Trying to combine working from home with home-schooling places unspeakable stress on parents and children alike. IDMANN Academy provides tutorial support for students in middle and high school (6th grade --> 12th grade) through the Cooperative Parents' Alliance (CPA). In the CPA, a group of parents (comprising of no more than 10 students in the same grade) form a 'cooperative alliance'. IDMANN Academy then creates and delivers a specialized online tutorial program to serve those children. Each CPA has a dedicated teacher and dedicated secure online classroom facilities for the children in the CPA. The curriculum (based on the Common Core standard for the grade in question) is customized to meet the specific needs of this small group of students. IDMANN CPA supports students and families in many countries where the language of instruction is English.
Parents may form their own Cooperative Alliance and approach IDMANN Academy, or may sign up at IDMANN Academy to be matched with other parents expressing interest in joining a CPA. Parents form, join and support the CPA voluntarily and of their own accord. The fixed fees of the CPA are shared and paid collectively by the member-parents. The CPA is supported as one cooperative alliance. (Parents seeking support individualized support for their children may enroll in the IDMANN Private Tutor Program (PTP).)
The Cooperative Parents' Alliance may also augment the efforts of parents who seek to home-school their children by providing additional tutorial resources to support the children, where permitted. Parents who wish to home-school their children and deploy a CPA as an ongoing support supportive resource are welcome to form their own cooperative.
The formation and operation of the CPA is based on the following simple guidelines:
- The CPA is formed voluntarily by the parents; fees and services are shared by the cooperative alliance. Parents have the obligation to partner with other parents of like-mind and disposition so that their collective needs and aspirations are easily realized for their children. The CPA works best when formed by like-minded parents or by friends and associates who have personal, social, cultural, professional, and/or communal ties.
- Families are expected to live within the same time zone so that classes can start and end at the same time for all students in the CPA.
- Given the target age-range of the CPA, classes are held with generous breaks between blocks. Classes MAY run five days a week, from Monday to Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Nominally classes start by 9a.m. and end by 3p.m., even though parents in the cooperative may elect a different schedule. Schedules are much more limited IF students attend a regular school. In that case, the cooperative alliance augments their learning in school.
- Even though classes are held online with a tutor, parents must provide continuous and responsible adult supervision for their children (who participate from home) throughout the sessions. Tutors cannot be expected to "keep an eye" on kids over a video-feed from possibly hundreds of miles away. Parents are responsible for the safety and well-being of their children who remain in their homes at all times. Tutors are there only for the provision of tutorial instruction. Furthermore, students will take breaks between tutorial blocks. Parents are expected to supervise their children during these breaks, and to ensure they return back to the tutorial session at the appointed time.
- Cooperative Alliances cannot include more than ten (10) students and all students must be in the same grade (1st --> 12th grade) at the time of enrollment. Subjects covered in the CPA derive from the Common Core Standard for the grade in question and typically include the following: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Where there are upcoming state-mandated assessment tests for a particular grade, the requirements of those tests are incorporated gradually into the tutorial process.
- It is reasonable to expect that students who form the CPA will interact with each other during classes. This supervised interaction during class is part of the benefit of the CPA given that students interact with and learn from their peer group, while in the safety of their homes. However, parents are - as in all circumstances - expected to monitor their children's interactions outside of the controlled environment of tutorial sessions.
- Given the age of the children in the CPA, parents may be provided a secure "digital access window" that enables them to occasionally "look into the classroom" and observe how their children are doing in class. There will be limits to the frequency of the "drop-ins" but we extend this service to parents to provide added comfort to those that might be anxious about leaving their children for the first time, or worry about their integration into a new learning environment.
- It is important to point out that tutors cannot play the role of childminders or babysitters. Classes end with a hard stop at the prescribed time. (Instructors are parents too!) Parents should ensure that their domestic arrangements provide for appropriate supervision and suitable engagement of their children at the end of each class.
- As in any other educational or tutorial endeavor, parents have a critical role to play. Parents are expected to closely monitor and actively support the progress of their children. This includes following up to ensure the completion of homework, assignments, and exercises in a timely manner. At the end of the day, young students NEED the reinforcement of the adults in their lives - at home - to focus and make the most of their educational journey. Parents will be provided confidential updates on their children so as to support this process.
- Tutors in the CPA are trained early-childhood educators, and are screened and subject to a background check before being assigned to support our precious children.