Things You'll Need:
- organizational skills
- thick skin
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Step 1
Decide on a number of parents you want in your co-op. To effectively manage a co-op, you may want to set a maximum member limit. Too large a group can become an administrative nightmare, and some parents may end up falling through the cracks and not pulling their weight.
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Step 2
Find a location to host your homeschool co-op. Check into churches in your area to see who will allow you to use their space once or twice a week. Take into account their fees and restrictions. Choose a church that will allow you minimal fees in exchange for keeping the place clean and well maintained. Beware of a church that charges a small fee or no fee and offers nothing in return. While this is a great idea, sometimes they are not available of the wear and tear the traffic will have on the facility, and may become disgruntled or suddenly change the rules. Even if the church wants nothing, it would be great to make a yearly donation to the church as a thank you.
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Step 3
Agree on the duties of each family in the homeschool co-op. There are several duties that need to be attended to in a co-op. You will need people to supervise children, you will need people to maintain the facility, you will need treasurers, you will need a governing board, and you will also need teachers for various subjects. In a small group, each parent or family may have to take on two jobs to cover all of the bases.
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Step 4
Decide how much you will need to charge each family to be in the co-op. A co-op should be low cost and perhaps even free should you be able to secure a free facility and donations, but in most cases, you will need to charge at least a modest yearly or quarterly fee to cover the costs of rent, cleaning supplies, paperwork, and perhaps learning materials.
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Step 5
Set up a list of rules that will help should there be conflicts in the co-op or should decisions need to be made. Prepare for conflict to lessen its negative effects. You will need to make rules about unsupervised children, dropping off kids and leaving, behavior, curriculum choices, special needs children, and any frustrations you may have noticed in a previous homeschool group you have belonged to in the past.
