Woodridge Homeschool Co-op

"We glorify God by proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and treasuring Christ above all."

Welcome to our co-op!

The Woodridge homeschool cooperative is a one day per week collaborative where a group of families works toward common homeschooling goals with instruction and learning in a modified classroom setting.  The requirement to be part of this church-based co-op is simple; be a member of our church family that is committed to our church's mission and homeschools their children. We would love to share additional information about our co-op below. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you may have.
 
~ The Homeschool Co-op Board

Co-op Mission and Structure

1.  Mission Alignment

The mission of our church’s homeschool co-op is not disconnected from our church, rather it completely aligns with the mission of the church. It involves parents who agree with our church’s mission statement, doctrine, and are committed to diligently teaching its values to their children.  We aim to raise a generation ready to be launched into the world as arrows in the hand of a warrior, to transform the culture for Christ. 

2. Treasuring Christ

For the education of our children, we desire to treasure Christ by imparting a zeal for God, expressed through love for God and neighbor. This zeal for the Lord is nurtured in the home when we connect how parents' disciple their children to the education process. The Bible declares that God has given parents the responsibility of raising and discipling their children and has charged them to do so in a way that glorifies Him. 

3.  Leadership & Oversight

Woodridge offers members who homeschool their children the added benefit of participating in the Woodridge Homeschool Co-op. We understand the God-given role of husbands to lead in the home, provide for their families, and ensure that their families are being discipled. Mothers are an integral part of homeschooling in most families. Our co-op provides a community where families can grow together in faith and education.  

4. Primary Educators

Mothers have been given a helper role to their husbands; this includes nurturing and even carrying out the education of the children in the home. We also allow members to help in classes. While there may be some differences between families who homeschool, the roles of men and women in the church and home remain the same. This partnership is essential for creating a balanced, God intended family environment, reflecting the biblical principles of manhood and womanhood, unity and cooperation. 

5. Subjects

Homeschooling is typically done in the home 5 days per week. Outside of the home, the co-op is a place where children can learn non-core classes in a classroom environment, such as art, classical music, pottery, building, etc. The co-op is run by a dedicated team of mothers of homeschooled children and has over 30 children enrolled. This subculture within our membership not only enriches the children’s education but also fosters friendships and collaboration among families.

6. Goal

This one-day per week co-op provides our children with the opportunity to gather and learn more about the good, beautiful, and true things God has created. It allows us to further cultivate in our children a zeal for the Lord and personal holiness. It fosters relationships between families. While homeschooling involves many aspirations for parents, it is an extension of parents discipling their children with the ultimate goal is to see God use parents to lead their children to salvation through homeschooling. 

Classes offered 2024-2025 Co-op School Year

These are the classes that are being offered through the 2024-2025 school year for homeschool Co-op. For a list of previous classes we have done, please ask!

  • Morning Meeting
  • Elements, Principals, and Techniques of Art
  • Simple Machines
  • Teaching Grammar through Dr. Suess Books
  • Snack and Share
  • Learning Through Literacy Part 1 & 2
  • Astronomy
  • Art Masters: Projects and Composers
  • Math Games
  • Free Play | Recess
  • Spring Homeschool Showcase

Frequently Asked Questions about Homeschooling

We know that those who are looking into homeschooling as a education option for their family can often have questions. We wanted to provide some common questions and answers in the section below and hope you find it helpful. 
What about socialization? If my child is homeschooled, how will they socialize?
Socialization issues associated with homeschooling are a myth and more associated with parenting than homeschooling. Traditional school methods put your child in a classroom with 25-30 other children where they learn to be a child. Homeschooling puts your child in aa wide range of ages, interacting with an adult at a much higher 
Is homeschooling a newer method than mainstream ways of schooling children?
This is where the description goes.
Data on time spent with children when they go to school?
This is where the description goes.
Do homeschool students typically score higher on tests than traditional schools?
The homeschooled child typically scores 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. (The public school average is roughly the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.) 
Do I have a to have experience as a teacher to homeschool?
No you do not. Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education, background in teaching or their family’s household income.
Is homeschooling more affordable than private school?
Yes, homeschooling is much cheaper than private school. The average homeschooled family spends about $800 - 2500 dollars per student, but that number often goes down as the curriculum is reused by younger children in subsequent years. 

Does the Bible Speak on Education?

What does the Bible say on this subject of education? The Bible nowhere uses the word school in the way we use it today. It is simply a term that does not exist in the bible. We see other words such as teaching, discipline, knowledge, wisdom, instruction, meditation, correction, and many other terms that are used during discipleship which more accurately captures what the concept of school is. The Greek word paideia is helpful and means a combination of training, education, and culture rolled into one word.

So, starting from the Bible, here's some verses that are helpful relative to training and discipling our children, and show that this resposibility lies on the parents.

Deuteronomy 6:5–7 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6] And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (ESV)
  • This means we are to be loving the lord at all times with everything that we are doing and teaching our children the things of the Lord. Every activity in our school day should be centered on and laced with Christ to show that subjects ultimate end is in glorifying God. Christ is should be taught in the subjects since he created them all. 

Psalm 1:1-4 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (ESV)
  • When we take this Psalm seriously and train our children to do the same, they will be planted like strong trees in a culture that seeks to uproot them. When they delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it during the school day, they will not be blown away by the world. 

Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (ESV)
  •  Are we teaching our children the fear of the Lord? Are our schools teaching them the fear of the Lord? Parents should be doing this important work. 

Luke 6:40 "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher." (ESV)
  • If we are sending our children to the state for their education, we need to stop being surprised that when they go off to college and turn into pagans. This must not be so with the Christian family. When our children are fully trained, we want them to be devoted Christ followers and members of a local church. 

Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (ESV)
  • We often assume these verses apply to the global church and we need to have discernment relative to our theology and not be conformed to liberal, small God theology - that is true however these also speak of the rest of the hours we live and breathe outside of church and church fellowship - we must not conform our children to the world but have their minds transformed through study of the Word..

2 Corinthians 10:5 "We destroy arguments, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ." (ESV).
  • We must take every thought captive to Christ as Christian parents, and this includes what we teach our children. Is math a thought? Is Science a thought? All of school should be done as a means of obeying Christ. 

Ephesians 4:6 "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (ESV)
  • Fathers are charged with overseeing the discipleship of the children in the home and should be bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord together with our wives. While is should be the case in all Christian homes, can be especially more pronounced in homeschooled families when dads are helping with education as well. 

Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." (ESV)
  • This doesn’t only apply to theological heresy, but every subject we educate our children in as Christians.

1 Timothy 6:20–21 "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith."
  • As parents, we have been called to guard the deposit entrusted to us in the gospel and should be passing this down to our children. Are we avoiding irreverent babble with the education are kids are getting? 

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (ESV)
  • Education should be the pursuit of the good, beautiful and true things that God has created, and we get the joy of discovering with our children. Our children should want to learn about and we should be thinking about the good, beautiful and true in the world God has created.  

Through these scriptures and more, we can see the importance placed on parents for the education and discipleship of their children.

Should fathers be involved in homeschooling?
In Christian families' the father is called to protect and provide for their wife and children. Because of this primary, God given responsibility, fathers can often forget to prioritize being part of homeschooling their children as their wives, who are wonderfully equipped to do so, handle this element of managing the household. While wives are capable and should be very involved in homeschooling their children, fathers are called to disciple their wives and children (Duet 6:4-7, Eph 4:6, Eph 5:25-28). We encourage fathers to be involved in homeschooling the following ways:
  • Help with curriculum planning before the school year with your wife. Plan time to talk about the various options out there, pray and decide what is best for your family. 
  • Help teach certain subjects as their schedule allows during the day, in the evening, or on weekends
  • Participate in the homeschool co-op at church as able
If you are interested in learning more about homeschooling as a means of discipling children, listen to a presentation by one of our pastors on why homeschooling is the best way to disciple our children.
Homeschooling | Woodridge Community Church by Pastor Drew Hacker

Meet the Board.

The board is made up of three elected members of the co-op. They help to provide a smooth co-op experience for all the families involved by facilitating communication, organizing ideas and suggestions, and addressing any questions or needs that arise. The co-op board also helps to ensure the co-op is carrying out the mission of the church in content and curriculum.

Ashley Hacker

Board Member
Ashley is the mother of 4 children and helped start the homeschool co-op at Woodridge in 2020.  She has been homeschooling her children since they were little and sees it as part of her ministry to them as a mother and her personal sanctification. Her husband, Drew, one of the staff pastors at Woodridge, was also homeschooled as a child. 

Vicki Hagen

Board Member

Jessie Wesley

Board Member
Vicki and her husband have 3 children, all of which are involved in the homeschool co-op. She has been homeschooling since her children were young and joined the board of directors in 2023.  Vicki also serves the church in a staff role as the Children's Sunday School coordinator. 
Jessie and her husband have 2 children and have been homeschooling since they have been school-aged. She has been involved in the co-op since its inception in 2020 and has been faithfully serving on the board since 2023. 

Do You Have Additional Questions? 

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