Homeschool Writing and Then Some

Ep #30 Writing for Co-ops with Brandy Higgins

• Ruth Winn • Season 1 • Episode 30

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🎙️ Episode #30 — Teaching Writing in a Co-op: A Conversation with Brandy Higgins

If you’ve ever considered joining a co-op—or even starting one of your own—you’re going to love this episode.

This week, I sit down with homeschool mom and co-op veteran Brandy Higgins, who has taught everything from British literature to biology (yes, biology!) in a co-op setting. We talk about what it’s like to teach writing in a homeschool co-op, how to keep things organized, and what Brandy has learned along the way.

In this episode, we cover:

âś… What co-ops can offer homeschool families at different stages
 âś… How to plan writing and literature classes that work for a mixed-level classroom
 âś… What to consider when launching a new co-op at your church or with friends
 âś… Tips for managing a nursery and rotating parent responsibilities
 âś… Using Google Classroom to streamline communication
 âś… Why co-ops can be a game-changer for high school students (and their parents!)

Brandy brings warmth, experience, and insight to everything she shares. Whether you’re brand-new to the idea of co-ops or have been part of one for years, you’ll find something helpful here.

đź”— Mentioned in the Episode:

  • Mystery of History, Volume 4 (used for literature tie-ins)
  • Google Classroom (for co-op organization)
  • IEW (as a stepping stone to more flexible writing instruction)
  • Chronicles of Narnia (for family-friendly literature study)

Want more writing resources?
 đź“ť Be sure to grab my free thesis statement guide at bitandrudder.com. It's one of my most popular downloads because it helps make a tricky concept suddenly click.

Have a beautiful week, and happy homeschooling! 🪻


SPEAKER_01:

So this week on the Homeschool Writing and Then Some podcast, I am sharing with you an interview I did with homeschool mom Brandy Higgins, who is an expert when it comes to all things co-op. So if you want to know something about a co-op, you ask Brandy. She is great at organization and administration, and she's a really great writing instructor as well. I've known Brandy for about five years, but I really got to know her when we were in the same co-op a couple of years ago. So in the interview, she's going to talk about the ins and outs of what it's like to teach writing in a co-op setting. And she's going to talk about a lot of other things related to co-ops too. So if you are thinking about joining a co-op or even starting a co-op of your own, you'll want to hear about Brandy's experience because she has a lot of wisdom to offer. Sound good? All right, let's get to it.

UNKNOWN:

Music

SPEAKER_01:

Hi, Brandi. Welcome to the podcast. Hi, thanks so

SPEAKER_00:

much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

So before we dive into our main subject today, which is going to be about writing and English classes in a co-op setting, why don't you tell us about yourself, especially as it relates to homeschooling? Just give us a little bit of your background with your own family and how you started homeschooling.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, great. Yeah, my name is Brandi Higgins. And yeah, I started homeschooling in 2014. Our oldest was in third grade. We have three children. I actually have one graduate, woohoo, from homeschooling, which is a big accomplishment. I know you've been through three of those. And then I have two daughters. My oldest is 18. I have a middle- daughter who's 14, and then I have a son who is 13. So we began in 2014 when our oldest was in third grade. She started third grade as a homeschooler. So she went to our local public school, kindergarten through second grade. And we started to see a conflict among how we were going to raise her with a biblical worldview. And we just saw that we were going to constantly be going up against that day in and day out. I remember Viv She said, yeah, we went to school today and my teacher said that the world is millions of years old. And we were like, that's so great that they're teaching you about the world. And did you know that God's word actually teaches a different idea? And she's like, my teacher is not telling me the truth. And we were like, well, people have different ideas of how the world began, right? And so we really wanted to be able to explore everything about all types of learning. So homeschooling it was.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. Well, thank you. And so I know that you have been in several different co-ops over the years, I think, and that you had good co-op experiences. I think you must have, or you wouldn't keep being in co-ops. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about your experience with co-ops and what led to you joining a co-op and just tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Sure. Absolutely. So yeah, when we started the first year, we just... Stayed home. I really needed to understand, you know, how they learn. It was a really big jump for me. I did not picture myself as a homeschool parent, I'll be honest. So we spent the year just kind of unwinding, learning how to do this thing. I had a couple of mentor moms that helped me. And then in 2016, I learned about classical conversations and we actually started, let's see, She must have been going into fifth grade and then kindergarten and first grade. So we started, I was a tutor that first year and we just dove right in, all four of us head first. And it was great. I tutored for four years. I became a Foundations Essentials Director and a Challenge A Director. And within those realms, I was able to teach lost tools of writing and obviously lots of grammar and literature and things like that along the way in classrooms, subbing, or whatever was necessary. So that's kind of my experience. And now we have a new co-op that we just began this past year.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Yeah. And I want to talk about that in just a minute. So was all your teaching related to English and writing or did you teach other subjects too? I know we're going to focus mainly on English and writing, but I was just

SPEAKER_00:

curious. Yeah, so I kind of had to hit all the things. Okay. And

SPEAKER_01:

I know that you have done IEW too. Is that, was that part of classical conversations or was

SPEAKER_00:

that something separate? Right. Their essentials program includes IEW, which they start in fourth, fifth and sixth grade, I believe. So yeah, my children went through that. I did not tutor essentials. I was the director of foundations essentials, but I wasn't that tutor. So I didn't teach it in a co-op setting. I was more of a parent.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotcha.

UNKNOWN:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so I know that you have been out of Classical Conversations for a few years, so you decided to leave that. So why don't you tell us what caused you to leave and what you did? Did that end your co-op experience or what did you transition to?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we started to want to break free a little bit from the classical conversation model. It just is very rigid. And to me, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, because it certainly is a really great, the challenge program is really great, but you're really siloed into some of those subjects. And we wanted to break a little more free from the subjects that we were pursuing. So we decided to let go of classical conversations, which was a huge element of community, obviously for us, my children and me. And so, um, had recently met a great another homeschool mom and yourself Ruth and knew that you all had a small co-op so we actually transitioned out of that into a very small co-op that met in your home thank you so much for having that with us absolutely it was such a great transition yeah and it was a lot smaller scale but what what was what was really nice about it is we were a little I wasn't teaching all the subjects right I was able to just go into one and then I was able to shoulder that with other Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Yes. And then my, all my kids graduated. And so I actually stayed on and with that co-op and hosting that co-op for another year, but then it became clear that that probably wasn't what I needed to continue doing. And so that left you all kind of, you know, needing to do something else. And so that's when you decided along with a couple of the other people there, well, actually just with one other person, I think in as far as a co-founder goes to go ahead and start your your own co-op. And so why don't you tell us about how that came about and just fill in the details of that?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's really neat how the Lord works these types of things out. So it was clear after a year, I think we were in your home for two years, right? The first year, your oldest was in classes with my oldest, and then she graduated. And so you were with us a year and it became clear to lots of the families there that it was time for them to go different directions, which we totally respect that right in the homeschool world. So a Another mom and I partnered up with another lady in our church, fantastic ladies, and we said, you know what? There is a growing need for a co-op in our church, and maybe we should think about expanding and going ahead and starting a co-op at church. And so we all brainstormed that summer. And by the end of summer, we had over 50 kids signed up for our co-op. So it was really fantastic. Couldn't have done it without these wonderful ladies. I did more of the admin part. And of course, I taught literature and writing, which we can talk about. But yeah, it was very fun to plan. And obviously, my experience as a director helped me in kind of getting things rolling in that administrative streamline, getting kids right places, right classrooms, things like that. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

So what subjects did you cover in the co-op? Because I assume you can't do everything. I don't think you were doing... I can't. Right. Not just you personally, but just in general. So maybe tell us, what was the co-op like? What classes did you offer? And how did you structure it?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Good question. So we offered history, science... and an English for all of the ages. And we just had a history block, a science block, and an English block. And it just varied depending on the age group that they were in. So we actually had five classes and each of them in their respective age groups were doing whatever worked for their class. We learned a lot in our pilot year and have actually changed a lot this going forward into our next year, this coming up 2025. So yeah, I was in charge or overseeing the class that was our oldest, which was eighth and ninth graders. And we were doing literature and writing. That was my specific class. And then I also did a mock election for fun, which was great fun. I bet the kids

SPEAKER_01:

love that.

SPEAKER_00:

That sounds like fun. A lot of competition. Anyway, so yeah, that's kind of how it was structured. And Yeah, I hope that helps. And you met once a week, right? Once a week, yes, on Fridays, right? So you would get your homework over the weekend. On Monday, they would work on their work all week, and they'd come in. Friday is sort of your capstone, right? You're bringing in whatever you've been working on and sharing it with the class, depending on what subject that you're in. And we also had, in the afternoons, we offered foreign languages, Spanish and French in the afternoon.

SPEAKER_01:

But those were optional classes. Yes, they were. Not everybody was doing them. And what were the age ranges? So you said you taught eighth and ninth. Was that as high up as the classes went? Did you have older students? Okay, so those were your oldest. And then how far, what, did you have kindergarten? Did you, like, what was the youngest?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think we did have four kids. Yeah, there was a class with four to six-year-olds. And then we had a nursery with the little ones. There was no preschool in particular. So yeah, it went four-year-olds, I guess, through 14, I would say. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so just this is kind of an aside. We're going to get to writing in just a minute. But I'm curious, how did you all manage the nursery aspect of that? Just, you know, if people are interested in starting their own co-op, just maybe some tips on how you manage that, because that is a challenge to figure out how to handle kids who are not going to be involved in the co-op, but whose moms need to be there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So that was... something we really had to brainstorm on. So we actually just came up with a schedule and we had moms rotating in and out each hour. So we had three blocks in the morning, we called them. And so during each of those three respective blocks, we had however many moms needed that needed to cover the amount of children in there. So generally it was two. So they would, we didn't, they didn't just stay in there the whole morning. They would pop in and out and they would go into the, you know, helping with classes or leading respective classes. And so it was a joint effort. in order to make that work because we did want to equip moms and have them in classrooms. That was important to us. And even looking back, there were some things we learned that we probably would change about Um, the way we do a nursery actually this coming year, we don't actually have one. Oh, is that right? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So things have kind of shifted a little, but that's okay. Um, we learned a lot about how to, how to maybe navigate nursery needs, but I, I do think kind of sharing that load is helpful. Um, because you don't want to just be in the nursery and not see what your children, other children are doing, you know? Absolutely. Yeah. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So I'm just curious, just to follow up on that. So what, what would you change? How would you do it differently? What did you learn?

SPEAKER_00:

We learned that it would probably be great to be on a rotational basis. So for example, maybe you might do it every third rotation. Oh, okay. other than the one that they were serving in. So to kind of counter that and to see all of those elements to be able to get in all the classes, we thought, well, if we just made a, we took all the moms and we all said, okay, we're going to take a turn in the nursery every, you know, however many weeks it turns out based on how many moms we have. So every third or fourth, then that might be a little bit better. And that was what we were planning on doing until kind of things shifted.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotcha. Yeah, I think that is so smart because it also lets you be able to like if you know you're going to be gone or whatever, you can switch with someone or even if you're sick that day, you can say, hey, can you take my shift and I'll do yours next week or whatever. It allows for that kind of flexibility. So yeah, I really I like that model. Okay, so before we get to what you're going to change about this year. Yeah. So what when you were doing your planning your English writing curriculum, I guess, especially for high school, but for middle school too. to, what were you trying to keep in mind? Like, what were your primary goals? What factors did you need to consider? So just kind of walk us through your planning for the writing curriculum for the co-op.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it was just so much fun to pick literature, but also like, there's so much to read. How do you choose? So we were looking at it going, how many years do we have with these kids? like left, you know, and what do we want them to read? And so we were really honing in on great classic literature. And we really wanted to have a variety of essays because they were budding high school students. So we needed them to really grasp those different styles of writing. And we wanted to challenge them, but we also wanted to build them up. you know, in their writing. So wherever they are and that obviously in any classroom setting, you're going to have a variety of skills, right? Absolutely. Right. And so setting goals and expectations that everyone can meet and some maybe go to, they do every single thing and some maybe do only a portion of them depending on the student. And so, you know, going into it. A lot of students I had not taught before. So just getting to know them and where they were in their academic writing setting, and also being able to communicate, you know, goals and expectations clearly. So those are some things that we considered. And ultimately, you know, our goal was just to have them grow in their ability to discuss literature and write about literature and a variety of different topics.

SPEAKER_01:

So did you divide the class between literature and writing or did you, was it just some weeks you focused more on literature and discussion and other weeks were more writing focused or did you try to keep a balance?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we kept a balance actually. And each week we discussed literature. So we did a portion of the class's literature and then a portion of the class was writing. And that was pretty much every week. There was some weeks that we just said, you know what, we're going to do a literature guide and we're just going to focus on the literature this week and pick up an essay. We carved one out just for that purpose so we could really understand that particular book. And so, yeah, so it was definitely a variety.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotcha. And as far as, you know, obviously there is a lot of literature to choose from from whatever period of time you're in, but did you have a framework for what period of time you were drawing from were you in the 19th century were you like what was your or was it just all the books ever written and that's what we're drawing from

SPEAKER_00:

right we were in modern history we were using mystery of history we were in the fourth volume so we did stay within that spectrum i would say gotcha but we did hit a little british and a little american so it was in that regard it wasn't like a full-blown american or british it was you know uh with that time frame overall.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. And I also just wanted to ask you, how long did the class last? Was it an hour? Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

it was a one-hour class. One hour.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. And you found, did you think that that was a pretty good amount of time? I

SPEAKER_00:

do. I think it is a good amount of time because you start to, you know, ready to move to something different, right? But we would spend like 20 to 25 usually on our literature discussion and then 35 on you know, writing elements, introducing new things or sharing essays or whatever that looked like.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. And so, um, were there challenges to this that you found or things that you thought worked really well? Like what did you take away from, um,

SPEAKER_00:

what you did this year? So some big takeaways were, um, communicate, communicate, communicate, can't over communicate, you know, um, no matter how small of an item, you think it is, say it to the student over and over because they do need to hear it explained in different ways, expectations, goals, et cetera. So that was one of my big takeaways. And we kind of like used a lot of curriculums and put it together and made our own. So I was learning really how to break that down and make modules, if you will, that they could kind of work through. Obviously they spend the bulk of their time at home, you know? Right. And, you know, so it was like, how do I make sure that they're tracking with what I'm kind of hoping they would do, you know? So coming up with a way to communicate that. So we used Google Classroom.

SPEAKER_01:

which

SPEAKER_00:

is very successful. And I would highly recommend it for any co-op setting. You can post everything on the classroom. You can ask questions there. It gives them a little bit of element of feeling very confident in their own checking their work, printing their work, you know, whatever. So, and it's easier than, and then emails, you know how emails get lost, you know? That's right. And so this was, it was very successful. And I, we learned a lot about communicating and posting assignments and things through that. So that was very helpful.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And I agree with you about Google Classroom. I'm going to use that in my classes this year. I played around with it a little bit last year. And it really is so nice for you can post the assignments there. So you're not having to print off everything. And it just makes it so much easier to communicate. And then if they lose it, I mean, that's I'm sure you had this too, as a teacher, you know, like the night before, I'll get an email saying, Hey, can you send the assignment because I can't find my assignment sheet or whatever. And Google Classroom solves that. Yeah, it really is good. And it's free. It's free. And it's so user friendly. off look like? It sounds like it might be a little bit smaller than last time and that you're not going to have a nursery. So have the demographics changed? Explain that to us.

SPEAKER_00:

Sure. So our whole objective, my friend Amy and I and Mindy, the three of us really collaborated. And Amy and I kind of spearheaded the whole thing once the year started. So all of us have older children. And so we were thinking, we probably need to work this from the top down. So we need upper school to really be solid so that we're, what are we growing our kids up into, right? And so that was our objective was to make sure, you know, you get into those high school, middle school years and you need help shouldering some of those subjects. You can't do it all. And so it's nice to say, okay, I'll grab this one and you grab that one and we'll just swap, right? And so that's been the biggest blessing is to just walk alongside each other and grabbing it. So this past year, we Oh, that's cute. I like that. Well, that's hard for a mom who has a lot of kids, right, to have all these curriculums. So we're starting to realize, yeah, that's not a great idea. How can we streamline this? So we decided, let's do one curriculum that's for sixth grade down for science, for history. And then we're going to do a little like mini literature and grammar in the curriculum. in the younger classes. Right. That makes sense. Yeah. So keeping that a little more streamlined. So at home now we have one thing we're trying to do as a sixth grade or seventh grade and under family. And that was one of the draws for me for classical conversations is that I could keep my kids together. Right. And that is the whole point is to gather around that table with your, your books and your snacks and to have great conversations. So we decided to make that a little more streamlined. So. This coming year, we're calling it our cycle one, if you will. And we're going to be in ancient history, and we're going to be in astronomy for all of them. It'll be seventh grade and down. I love that. And then they kind of peel off when they get older, right? So they need to cover those classes that are necessary as we start to go into, okay, transcripts. Okay, what do we need to get accomplished? So we'll have a earth science and biology as two options for our older kids. And then the younger kids will just be around the table, hopefully, with mom. And then we've picked some literature books. In particular, I think we're going to do the Chronicles of Narnia series, which is fun, right? And so the whole family can participate and have fun with that. And so just trying to make it a little more streamlined. We really want moms to be able to have their older kids learning at the highest level, but their younger kids can come underneath, right, and grab what they grab and not leave them out. But, you know, you got to, again, you got to pick and choose what are some priorities within your own homeschool. And so we wanted to be a partner with families, not necessarily telling them, do this, do that, do this, do that, but as a resource and a partner with mom to help keep them on track. So that's kind of what we've learned.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Well, that's interesting. I hadn't had a chance to talk with you about this, so this is new to me as well. Oh, fun. So is Narnia, is that the only thing that your high schoolers are going to be reading or- Actually, our younger kids are going to do that. Our younger kids. Okay. So you haven't talked about what the older kids are going to do yet. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00:

The older kids do have a list. Let's see if I can find it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So are you in the younger group this time? Are you teaching that? Well, I am actually teaching

SPEAKER_00:

biology this coming year. Can you believe that? That's not English.

UNKNOWN:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. What's up with that? What? What? What? Well, actually, so yeah, I've taught English. This would be my This would be my fifth year if I were going to do that this coming year. But the way that things have trickled out, that was the one class that was like sort of Who's going to teach that? Who's going to teach that? And so I do have our list for our older kids that is coming up and it is a British literature class. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. Okay. So the Narnia stuff is for the sixth grade and under. Is that right? Okay. Yeah. And so are the older kids, is that going to be middle school and high school or does the middle school have their own curriculum and the high school has something different?

SPEAKER_00:

Middle school is going to have their own and then the high school's got the British literature. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Yeah. And so what is, is middle school also doing a British lit or are they doing something

SPEAKER_00:

different? We actually decided that since we're using IEW kind of in those sixth grade and under years, we're like, we need a transitional writing class that kind of moves them from IEW into a high school writing. And so this year we're implementing that transitional writing class. And it was actually a class that I taught is, it's going to be similar to what I did in your house, Ruth. But another mom is going to teach that because she has someone in that class. And just kind of like moving away from maybe some of the rigidity of IEW. It's a great program, but kind of like breaking free a little bit, using our brains a little bit, finding resources instead of it being all in one little book. Because, you know, writing, you have to have resources and things, you know, and learning how to write from literature. So that is something we are implementing.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So you have a nice transitional one. And then how about for your high school students? Are they doing any kind of specialized writing or are they just... writing in relation to the literature they're

SPEAKER_00:

reading. Directly from the literature this coming year. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. All right. Sounds good. Okay. So as we start to wrap up, so there might be people who have never done a co-op before and they're intrigued or maybe someone's interested in starting a co-op. So what advice would you give to either of those groups of people? whether they want to join a co-op or start one of their own.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you have

SPEAKER_01:

thoughts about that?

SPEAKER_00:

Definitely, yeah. Consider your own family needs and dynamics and what would be beneficial for your family first, right? Because you are homeschooling, and so it's important to make sure that's going to line up with what your goals are. If there are co-ops in your area, then consider Certainly go ask some questions and see if it's going to fit. If you're like, oh, you've got a couple of families that you'd like to partner with. Well, then talk to them about partnering together, even if it's doing projects once a week or every other week or experiments or saying, hey, we want to go on more field trips. We want to go out and explore where we live. And you need some motivation to do that once a month even. So, yeah. Yeah. Don't feel pressure to do it when you have a little bitty kids. Enjoy being home with your little kids and, you know, reading and snuggling and, you know, at your own pace and go out and explore, you know, go play at the parks and things. But as they grow and get older, I think they're very beneficial to join co-ops. I think they do bring an element of learning how to manage your time and learning how to be up underneath someone else teaching with mom supporting them all the time because you're at home the bulk of your time, but you have that element of another person's eyes on their work, which is very beneficial. Right. It

SPEAKER_01:

just gives some accountability. It really does. It helps with that a lot because sometimes it's hard to be motivated and you just need that little extra push to make sure that things are getting done the way they need to. So yeah, that's really good. Even us as moms need that, you know? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to add that we haven't talked about? Well, thanks so much

SPEAKER_00:

for having me. I don't think so. I think, you know, I am a big advocate for homeschooling. I think it's such a blessing to be able to be with your kids. You'll never look back and regret it. It's such a blessing. And literature and writing is a huge element of the point of homeschooling because you can choose. There's so much wonderful literature to choose from. So enjoy it. Read aloud as much as you can and write well. you know, as much as you can. Ruth has wonderful podcasts about how to write. So I think that's really beneficial. And thanks for doing that, Ruth, because it's a big need in the community just to understand it, especially if you're not strong in it, your own self. Anyway, yeah, carry on homeschool moms.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. Thanks so much for taking the time to be here today. I've really enjoyed it. And I am sure that you have said a lot of things that people are going to find really helpful that homeschool moms are really going to be able to run with. So thank you so much. Thank you. I loved what Brandy said at the end about homeschooling priorities. So wise. I hope you learned a lot from this week's podcast. If you are looking for additional writing resources, then you'll want to visit my website at bitandrutter.com. That's B-I-T-A-N-D-R-U-D-D-E-R.com. Most of the resources there are free, including a really amazing guide on how to write good thesis statements. Sometimes this skill can be really tricky to teach, and this guide walks you through a step-by-step process that makes it easy to understand. So I hope you'll check that out. Thanks so much for listening and have a beautiful week.

UNKNOWN:

Music