Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday's Answer: Workload??

How much everyday work is there involved in running a homeschool Co-op?

Now this is a question for our co-op leaders with experience! Please respond with your experiences by clicking the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post and writing it in the box given. Your knowledge is valuable and helpful.

Thanks!

Denise & Kristen

www.homeschoolgroupleader.com

Books Available

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been in leadership in our group for about 6 years now, and the answer to this question really depends on how large your group is and how much work you are doing yourself. In our co-op, we have divided the work up - so we have a membership coordinator, two building contacts, a teacher coordinator, a communications coordinator, etc. in addition to several more. We have also learned over the years to set "office hours", which we have posted to the group. So, if someone needs to contact the process and scheduler, they know that she responds to emails and phone calls on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:00 to 5:00. She has set that time aside to do her co-op work. (Some of us are more successful at setting and sticking to these kinds of boundaries than others!) The answer to this question also depends on the time of year. More time is spent when we are selecting teachers and setting up the schedule, than during the school year when our classes are in session. I hope this helps!

christinethecurious said...

Our co-op is 20 families. In the summer when people are figureing out which activity to place their children in, and have lots of questions, then I have about an hour of e-mailing or phone work to do a week, some weeks I spend much more, some less. Once we get rolling, I only have to teach the classes I took on, co-ordinate any substitutes for sick teachers (or teachers with sick kids) and snow days. It just rolls on without me, once I spent two weeks in China while co-op did without me.

-Christine