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Writer's pictureNiki Lavin

15 Homeschool Co-op Class Ideas

Our co-op has been invaluable to us over the years. And while I LOVE teaching classes, sometimes it can be a struggle to come up with class ideas. Today I'm going to share some ideas with you. If you teach at a co-op, we would all love it if you would share your ideas in the comments at the end of this post! I'm going to group these ideas into Early Elementary, Upper Elementary to Middle, and Upper Middle to High. I'm going to give five ideas for each group.


Early Elementary


Science Alphabet

This was a really fun class that I actually taught at our homeschool. Each week we covered a science topic that started with a letter of the alphabet. Even better, I've got a free printable for you guys on the topics I covered for each class. Instant Lesson Plans, you've got to love that! Click the "Buy Now" button to download for free.


The Solar System

Cover the sun, each of the planets, dwarf plants (Pluto and friends), comments and asteroids, and galaxies. This gives you several weeks of learning fun quick and easy.




Circle Time

Think your classic circle time from public school. Learn about the calendar and weather, have a letter and number of the week, sing songs, read stories, play games. Simple. And bonus points for being able to repeat things (young kids love that!). So your lesson planning is pretty simple.


Creative Art

Time to break out all those fun Pintrest ideas you've been saving for the past several years. Young students love to craft. So this is a really engaging class for them. But if you are squeamish around messes, you might want to choose another option. LOL


How to Be a Scientist

Learn about what scientist do. Explore the scientific method. Learn about all the different types of scientist. Learn different science topics along the way.


Upper Elementary and Middle


Fiber Arts

Teach them crochet, knitting, hand sewing, embroidery, machine sewing, etc. I actually taught this class and we had a great time. I got each student a canvas bag, a crochet hook, a set of knitting needles, an embroidery hope, and sewing kit. Everything in one bag for them to bring back and forth. Better yet I was able to use up some of my scrap yarn and fabric that has been taking up space in my house.


History Classes

I taught a series of history classes for this age group several years back. The first semester we covered Egypt and Greece. The next semester we covered Rome and China. The third semester we covered Vikings and Medieval Europe. And you could keep going all the way up to Modern Times. We did an interactive notebook, watch a video, and did an activity each week. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved creating everything from hieroglyphic stones to Viking shields!


Math Art

There are tons of art projects that contain math principles. Infact following math principles in your art often leads to more pleasing art! There are tons of ideas on Pintrest and Google just search it. This class was really fun and we had a lot of great projects to share at our end of semester showcase!



Kitchen Science

Just Google it! There are more ideas than you could ever use. Super fun for the kiddos, but it can be a bit much to source and tote all those materials. So, keep that in mind when you are seating any supply fees. But let me tell you this is a crazy popular class. So worth it!


All About Matter

This is a really fun class to do for this age group. Cover everything from what is matter, how to describe it, and how it functions, to atoms, molecules, and elements. There are lots of great and simple experiments on this topic. Kids will be very engaged.


Fairy Tale Science

Yes I know this is six for this category. However, this is the age group I teach the most, so you get a bonus. This was a really fun class and all of the kids really enjoyed it. I used the "Fairy Tale Science" book I found a few years back. (Click the image to be taken to Amazon. This is an affiliate link, but I really appreciate your support in using it). We started each class by reading the version of the story from the book and then another version and comparing the two. Then we complete the experiment. Science and Language Arts. A one, two punch and the kids don't even realize it! LOL



Upper Middle and High School


Civics

We just taught a civics course at our co-op and it was actually pretty fun. We found iCivics and it made lesson planning for this class so simple! We used Google Classroom to assign some of the fun games and activities for homework as well which really help stretch our learning since it is a lot of information to fit in just a few 1 hour classes. Check out my video on the iCivics program below.


Dystopian Novels

This was one of the most popular classes we had in our co-op. They read several novels over the course of the semester. And they completed several projects from papers to dioramas. Our kids loved it so much that they were upset we were not bringing it back for a 3rd semester.



Drama

This is by far our most popular co-op class. Some semesters they do improve and acting skills, some semesters they put on a full production. Some semesters they do small group scenes or musical theater songs. The options are really endless with this one.


Foreign Language Classes

This is a great class to offer because you have built in conversation buddies which is hard to come by at home. We have brough in private tutors for these classes in the past, but you could easily use a curriculum and learn along with the kiddos even if you do not speak another language.


Speech and/or Debate

This is a really difficult course to cover at home if you don't have similar aged children. So that makes this the perfect co-op class! And teenagers love to share their opinions, so you know they are going to love this class.


So there you go 15 (plus a bonus) class ideas for your next co-op class. What do you think? Could you teach on of these? If you have other ideas, please share them in the comments down below! If you would like to hear more about classes I've taught or other ideas, please check out these videos from our YouTube channel:




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