While she enjoys staying home for most of her studies, the 14-year-old says chemistry is a course that would be hard to replicate at home. So when her family decided to join Helping Hands Homeschool Co-op this year, it meant Castleberry could get hands-on experience with lab equipment as well as the chance to work with an experienced high school science teacher.
Both are opportunities she says she's enjoying.
"The whole hands-on experience makes it easier to understand chemistry," said Castleberry, who conducted five experiments with teachers and classmates Monday. "Co-op gives you more of a class experience. And it's also a lot of fun to get out of the house."
For home-schooled students like Castleberry, on most days, school looks a lot like home. The role of teacher is filled by mom or dad, and the kitchen or spare bedroom serves as a classroom. Pesky classmates are little brothers and sisters.
Though many students are also involved with youth sports, music lessons and clubs, the tuition-free co-op offers classroom experience that's hard for home-schoolers to get otherwise. With courses ranging from core academic to special interest enrichment, the co-op is made up of 185 students in kindergarten through 12th grade who meet Mondays at Belton Church of Christ for 10 weeks each semester.
Like at home, parents teach classes in a wide variety of subjects such as astronomy, Latin, tae kwon do and sewing. But unlike home, every parent doesn't have to teach every class. And children have the opportunity to learn from teachers who are not part of their families.
"My children have benefited from the expertise of others," said Colleen Stafford, volunteer co-op administrator. "It takes a load off me. I don't have to teach (my children) the lesson. I just oversee them carrying out their assignments. They're getting much more than just me teaching them at home."
One co-op goal is to instruct children in basic classroom etiquette, not a given for students who might have the option of doing classwork on the couch or in a tree when they're home.
"It's helpful for them to learn how to behave and to learn what's expected of them in a classroom setting because they might someday be in classrooms in high school or college," Stafford said. "At home, students can talk whenever they like and they don't have to wait for others. Here they have to be still and quiet, ask questions when appropriate, be mindful of others and wait for their turn to talk."
There also are valuable life lessons learned as 80 different families interact with others who are similar in many ways, but different in others.
"We're like-minded in basic faith and like-minded in our desire to home school our children, but what that looks like can vary from family to family," Stafford said.
Bailey Kasberg, 12, said he enjoys those differences. In addition to chemistry taught by Rebecca Stryker, a former high school science teacher, Kasberg is enrolled in photography and cross country.
"I get to learn different things from a different perspective," Kasberg said. "You hear different ideas from other people you're in class with and get to talk to other people."
Friendship is another component to the independently organized co-op, Stafford said.
"We all have friends here, so it's an afternoon with friends," she said.
