I belong to a homeschool co-op that started in January 2000. You can probably imagine the incredible variety of classes that have been offered in this amount of time. Ours is an enrichment co-op, with a mix of academic and extracurricular classes available for preschool through 12th grade. The good news is, I have saved most of the class schedules and descriptions over the years, and I’ve dug up as many as I could to share the class descriptions with you!
Related Post: Homeschool Co-ops: What, Why, and How
How our Enrichment Co-op works
Our group is a true cooperative, meaning each family must have one adult on campus at all times, and each adult must teach or assist. Teaching is optional, but everyone assists if they are not teaching. Class fees are determined by the teacher, and the money is collected by the leadership team and disbursed to the teachers before the semester begins. Each semester is 10 weeks long, and there is a program at the end of each semester for optional table displays or performances. A nursery and preschool are offered for families with school-aged children.
Our classes are grouped as follows: preschool (age 3-5), K-2nd grade, 4th-6th grade, 7th-8th grade, and 9th-12th grade. Many of our upper classes are offered for 7th-12th grade, and there is an occasional 4th-12th grade class.
There are so many old class descriptions to share, so I’ve divided them up by our co-op’s grade groups and made each grade group available as a PDF download. Note that these do not include lesson plans; they are just the class descriptions, but they’re very useful for brainstorming ideas for your co-op!
If you are interested in starting a co-op in your community, I can help! I have been on the team that started two different co-ops, and I have walked others through the process. Sign up for a homeschool consultation appointment and let’s plan and brainstorm together!
Now, let’s get to those class descriptions.
Preschool
Preschool classes are offered only for families who have children in K-12. Our co-op has offered five hours, until the Covid shutdowns changed some things. So we had three classes, a lunch break, and two more classes. During the second hour class, preschoolers have a snack time. Currently, we have three class hours on co-op days.
The basic class kit for preschool students is crayons, pencil, glue stick, and safety scissors.
Kindergarten – 1st grade
The first level of elementary students is the K-1 group. Their basic class kit is the same as preschool.
2nd-3rd grade
The basic class kit for 2nd-3rd is the same as the younger children.
4th-6th grade
Our upper elementary and lower middle school students are grouped in the 4th-6th grade group. This group usually has a lot of flexibility in what’s required; students will find classes that are relaxed and slow-paced as well as academic and challenging. The basic class kit is something like this: pencil or pen, colored pencils or markers, scissors, and glue stick.
7th-12th grade
Our junior high group has a few of their own classes, plus many more that get combined with the high school group. So for the purposes of this PDF, I’ve combined them all. Each class will be noted whether it’s 7-8, 7-12, or 9-12.
More co-op class ideas
There are lots of ways to create a co-op class from existing resources! Unit Studies make great classes. Check out my big list of unit study ideas for a great start.
Learning with games is always fun, especially with a big group of friends. Our co-op has had many class hours where games were the focal point. I recently wrote a post on out-of-the-box homeschooling ideas, including gameschooling.
Book studies are a perfect way to teach a class on so many subjects. I have created a few study guide PDFs that are available to download right here on my website, including The Fellowship of the Ring, and some historic Henty novel guides.
And if you’re teaching a group of elementary, middle school, or high school boys, a duct tape weapons class is in order!
I hope you are inspired with lots of new ideas!
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