Information for Instructors

To propose a course you'd like to teach: email our planning team at PlanetHomeschoolMN@gmail.com, with "Course Proposal" as the subject line.

About Planet Homeschool

Planet Homeschool is an inclusive secular homeschool co-op for middle school and high school students ages 10–19 years (5th–12th grades). Our co-op is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for students from diverse backgrounds. Our membership includes many transgender and neurodivergent students and students at higher risk of becoming very ill from communicable illnesses. Our families have a variety of educational philosophies and styles.

The Basics

Who can teach a course?

Instructors may be interested members of the community or family members of current and past PHS students.

Instructors with a strong background in working with teens and who are actively engaged in their fields are highly sought after at Planet Homeschool.

Instructors may make use of student assistants, but students may not be a course’s primary or only instructors.

What ages and grade levels are PHS Students?

All Planet Homeschool classes are restricted to students ages 10–19.

Courses may be for the entire 10–19 age range or restricted to a smaller age range.

High-school courses are typically for ages 14–19 (9th–12th grades)
Secondary-school courses are typically for ages 12–19 (7th–12th grades)
Middle-school courses are typically for ages 10–14 (5th–8th grades)
Other courses are offered for both middle school and high school students, ages 10–19.

Instructors should be prepared to teach the full age range for whom their course is advertised so that all enrolled students have a meaningful educational experience.

Exceptions to the Stated Age Range

When considering granting an individual exception, please take into account both the social and interpersonal skills needed for your course. Because registration restrictions can only be overridden by a website admin, you will will need to notify our co-op’s Leadership Team via email that you are granting permission for an individual exception.

Instructors cannot allow students younger than 10 to register for classes.

What sort of courses are taught at Planet Homeschool?

Courses in all subjects are of interest to PHS students, and the following have been offered at PHS: sciences, engineering, mathematics, humanities, visual arts, performing arts, literature, English, foreign languages, history, physical education, social sciences, trades and crafts, and more.

Course content must be secular, objective, and age-appropriate. While religious content may be included from a cultural, historical, sociological, or anthropological perspective, classes at PHS should have no religious teachings or practices. Science classes at PHS should use curriculum and materials that include and present scientific facts, principles, models, and theories as recommended by the majority of practicing experts in the field of study.

Instructors set their own course plans. While a syllabus is not required, families may appreciate a course overview and/or schedule.

Avoiding Direct Competition

It is our co-op’s policy to avoid direct competition between courses and instructors. That means that Planet Homeschool is not going to offer two different courses teaching Spanish but will offer German, Japanese, Spanish, and American Sign Language (assuming there is room on our co-op’s schedule for all of those and instructors available to teach them).

What constitutes direct competition is not always clear, so we strive to be both flexible and fair.

How are courses chosen?

We begin our process with instructor course proposals and surveying student interests.

Our co-op’s Lead Volunteer team then meets February through April to create a course schedule with a balance of age ranges and subjects, while taking into account instructor availability, member requests, and classroom space needs.

Planet Homeschool Is Not a School

Planet Homeschool is a homeschool co-op, not a school. Planet Homeschool does not and cannot hire instructors.

Instructors are hired by the individual families whose children enroll in their courses, not by Planet Homeschool.

Communications

Communicating with the Leadership Team

Instructors are expected to provide our co-op’s Leadership Team with both an email address and phone number where they can be reliably reached.

Most communications will be sent via email from PlanetHomeschoolMN@gmail.com, so please add this address to your email contacts list to avoid issues.

After your course is selected, co-op communications are primarily posted to our co-op forums which are sent via email from lifeline@homeschool-life.com, so you should also ensure your email provider recognizes that address as a legitimate sender.

Instructors are expected to keep abreast of co-op-related communications and to respond promptly to communications from our co-op’s Leadership Team.

Communicating With Students and Their Families

Instructors are expected to respond promptly to communications from students and their parents/guardians.

Your Class Home Page provides enrolled students with a dedicated Class Forum as well as the ability to send short messages attached to specific assignments.

Fostering Student Success

Instructors should reach out to the parents/guardians of students who are struggling in class to talk about what additional support their students may need and request their assistance in helping their students succeed.

Instructors should also reach out to our co-op’s Leadership Team for support with an ongoing issue.

Student Absences and Withdrawals

Instructors do not need to take attendance. However, they are expected to notice when students stop attending class and to reach out to their families to find out what’s going on.

Conduct Expectations

Instructors are expected to be familiar with Planet Homeschool Community Expectations and Communicable Illness Policies.

Co-op Schedule

Semesters

Fall Semester is 12 weeks long. Fall Semester typically starts the second Friday of September and runs through the second Friday of December with no classes on the Friday before President’s Day (which is the third Monday of October) or the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Winter Term is 4 weeks long. Winter Term typically starts the first Friday after January 6th and runs through the last Friday of January.

Spring semester is also 12 weeks long and typically starts the second Friday after February and runs through the first Friday of May plus the second Friday of May as a scheduled inclement-weather makeup day with no classes on Good Friday.

This schedule is subject to change.

Additional Dates

It may be possible to add a few additional dates to your course schedule. These are typically either field trips or a dress rehearsal and performance dates for performing arts courses.

Please state clearly whether any additional dates are required or optional.
If you wish to use our co-op’s space at Faith UMC, our co-op’s Leadership Team will need to inquire with the church beforehand to see if the space is available and if there will be any additional cost to use it.
If your course is selected to be offered, our co-op’s Leadership Team will need to know the actual dates and times of the additional days by mid-April. This information should be included on your Course Details Form.

Instructor Absences

For the overall continuity of our co-op’s operations and expectations, classes should be held each week, barring illness or other unforeseeable emergencies.

Instructors should plan any scheduled absence to coincide with our co-op's vacation days, of which there are two each semester. Please consult our co-op calendar for exact dates.

Instructors may need to unexpectedly cancel classes due to illness, family emergency, transportation failures, or other unforeseeable circumstances. Contact the Leadership Team as soon as possible to let them know about your situation.

Daily Schedule

In-person classes meet once a week on Fridays with four class periods. We will occasionally schedule a fifth period.

Class periods are 75 minutes long (1 hour and 15 minutes).

Instructors should arrive at class prepared to teach, begin class on time, teach for the full class period, and end class on time.

Setup Period: 9:00 AM–9:15 AM (15 minutes)
First Period: 9:15 AM–10:30 AM (75 minutes)
Room Transition Period: 10:30 AM–10:35 AM (5 minutes)
Second Period: 10:35 AM–11:50 AM (75 minutes)
Room Transition Period: 11:50 AM–11:55 AM (5 minutes)
Lunch Period: 11:55 AM –12:25 PM (30 minutes)
Room Transition Period: 12:25 PM–12:30 PM (5 minutes)
Third Period: 12:30 PM–1:45 PM (75 minutes)
Room Transition Period: 1:45 PM–3:05 PM (5 minutes)
Fourth Period: 1:50 PM–3:05 PM (75 minutes)
Cleanup Period: 3:05 PM–3:20 PM (15 minutes)
Fifth period: 3:15 PM–4:30 PM with cleanup completed by 4:45 PM.
- Cleanup Period: 4:30 PM–4:45 PM (15 minutes)

There is a 5-minute break between class periods. Instructors and students are expected to work together to ensure that there is time to both clean up from the prior class and set up for the next one.

If you need more than 5 minutes for setup, you should plan on teaching either first or third periods.
If you need more than 5 minutes for cleanup, you should plan on teaching either second or fourth periods.
If you need more than 5 minutes for both setup and cleanup, you should let our co-op’s Leadership Team know.

There is a 30-minute lunch break between second and third periods (40 minutes if you include the 5-minute break before and after lunch, but that time is needed for cleaning up classrooms and setting up the Fellowship Hall for lunch and then for cleaning up lunch and setting up classrooms for third-period classes).

Course proposals must specify if a certain class period is needed or does not work for the instructor.

New instructors typically start by teaching a single course per semester.

Professional Liability Insurance

Instructors should obtain their own professional liability insurance as our general liability insurance does not cover instructors.