Free · Certificate included
Running a Homeschool Co-op
Structure, money, service hours and safety — in the order they actually happen.
What you’ll learn
- Choose between a true cooperative and a drop-off model, and understand what each commits you to
- Decide whether your co-op needs to incorporate, seek tax exemption, or neither
- Build a fee stack and a budget that survive a family withdrawing mid-year
- Write a service-hour policy with a buyout that you can enforce without resentment
- Protect children with layered safeguards rather than relying on a background check alone
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Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
The fork: which of the two things are you building?
Almost every co-op argument traces back to skipping this one question.
6 min Quiz - 2
Structure: you probably need less than you were told
Incorporation, tax exemption, and the $5,000 rule most co-ops never hear about.
8 min Quiz Interactive - 3
Insurance: the requirement nobody warns you about
Rarely required by law. Almost always required by whoever holds the keys.
6 min Quiz - 4
Fees and the budget: build in this order
Why co-op fees stack, and why you collect them earlier than feels polite.
7 min Quiz - 5
Service hours and the buyout
The currency of a cooperative — and the escape hatch that keeps it humane.
8 min Quiz Interactive - 6
Teachers first, then the schedule
Build the timetable you can actually staff — and catch the clash that breaks the day.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Safety, screening, and why co-ops actually die
What screening does and does not do — and the failure that ends most co-ops.
7 min Quiz Written + interactive
Sources & further reading
- Internal Revenue Service — Organizations Not Required to File Form 1023
- Internal Revenue Service — Instructions for Form 1023-EZ (eligibility and user fee)
- Internal Revenue Service — About Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption
- HSLDA — The Legal Side of Starting a Group: What You Need to Know
- HomeschoolCPA (Carol Topp, CPA) — Insurance Providers for Homeschool Groups
- HomeschoolCPA (Carol Topp, CPA) — What Business Structure and Tax Forms Are Needed for a New Homeschool Co-op?
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