Why Co-op Doesn’t Work For Us

We’ve been on hiatus from our co-op since Thanksgiving.   Let me just say I LOVE not having to go each week, and I’m already dreading next week when we start back.

This is our third year (total) and 2nd attempt at co-op.  As much as I want to like it, I don’t.  We won’t be returning to our current co-op.  There are several things factoring into why I don’t care for co-op.  If you read my blog AND attend the same co-op as me, don’t get bent out of shape on this one, or maybe just stop reading here.  Grins.

Cost:  Between the cost of registration, individual classes per child and the cost of gasoline to get there each week, it’s a budget killer.  I could have spent that money on a really nice, hands on science curriculum.

Academics: I’d heard really good things about our co-op and it’s academic value.   Granted that may be the case in the high school classes, but I’m not seeing it in the elementary group at all.   Lindsey is bored terribly in her classes, and my option would be to bump her from 3rd grade to 5th grade, landing her in Olivia’s classes.  Olivia on the other hand says that the class she’s learning the most in is the one I teach….so why not just teach it at home?

Lost Time: We give up a full day to co-op each week, losing time in our own studies, housework and life.  The return on investment is poor at best and not really justifiable.  Don’t EVEN say it’s good socialization…

Behavior/Attitudes:  Although there are some really nice kids at co-op, I’ve met some of the rudest, most disrespectful children in my life this year.  Temper tantrums at 2 are annoying; temper tantrums in middle school are just ridiculous and an embarrassment to have to watch.

Lack of commitment:  Although I understand that things like sickness and family emergencies come up,  just not showing up, or full filling your duty or doing your class assignments (or requiring your child to DO the class assignments) just doesn’t set well with me.

While I know that some people just LOVE their co-op, (including the one we attend), it’s just not right for us.  I’m just biding my time until the year is over.   What about you?   What’s your feelings on co-ops?

The Ultimate Free Blogging Planner - Review

I am an organizational junkie.  Seriously, my children are in 2nd and 4th grades and I already have their high school academics planned out.  I.kid.you.not.   Planning is an addiction for me.  Perhaps there is a 12 step program that can help?  Over Planners Anonymous maybe?

Having said all that, one area that I have been remiss in is blog planning.  Gasp!  It’s true, I just blog at will.   Or at least I did, but now that I have The Ultimate Free Blogging Planner from Say Not Sweet Anne, even my blogging is becoming a well thought out machine.   Ok, maybe that is a bit of a stretch.   In all seriousness the planner is helping me keep better track of product review schedules, blog hops and carnivals. 

I’m TOTALLY loving the fact that there is a important information sheet at the beginning where I can store  site, URL and password information.  This may seem silly, but you’ll appreciate this page when your automatic log in isn’t working and you can’t remember what freaky word you used at each site….not that I’ve ever had to change a password, AHEM.  Moving on…

Pros:

I love that you can pick what color you want. Color choices are blue, teal, purple, pink, gray and black/white. To be honest purple is my all time favorite color, and it would have been my color of choice, IF I had a color printer. Since I don’t I picked black and white. Now if you are like me and you don’t have a color printer, you can save the file to a thumb drive or CD and take it to Staples or Office Max and have it printed and bound for a pretty reasonable price.

Here’s a peek at the purple. (I borrowed these photos from Say Not Sweet Anne’s site, with the owner’s permission.)  Isn’t it lovely?

In addition to being able to pick your favorite color, you also have three different planner options in each color.  I would have included the individual links, but there is a separate link for each planner, in each color.  You can see all the links in all the colors at one time at the download site.

1. The 86 page Blogging Planner:  In addition to the two page monthly calendar layout, this option also offers a place to record statistics such as blog posts, comments, visits, subscribers, likes and followers by week.

2. The 144 page Blogging Planner with notes:   This option has all of the features in #1 above, but also includes added pages for notes before and after each monthly calendar.

3.  The 88 page Planner:  This option deletes the record pages for statistics and a few of the note pages.

Cons:

When this gal adds note pages, she adds LOTS of them.  Too many in my opinion.    There are 3 pages for notes BEFORE each monthly calendar and three pages AFTER.   Maybe I’m just a poor note taker, but 6 pages of notes per month is a bit much, not to mention it’s a big waste of ink as far as I’m concerned.  This of course is easily rectified by printing several pages at a time and skipping the ones you don’t want or need.

The price can’t be beat, it’s FREE!  Yes, free as in costs you absolutely nothing other than your time, paper and ink.   There is one small string attached, you have to like Say Not Sweet Anne on Facebook in order to download the planner.  A small price to pay for a freebie!