Are you waking up in the middle of the night in a panic with all the things you need to add to your to-do list to get ready for the first day of your co-op? Are you panicking because you don’t even have a list and you know you should, but you don’t even know where to start or what should be the priority? The clock is ticking and you want to be ready. Take a deep breath and relax. Here are 5 simple questions to get you organized and help you think through this process. It doesn’t have to be overw...
Aug 08, 2024•33 min•Ep. 61
Are your teachers overwhelmed and lacking confidence in their ability to teach at your co-op? Is your community struggling with inconsistencies among your teachers? Are your teachers burnt out due to spending massive amounts of time planning for their class(es)? In today’s episode, we are talking about teacher training- why it’s so important and how it serves your community to do it. Educate, Equip, Encourage, Expect Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your p...
Aug 01, 2024•23 min•Ep. 58
Are you struggling to motivate parents to stay involved? Do you wonder how you will ever find and train your replacements as leaders? Do you have student behavior problems that you are having a hard time handling? All these problems can be mitigated by being a parent-led co-op. Today we are excited to talk about all the benefits that you can experience as a co-op by having parents present and engaged on campus. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for thei...
Jul 25, 2024•25 min•Ep. 57
Wish you and your teachers had more insight on how to teach to different learning styles? What if you had the key to unlock your own child's best way to learn? Today, we have a special guest, Dawn Jackson who is an expert on learning styles and personality dispositions to give us some tools to help all the kids in our co-ops thrive. Want to connect with Dawn? Email her: [email protected] or visit her website: solimaracademy.com Next Steps: Schedule a coaching call with Molly, Pam and Hanna...
Jul 18, 2024•41 min•Ep. 56
Investment! As leaders, we all want and need the families in our co-op to step up, to volunteer, to stay invested. But how do we achieve this? How do we motivate parents to stay involved and to step up and willingly volunteer their time and effort to our co-op? Two weeks ago we talked about the absolute must of intentionally creating a culture of LISTENING to your families. Today we are going to talk about another way you can walk that out - by encouraging your families to teach unique classes. ...
Jul 11, 2024•37 min•Ep. 55
Are you ready to get started building a community where you can grow together in faith? Are you feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start? Creating a mission statement that will serve your community over the long haul is worth the time and effort you put in up front. Your mission statement is the cornerstone for the foundation of your co-op and one of the most valuable tools you will utilize time and time again. In this episode we will take two samples of real co-ops and audit them, so tha...
Jul 04, 2024•45 min•Ep. 54
How many of you leaders out there feel like you are doing ALL the work for your co-op and it is completely overwhelming? Why is it that 20% of the people do 80% of the work? What is it that inspires the families in your co-op to step up and take on extra tasks and truly INVEST in your community? Today we are going to talk about one big strategy that will help you increase investment and excitement in your community - are you ready for this? Stick around and we will share with you the magic solut...
Jun 27, 2024•22 min•Ep. 53
Next Steps: Schedule a coaching call: https://calendly.com/leadyourhomeschoolco-op/coaching-call?month=2024-03 Do you have families that feel disconnected from your community? Are families doing their own thing all of the time, except on community days? Are you and your members desiring deeper relationships and stronger connections? Now that you have found families to join your community, your work isn’t over! You need to continue to cultivate those relationships for the health and strength of y...
Jun 20, 2024•21 min•Ep. 52
If you have found your leadership team and set up your co-op then you are ready to start inviting families to your community. How do you create a close knit culture that shares your values and mission? How do you ensure that families will fit? We’ve done a couple of episodes on the importance of doing new family interviews. Today we are going to help you refine the interview process by giving you 6 questions you must ask to make sure you are accepting families that will thrive in your community!...
Jun 13, 2024•31 min•Ep. 51
Do you have a vision for a homeschool community for your family, but aren't quite sure where to find other families that also want deep relationships to join you? You want to get the word out, but you don’t have the budget to advertise and even if you did, where would you put the advertisement? How are you going to get the word out to find the families that want to grow in faith together? In today’s episode, we are going to discuss this question of attracting the right kinds of families for your...
Jun 06, 2024•26 min•Ep. 50
Are you in conflict with another member of your homeschool community? Are you avoiding that person because you are afraid of the drama or divisiveness that seems inevitable? Are you afraid of losing friendships because of the unknown outcome? Does your stomach turn when thinking about confronting a conflict? This experience is so common to all of us! No one likes to face those challenges that could result in loss of relationship. But oftentimes, our avoidance of conflict just makes matters worse...
May 30, 2024•27 min•Ep. 49
Now that summer is upon us and we’ve had time to reflect on the past year, let’s have some fun. Just because school is out doesn’t mean we stop connecting as a community. Some of the best ways to foster a close knit community, where you grow together in your faith, is through simple summer time connections. Here are 3 ways to connect over the summer! Psalms 133:1 (NKJV) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! Next Steps: Schedule a coaching call: https://...
May 23, 2024•22 min•Ep. 48
Happy End of the Year! Homeschool mama! You made it! Are you SOOOO ready for a break? Us too! It’s so tempting to just put away all the school stuff for the year and not think about anything related to homeschool or community or planning. . . We all need a break. But just closing the books and not looking at or thinking about them again is probably not the best approach to your year end. In this episode, we want to encourage you to take the time needed to end your year well. Now is the time to r...
May 16, 2024•41 min•Ep. 47
Welcome to part 2 of our series about “bad” behavior. In Episode 43 we talked about reframing how you think about behavior. If we approach behavior with the understanding that there are unmet needs of the students, we can connect and interact to set students up for success. If we react from emotion, ourselves as teachers and the students are set up for failure. In today's episode we will share strategies to help prevent unwanted behavior so you can avoid a poor or stressful learning environment ...
May 09, 2024•26 min•Ep. 45
Do you have students in your co-op with bad behavior? Are your teachers and mentors frustrated with lack of classroom management? Are they feeling helpless? What if I told you that it is in your power to reframe your mindset and turn the situation around. Be ready to be mind-blown in order to make this shift. How many of you have had a student in your co-op that has become the target of disapproval, has gained the reputation of being a problem, or you have had to lead a classroom where you know ...
May 02, 2024•24 min•Ep. 46
How are you doing homeschool mama? Do your kids (and maybe you) have spring fever? Have you been deep in the trenches with your homeschool co-op and are just READY to be done with this year? AND are you already anticipating next year - because it seems like the planning and registering and “need to know what next year is going to look like” comes earlier and earlier each year but you STILL have to finish this year and you have to test your kids and plan for summer and start your garden and ALL T...
Apr 25, 2024•24 min•Ep. 44
Do you desire a co-op that serves all ages of students? Does your co-op have a history of high schoolers dropping out and pursuing other endeavors? Do you wonder how you can keep your high schoolers in your co-op during this critical time of their development? We know that many families desire to homeschool all the way through high school, but kids don’t always agree. It often seems the grass is greener over at the more traditional school. In this episode, we will share strategies on how to stru...
Apr 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 43
Are you at a loss for what to include in your handbook? Are your community members reaching out with lots of questions that you feel like you have answered over and over? Are there issues that are coming up regularly? In today’s episode, we are going to give you some suggestions on information to consider including in your community handbook. I Corinthians 14:40 NKJV Let all things be done decently and in order. Next Steps: Schedule a coaching call: https://calendly.com/leadyourhomeschoolco-op/c...
Apr 11, 2024•25 min•Ep. 42
Do you want families that connect with and invest in the vision and mission of your community? Does the thought of asking hard questions to a new family make you cringe? What if I told you that it is possible to connect families in your co-op, through the application process, that will run the race together for God’s glory? It is possible when you find the families that fit in your group! In our last episode we discussed common mistakes that you might be making in the admissions process. If you ...
Apr 04, 2024•31 min•Ep. 40
Do you think you should accept every family that applies to your co-op? Don’t like the idea of discriminating against families wanting to join your co-op? Are you uncomfortable with the vetting process for your co-op? Does it seem elitist to say “no” to someone wanting to join your co-op? In this episode we are going to discuss common mistakes that leaders make in the admission process. We’ll be talking about the mindset necessary for going into the admission process to find the right families, ...
Mar 28, 2024•22 min•Ep. 41
Are undefined roles in leadership burning you out? Does your board desire clarity around their roles and responsibilities? Are important tasks getting missed? In this episode, we will be discussing how to work together as a board with unique giftings, to create a leadership team that is united and also complimentary. Need help? Schedule a coaching call: https://calendly.com/leadyourhomeschoolco-op/coaching-call?month=2024-03 Connect with other Christian homeschool leaders, get examples of what o...
Mar 21, 2024•24 min•Ep. 39
Do you have kids in your co-op who are overwhelmed when faced with challenges? Are they easily frustrated when they don’t “get it” right off the bat? Do you often have meltdowns when one team loses a game or things don’t go someone’s way? If you are experiencing this, your co-op might benefit from some resiliency training. In this episode, Pam shares a curriculum that teaches six components of resilience that could be taught as a class or implemented as a club. It is so easy to use, and the best...
Mar 19, 2024•9 min•Ep. 37
Are you dreaming of a close-knit community for your homeschool next year? Do you long to find connections with others who want to grow together in faith? Do you feel a pull to start something new in your area but don’t know how to begin? If you are ready to step into your calling as a servant leader but need some help getting momentum, then stay tuned for all the steps that will help you be successful. In this episode, we are going to give you eight steps that you will need to take in order to s...
Mar 14, 2024•35 min•Ep. 38
Is your community falling apart because of drama and conflict between families? Has going to community lost its joy because of gossip and complaining? As a leader, do you feel like a failure because it keeps happening again and again? Be encouraged leader. Leading homeschoolers is a difficult task but we would like to share some ideas about potential mistakes you might be making and how to correct them. You have the power to make a change in your community! Proverbs 17:14 (New King James Version...
Mar 07, 2024•27 min•Ep. 35
Are the SAME people always volunteering and doing the work at your co-op? Are you struggling to get moms to pitch in because it’s “not my season”? Does your co-op seem to be full of takers rather than givers? What if I told you it is actually possible for parents to be eager to help? In this episode, we are addressing another great question from one of our listeners. This is an age-old question: how do you get enough people to help when the workload for leadership seems overwhelming!? There is a...
Feb 29, 2024•20 min•Ep. 34
Is your leadership team overwhelmed with all they need to do? Is your board having a hard time connecting to co-op members on community day? As leaders, are you in touch with the heartbeat of your community? In this episode, we are answering a question that was posted on our Facebook page about how the leadership team can actively build relationships with co-op members. This was a great question! We are looking forward to discussing this today and giving you some tangible things you can do right...
Feb 22, 2024•23 min•Ep. 33
Are you homeschooling on your own and wish you had a community of believers to do life with? Do you desire deep relationships but have not found them in your neighborhood, or even at your church? Are your kids feeling isolated and settling for hanging out with kids just because they are in the neighborhood, but not because they are good friends? In this episode, we want to explore what you should find in a Christian homeschool community. And if something like this doesn’t exist near you, rest as...
Feb 15, 2024•21 min•Ep. 32
Do you have big dreams for your community but don’t know how to pay for them? Does the idea of asking for money make your skin crawl? Does the word “fundraiser” make you want to go bury your head in the sand? What if I told you that you can put the FUN back into fundraising and make all your dreams come true? Listen to Part one of this series: https://homeschoolcommunitybuilders.podbean.com/e/episode-30-putting-the-fun-back-in-fundraising-interview-with-riley-mehegan-part-two/?token=ebe79add9592...
Feb 08, 2024•35 min•Ep. 31
Do you have big dreams for your community but don’t know how to pay for them? Does the idea of asking for money make your skin crawl? Does the word “fundraiser” make you want to go bury your head in the sand? What if I told you that you could put the FUN back into fundraising and make all your dreams come true? In this episode, we have a special guest who is excited to put the fun back into fundraising for all of us. Before you try to raise money on your own, listen to this advice from an experi...
Feb 01, 2024•27 min•Ep. 30
Are rules causing frustration and conflict in your community? Are you failing to please anyone because you're trying to please everyone? In this episode we are going to share why making new rules may not be the best solution to your problems. 1 Corinthians 14:40 “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” Join our Facebook group- Lead Your Homeschool Co-op https://www.facebook.com/groups/72507320516066...
Jan 25, 2024•21 min•Ep. 29
