Homeschool mom inquires about homeschool groups that go from 7:30-4 where she doesn't have to do much teaching: 'Do you mean school?'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Sep 29, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Contrary to popular belief, homeschooling doesn't always consist of a parent teaching their children by themself at home. This is the archetypal image of a homeschooling family: waking up late, doing math in their pajamas, with mom serving as the teacher. However, there are many other ways to educate children from outside of a public or private school setting. Many homeschool families spend a significant amount of time at museums or libraries, allowing them to get out of the house and bring learning outside the classroom, so to speak. 

Some homeschoolers form homeschool co-ops, where parents with different expertise teach a small group of children, making the learning process more collaborative. Some might argue that homeschool co-ops are essentially schools, but most of them don't require the same time commitment as a traditional school. Homeschool co-ops do not necessitate a school administration, a cafeteria, or extracurricular activities. They can be a place for homeschoolers to find close community with one another, but that's not a requirement. 

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  • The mom in this story is looking for a homeschool co-op, but she doesn't want to put in the work of a homeschool co-op. She wants to be able to drop her kid off, have other people's parents teach him for 8 hours, and pick him up without having to do any of the homeschooling herself. That's not what homeschooling is in my book. 

  • A woman sitting next to a little girl at a table
    via Brooke Cagle (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Do you mean “school”?

    nonymous member 2h 8 Stupid question - is there like homeschool learning centers or groups that do it mostly with homeschooling where I don't have to do much? I work 7:30-4 and then he has sports after so not sure how this would work in my schedule and I am hybrid 2 days a week? I don't even know if I am asking the right question 2 凸2 Q11
    via u/HereForTheCraft
  • SpecificHeron local mom invents school
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  • emimarianna "Teachers hate her!!!"
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  • SoldierofZod All educators hate this one trick!
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  • bookbat I went to an 'unschooling center' that was about as terrible as it sounds as far as unsupervised "free range teens" and the shenanigans they get up to. Membership was around $600 a month for scholarship kids like me who earned a portion of our fees by cleaning the space once a week. Explicitly “not a school"; we had tshirts and bumper stickers that proudly proclaimed "Learning is natural; school is optional!". The only required reading book was 'The
    via u/b00kbat
  • Teenage Liberation Handbook' by Grace Llewellyn. The director was going around the country for a while teaching workshops about how to open an identical center. I'm sure he left out discussion about the inappropriate behavior that was prevalent, the substance ab se on the premises, and such fun events as the dual lice and scabies outbreak.
    via u/b00kbat
  • Because it was "not a school", when I asked the director as an adult why the multiple kids clearly struggling with their home lives and mental health were never identified and supported appropriately-or the instances of neglect and abe reported—he told me that they weren't required to, so they didn't. Notably, the director's children attended local private schools for k-8 and public high school.
    via u/b00kbat
  • PricePuzzleheaded835 This is so crazy. I'm sorry you and the others were failed like this
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  • Rude_Vermicelli2268 The fact that the "unschool" director sent his own children to private school confirms my suspicions that parents who opt for unschooling don't have an iota of common sense.
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  • helga-h I have to collect my jaw from the floor... So parents essentially pay $600 a month for storage?
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  • Glittering_knave Is this person asking for other people to homeschool her kid, and she provides nothing? At least find a private school at that point in time if you are that against public school.
    via u/Glittering_knave
  • After school group of children running and looking excited
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • PricePuzzleheaded835 "I want my child taught by others, but not by anyone with expertise in learning or childhood development" This is yet another manifestation of performative intensive parenting. Choices that are objectively worse for children are lauded because they indicate class markers. It indicates the parent has the time and economic privilege to "do your own research” and find inefficient “alternatives” requiring excessive or esoteric resources. Instead of simply putting kids in school.
    via u/PricePuzzleheaded835
  • Enough class and racial privilege to do so without attracting the attention of CPS. It's primarily a way to flex, not true concern for their child's development. These are the same people who deny their children normal medical care in favor of bragging on social media about some crazy elderberry-breastmilk concoction or whatever. The child is secondary to the parent's ego and status.
    via u/PricePuzzleheaded835
  • whitezhang Thank you for articulating this. I've been seeing more and more of this and didn't have the words. Often halfway through someone explaining their more complicated and more expensive solutions to things like 'school' or 'a pediatrician' I find myself going 'wait. Is this a flex?!'.
    via u/whitezhang
  • Kanadark Morons gonna moron. Kids should be allowed to sue their parents if they choose to pull them out of school, but also don't provide the education they need to be successful in the future.
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  • Permanent TrainDamage They are, but the lack of education really hinders their progress.
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  • Judge gavel at the judicial office for judicial matter
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • HellzBellz1991 Growing up we were members of a homeschool group and several kids did a co-op with other parents and maybe some teachers? We never did it, my mom didn't want to participate and also said it was too similar to public school...
    via u/HellzBellz1991
  • Interestingly enough by my junior year of high school we got involved in a "parent partnership program" where actual teachers taught classes of homeschoolers. I did it technically for "personal enrichment" while my youngest two siblings got official high school diplomas through the program years later. My mom now likes to claim that the reason my youngest two siblings are the way they are is because of going through a school system rather than admit her and my dad's failings.
    via u/HellzBellz1991
  • Lylibean I thought it was HOMEschool. Like, done at your home. What's the point of "homeschooling" if you're just going to have to drop off and pick your kid up from a place of (alleged) learning? I thought the whole point of homeschool was to keep the kids at home and safe from scary outside influences?
    via u/Lylibean
  • praysolace Co-op when I was a kid was one day a week and every mom in the group taught a different class based on whatever they knew best. Some of the moms did actually have some qualifications, just, y'know, only in one thing. My mom taught music; she had a master's degree in it.
    via u/praysolace
  • It wasn't " your kid off on other people” day. And it definitely wasn't “. your kid off on other people all day every day." This lady just wants a school. A not-at-home, not- taught-by-mom school. That's called school. Not homeschool, not homeschool co-op. School.
    via u/praysolace
  • looktowindward This is actually a thing - like small group "homeschooling". Its sort of a school but think tutors
    via u/looktowindward
  • Unlikely-Resolve8466 It's definitely not 7:30-4 daily. That would require funds, admin, a facility, lunch. There are tiny (expensive) specialized private schools that do small group learning, but not a homeschool away from home.
    via u/Unlikely-Resolve8466

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