A compound sentence is made of two independent clauses. That means, in the basics, each part of the sentence can stand alone as a sentence itself.  My FAVORITE example for this is from Katy Perry.

“I kissed a girl, and I liked it.”

“I kissed a girl.” and “I liked it.” can both stand alone as two separate sentences. By combing them with a comma and coordination conjunction, the two sentences connect more closely.

Example:

I went early to choir practice and I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half while waiting for a car accident to clear.

RESOLUTION:

I went early to choir practice, and I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half while waiting for a car accident to clear.

Example:

I never wanted to go to the party but my friends dragged me to the house.

RESOLUTION:

I never wanted to go to the party, but my friends dragged me to the house.

Example:

My cat goes crazy in the morning so I crate her at night.

RESOLUTION:

My cat goes crazy in the morning, so I crate her at night.

There will always be a conjunction connecting the two independent clauses (unless it’s a comma splice, but that’s another issue for another day).  In a compound sentence you have

(Independent clause), [coordinating conjunction] (independent clause).

Hope this helps! Have fun!