[rdsmommy]

My kids are 11 and 13. We have participated in a coop off and on since they were 3 and 5. In the beginning when they were little it was me mostly making them go so we stopped for a while. Around the age of 8/9 they started to want to attend for the friendship aspect but have never been super excited about the classes. Ds continues to go at 13 because of close friendship since it's our only real outside activity for him. Dd's friends did not come back this year (one is in school, the other just has a busy mom) so she decided not to come. She just didn't feel like she connected with the girls that were still there and we haven't had any new ones in a while. All that to say maybe older kids have already developed friendships outside of organized activities and just don't feel the need. I know hang out time is the only reason my ds is still going. I think a board game activity could be a great idea as it would help break the ice for kids who don't know each other. I also think open gym sounds fun for hanging out. I do think too if at all possible it might be a good idea to try to make a separate activity just for the older ones, not because my kids don't like younger kids but because it just isn't the same. For example in open gym they would have to careful not to hurt the little ones and a basketball game with mixed ages isn't the same as one with a bunch of teenagers.

Other than that it could totally just be the moms. I am an introvert with social anxiety and my limit is one maybe two activities a month. So if I already have those I really don't have it in me to do much else. Since we don't go to church and I don't currently have any other activities where I'm expected to socialize I can handle CoOp. If we were attending church and my kids had youth group I would most likely not participate in Co-op or other homeschool activities.