and the years. For example, we might get The Civil War by Ken Burns when we get to it in the book.

Right now, we’ve got map reading DVDs from the library.

This is another example of a history “spine” that I talked about in a previous post. See, The History of US is our history spine, but I’ll be adding other books as we go along, those books are great, but they’re supplemental, the spine book is the main thing, the organizing force.

It’s a great series, the author makes it interesting, a story, and doesn’t talk down or hold back. The back of the book says it’s for ages 9-100 or something like that. My friend who passed it down to me said it’s junior high level. My ‘student’ is 5th grade and the level is perfect for us.

In the introduction the author writes that the book can be used at many levels, and that not everyone is expected to read every sidebar.

If you’re going to study American history in depth, I don’t think you could find a more comprehensive and interesting resource/spine/book than these.

I think a friend gave me this book. Thank you to her, because that’s vastly improved our homeschooling lives. No more complaining during spelling time. Our old spelling list was a list of random words.

The AVKO spelling book has lists of words that are related to each other and build on each other. So the first word on the list is a short word, and the later words on the list (some of them) contain the same ending. Themes within lists go on for days.

Here’s another cool thing: the instructions are that you correct the student right away when they make an error. How cool! They’re not going to write in incorrectly for weeks, only to find out on a quiz that they had it wrong.

It’s also nice and simple. There are word lists, do one a day. That’s it!

I really, really love this spelling book and highly recommend it to all homeschoolers, and also to kids in school who maybe need a different way to learn spelling.