Summer Co-op Questions and Answers Q: Do I have to join both summer co-ops? A: No. The two units (Electing America’s Leaders and the Japan unit) are stand-alone. You can do either one or both.
Q: When can I get started?
A: Start any time after the June 1st. When you sign up the clock will start ticking. You will have five or six weeks to watch 4 weeks of videos. When your time is up the videos go away for good for you.
Q: Will there be an egroup for co-oping?
A: There will be a separate egroup for each unit so moms can share ideas, websites, and encouragement. Q: What is the cost of each unit? A: The EAL unit is $30.00 which includes the book. If you already have the book, the price will be $30.00 for the videos.
Co-op Questions and Answers
Q: Can I see a sample of the videos and lesson plans?
A: Yes, just click on www.homeschoolmentor.com and look for "Try Homeschoolmentor Free," then choose between Vol. I, II or III sample videos and lesson plans.
Q: How do I sign up for the Co-op?
A: Registration for Fall-2009 begins on August 15th. Some demographic info will eb taken online, then payment will be sent to PayPal to subscribe. The name of the egroup to sign up for at yahoo, (separate groups for Vol. I, Vol. II, and Vol. III). Make an intro and post a picture of your family so we know who are. Your subscription will be activated so you can see the video page where the first unit will be displayed and ready for viewing 24/7 after mid August. The lesson plans will be available for downloading and printing out in black and white or color.
Q: Why are there Volume I-1st Year and Volume I- 2nd Year Co-op groups?
A: We have already done a year of videos from each of the volumes. Now we are going back and doing another year from Volume I so there will be two separate goups in 2009-10.
Q: Can I join the co-op in mid semester?
A: Yes! Join anytime, but commit to stay until the end of that semester.
Q: Can I join the co-op having dial-up instead of high speed?
A: Sadly, the answer is probably no. You could go to the free sample and give it a try on dial up at http://www.homeschoolmentor.com/. Be encouraged though, that one mom had dial up and did the co-op with great success last year. She took her papers and headphones to her local library each week and watched the videos there. The only problem was when she was called down for laughing too much while watching Jessica in various costumes!! Other members have watched the videos at a relative or friend’s house.Q: Can I pay with a check instead of through PayPal?
A: Because the co-op is set up as a recurring subscription charge, the subscription and payment must go through PayPal. No checks or direct credit card payments will be accepted. Q: I am pregnant with my second child and I am due in October. I will need a couple of weeks to recover and I don't want to fall behind in the training. Could I catch up or would this cause a problem?
A:
There are many interruptions to a homeschool schedule: baby coming, vacation planned, a surgery, or some unexpected life problem. Several families dealt with these distractions last year in the co-op. First, be assured that the co-op train will keep moving down the track on schedule. If you get behind, Jessica is not going to come to your house and ask you about it. Most of the co-op members last year fell behind at one time or another. Some skipped units or weeks to catch up. Others saved units that they could not get to for summer work. Obviously, it is not a problem because Jessica has already chosen to skip certain units when she put the co-op schedule together in the first place. So skipping an entire unit in October for baby time is not a problem. The lesson plan help and the teacher training the rest of the school year will be well worth it when you are in your schooling time.
Q: What if I want to start earlier than September 4th?
A:
The co-op schedule runs from September to mid December, and from January to the end of May. If you want to start in mid August, take advantage of one of the stand-alone Summer Co-op offerings of Japan or Plants. They are both wonderful units. After you have done one of these 3-week units, you will be ready to start the fall co-op with everyone else. These two units will not be repeated in the fall or spring so you will not be repeating any units. This is a great way to make the schedule work FOR you, not AGAINST you. Click on http://www2.homeschoolmentor.com/osc/index3.php
Q: When will more information on the fall co-op be available? I am eager to start getting ready.
A:
The co-op schedule is posted on both websites. Click on www.homeschoolmentor.com for the 2009-2010 Schedule for 2 separate Volume I Co-ops, or the Volume II Co-op or the Volume III Co-op. If you want to do early planning, just look at the unit being covered and consult your KONOS volume for what will be studied. Look through the library lists in your volume and head to your library post haste. If you are planning on joining the Volume I-1st Year Co-op group, you can view the first week’s training and download the actual lesson plans on Homeschoolmentor.com by clicking on http://www.homeschoolmentor.com/ and viewing the Free One Week Sample. It is the first week of Attentiveness with supplies and library lists in living color.
If you are joining the Volume 1-2nd Year, Volume II Co-op, or Volume III Co-op, consult your volume the first two weeks plans. Look up the books and materials needed and start your engines right now if you like. (Obviously, anyone who intends to do one of the co-ops this fall needs the corresponding KONOS Volume, the Timeline to match, and the Century Lines or Timeline Wall Chart). Order your timeline characters and Volume together for a $21.00 savings by ordering the Combo. Go to http://www.konos.com/products/PriceList/BooksNTimelines.htm if you have yet to order.
You cannot sign up for the Co-op before mid August because PayPal starts charging you immediately when you subscribe to the co-op. The problem is, Jessica is not going to post the videos and the lesson plans weeks and weeks early any time during the year so there would be nothing to look at or to download. The other problem for signing up too early occurs at the end of the semester. You will still be teaching but your time will be up for that month in the middle of the month so you would have to pay for another month just to be able to see the last few weeks at the semester’s end. Then you will be mad at me because you signed up too early and PayPal has charged you for an extra month. (Have you ever had 100 homeschool mothers mad at you at the same time? It is frightening. One could lose sleep, weight and hair over such a thing!) So, you will not be able to sign up for either co-op group until mid August.
One thing I noticed last year from the co-op moms is that many of them stayed a week behind the schedule on purpose to give themselves a little more lead time from the time the videos were posted to the time they actually taught the material. and as Lord-High-Video-Keeper, I am steady to my course!
Q: Do I need the curriculum volume to join the co-op?
A: 1) You must have the volume of KONOS that matches the group you join. (Either Vol. I, Vol. II, or Vol. III)
2) It would be extremely helpful to have the matching timeline characters with your volume.
3) If you get timeline characters, you will need the Timeline Wall Chart or the Century Lines.
4) It would also be helpful to have the KONOS Compass.
5) The Creating the Balance DVD’s are an unbelievably helpful resource for using KONOS and for homeschooling in general.
6) The Dads DVD with workbook is a super way of getting your hubby up to speed and helping you rather than allowing you to homeschool. Q: Do I have to watch the videos at a certain time of day?
A: Each week's videos are up 24/7 for about 4-5 weeks, then they go away.
Q: If I purchase the upcoming co-op can I save your video segments to refer back to? How many times can I listen to your sample?
A: The videos are posted to a secure page on the website. Only co-op subscribers are able to see them, but viewing is unlimited for as long as they are posted. You could watch each video ten times a day for four weeks if you wanted to. Each week is usually up for three or four weeks.
I take them away after that because we want the group to stay together. If all videos were posted at once, families would be skipping around all over the place and one of the benefits of the co-op group (everyone working together) would be lost. That would be counterproductive to the team spirit of a co-op.
Q: We are planning a 2-week trip in October. When we return, will I be able to download the weeks we missed? Or will they be gone?
A:
You can watch the videos from any location for as long as they are on the website. Once they are taken down, they are gone forever.
Q: What is on the Volume I Music CD?
A:
For those planning on joining the Volume I group, I have placed the Best of the Millennium double CD that Jessica refers to on the konos.com website. This is a wonderful compilation of the greatest classical music pieces of all time (Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Mozart, and more). The regular price is $19.00 but the special price for Yahoo Group members and Co-op members is $19.00 + S/H. "http://www.konos.com/products/PriceList/VideoNAudioTapes.htm"http://www.konos.com/products/PriceList/VideoNAudioTapes.htm
Q: Can I drop out of the Co-op, then re-subscribe?
A:
All of the units are stand alone. It is acceptable to stop for a bit and then start back up. What you are not allowed to do is to start, cancel your subscription, then re-join at a later time. The co-op is not a come and go thing, any more than a KONOS co-op in your neighborhood would be a come and go thing. The requirement is to come in and stay until the end of the semester, whether that stay is for 4-1/2 months (if you started in September or January), or 3 weeks, (if you started in December or May.) It’s that simple, sign up when you are ready, but commit to stay until the end of the semester.
Q: Will I be able to keep up with the schedule for the Co-op?
A:
The train does have a steady, methodical movement down the track which can be rather unnerving at times, but most of the moms from previous years will tell you that the Co-op schedule was the greatest benefit of their homeschooling life because they stayed on track and got so much more done than they ever had working at their own pace. That is the benefit, if you can follow the schedule. There are plenty of permission slips provided with the lesson plans so you can skip activities or days if need be.
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