Five Steps to Starting a Learning Pod

With social distancing and lockdowns in place, numerous families have been struggling to find a way for their children to learn and socialize. Parents are desperately looking for quality and safe childcare and educational options while their children are at home, socially disconnected from peers and are missing out on proper learning opportunities and environment. This is especially sad as this is the age when children should be learning and developing new skills every day.

While some daycares and schools had reopened in the fall, many of them have shut down again because of the COVID-19 second wave. As for the families that still have access to their schools, many of them are uncomfortable with their children being in large groups, and rightfully so. This puts them, and potentially other family members, especially vulnerable ones, at risk of infection. For many, it is not feasible to hire a full-time teacher or babysitter for their kids to learn and socialize. And while parents have to be at work, they are stranded having to juggle jobs, family obligations, and their children’s education.

For these reasons, families have come up with a new concept, learning pods. These small groups are an amazing way to get together to arrange children’s learning, and to split the costs. Learning pods are small groups of students, young and adult ones, who learn outside the classroom with an experienced teacher to follow, replace or complement classroom curriculum. These groups can also consist of smaller children who require a childcare professional such as a nanny or a therapist. The “learning pod” concept has also slowly expanded to one-on -one sessions for anyone from a young kid needing a babysitter to a university student looking for a tutor. This is not surprising given that educational institutions have lost numerous staff members due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Learning pods are often referred to as “micro-schools”, “childcare swaps”, “pandemic pods”, “homeschool co-ops”, and in-home classrooms.

Although the booming concept of in-home classrooms is fairly new to many people, it has actually been around for many years. Families usually start or join micro-schools for a variety of reasons. Some children need personalized learning, but cannot afford private schooling. Others need their special needs or interests accommodated. Many seek affordable preschool learning. Here is where learning pods come into play and help families find affordable schooling while saving money.

In-home classrooms bring in amazing opportunities for affordable and personalized learning tailored to the children’s needs, interests, and strengths.

Learning Pod Checklist: Here is What You’ll Need to Start a Micro-school

1. Decide if you are hosting, teaching, or looking for a learning pod.
2. Reach out to other families.
3. Find a teacher for your micro-school.
4. Discuss the curriculum, schedule, and other logistics with the teacher and other parents.
5. Make sure the learning environment in your homeschool co-op is safe.

Most parents I have spoken to are understandably puzzled as to how to start a learning pod or even find one, not to mention the struggle of finding teachers, setting up the curriculum, and most importantly, sticking to the budget. Let me walk you through this process.

Decide if you are hosting, teaching, or looking to join a pandemic pod

While it may seem obvious to families whether they would like to start a new leaning pod or to find an existing one, this journey is not always a piece of cake, and parents should be prepared for unexpected changes. You might have to think outside the box and discover and accept unexpected options you’ve never thought of before.

Last week, I spoke to parents who were initially looking for a micro-school for their 8-year old Joshua, but were unable to find one since there were not many families in their neighbourhood who would be able to host a pandemic pod. After three weeks of searching, they decided not to lose any more time and they started their own learning pod! Luckily, their work was flexible enough to allow them to start a micro-school. They found a teacher, and another family with 2 children joined them shortly after.

Another family was unable to find a learning pod, so they formed their own micro-school where the mother is a host and also a teacher. She has a teaching background, but didn’t teach for a while as she was busy with other obligations. Looking at how difficult it was to find an in-home classroom, Sarah took matters into her own hands and decided to lead, host and teach her own homeschool co-op. As soon as she created her profile online, other parents started contacting her. Her micro-school started growing and was soon complete!

As you can see, this step is an important one and cannot be overlooked or underestimated. If your work-life balance allows you to do so, it is possible that at some point you will need to accept certain changes in your schedule for your children’s well-being. Just remain open to it.

Reach out to like-minded families

Now that you have decided whether you are hosting a homeschool co-op or placing your child in somebody else’s learning pod, you need to find other parents. Here are three options to starting your homeschool co-op:

1. If you are a teacher, create a free teacher profile to let parents, students and learning pods know about you. This will allow them to contact you and inquire about your teaching style and availability. When you create your teacher profile, try to include as much information as you can, such as ages and grades you teach, whether you teach online or in-person and if you are interested in teaching groups or one-to-one classes.
2. If you are hosting a pandemic pod or if you are looking for an existing one, you need to reach out to parents to form your homeschool co-op. To find parents, browse learning pod profiles and contact them. These profiles have been created by parents just like you. They are either hosting an in-home classroom or looking for one. Either way, they are looking forward to connecting with parents just like you who have children of the same age. So hurry up and reach out to them. Use the website’s fully automated learning pod search engine to find families based on your criteria such as age, subjects, location, and more.
3. The best option, however, is to connect with like-minded families by letting them know that you are starting an in-home classroom or that you are looking for a micro-school. You absolutely need to let other families know about you because this is how they will be able to find and contact you!
   
   In order to do so, create a free parent profileand indicate whether you are hosting an in-home classroom or looking to join someone’s existing learning pod. From there, families will be able to find and contact you.

This step is a quick and easy one. The rest will be done by the automated search and matching engine on the website. There are plenty of parents looking for affordable, personalized and safe learning environment for their children. Create your profile, and someone will surely contact you soon!

Find a teacher for your homeschool co-op

Once you’ve reached out to other families and decided how you would like to approach your children’s educational and socializing needs, you are ready to look for a teacher, unless you are joining a micro-school that already has one.

The easiest is if you already have a teacher, a caregiver or know a tutor that could lead your learning pod. Otherwise, the best place to find teachers and caregivers locally or for online learning is a free matching tool for learning pods and teachers. This automated teacher search engine allows everyone to use filters such as child age, school subjects, learning preferences, location and maps, to find and contact their preferred teachers and childcare professionals.

Once you’ve found your perfect match, I recommend having a phone conversation with the teacher or caregiver before you hire them. You would also need to consider other parents’ opinion so all kids in your learning pod are comfortable. Some teachers may be willing to come in for a sample lesson, but the easiest way for everyone is to have a sample class done online. If you like your teacher’s expertise and the connection between your teacher and the children, you can move on and work out the rest of the logistics and the costs, which will be split among all families in your pandemic pod.

Discuss your learning pod curriculum, schedule and other logistics

Once you’ve worked out your in-home classroom model, found a teacher and other families to join, it’s time to agree on all the exciting details such as curriculum, schedule, location, student needs, values, and of course, the budget.

Curriculum

There are multiple options when it comes to the curriculum tailored to your pod’s needs. Many schools provide their own curriculum to families who chose to stay home. In this case, your learning pod teacher will follow your school’s curriculum. In other instances, schools teach half-day online, half-day in-person, and it is possible that your family chose not to attend in-person classes. Here, your in-home classroom teacher will help you with that part, and will also support your children throughout their online learning that is provided by your school. It’s especially important because online learning is different from in-person and lacks the human factor. Here is where your home micro-school teacher will be able to help and facilitate the learning.

In some families, kids aren’t enrolled in school at all. When homeschooling your children, it is especially difficult for parents to figure out what exactly needs to be taught and at what age. This is where your learning pod teacher or tutor will bring in their own curriculum tailored to your child’s age and needs.

Language of Instruction

Some parents vote in favour of language immersion which is a great way for children to develop new language skills. In this case, all subjects are taught in a foreign language, such as, for example French or Spanish. Other options are available depending on your location and the teacher you choose.

I recommend to start with regular in-home schooling in your own language since it is not always easy to get all parents to agree on the language immersion model. That said, it is possible to find anything under the sun, especially if you express an interest in language immersion classes by creating a profile here.

Ages in Your Learning Pod

Luckily for many of us, when it comes to learning in small groups, the age difference can be increased and allow for some flexibility. While everyone needs to feel comfortable about children’s age in your group, there is no concern about mixing ages up to a certain degree. Ages can be mixed and allow for a differentiated learning which is a wonderful model on its own. These are the guidelines as to how you can combine age groups:

• 5 and under
• 6-9 years old
• 9-12 years old
• 13 and up.

Schedule

Your goal is to provide social interaction and learning for your children in a comfortable atmosphere and with a convenient schedule for other parents. It’s not always possible to accommodate everyone, so if you feel that your work allows for some flexibility, you can consider changing your schedule to help other parents who are unable to do so due to their obligations. Never forget that, after all, the goal here is to help the children in your community, and also to help everyone split the costs.

I recommend having a pandemic pod 3 days a week which is more than enough to accomplish what you need. The reason being, homeschool co-ops are generally much more efficient than regular schools because the time management is so much better in small groups, and thus the quality. So there is no need to run a learning pod for full 5 days a week unless you would like to.

Primary Location of Your Micro-School

When picking a location, decide if you would like for it to be at your house, the teacher’s home or the other family’s home. Some learning pods swap houses because of the parents’ work and schedule limitations. That said, I don’t recommend rotating homes, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Keeping your in-home classroom at the same location will allow for consistency in the logistics around this process. Having the same place for your micro-school will also allow you to set up a consistent environment conducive to learning.

Values

Decide if you would like to prioritize certain values with other parents. For example, some parents like being involved in their homeschool co-op, while others don’t have time or imagination and will not be able to participate as much as others. Teachers might or might not be comfortable with parent participation, and this is something you would need to discuss with your provider.

Some parents will be okay with dropping off their child and leaving them at your house. Others might want to stay at your home to observe their children learn and interact with the teacher, until they become fully comfortable with it.

Discuss with others if you expect them to follow any rules such as arriving on time. It is possible that some families will not be able to arrive on time due to other obligations they have. Others might have to interrupt the session because they need to leave earlier. Consider if you are comfortable with this and make sure you’ve discussed all the aspects with others. Be sure that you’re clear on what’s important to you.

Legal Aspects of Learning Pods

When it comes to micro-schooling, laws can get tricky, and it would be best to take care of this ahead of time. Although you have the right to homeschool your children, there may be specific guidelines regarding the number of kids that can gather with a paid teacher or any other type of caregiver such as a babysitter. Therefore, depending on your country and region, there might be limits as to the number of children you can host at a given location.

In some cases, if you are above 4 kids you are required to register a daycare, and to deal with all other consequences such as insurance and more. At this point, you are better off incorporating a business to protect your personal assets from any liability if something ever came up. In other situations, only two children can be license-exempt, and anything above that has to be licensed as a childcare. You might also be required to file as a homeschooler.

In any case, it is worth looking into the legal aspects of hosting a learning pod as soon as possible.

Budget

The budget of your learning pod project will come down to teacher costs and school supplies. I also recommend a background check for teachers for your own peace of mind. Your main cost will be hiring a teacher or a childcare professional, depending on the type of in-home classroom you are planning. I recommend the following rates: at least $40 per hour for teaching and a minimum of $25 per hour if you are hiring a caregiver, e.g. a babysitter for two (2) children. With three (3) children, you are looking at $30/hour. Plan for an additional $5/hour for every additional child. As to your school supplies, you should allocate about $200/year including the background check. On the bright side , you’re not alone. You are getting together with other parents to split the costs and to promote a quality and safe environment for your kids to learn.

Go over your learning pod's safety tips: COVID-19

At any time, especially during the pandemic, it’s important that you’re fully aware of and prepared for the risks that pandemic pods might involve. By all means, schooling in small groups is much safer than returning to school. That said, you still need to keep in mind these simple homeschooling safety tips.

Children in In-Home Classrooms and COVID-19

When planning to start a learning pod during a global Covid-19 pandemic, be very serious about health concerns. While kids don’t get sick or exhibit symptoms most of the time, they can easily pass the virus on to others without knowing about it. If someone in your homeschool co-op has COVID-19, keep in mind that others can catch the virus, too, and the outcome will heavily depend on their immune system and general health.

Consider Wearing a Mask

Masks can lower the threat of COVID-19 dramatically. While it is a personal choice and your right to wear or not to wear a mask, remember that wearing one reduces your chances of catching the disease and passing it on to others. It is understandably difficult to put a mask on a child, especially a very young one. Therefore, consider all pros and cons and weigh the benefits over potential risks before you make this decision.

Look into Online Learning Pods

PodsWhile many of us aren’t used to online learning and socialization, we might have to explore these options during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, an in-person homeschool co-op is the best you can get in terms of human factor and socialization. And, it is quite difficult to adjust to a new medium, especially if you have very young children or a baby. It is also practically impossible to have an online babysitter.

That said, if you feel that there is a way for your family to adjust for your own safety, you can try an online pandemic pod, especially if your children are older and if they can focus and learn online. There are plenty of amazing teachers and micro-schools online waiting for more kids to join, learn, socialize, and build meaningful social connections.

Reduce Number of Students

For in-person homeschool co-ops, limit the number of families. As sad as it is, during the spread of COVID-19 families might need to limit the number of students in their homeschool co-ops. You will need to decide on how many families you want to join in safely. Technically, many pods have anywhere between 5-10 kids, which is an ideal number for a proper and conductive learning environment. That said, I strongly recommend the following in the meantime:

• Up to 5 kids in your micro-school during the pandemic. In this case you will only need one teacher. It is also a good number for children ages 5 and under.
• If necessary, you can increase the number of students in your in-home classroom pod, up to 10, but not more. This model works well if kids are 6 and up. The reason being, it becomes easier to manage your homeschool co-op as children get older. In this case, you may still be okay with one teacher, or you might benefit from a second one, depending on how easy it is to manage your learning pod.

Your Learning Pod Adventures Await!

Building a micro-school isn’t as difficult as it seems. It’s also quite easy to find an existing in-home classroom. This is also an incredibly rewarding experience through which everyone gets to make friends and grow together in a happy and healthy community. So I encourage you to start building your dream learning pod today!