Skip to main content

How Do I Start a Homeschool Group?

Listing a co-op, learning pod or micro-school on Famlo is a guided flow you can finish in one sitting. This guide covers what the flow asks, in the order it asks it, and what you set up afterwards. Anyone with a Famlo account can create a listing, and you become its owner.

Quick Answer​

Open the account menu and choose List your organization, then select Get started. The flow runs twelve screens across three parts: what kind of organization you are and where you serve families, then your name, description, photos and categories, then your screening questions and a review. Nothing is public until you select Publish on the last screen.

Before you begin​

Three answers make the whole flow faster, because they are the first things you are asked.

Which of the eighteen types you are. The type shapes the rest of the flow and becomes part of your public address, so a co-op called Riverbend ends up at famlo.co/co-op/riverbend.

Where you serve families. A listing is either a physical location or an online one. It cannot be both.

Who can join. Whether you are listed publicly, and whether you review applicants, are two separate questions. You can change either one later.

Step 1: Start your listing​

  1. Open the account menu and choose List your organization. If you already run one, the same menu offers Add organization.
  2. Read the opening screen and select Get started.

Your progress is saved from the moment you answer the location question. You can close the tab, come back, and pick up where you left off.

Step 2: Choose your organization type​

The first real question is Which of these best describes your organization? There are eighteen types, grouped four ways.

GroupTypes
Community-ledCo-op, Learning pod, Community, Meetup, Faith-based community, Support group
Educator-ledMicro-school, Charter school, Online school, Tutor, Enrichment program, Studio, Sports club, Camp
PlaceVenue, Attraction, Library
OtherBusiness

Each card carries a one-line description, so Learning pod reads "Small group with shared curriculum" and Venue reads "Space for events & activities". Pick the closest one — the rest of the flow adapts to it, and you can change it later from Settings.

Step 3: Say where you serve families​

Two shapes, and you pick one.

  • We have a physical location — you meet in person, or families can visit you. Start typing your address and pick a suggestion so the map pin lands correctly.
  • We're online — you operate virtually with no physical address. Then either tick Available nationwide or pick the states you serve.

Step 4: Decide who can join​

Three presets. Each sets how you are listed and how people get in, both at once.

ChoiceWhat it means
Open"Listed publicly and anyone can join instantly." Best for meetups, libraries, and attractions.
Closed"Listed publicly, but people request to join and you review each one. Members-only events stay private." Best for co-ops, pods, and schools.
Private"Hidden from search and directories — reachable only by a link you share, and invite-only." Best for private groups.

The screen says so itself: "You can change this any time from your organization settings." Settings later splits these into two separate controls, so a publicly listed co-op that still screens every applicant is possible. See Organization settings.

Step 5: Name it and describe it​

Name is what families will recognise, up to 100 characters. It needs at least three characters and saves as you type.

Good names say what you are and where you are:

  • "Westside Homeschool Co-op"
  • "Nature Explorers Field Trip Group"
  • "Riverbend Classical Conversations"

Description covers what it is, who it is for, and what makes it worth joining, up to 2,000 characters. Write for a family who has never heard of you: your purpose, what you run, how often you meet, and what you expect of members.

Step 6: Add a cover photo​

Drag a photo in, or select the box to choose one. You can add several, and the first one is your cover — it is what people see on your listing and everywhere it appears in the directory.

You can add or replace photos any time afterwards from the Photos page in Settings, where a listing can hold up to fifteen.

Step 7: Pick your categories​

Categories are the tags families filter the directory by, covering things like academic approach, faith affiliation and subject area. Which groups you are asked about depends on your type, so a library is not asked about educational approach.

Pick at least one to continue. This is the one screen in the middle part you cannot skip, and publishing is refused without a category.

Step 8: Write your screening questions​

Up to three free-text questions an applicant answers when they request to join. Each has a Required checkbox, and leaving a question blank drops it.

Three is the maximum, and there are no multiple-choice or checkbox questions.

Useful ones:

  • "What ages are your children?"
  • "How did you hear about us?"
  • "Can you commit to attending twice a month?"

This screen only appears for types that run a membership. A venue or a library has nobody to screen, so the flow goes straight to the review.

Step 9: Review and publish​

The review screen summarises Type, Location, Who can join, Categories and, where it applies, Screening questions. Each row has an Edit link that takes you back to that screen and returns you here afterwards.

When it is right, select Publish. Your listing goes live and you land on its public page.

:::note The flow never asks for money There is no membership-pricing screen and no payout screen anywhere in it. You are not asked for a price, a membership fee, or your bank details, and publishing is not held up waiting for any of them. Dues and payouts are both configured later, from Settings, and only if you want them. :::

After you publish​

Set up dues, if you charge them​

Membership dues are a Settings block, not part of the flow. Two things have to be true before you can charge: your visibility is Closed or Private, and your payouts are set up. A fully open listing cannot bill.

Pick one cadence for everybody — Monthly, Every 2 months, Quarterly, Every 6 months, Annually, or a One-time fee. Families do not choose. See Membership dues.

Famlo's fee comes out of your side of a card payment. It is never added to what a family pays, and there is no setting to pass it on, because there is nothing to pass on. What's free and what's paid sets out what you pay and when.

Invite your first members​

There are no invite links and no invite codes. You invite an email address.

  • If that address already has a Famlo account, the person is added and emailed, and the email names their role.
  • If it does not, they get an invitation email. Signing up with that same address joins them automatically.

Invite members is owner-only, and takes a CSV of up to 500 rows with two columns: email and role. See Members, roles, and messaging.

Schedule your first activity​

An organization with nothing on the calendar gives families nothing to say yes to. Put one date up before you start recruiting. See Scheduling activities.

Build a leadership team​

There are six roles, each a fixed bundle of permissions. You cannot build a new role or edit an existing one — custom roles do not exist on Famlo.

RoleWhat it can do
OwnerFull control: settings, roles, activities, members and billing
Co-LeaderEdit the listing, run activities, approve members
Event ManagerCreate and run activities and registrations
Member ManagerReview and approve people joining
Billing ManagerManage payments and billing, and view payouts
MemberView the organization

Only the owner can change roles or invite anyone. Two consequences catch people out: a Co-Leader cannot change roles or open billing, and a Member Manager is not an administrator — approving join requests is the only thing it adds.

Separately from a role, you can give one person access to messages about specific activities. That is how a parent who teaches one class gets their families' questions without being promoted. See Members, roles, and messaging.

Tips​

  • Start small. A few well-run dates beat a semester you cannot staff. You can add more whenever you like.
  • Set expectations in writing. Join rules in Settings is a free-text box every applicant can be made to accept before joining.
  • Recruit a co-leader early. Running a co-op alone is how co-ops quietly stop.
  • Announce per activity. Every announcement belongs to one activity and goes to the people connected to it. There is no organization-wide broadcast and no newsletter, so plan your communication around the activities themselves.
  • Publish before it is perfect. The name, description, photos and categories are all editable afterwards, and a listing nobody can find recruits nobody.

Troubleshooting​

I can't get past the categories screen. Pick at least one tag. The screen says "Pick at least one to continue," and publishing is refused without one.

Publish came back with "Not quite ready to publish". Three things are checked at that moment: a real name of at least three characters, a filled-in location, and at least one category. The reasons are listed above the summary.

I closed the tab and lost my work. You did not. Open List your organization again and select Continue on the draft under In progress.

I picked the wrong type. On the review screen, select Edit beside Type. After publishing, change Type on the Settings page.

Saving dues says my visibility must be Closed or Hidden. Go to Membership & joining in Settings, choose Closed or Private, save, then come back to dues.

I can't find where to set a membership price during setup. There isn't one. Dues live in Settings after you publish.

I can't find where to create a custom role. There is no such thing. There are six fixed roles, set on the Members page one person at a time.

My listing does not appear in the directory. Check that Published (visible in the directory) is ticked on the Settings page. A listing set to Private visibility is deliberately not listed anywhere.