Homeschool Co-Op

.

MINISTRY STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Capital Baptist Church Home school Support Group ("HSG") was formed to assist those members who have elected to home educate their children. Since the beginning of this ministry, others outside of the church have become interested in also participating in this ministry. For this reason and because the Home school Support Group is a ministry of Capital Baptist Church, the following policies have been instituted:

1. Since the HSG is a ministry of Capital Baptist Church ("CBC"), members of CBC can and will be included in the ministry as soon as they begin homeschooling and wish to participate.

2. Members of sister churches of like faith and practice will be allowed to participate in the Home school Support Group provided there is available room. Acceptance into the group is by invitation only.

3. Other homeschoolers may be invited to participate in the Home school Support Group provided room is available. Acceptance into the group is by invitation only.

4. All classes must be taught in accordance with the doctrinal statement of Capital Baptist Church.

5. The Pastoral staff or a church member of CBC will teach any Bible Studies and/or Bible Classes.

6. Any Bible readings and or quotations must be read or quoted from the King James Version of the Bible. This is the standard Bible text of our English-speaking church.

For Parents

Classes

This activity will involve the children in a vocal choir and an instrumental choir with the hand-chimes/hand bells. They will learn how to read music through musical games and activities as they learn to sing and to play the hand-chimes/hand bells. This activity will give them an appreciation for music as well as learning teamwork and group cooperation. The students will perform at Christmas and in May for families and friends after shortened classes on a co-op morning.

This class provides opportunities to develop acting skills by participating in drama skits and plays. Early Elementary classes will perform after co-op at the end of each semester December 3 & 5, 2024 and May 6 & 8, 2025. Elective class students will participate in a Drama Festival Weekend, held on April 24, 25, 26, 2025 (Tuesday) and May 1,2,3, 2025 (Thursday) which will allow the students a chance for public performance.

These classes are for children who are upper elementary through high school. These classes will consist of many different type of classes that the students will have an opportunity to choose to attend. Classes fit into four main categories: Audit, Homework, Competition, Credit. These classes may include Sign Language, Spanish, Government, Health/Safety, Chess, Public Speaking, Science Lab, Literature, Debate, American Girls, Geography, Electronics, Robotics, Math, Sewing, Quilting, Scrapbooking, Odyssey of the Mind, French, Chinese, Literature, Latin, History Chemistry, Biology, etc. There is another packet that explains all the elective classes for each co-op year.

For Parents

Events

Field trips will be planned throughout the year to a variety of locations in the Washington D.C. and surrounding area. Participation is optional and destinations vary each year, but generally cover a range of topics including American history, business and industry, government, and science. Field trip content will be geared to school-age children participating in the enrichment classes. Information on field trips, including details on cost, age restrictions, transportation, etc. will be announced in the support group meetings each week. NOTE: The $100 per child Support Group fee does not cover the cost of field trips.

The Fine Arts Festival will be held on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. The festival provides the children an opportunity to display their art work, science projects, book reports, or other items from their homeschooling year. Also, a performing arts program will be offered, as part of the festival, where the children may sing, play musical instruments, recite poetry, etc. This activity concludes our support group year.

Horizon Students

support group

The Capital Co-Op Support Group is designed to meet the needs of parents who have chosen to home educate their children. The Support Group provides information, seminars, and mutual support. It also organizes activities to provide educational experiences for the home-educated child.

For Parents

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HOMESCHOOL SUPPORT GROUP

The CBC Homeschool Support Group is only for families who are home educating their children. Children participating in the co-op morning enrichment classes must be six years of age and enrolled in a first grade homeschool program and are of sufficient character and motivation to participate in the program. Families without school age children will not be admitted to the homeschool co-op. This reserves kindergarten, preschool, and nursery spaces for families’ home educating school age children.

The CBC Homeschool Support Group meets on Tuesday or Thursday. A family comes on only one of the co-op days. The Co-op meets each week during the traditional school year beginning September 3 or 5, 2024 through May 20 or 22, 2025. There are several days off during the year due to holidays. The program starts at 9:30 a.m. with morning devotions and concludes at 12:30 p.m. each Tuesday or Thursday. Afternoon academic classes and clubs are also offered. Information for these programs are explained in another packet.

Each week, the children in early elementary participate in four enrichment classes each semester. These classes include Art, Physical Education, Vocal Choir, Hand chimes, Drama, Geography, Science, and Literature. The children in early elementary will be divided into groups, based on their age, and will rotate to the various classes. These early elementary classes are one semester in length. Early elementary children will take 8 classes over the course of the year. There is also an opportunity for the children to have lunch together. The children in upper elementary through high school will have an opportunity to choose from a list of parent-offered elective classes for three 50 minute sessions. These classes are year- long classes. These elective classes vary in type: audit, homework, competition, or credit. There is a kindergarten, preschool, and nursery program for children in those age categories.

One parent from each family must participate in the co-op each week as either a teacher/assistant, nursery worker, or in an administrative role (e.g. planning field trips and special events, coordinating support group activities and speakers, preparation of the yearbook and end-of-year awards, etc.). Parents should indicate their preferences for how they would like to volunteer when applying to join on the enclosed application.

In addition, parents are given an opportunity on co-op mornings to attend one support group meeting that provides an opportunity for fellowship, teaching, and encouragement. These meetings may include a Bible devotional, prayer, group announcements, discussion of homeschool issues, opportunities to examine curriculum resources, and presentations – often by fellow co-op members – on topics related to parenting and homeschooling.

The fee for the year for the Homeschool group is $100.00 per each school age child, $60 per each preschool child with a family maximum of $400. This fee covers art supplies, music and instruments, physical education equipment, and classroom needs. Additional fees for individual classes are known at the time of registration. These additional fees may include the purchase of textbooks, costume rental, lab supplies and personal materials. There may be some additional cost as the year progresses for various activities you have the options to participate in (e.g. for field trips, pictures, testing, yearbooks, etc.). There is a $40 administration fee per family.

Students should dress neatly, modestly, and also appropriately for the weather. Due to the fact that many of the young people will be having physical education weekly, you should dress your child to participate in physical activities. They will need a good pair of running shoes, and then appropriate dress for the weather. Modest shorts (Fingertip length or longer) are permissible on warm days. Shirts should cover the shoulder, the midriff, and the back. They should not be low-cut, tight nor revealing when bending over. Jeans (without holes) are permitted. Plan to bring a sweatshirt or have your child dress in layers when the weather turns cold. The key principle for dress for students and parents is modesty. Undergarments are to remain undergarments and not be revealed. Remember the Four L’s of Dress –Long, Loose, Lots, and Layers. Also, please no jewelry in PE classes, as it gets in the way of many PE activities and can easily get lost. Those not dressed appropriately will not be allowed to participate in co-op classes.

For Parents

General Policies and Cost

Participation in the co-op is a nine-month commitment, and depends upon the active participation of all members to ensure a positive experience for all families. Therefore, parents and children are expected to attend co-op meetings every week, except in cases of sickness, travel, or a family emergency. We ask all families to be careful not to schedule appointments or other activities during co-op mornings since an absent teacher or student can be disruptive to the program. If a family has a sick child – but there are other school-age children in the family that are well – parents may leave these children to attend their homeschool classes, while the parent remains at home with their sick child. Parents must have a medical release form (included) and a contact telephone number on file in order to leave their children at co-op.

All students are expected to speak and act respectively toward teachers, assistants, and one another. This means, students should be attentive in class, follow teachers’ instructions, obey safety rules, respect church property, and act in a manner that would bless and encourage others and honor Jesus Christ (e g. no mocking, criticizing, arguing, fighting, use of crude language or joking, or taking the Lord’s name in vain). If a student’s speech or conduct is inappropriate, he/she will receive a warning by the teacher and if inappropriate conduct continues, the student will be removed from the classroom. Pastor Eagy, if necessary, will contact parents about inappropriate behavior of their child.

If a student’s behavior is inappropriate in the classroom, a parent teacher should address that student by saying: “(Student’s name), your behavior is inappropriate (name the behavior), and I am giving you a warning. Next time I have to speak to you I will have to remove you from the classroom.”

A student removed from the classroom should be sent to Pastor Eagy. Pastor Eagy will have a discussion with the student and contact the parent after coop to deal with the matter. Co-op participation is a privilege not a right. Loss of co-op participation privileges will be the consequences of the continual misbehavior by a student.

The Capital Co-op is not a school but a support group. The co-op does not issues course work grades or prepare a transcript for students. Course work grades and transcripts are the responsibility of the parents for their own children. Parents may request co-op parent teachers input for co-op course work. Since many high school courses are “For Credit”, co-op parent teachers may issue grades to help parents in their transcript preparation. All grading by co-op parent teachers whether they be test scores, mid-term or final grades should be issued privately to the student and his parents.

The use of electronic devices (laptops, iPods, mp3 players, cell phones) within the classroom is up to the discretion of each lead teacher. Each teacher’s electronic device policy should be clearly communicated to the students. Many of these devices may be useful in the instruction and participation of the class. These devices may also become a distraction from instruction. If this is so, teachers may collect items and return them to the students after class. If problems persist, lead teachers should communicate to Pastor Eagy. Pastor Eagy will support each lead teacher’s classroom policy.

The co-op fees collected for co-op are used to support the general educational use of the classes. These fees are for materials used within the classes that remain the property of the co-op and may be used from year to year. (An exception to this would be preschool and art supplies.) A textbook that becomes the property of the student needs to be purchased by the student. Purchases need to be preapproved by Pastor Eagy and a Capital Baptist Church Reimbursement form needs to be filled out and a receipt attached in order to process a reimbursement. These forms will be available in the resource room.

Participation application

articles of faith

important dates

Play Festival

.

Homeschool Co-op

MINISTRY STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Classes

Events

support group

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HOMESCHOOL SUPPORT GROUP

General Policies and Cost

Sundays

About

Connect

Next Steps

Media

Contact