I finally retired from my teaching position at our local homeschool co-op this spring. I was one of a handful of teachers who had been there since the beginning of our co-op, when we started meeting in unused school buildings or church spaces. Since 2016, I have taught a variety of classes, including high school logic twice, high school American History, middle school General Science twice, Physical Science once, Middle Ages History, Five-in-a-Row for little kids, and a class I developed called Little House Literature. I have taught every semester since the fall of 2016.
For the most part, it was a lot of fun. Except for a couple of classes, I always had my child or grandchild in the class I was teaching, so it was fun to get their help and input with the lessons I was teaching. And I learned a lot too. It’s never too late to learn something new, and I felt that each semester I added to my own education and knowledge. Teaching is the best way to learn something!
Yet, those 9 years of teaching also took a toll. This was all volunteer work, yet I put hours of planning and resources into my little class every week. Whether it was looking ahead in the science book to see what materials I would need for an upcoming experiment, or gathering and bringing everything that would be necessary for a craft project, there was always something that I was getting out-of-pocket because the class fee that made it affordable for families with lots of kids wasn’t enough to cover what I needed for the classes.
It wasn’t like I could walk into class with a lesson plan and try it out for the first time either. If there was an art project, I made a prototype on Sunday evenings. My own kid and I were doing science experiments in the kitchen to make sure they would work that week in class. It got to be exhausting. And at the end of this semester, I had had enough. Here are some of the ways I knew it was time to quit.
Counting the days…
Our co-op had two 12-week terms. The last year or so, I had it marked in my calendar that I had 1/12, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, etc of the term marked in my calendar. I would leave the building, hauling all of my books and materials up the stairs and out the door each week (because there was no place to leave them) and think, “I only have to do this 11 more times.” Of course, that number diminished each week. When I got down to only one handful of days left, I was thrilled.
More like regular school than homeschool,
Our co-op got so large that we were ringing an actual bell to mark the change of classes, and sticking to a very rigid timeframe. That went against every fiber of my 1990s homeschooling self! But it was necessary if we were going to get everything in. So I was constantly shocked, surprised, and then offended when students would show up late, or miss without letting me know they weren’t coming (for reasons other than illness), or would schedule a big vacation in the middle of the term.
Lack of parental appreciation
I am all for the freedom of homeschooling. I advocate for it, and I appreciate it. But if you signed up to be part of a co-op and I am spending my free time relearning the laws of physics for you or trying to find an easy way to explain the Battle of Gettysburg, then I expect my students to put in the same effort. Families weren’t doing that, and eventually, I became disheartened.
But with none of the perks
The pros and cons of staying on as a teacher were tipping over into the con side. Aside from no pay, an expenditure of money for other items and resources, and the enormous amount of time in prepping for class every week, there was no real tangible way to know if my classes were a hit or miss. Parents would let me know how much their kids enjoyed the class, and I noticed that some nonstudents were always hanging around the periphery to hear my lessons when I was teaching in a hall or other open space. So I guess I was at least entertaining. I did test my high school students, but even if they weren’t doing well, what could I do? In homeschooling, it’s up to the parents to ensure the kids are meeting the goals and then issuing a grade. So if I were teaching and a student was sleeping, I couldn’t give a consequence other than asking them to leave the room.
The future
So next year, for the first time in a decade, I will be just a regular homeschooler in the co-op. I’ll help another teacher if they need a helper, but I am reclaiming the time for my own homeschool. Miss C will be in 7th grade next year. The best years of middle school and high school are coming up. And now I can devote all of my energies to just her.
I’m looking forward to it. What a gift!