Why do I teach science at Co-op?

The bottom line is that home-school friends asked me to teach Co-op initially.  First, these friends asked me to lead science camp.  Sure.  I had had loads and loads of experience leading camps.  You sing or chant.  Kiddos form teams and tie-dye shirts.  You plan a week of fun activities.  Camps were in my wheel house.  

Then one family asked me to evaluate their portfolio.  In many states, the districts require certified teachers to review the portfolio and submit a letter.  It can be expensive!  Families are wary.  Can you trust the teacher?  So, I began to review portfolios.  The first time I met a family, the review took hours—often the entire morning.  I explained that I wanted to understand how they home-schooled.  There are many ways to successfully home-school.  What was their method?  I still review portfolios.

I was teaching in a public high school close to our church.  Many of the home-school families lived nearby.  They asked if I could teach Co-op science classes.  Biology,Chemistry, and Physical Science can be daunting.  The school gave me permission to teach in my lab-classroom after school.  Rick, the teacher next door at school, lent equipment, such as microscopes and dissection trays.  The other teachers in the science department gave me tips.  For example, when I needed dialysis tubing for osmosis, Wendy said to use cheap baggies instead!  For several years, I taught after-school.  

My husband, Rob, and I still teach Co-op.  Why?  We love the community.  We both like to teach.  So many of our closest friends home-school.  We get attached to the teens.  The underlying reason has to do with vocations.  Our son is a priest.  Many of the vocations to the priesthood come from home-school families.  We want to enable families to continue to home-school through high school.  Rob teaches math, economics, and Physics classes. I teach science and some English classes. Yes, there are two young people from Co-op discerning to the priesthood.  

Home-schooling is really a vocation, in addition to raising your family.  It takes enormous sacrifice to teach well.  Rob and I are all in and want to help!