We have had a pretty good school year so far. We are part of an awesome co-op which is growing each semester. Each co-op semester consists of 10 weeks. My children had the opportunity to take some amazing classes. The preschooler took Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle book classes. My daughter took a magic class and a cake decorating class. She couldn't get enough of the cake decorating. My son took a literature class based on Around the World in 80 Days. He also took a photography class. I enjoyed seeing some of the photos he took during that class. Here's one:
We took one field trip with the co-op to an apple orchard along with many park days. We are looking forward to the activities planned for second semester. It involves teen outings as well as family events!
During break from co-op in November and December, we used the time to catch up on some of our homeschooling. Next year I will be using the Prairie Primer with my 10 year old daughter, so we took the opportunity to attend a Little House on the Prairie Christmas play. It was a great way to introduce my daughter to the characters. We were so excited about this curriculum that we jumped into reading Little House in the Big Woods. We have lots of activities to try out--tracking animal footprints, making butter, gun safety--all of which we will wait until the summer to do. We are anxiously waiting for our first snowfall so we can make the sugar candy mentioned in the book.
Second semester is now underway. My son has been taking free online classes from Virtual Homeschool Group. If you aren't families with it, check it out. He has been using the Apologia science classes for two years. He just started an 18-week computer programming class. I love the dedication of these volunteers who teach the classes. I know from experience as a member of the leadership team for our co-op just how many hours outside of those 10 weeks each semester we put in and how much that time takes away from our family. Not to mention that our summers and co-op breaks are used for planning and preparing for the next semester. I'm sure it's the same with this online resource. I don't want to just take advantage of free classes without being grateful for the time and dedication put into this great online resource. And yes, you can donate money to help maintain the blackboards and website.
My daughter and preschooler will continue using Easy Peasy all in one homeschool. This is a free online curriculum. It has been a lifesaver. The high school curriculum is called Easy Peasy all in one high school. Lee Giles, the creator, of Easy Peasy has spent a lot of time putting the curriculum together for her children, and I'm so glad she decided to share it with other homeschoolers. She has been a blessing to many homeschooling families.
Our co-op will begin second semester shortly. My children have many class offerings once again. The preschooler will be taking a science class called A Bug's Life as well as a Funny Phonics and Silly Spelling class (taught by me...this should be interesting...haha). My daughter gets to take Fun with Science and a doodling diary art class. My oldest son gets to take Public Speaking without Butterflies (taught by me as well....once again...this should be interesting....double haha), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea literature class, as well as an Introductory class to Drawing. Just like with the Virtual Homeschool Group, I am very grateful to the ladies of our co-op willing to take their precious time to prepare and teach these classes for 10 weeks. It's definitely not easy but the ultimate reward of teaching the children is the payoff. And where else can I pay less than $25 for all the above mentioned classes? Seriously! That's it!
I'll also be adding a page for the Public Speaking 10-week curriculum with homework assignments and videos. Be on the lookout for this in the next few weeks. If you are not part of the co-op and choose to use the curriculum, please be aware that some of it might not make sense to an outsider simply because I am custom designing it to fit for our 10-week one hour classes; however, I will be posting other free resources for public speaking so students can expand on the subject outside of the 10 week timeframe. One of my other goals for this blog is to SHARE--share free curriculums and even my attempts at homemade co-op curriculums.
-Jen
