Every Friday, surrounded by an ample supply of nature and friendship, this group of kids gathers at (really crams into!) our house for a one-room-schoolhouse of sorts where the youngers are encouraged by the olders.
We do break them into groups for certain subjects. The 8-9th graders are working together in world history, biology and literature/composition.
The 7th graders come together for earth science, civics and writing (they are working on a graphic novel!).
The 3rd-6th graders spend their time drawing, reading together and exploring the nature around my home.
Micah is the youngest and he oscillates from one group to the next, doing only what interests him, of course!
In our co-op each mom uses her specialty area to "coach" a group. So no one is overwhelmed by responsibilities. No one has to teach or lecture. We have created a group where the moms simply assist the students by piquing their curiosity on the subject matter and then letting the kids experiment and explore the lessons. We are using the Oak Meadow curriculum as our guide.
Though we've homeschooled for 9 years, we haven't always been involved in a co-op. Some years are more conducive to belonging to a group; other years have needs to focused elsewhere.
This year was just the right year to re-ignite co-op learning opportunities. And we are very happy to host our friends every Friday!
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