Overcoming the Challenges of Teaching a Homeschool Group

After having taught homeschool classes for seven years, I have learned what works and doesn’t work in terms of motivating students. The basic challenge that comes with teaching homeschoolers is getting them to prepare for class and complete assignments. Most often, this is because there is a lack of accountability to a formal grading system.  Students will likely perceive the coursework as optional.  This makes it very difficult for teachers to stay motivated, mostly because it’s hard for the teacher to care when it feels like the students don’t.  Teaching is a mutual give-and-take, and when the teacher is giving and students aren’t giving back, it won’t be long before the teacher calls it quits, often walking away with guilt and feeling like a failure.

There are several ways to combat this, and often it requires some creativity.  I’ve outlined what has worked for me in encouraging students to prepare for class and complete assignments.

Offer a reward for completing all coursework.  Since grades really have no meaning in most homeschool classes, offering some kind of big reward at the end of the year can really motivate students.  The challenge, here, is that some students will procrastinate to the end so it’s important to set benchmark completion dates. It is almost a guarantee that there will be students who don’t make it to the end, and that’s okay. Students need to learn that no reward comes without effort.

The reward should be something meaningful and important enough to students that they’ll be driven to complete the class. I guarantee that something like a party on the last day of class will not be a strong enough motivator for students to push through to the end.  In some cases, costs are associated with rewards, and such costs ought to be made known to parents up front so that they can plan for it.  Nonetheless, there are lots of meaningful rewards that come with little to no cost.  Here is a list of some of the things we’ve done for the big reward:

For our Shakespeare classes we have done something as big as travel to Ashland, Oregon, spend the night in a hotel and attend a couple of plays at the Shakespeare Festival. The cost was roughly $100 per person plus gas and food, which wasn’t too bad.  Another time, we took a day trip to San Francisco and attended a workshop, saw a Shakespeare play and then went to Golden Gate Park for some fun.  The only costs were the workshop, admission to the play, and gas and food.  Our last trip was a two-night camping trip, where we saw a Shakespeare play at a college campus and spent the rest of the time having fun and playing games at the campsite. The costs for this were really low.

At the end of our class about the forming of America, we took a trip to the state Capitol, which is local for us, and toured the building. Students got to sit on the Assembly floor, in the very seats that our Assembly members sit in when they vote on issues, and an Assemblyman spoke to our students about California government. The students thought it was pretty cool. There was no cost involved for the reward. Students also earned ribbons along the way for assignments completed and books read, that were tied to a large key. Once the class ended, we mounted them in a keepsake box with a glass cover so they could display them. The boxes were purchased at IKEA so they were pretty cheap.

For our Civil War class, throughout the semester, students earned military rankings for assignments completed that came with special privileges. After it was over, students earned a real sword (dulled, of course) for completing all assignments. The cost was roughly $50 each for the sword and shipping.

Require a course be completed for advancement to the next level. For some reason, this really pushes students. Perhaps it’s because there are bragging rights that can come with advancing. I teach an intense three-semester program that has a reputation for being really hard, and students must first complete a prep class to participate.  After that, students have to pass the first level, to move on to the second, and then on to the third. The class is so challenging, that graduating from it has become sort of a status symbol. The only reward for completing all three levels is a small bust with a placard that recognizes their accomplishment, which is about $30.

Set-up benchmarks to maintain enrollment status in class.  When students think they might be uninvited from a class because they haven’t completed the coursework, they will work to make sure they at least do the bare minimum to stay there, particularly if they like it for the social time.  They won’t want to jeopardize that by turning in late assignments. My students do a lot of writing, and if they’re late on more than two assignments, then I drop them from the class. Setting this standard lets them know that I expect them to be as serious about this class as I am.  In all honestly, I will sometimes let students slide on this rule if the circumstances are extenuating, and if they, for the most part, demonstrate a general diligence in the class.  The important thing here is to make sure parents are aware and support you in this effort.  Otherwise it can become a really uncomfortable situation.

While challenges will most likely arise, there are great rewards that come with teaching. It’s so exciting when things finally click for students, and to see them develop passions and excitement for new things. Sometimes the greatest joys come from great challenges and hard work, and as teachers we have the opportunity to partake in that joy.

Co-ops: Advantages, Disadvantages & Difficulties

For many homeschoolers, co-ops are communities created by families to provide academic, enrichment and social opportunities for the children and, in many cases, a support system and social circle for parents. Most co-ops are simply formed by a group of families around some type of association, such as church, educational philosophy, curriculum, common ages of children, etc. Often, co-ops will meet several times a month, generally weekly, where one or more parents agree to teach specific subjects or skills to a group or groups of children. It is usually a rich and rewarding experience all around, however, it does come with some challenges.

Outlined in this post are the advantages and disadvantages, or difficulties, of co-ops. Some, or perhaps all of these, will sound familiar to anyone who has participated in one.

Advantages
More access to those who can teach based on personal skills, passions, interests, personal or professional experience, etc. Students are afforded social learning experiences. There are lots of opportunities for group field trips and service projects. A sound support system and social outlet is created for parents.

Disadvantages and Difficulties
Teaching Commitments. It can be difficult to find parents to not just commit to teaching, but to actually follow through on the commitment for a variety of reasons (e.g., lack of student effort and accountability, time management skills, burnout, etc.—to be addressed in other posts). To overcome the commitment issue, it’s a good idea to have team teachers, provided they work well together, otherwise team teaching can turn into a “difficulty.”  Also, try not to overburden the same people with all the teaching responsibilities and be mindful of each other’s time.

Classes become social time for parents.  To avoid this, non-teaching parents should at least retreat to another room, or leave altogether.  Otherwise, chatter can become a major distraction.  Another option is to have parents engage with the class.  Learning alongside our children can be as rewarding as teaching them.

Coordinating schedules.  Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to get the planets to align than to find a day on the calendar when everyone is available. This is not easy to overcome and can, perhaps, act as a weeding process for those committed to being active participants in the co-op.  If it’s important enough to families, they will be willing to move their schedules around as much as they can to make it work.

Often 20% of the people will do 80% of the work.  This is simply a reality, and is not always a bad thing.  “Too many cooks in the kitchen” really is too many.  The leaders will naturally rise to the top and that’s okay. Difficulties arise when the rest of the co-op isn’t supporting those leaders by taking on some less-demanding or less-active roles.  In such cases, leaders will likely burnout pretty quickly. Also, resentment can set in if not everyone is pulling their weight.  The best thing to do is to decide roles ahead of time to make sure everyone is taking an active role. Even those who have what might seem to be great struggles or hurdles to overcome, need to be doing something to help (e.g., making calls, keeping records, planning field trips, etc.)

Location.  Depending on the size of the co-op, this may or may not be an issue.  If it’s a small group, the co-op can easily meet in a living room or kitchen.  However, in many cases, co-ops consist of several age groups, and families will likely want to run several classes at the same time, so there may not be space in a home to accommodate all of them.  In such cases, check your local churches, community centers, libraries, Lion’s clubs, etc. Sometimes there are fees associated with these spaces, but they’re usually not very much, and if funds are pooled together then the cost typically becomes minimal.

Size.  Too small and it’s no fun; too big and it’s unmanageable! This is a pretty delicate situation.  If the co-op is too small, children might complain that it’s not fun or that they’re not connecting with the other kids, but a co-op that’s too big can create a major burden on the 20% that’s taking on the leadership and teaching roles.  Keep both of these issues in mind when pulling people together.

While the list of disadvantages and difficulties appears lengthy, they really are small in comparison to the rewards that come.  Homeschool co-ops often become an extension of family and an important part of our children’s upbringing, where lifelong friendships are formed, and that makes it all worth it.

Socratic Method: The Lost Art of Education

Anyone who has participated in the American public school system can testify that the percentage of requirements for memorizing material and developing skills far outweighs a student’s requirement to think deeply and critically. Of course, there are units of study that promote and explore critical thinking skills, but this is often done on a superficial scale, mostly in literary and philosophical units. How can students think in great depth about something that is of no real importance to them? For one to achieve high levels of thinking there needs to be some form of connection for them. This is where students truly learn how to think.  When they care, they think harder, and when they feel challenged to think for themselves and allowed an opinion, they work harder to find it and will eventually learn to defend it.

This type of learning has long been known as the Socratic Method, yet so few seem to be familiar with it.  It is where students learn primarily through reading, writing and discussing.  There is nothing complicated nor fancy about it. On the contrary, it brings education down to its simplest form.

I have used the Socratic Method for more than seven years and have found that students are far more engaged and willing to work hard when dealing with more substantive issues from history and current events.  As a matter of fact, without fail, every student has commented that despite the challenging workload it is their favorite class.  This is not because I am a great teacher, nor is it because the material is riveting, sometimes it is anything but that, but it is because the students are challenged to think on a different level than has ever been expected of them in the past.  They leave with a higher sense of achievement and fulfillment than they have found in the now traditional standards-based education system.

To give a better basis of understanding, Mortimer Adler, a former law professor at the University of Chicago and founder of the Great Books Foundation, in his book How to Read a Book describes the four levels of reading as summarized:

1) Elementary. This form of reading is passive in nature and is the level at which children first learn to read the words on the page. This stage is typically reached in the early years of education.

2) Inspectional. This, too, is a more passive form of reading and is the level at which most K-12 and college undergraduate students read. At this stage, students are reading primarily for information.

3) Analytical. This level of reading is more active in that students begin to make assessments, draw conclusions, challenge the author, think and investigate beyond the author’s words, etc. While some high school and college students will work at this level, it is typically reserved for English courses that include units in literary analysis. Even so, students are often forced into the box of right v. wrong and allowed little latitude to think freely beyond the scope of the text.

4) Syntopical. This is the highest reading level. When students work at this level they are reading multiple sources and, in its highest form, questions are defined, investigated and answered, often creating a new work greater than that in any of the original sources. This level of reading is typically not practiced or attained until graduate school and beyond.

The importance to understanding these four levels is to put into context what it means to develop real critical thinking skills through the Socratic Method. Teaching students through discussion and writing helps to move them up into the higher reading levels and gives them the opportunity to question and investigate, thereby leading them down a path in which they can formulate and defend opinions.

This type of learning should not be delayed.  In fact, such learning can and should begin at an early age simply by posing questions while reading to the students and encouraging them to think beyond the words. For instance, in reading The Giving Tree, the students might be asked, “When we are given something do we owe the giver? Why or why not?” The students, even at young ages, can begin to evaluate and even defend responses to questions like this, albeit in elementary form. In practice, as students learn to expect questions, they begin to look deeper into the text which sets them on the path to analytical reading. Likewise, students can learn about events in history where the same analytical tactics can be utilized and, as students progress through the grades, they will be better prepared to deal with more penetrating questions that require in-depth analyses through discussion and writing.