We welcome homeschoolers as well as kids from public school, private school and other educational approaches. Children of all ages may participate in the co-op, but some projects may have upper or lower age limits due to competition rules of outside organizations that host certain project competitions.
As a co-op, anyone can propose a project to add to the calendar, explore level of interest and feasibility, and organize the group.
There is no fee to be part of this community. However, participants may incur costs of materials, resources or entrance fees (depending on project specifics) and must decide how to allocate or cover those costs as part of project planning.
Participants may allocate as much or as little time as they want to a project, and they may participate in a single project or many across time. Good communication with a project team is important to manage everyone’s expectations on amount of contribution from each participant. Projects may last a few weeks or several months, depending on the nature of the project. Some may want to work on a single project at a time, multiple ones over the course of the year, each involving new skills and learning objectives while building on other skills.
Parents and other adults support and guide participants with ideas, funding, or by sharing talents, expertise, or connections, but allow the children and young adults to own the projects by brainstorming and putting in the work. At least one parent or adult should act as a coach or mentor for each project to keep participants challenged and supported.
This is a work in progress and depends on who becomes involved. Small groups might communicate by text, email and phone calls. This website has a message board for members that may be more convenient for communicating with a bigger group, or for finding others interested in joining a group.
